November 5 2010 (Shirley Allen)
The Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) have released a series of videos to help prospective homebuyers navigate the home buying process.
The videos, released on HUD’s YouTube channel help future homeowners to find a house they can afford, shop for a mortgage they can sustain, and what to expect when they go to closing.
HUD produced the three consumer education videos in coordination with NAR and released them at the Realtors Annual Convention in New Orleans.
David H. Stevens, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner said, “The process for buying a home can appear complicated and overwhelming for many consumers. These videos will help answer the fundamental questions most people have—from shopping for their home to signing on the dotted line.”
“Educating consumers about the home buying process is at the heart of what Realtors® do,” said 2010 National Association of Realtors President Vicki Cox Golder. “Informed home buyers create the conditions necessary for responsible, sustainable homeownership, and we’re very happy to be a part of this project.”
The three videos encompass the following subjects:
Shopping for Your Home: The homebuying process obviously starts with finding a place you’ll want to call home. This short video will instruct viewers on assessing how much of a home you can afford, working with a real estate agent and what happens once you find the home you want to buy. Housing counselors can assist home buyers and home owners on issues such as homebuying, fair housing, credit issues, and foreclosure prevention.
Shopping for Your Loan: Once you’ve found the home of your dreams, the next step is to shop for a mortgage loan. This video will help consumers use the Good Faith Estimate (GFE), which is a form that spells out the terms of a loan offer, to shop for the best loan for them. Consumers will learn how to use the GFE to determine how long an interest rate is available for a particular loan and how to identify key loan terms and costs of a particular loan offer. HUD suggests consumers shop and compare GFEs from multiple mortgage brokers and/or lenders in order to get the best loan for their situation.
Closing the Deal: Finally, this video walks consumers through the actual closing process including how to make sure the loan they were offered closely matches what they encounter at the settlement table. In particular, HUD will walk the viewer through the HUD-1 Settlement Statement and demonstrate ways consumers can compare their actual costs with those reflected on their Good Faith Estimate.
HUD’s videos are easily accessible from both HUD and NAR’s Web sites as well as from HUD’s YouTube channel.
Tags: NAR, HUD, homebuying, homebuyers, youtube, education videos, homebuying process
