Loan counseling organizations, among other services, provide homeownership education programs and courses, both in-person, on-line, and by telephone to interested homebuyers. They are prepared to help you sort out your unique situation. They review your credit, income, and available funds for down payment and closing costs, and help you become qualified for affordable mortgage products. If you need help gaining control over your personal finances or credit, they are ready to work with you to create an action plan that together you can implement. Homeownership is not just financing a mortgage, it is also understanding the costs and responsibilities of owning a home and the process of applying and closing a mortgage, generally the biggest loan you will see.

At Address Yourself, it’s our mission to help the underserved see the challenges in the home buying and home owning process — the challenges you might not see on your own. The ones that nobody talks about. It’s our job to take an honest look at your overall situation, and put you on the proper path to sustainable homeownership. We want you to be truly educated about and prepared for owning a home, so that when or if you finally do buy a home, you will be in it for as long as you care to be.

Many committed homeownership support service providers are involved. If you choose to participate by providing contact information, a qualified homeownership counselor from one of two qualified, FHA approved, nonprofit counseling organizations that work with New Jersey residents will work with you: Navicore Solutions or Balance. Their job is to show you how to do it and provide you with a list of mortgage lenders whose products you may qualify for after you decide you are ready. New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC) (who is not a mortgage lender) and Affinity Federal Credit Union provide some funding and support to these and other qualified nonprofit counseling organizations. Affinity Federal Credit Union Credit Union of New Jersey & Greater Alliance Credit Union also offer mortgage loans to qualified low and moderate income families in New Jersey.The credit unions offer a wide array of affordable mortgage products and CUMAnet LLC provides mortgage fulfillment services (helps the credit unions) and services the loan if it is made.NJCC and participating credit unions have an ownership interest in CUMAnet, LLC, which helps them make mortgages and services them if made. Because of this ownership interest, NJCC, and the credit unions may receive a financial or other benefit if you decide to use them for a mortgage after working with your counselor. Please click here for more details about this relationship. Your counselor will review these and other lender mortgage products and help you make the best decision for your family.HUD FHA provides a list of other counseling organizations that could support your efforts. To view HUD’s list click here.

Situations vary depending on an individual’s financial/credit situations. Some individuals are ready to look for homes right away and some need to take time to work on improving credit and other financial issues. Some people find a house they like right away and others take a bit longer. After you complete the Initial Assessment and utilize the homebuyer education resources made available, you will have a better idea of how long it will be before you are ready to buy a home.

Yes, successfully completing homebuyer education is a requirement for participating in Address Yourself and is an important step in purchasing a home. Taking the brief amount of time to complete the required homebuyer education may make you eligible to be qualified for many of the below market rates from credit unions, banks and other mortgage lenders.Homebuyer education is important because purchasing a home, including taking on mortgage debt, is a complex process. Our homebuyer and homeownership education services will prepare you for this process. As a result, you will be a better prepared mortgage applicant and homeowner. Once you have successfully completed counseling, you and we will be confident in your ability to pursue homeownership and own a home.

Framework is a form of homebuyer education that is offered through Address Yourself. It’s an interactive online course that lets you prepare yourself to buy and own a house. Developed by the national housing non-profit, Housing Partnership Network, Framework is a comprehensive, unbiased guide to being a savvy, proactive buyer in today’s challenging market. Framework is also the only accepted on-line course for an affordable Fannie Mae mortgage. The new Fannie Mae HomeReady product is among the most affordable products available. When you complete Framework, you get a printable certificate to show your lender.

After completing the process, you will consult directly with affordable mortgage lenders to evaluate potential home loan products to determine what options are available and what best suits your specific situation. While the counselor will advise you, you are the decision maker at all times as to what/when/who to consider. If you decide to apply for a mortgage, the lender makes the decision to lend. Furthermore, your homebuyer education will prepare you for how and why the lender makes their decision, which makes the process much simpler and quicker.

The loan counselor can help you determine this. Ultimately, you will need to consult your mortgage lender to determine what precise loan amount you qualify for. The amount of mortgage loan you may qualify for depends on your household income, your credit score, your amount of debt and down payment. When you complete the Initial Assessment, we will help you estimate the amount of a mortgage loan you may pre-qualify for and explore ways to increase your purchasing power if necessary and possible. A housing counselor will also help you identify down payment assistance or other special financing programs.

If you do not have savings, Address Yourself can help you save. We will connect you with the proper resources that will help you save for purchasing a home. A housing counselor will also help you identify available down payment assistance and/or loan closing grant programs that you may be eligible for.

Many people who think they have bad credit are pleasantly surprised to find out that their credit is still good enough to buy a home. A housing counselor will assess your current credit status to see if it will affect your ability to obtain a mortgage. If your credit is not where it needs to be, a counselor can help you improve it so you can buy a home.

Address Yourself services are available to all prospective homebuyers, whether you are a first time homebuyer, you currently own a home or you’ve owned a home in the past.

Address Yourself does not finance individual home construction on private land.

No. While we have partnered with organizations that we feel have like-minded goals of helping all consumers become homeowners, you are not required to obtain your mortgage loan from any of the participating credit unions.