Arlington aims to raise awareness of affordable housing options
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Arlington aims to raise awareness of affordable housing options

Leticia Gallegos, Hispanic Real Estate Brokers Association founder and CEO, works at the organization’s table at the 2023 Homeownership Fair. (Courtesy photo | HREBA)
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Homeownership is the goal of many residents in Arlington, but potential buyers face rising home prices, higher mortgage rates and often a lack of information about how to find an affordable home.

In an effort to provide helpful information during Homeownership Month, the city of Arlington, the Arlington Board of Realtors, the Hispanic Real Estate Brokers Association and Housing Channel will hold the annual Homeownership Fair on June 29 to help educate potential buyers.

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The Arlington Realtors board was awarded a $5,000 grant from the National Association of Realtors’ Housing Opportunity Program to support the fair. The local board said the grant will be used to help educate potential homeowners about financial assistance programs available, their rights and how to maintain a home once it’s been purchased.

Registration is open for the event, which is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bob Duncan Center, 2800 S. Center St. Preregistration is encouraged, but walk-ups will be welcome. You may register here.

Hispanic Real Estate Brokers Association founder and CEO Leticia Gallegos said the fair is geared toward first-time homebuyers who are seeking information about the process.

“First-time homebuyers don’t know what questions to ask. They don’t know where to start,” Gallegos said. “The fair is an opportunity for them to visit different exhibitors and get information not only about the homebuying process but also city resources that are available.”

Gallegos said the city held the fair as a regular event for years before the COVID-19 pandemic caused a couple of cancellations beginning in 2020. She said attendance averaged between 300 and 400 families a year and that is about the number sponsors are expecting this year.

She said the fair will feature a variety of real estate and finance-oriented vendors.

“We call them vendors, but they’re really sharing more information than selling,” Gallegos said. “We try to make sure that they’re offering a service and offering information but, of course, they will promote themselves because they do pay for the space.”

She said vendors will include lenders, real estate agents, title companies and others affiliated with the real estate business.

“And then we have the nonprofits, which are state down payment assistance programs, housing counseling agencies and the city services like code enforcement, libraries and so on,” Gallegos said.

“It’s no secret that there is definitely a housing issue not only in Arlington but all over. So, what we focus on is getting families ready because not everyone is ready to purchase now,” Gallegos said.The Hispanic brokers association works as a counseling service to help people get home ownership ready — “like helping fix their credit, budgeting, finding out what they’re needing to qualify, and they may not be ready now, but it’s never too early to start.”

Mortgage rates have been volatile in recent years, and that has affected everyone looking to buy a home, Gallegos said.

“It’s definitely impacting (would-be buyers). It makes it unaffordable because of the interest rates. The higher the interest rate, the higher the mortgage payment, but it’s not impossible,” Gallegos said. “There are down payment assistance programs that can help with that …  by buying down the interest rate a little bit.”

She said two state programs run out of Austin will have representatives at the fair and there will  also be programs available for first responders and teachers.

Home price increases are a factor as well.

“It’s hard to tell where we’re trending. I mean, properties have not come down in price,” Gallegos said. “Sellers still think that they can price it like it was maybe a year ago, but they’re sitting on the market longer. So, we are seeing price decreases as this property stays on the market longer.”

She said eventually, the sellers come down on the price a little bit.

That impact is supported by the numbers.

According to the real estate website Redfin, in April, Arlington home prices were up 6.1% compared with the previous year and sold at a median price of $340,000. The site said that on average, homes in Arlington sell after 30 days on the market, compared with 24 days last year.

Redfin said that 285 homes sold in April in Arlington, a number almost unchanged from the 286 last year.

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“It’s still difficult to find affordable properties,” Gallegos said.

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Jessica Gauthier, director for community and public relations at the Arlington Realtors board, said the organization had planned its own fair this year but decided to partner with the city and the Hispanic brokers association “just so we can pool our resources together and make it bigger and expand our reach a little more.”

Gauthier said the education component of the fair is very important.

“Part of our goal is to educate the consumers about homeownership, how you get to be a homeowner and then what happens afterwards — how to maintain your home and all those things,” Gauthier said. 

She said the resources exist to help first-time homebuyers, but they need to know how to find them.

“For example, the city offers down payment grants. But, unless you know where to look, the information is not always easily accessible,” Gauthier said. “So, this is a way to gather all that information, put it in one spot, just share as much information as we can.”

According to other data from the Texas Real Estate Research Council, as of April, homes were on the market for a total of 68 days, two less than in April 2023. Arlington has 2.5 months of inventory, according to the council, compared with 1.3 months in April 2023.

According to the National Association of Realtors, pending home sales nationwide fell 7.7% in April 2024, with all regions of the nation showing month-over-month and year-over-year decreases.

“The impact of escalating interest rates throughout April dampened home buying, even with more inventory in the market,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a report. “But the Federal Reserve’s anticipated rate cut later this year should lead to better conditions, with improved affordability and more supply.”

Founded in 1991 by a housing task force created by then-Fort Worth Mayor Bob Bolen and other community leaders, Housing Channel works in collaboration with Tarrant County, the city of Arlington, the city of Fort Worth and other partners. It has become a leading nonprofit organization tasked with fulfilling a variety of housing development activities.

Donna VanNess, president of Housing Channel, said it’s important for potential homebuyers to have all the information they need as well as the assistance to work through the process of buying a home.

Donna VanNess of the Housing Channel, left, with Councilman Raul Gonzales and Nikky Lewis, grants manager with the city of Arlington, at the 2023 Homeownership Fair. (Courtesy photo | Housing Channel)

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“We serve anybody that’s interested. It’s not necessarily first-time homebuyers. A lot of the down payment assistance programs that we use do have that requirement, but some don’t,” VanNess said. “We invite anybody interested in homeownership to come in to at least get the basic information and get started, because a lot of people we work with don’t have a clue that they can actually qualify or afford a house. If they get started in the process I’m sure they’ll be surprised at what’s available. Because rent is so high, a lot of times you’re already paying (to rent) what you could possibly be paying for a mortgage, so we encourage anybody.”

VanNess said the key is to understand your financial situation and your credit.

“The better credit score you have, the better interest rate you can get,” she said. “It’s really important to work on that. We really work with a lot of our clients on their credit to try to get those credit scores higher so they can go to different banks and get competing interest rates. We also work with a lot of lender partners that help our clients because they meet a qualified census tract that they’re buying in or maybe they’re a qualified low-income buyer.”

VanNess, who has been Housing Channel president for 17 years, said the homebuyers could be eligible for lower rates, or eligible for special down payment programs.

“For instance, we had a buyer of a townhome that we’re building in Irving and she’s working with Chase and she asked us, as the seller, if we could provide money for a down payment. I said, ‘No, but you were working with Chase and Chase has a program that offers up to $7,500 in down payment assistance.’ And we knew that because we work with the lender.”

VanNess said the client was able to get that down payment assistance and achieve that mortgage on her own through her lender. 

“That’s why working with us, and us having those resources and knowledge base to (share with) our clients is very useful,” VanNess said.

At the Arlington Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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