Home ownership isn’t just one single event in your life, it’s a long-term commitment. The process of buying a home, maintaining a home and avoiding foreclosure can be confusing, even for the most informed buyers and owners. Luckily, there are professional housing counselors that can help you every step of the way. Read on to learn how a housing counselor can be a valuable member of your home ownership team and how they can help you be a successful homeowner.
What is a Housing Counselor?
A housing counselor is an experienced housing professional who has extensive training on helping clients buy homes and stay in them. Housing counselors work through housing counseling agencies that are sponsored by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). If you have housing-related problems or just want to know how you can best attain your housing goals, you may want to see a housing counselor.
What Does a Housing Counselor Do?
A housing counselor can do many things for their clients through their HUD-approved agencies. Through one-on-one counseling discussions, a trained counselor can help you through every stage of home ownership, including buying a home, making on-time payments and even avoiding foreclosure. Just a few things that a housing counselor can do for you include:
- Providing pre-purchase counseling
- Explaining complicated mortgage documents
- Helping you understand and decide on mortgage products
- Assisting you with budget management and payment planning
- Providing information about local resources
- Giving you information and assistance to avoid foreclosure
- And more!
What Does it Cost to Talk to a Housing Counselor?
When you choose to work with a HUD-approved housing counselor on any step of your home ownership journey, you can rest assured that any costs will be minimal. Agencies don’t charge a fee for direct counseling services, but you may be asked to pay a small charge to cover any supplemental services or resources, such as having your credit report pulled or participating in online and in-person education. These costs are small compared to the help you can get buying a home, maintaining your payments and avoiding foreclosure.
How Do I Get in Touch with a Housing Counselor?
If you are ready to talk with a housing counselor, HUD maintains a list of agencies in North Carolina that are approved to offer housing counseling services to home buyers, homeowners and senior citizens. You can view that list at www.HUD.gov.
