Fair to provide homeownership advice
What: The 13th Annual Home Buyer’s Fair
When: Sat. June 11, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: McAllen Convention Center
Free Admission
For more information on homeownership in South Texas visit tucasa.us/us
McALLEN — People who want to buy a house but aren’t sure how can get a free tutorial this weekend at the Home Buyer’s Fair.
The fair, in its 13th year, is more relevant than ever now, said Martin Medina, director of strategic initiatives for nonprofit organization Affordable Homes of South Texas. The group is organizing the event.
“The foreclosure market here has hit us hard,” he said. “We’re trying to help. We’re trying to bring back confidence to the real estate market.”
The fair will provide advice to potential homeowners, encourage buying and building houses and give instruction in understanding different types of loans. Medina said Affordable Homes has seen a great reluctance among people who have had bad experiences with loans to return to homeownership.
“People have incomes, but now they have reservations about buying another home because they see what’s happened to friends and neighbors,” he said.
Still, others who have lost their homes have jumped back into buying houses without understanding what went wrong the first time.
“Our organization has started doing foreclosure counseling and foreclosure prevention, and we’ve seen cases where folks have lost homes back to back,” Medina said.
Medina hopes the fair will be of help and that the economic climate will build up its popularity.
For the first year, it will be in the McAllen Convention Center, 700 Convention Center Blvd., instead of the community center. The event will feature more than 80 exhibitors, including local builders and real estate brokers.
Door prizes include $1,000 worth of gas cards and $500 in gift cards. The fair will also offer free credit reports.
Local banks are paying to sponsor the fair and will teach classes on mortgages and loans. Representatives from the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation also will help teach seminars, which include “Credit Boot Camp,” “Kiss Your Landlord Goodbye” and “Eureka! Mortgage Puzzle Solved.”
“All (people) know is ‘I want a home’ and they don’t know, OK, there’s a process and there’s things reputable builders, reputable (real estate agents) do,” Medina said. “We want folks to come out and see what they’re getting into.”
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Elizabeth Findell covers Pharr, San Juan, Alamo, the Mid-Valley and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4428.
