What’s the best way to get closer to the American Dream of homeownership?
“Housing counseling,” agreed panelists for a National Housing Council webinar held Tuesday and sponsored by NeighborWorks® America. Financial education and partnerships are also key as families work to build wealth they can pass on to future generations.
The webinar was titled “Celebrating 250: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Homeownership.” Panelists represented different parts of the housing industry, but all agreed that early housing counseling was an instrumental tool to helping prepare would-be homeowners achieve their goals.
A housing crisis
The nation is facing a crisis of home affordability right now, says Makinizi Hoover, senior director and lead for Housing Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who moderated the panel.
The Chamber of Commerce has an interest in housing, in addition to wanting people to have a safe place to live, Hoover said. “It’s a competitiveness issue. Across the country we continue to hear from employers and from state and local chambers that housing challenges are continuing to affect their ability to recruit workers, to retain talent and to support business growth.”
Employers understand that supporting strong housing markets supports strong economies, she added.
As our nation marks its 250th anniversary, Hoover is reflecting on the ideals that have defined the American experience: “opportunity, economic freedom, and the ability to build a better future.”
For generations, homeownership has been the clearest expression of that promise, she said. “Despite today's affordability challenge, this aspiration still remains strong. People continue to view homeownership as a pathway to stability, to wealth building and stronger communities.”
Counseling, coaching and estate planning
Carole Clarke, CEO of Neighborhood Housing Services of Birmingham, said that many Birmingham neighborhoods that were once stable and owned by homeowners are now riddled with investor-owned rental properties.
“Every time a homeowner dies without a clear estate plan, every time the taxes become delinquent and people can't catch up or when an inherited home without clear title falls into disrepair, it's just another opportunity for generational wealth to just quietly disappear,” she shared.
The original Neighborhood Housing Services model – the model championed by NeighborWorks America that brought together residents, lenders and local government, was a simple but powerful idea, Clarke said: “Neighborhoods improve when residents are not passive recipients of services, but active leaders in building their own communities.”
That philosophy continues to define her organization, with work that includes a Homeownership Center providing HUD-certified home buyer education, one-on-one financial counseling, foreclosure prevention services, and post-purchase support. Her organization also preserves existing homeowners through its Healthy Housing Initiative and preserves neighborhoods through community building and engagement. Increasingly, she says, NHS of Birmingham also incorporates services to resolve heirs’ property issues. “In my mind, we’re ultimately in the wealth building business.”
‘Starting upstream’
Katie Naftzger, Senior Vice President and Community Investment Officer at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, said homebuyer education and counseling help households become mortgage ready, creating future opportunities for future lending.
“Many households aspired to homeownership but were not prepared for that lender stage yet,” she said. “They often needed help building credit, increasing savings, understanding mortgage options and piecing together the down payment assistance that might be needed – and also just determining whether homeownership was the right solution for them at that point in time.”
That’s where housing counseling agencies come in, she said. “Housing counseling organizations help consumers take those steps.” Unfortunately, she shared, they are being asked to do more with increasingly scarce resources. But the work they’ve been doing remains critical.
Marshall Brooks, director of rental assistance with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, told the story of Brenda, a client who came to his organization when she was experiencing homelessness and navigating the lasting effects of trauma and mental health challenges.
Despite these barriers, “she took early steps towards that stability.”
She applied first for rental assistance and was able gain housing stability that supported her healing. She then joined a Family Self-Sufficiency Program that helped her build financial independence and pay down her debt.
She entered the organization’s “Key to Own” program and received both education and down payment assistance. Today, she owns her own townhouse.
Still the American dream
Hoover asked the group why homeownership was still considered the American dream. Answers included security, stability, health.
And it’s still the best tool to build generational wealth, “to set you up for success and also your family,” said Charisse Callender-Scott, a broker with Desiree Callender & Associates Realtors.
That’s why understanding the tools of how to sustain homeownership and how to transfer wealth and homeownership are so important. She has a checklist for readiness that she goes over with her clients. The lens is different for different populations, Callender-Scott said.
“In our community, we've been going to the youth and their families and teaching them the importance of homeownership because everybody's in a home,” she said. “Whether you're renting, whether your family owns it, whether you're in school … housing is something that you're going to need for the rest of your life.”
Clarke said a home gives a family a sense of permanence and belonging to a community. Housing counselors provide confidence, helping future homebuyers celebrate victories – and helping them with the challenges they meet along the way.
When should someone talk to a housing counselor? “The earlier the better,” Clarke said.
History of housing
The webinar started with a brief history of housing in America, led by David Dworkin, president & CEO of NHC. "It's safe to say that all the founders understood that homeownership of land was a foundational aspect of their revolution," he said.
For 250 years, homes and neighborhoods have helped shape the American experience. That’s why NeighborWorks America joined America250's celebration with a theme of "250 Years of Community: Building What Comes Next." Over the course of the celebration, NeighborWorks will continue to explore what homes – and dreams – in America look like, along with the best path to get to those homes.
Check our directory to find a NeighborWorks network organization with a HUD-approved housing counselor.
