October News from the Portland Housing Center

October 2010 Newsletter

In This Issue

Fall Maintenance Tips

The Future of Homeownership in Portland

Great Tax Credit Opportunity

Another Successful PHC Homeowner

With fall in full swing, and winter around the corner, it's important to take care of fall maintenance tasks before the cold weather sets in. Here are a few good projects to prepare your house for winter:

1. Clean gutters to prevent water backup.

2. Check safety equipment (smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, etc) to make sure they are in good working order, replace batteries as needed.

3. Check your roof for missing shingles and loose flashing that could cause leaks.

3. Change filters in your heating system, consider having it serviced.

4. Drain outside faucets.

5. Drain your hot water heater to prevent sediment build up.

The Future of Homeownership in Portland

On October 15th, Portland Housing Center hosted a breakfast event on the Future of Homeownership in Portland for the launch of our 2010 annual report. Portland Housing Center would like to thank everyone who made it out to the event. We would also like to say a special thank you to Dr. Lisa Bates of Portland State University and Peg Malloy for their wonderful presentations on the current and future picture of homeownership in Portland. For more information on these presentations, you can access Dr. Bates' presentation on our website.

Oregon #ML-4654
NMLS ID 2682117

Greetings!

Fall is here in Portland and we hope you're enjoying the beautiful Northwest weather and scenery. With all the beautiful leaves and crisp fall weather comes new home and yard projects to get ready for the winter. Check out our fall maintenance tips.

Get a Valuable Tax Credit and Support Our Community

Want to get a valuable tax credit, and support hard working Oregonians trying to build assets? You can, through a donation to our friends at Neighborhood Partnerships!

Portland Housing Center is part of the Oregon IDA (Individual Development Account) Initiative, which helps low-income Oregonians step up to a brighter future, get back into the economic mainstream, and support all of our efforts to rebuild our state's economy.

From now until the end of the year, 75% of every dollar you giver our friends and supporters at Neighborhood Partnerships, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, will come back to you as a credit that you can subtract from your state tax bill. The more you contribute, the lower your bill.

What's more, a significant share of the dollars you give will come back to us. So you'll be helping Portland Housing Center, and getting your IDA 75% Tax Credit too!

Find out more by visiting

http://ida.neighborhoodpartnerships.org/

Julie Practices What She Preaches

Oct 2010 homeowner Julie was a single mom trying to make ends meet and felt that buying a house was simply out of her reach. She had grown up in a house and was tired of living in apartments, so she decided to make some changes in her life.

Julie went back to school and eventually got a better job. She was finally able to start saving. She discovered the Portland Housing Center (PHC), took the "Financial Fitness" class and learned about the Individual Development Account (IDA) program. Having a match to help her with her down payment made home ownership seem much more possible.

Julie also learned about credit. She had always been afraid of credit, but she developed good saving and spending habits and was able to build a credit history that would help her get a mortgage with a good interest rate.

When she met and married Joel, she was still working toward buying a home, but the timing just wasn't right yet. The maximum amount that she could afford to spend wasn't very high and she was particular about where she wanted to live.

PHC's Homebuying 101 class taught Julie how to interview realtors and helped her find a great mortgage lender. The staff also reassured her as she went through the process and helped her work through the occasional snag. "They supported me until I succeeded!"

Julie finally found a "fixer-upper" in just the right neighborhood. She was able to close on her house one day before the federal tax credit expired. "Everything came together in the end. The IDA made a real difference."

The whole family has pitched in to remodel the neglected house and it looks really good. They had no remodeling experience before they started working on the house, but when they look around now, they feel a huge sense of accomplishment.

It was scary to make the first of thirty years of mortgage payments, but Julie knows that PHC will continue to be there to help answer her questions and encourage her to be successful. "The Portland Housing Center is an incredible resource."

She now works for a housing organization and is teaching other people how to set goals and learn to live independently with financial stability. She is an example of how it can be done and she has continued her habit of saving. She talks about PHC all of the time at work and has encouraged several friends to take the PHC classes, even if they don't think they are ready to buy.