Home Purchase Counseling

A first time homebuyer must have access to the best tools and resources for carrying out her or his purchasing decisions effectively. At the same time, a buyer needs to address the highly personal choices surrounding the management of money. To ensure that all clients receive the level of consultation and assistance their individual case requires, LEDC provides one-on-one housing counseling for prospective first-time homebuyers.

Counseling services include: intake and comprehensive needs assessment, credit repair work, personal budgeting, loan packaging, and creation of a work plan designed to move the client from renter to homeowner. Our experienced counselors provide culturally-sensitive, one-on-one counseling sessions in English or Spanish. We explain each step of the home-buying process in the privacy of our offices.

Through credit and homeownership counseling sessions, a client can:

• Understand credit in the United States and why it is important
• Establish, grow, and maintain credit wisely
• Analyze current credit score to recognize areas for improvement
• Correct errors in a credit report
• Learn ways to repair damaged credit in the least possible time
• Access resources and information for further steps in the home-buying process
• Assess the mortgage product before you sign the loan documents

LEDC also offers courses that equip clients with the knowledge they need to confidently embark on the home-buying process. Through these classes, clients learn about assistance programs like the DC government's Home Purchase Assistance Program, how to obtain a mortgage loan, the importance of the interest rate and what to expect from a real-estate agent, home inspector, and title company. Group training can be followed by one-on-one counseling sessions.

The Homebuyer Group Seminar
The seminar is an intensive, five- hour class that usually meets on a Saturday and covers the basics of the home-buying process.

En Su Barrio Workshops
The “En Su Barrio” ("In Your Neighborhood") Homebuyer Group Workshops are abridged versions of the Homebuyer Group Seminar and are offered through our En Su Barrio outreach initiative. These workshops are presented in different venues throughout the District including community centers, churches, ESL classes and daycares.

Popular Education: Educating through Entertainment!
LEDC is proud to use what is called popular education, creating new and fun ways to inform our community about the process of becoming a homeowner. Popular education has the advantage of reaching an audience through familiar language and cultural mediums, with high accessibility and no cost, and at a more widely shared educational level.