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Hispanic Housing News
Housing Industry Steps Up Marketing to Hispanic Buyers
Real Estate: Industry Lures Segment With Programs, Agents BY MANDY JACKSON
Staff Writer Real estate agents, lenders and others are getting ready to serve the growing number of Hispanic homebuyers entering the market. According to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, only 48.1 percent of Hispanics currently own a home, while 68.1 percent of all people living in the United States are homeowners. Gary Acosta, president of San Diego-based mortgage bank SDF Realty Corp., said Hispanic buyers present the greatest prospects for housing market growth compared to any other group. "They are the primary driver of growth in our industry," Acosta said. He is a National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals co-founder and serves as CEO and vice chairman of the organization. Over the next 10 years, the San Diego-based organization estimates that 40 percent of all first-time homebuyers will be Hispanic. In a 2001 survey, the association learned that the top five obstacles to Hispanic home-ownership are a lack of knowledge about the homebuying process, down payments, affordability, language and unverifiable income, such as cash payment for work that is not taxed. The association hosted a national Marketing Conference and Expo on Sept. 17 to 20 at the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center in Mission Valley. During a discussion Sept. 19, Van Davis, president and CEO of New Jersey-based Century 21 Real Estate Corp., said it is critical for the company to recruit Hispanic real estate agents in order to serve its Hispanic clients. Groups Offer Access A new local program called "Owner of My Home, Owner of My Community" was announced during the conference. Mortgage investor Freddie Mac, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, the city of San Diego, the National City Community Development Commission, the San Diego Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee (MAAC Project) and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals are partners in the project. The program will provide affordable mortgage products, invest in new home construction, rehabilitate existing properties and provide counseling for Hispanic and first-time homebuyers. Also, the MAAC Project is going to use its low-interest line of credit and some funding from Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo to build 10 new homes and rehabilitate 10 homes in National City and the Lincoln Park neighborhood of San Diego. The MAAC Project is a local social service agency that helps people improve their economic standing and access assistance programs. The homes will be sold to families earning 80 percent or less of the area median income, which amounts to $48,100 for a family of four. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes will be sold for about $250,000 each, according to Carlos Aguirre, single-family housing coordinator for the agency. "We'll do heavy marketing in the neighborhoods. People aren't aware they have assistance available," Aguirre said. "We're very concerned that the rental market is getting hard to get into because of pressure from downtown growth. Families get forced out. With homebuying, we keep them (in the neighborhood) by making them stakeholders," he said. Acosta said the percentage of homeowners in San Diego that are Hispanic is 40 percent, compared to 48.1 percent nationally. Hispanics tend to be less involved in the banking system, using cash to pay for most purchases, and they are more conservative about using credit, so they earn low credit scores, Acosta said. With the move to automated underwriting, buyers with low or no credit scores often get overlooked for loans, he said. Lenders are looking at new ways to account for cash earnings. "There is a good population of Latino agents and mortgage professionals in San Diego. Some of the national companies have recognized that by putting some of their more aggressive (mortgage) products here," Acosta said, such as lease-to-own programs. Mary Otero Gonzalez, executive director of the San Diego Home Loan Counseling and Education Center, said there are many programs available to help the center's clients, many of whom are Hispanic. The center utilizes down payment programs that provide a dollar for every dollar saved for a down payment. Another program is a three-to-one match. Other assistance can include tax credits or silent second loans. The counseling center provides all of its materials in Spanish and one of its three seminars each month is conducted in Spanish. The difficulty is finding a house many Hispanic homebuyers can afford to buy. Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy, the Claremont-based public policy research group the La Jolla Institute and Cultural Access Group Inc., a Los Angeles-based marketing and consulting firm, conducted a study called "Rewarding Ambition: Latinos, Housing and the Future of California. The study said most prospective Hispanic homebuyers in California hope to purchase a home and more than half of them want to buy a home costing $150,000 or less with a down payment of $10,000 or less. In San Diego County, there are few homes to buy at that price. In a market with rapid appreciation, the local counseling center is telling buyers to buy something now while they still can. Many Hispanic buyers are buying fixer-uppers or smaller homes than they need and adding on, Otero Gonzalez said. "Buying a home is the most expensive purchase they'll ever make and the best route to building families' wealth," she said.
Real Estate Contracts >Signed Sealed and Delivered
Most people assume that when a real estate deed is signed, it is effective. However, there is one more essential part of the process. Even if a deed is properly executed, it is not effective until it has been delivered to and accepted by the buyer. This can sometimes create bizarre results. Here is an example.
An elderly man properly signed, sealed and acknowledged a deed to his nephew and placed it in an old tin box in his room, where it was discovered shortly after he died. The nephew lost a contest with other heirs over the property because the deed was not delivered, and therefore, was not effective at the time of the old man's death.
Until the deed is delivered, the title remains with the seller, who could change his mind at any time and destroy the deed. But once the deed has been properly delivered and accepted, the title passes and cannot be revoked. Thus the old, old saying: signed, sealed (and notarized) -- and delivered.
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| Q |
What is considered one of the slimmest buildings ever designed?
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| A |
The Carnegie Hall Tower, designed by Cesar Pelli, is only 50 feet wide and 60 stories high. |
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