LIHU‘E — In the past, some first-time home-buyers on Kaua‘i may have failed in attempts to buy in a tight housing market because they didn’t know how to handle money, county housing officials said. For some, those days may be
LIHU‘E — In the past, some first-time home-buyers on Kaua‘i may have failed in attempts to buy in a tight housing market because they didn’t know how to handle money, county housing officials said.
For some, those days may be long gone, thanks to those at the Hawaii Homeownership Center (HHOC) on O‘ahu, whose leaders have been training low- to-moderate-income Kaua‘i residents to prepare for the day when they can realize their dreams of owning their homes, or renting with the hopes of one day owning, Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste said.
The program has been a resounding success, Baptiste told reporters during a meeting in his office at the Lihu‘e Civic Center Mo‘ikeha Building.
When HHOC officials opened their doors on Kaua‘i last September, their goal was to enroll 100 students.
To date, members of around 90 families have completed the program, and from this group 10 percent have already bought homes or are about to buy homes, Baptiste said.
“I think, besides creating affordable housing, it is our responsibility to get the target group ready for home-ownership, or those who are ready to rent,” Baptiste said. “The hope is that we can match up existing residents with the pool of resources that are going to be created.”
Baptiste announced recently that 700 housing units will be built within the next two years, through partnerships involving leaders of nonprofit groups, developers and the county.
About half of the units will be homes people can buy, and the other half will be multifamily units people can rent, he said.
Genie Brown, an education coordinator with HHOC, welcomed the high turnout for the Kaua‘i program.
“We are very pleased with the interest Kaua‘i residents have shown in the program, and look forward to reaching out and helping more families,” Brown said.
HHOC leaders began offering the classes after officials in the Baptiste administration secured a $40,000 Community Development Block Grant from the federal government for such purposes.
For the program to continue, HHOC leaders will have to re-apply for the grant funds, they said.
Leaders at the center, located at the Gentry Pacific Design Center at 560 N. Nimitz Hwy., Suite 213, on O‘ahu, offer homebuyer education, one-on-one case management, individual credit counseling, and referrals to real-estate agents, lenders and insurance companies.
HHOC leaders selected Kaua‘i as the first Neighbor Island to go to because Kenneth Rainforth, executive of housing in the county Offices of Community Assistance County Housing Agency, suggested HHOC officials would have a good chance to secure the federal grant, administered by county officials, Baptiste said.
Rainforth said more people will have their chances at getting into Kaua‘i’s affordable-housing market by being smarter in the way they handle money.
And the education folks will receive through the program will give them hope of reaching their housing goals, Rainforth predicted.
“In my 26 years with the housing agency, I have seen far too many first-time home-buyers lose their opportunity to purchase a home, not due to insufficient income, but because of a bad-credit rating resulting from poor management of their personal finances,” Rainforth said.
Rainforth said that bad credit and other obstacles facing first-time home-buyers can be corrected over time, many months or years, in some cases. But people can reach their goals if they persevere, Rainforth believes.
“Essentially, all the information and services one needs to become a home-owner are covered in the classes,” he said. A program participant must go through one, eight-hour session, to complete the work, Baptiste said.
County leaders want to help those who help themselves, Baptiste and Rainforth said.
In the future, county officials would like to see program participants placed on a priority list for affordable-housing projects, Rainforth said.
“What I really feel is that this (program) should be a prerequisite to getting into affordable-housing projects,” Baptiste said.
Rainforth said he is working on a proposal to be sent to members of the Kaua‘i County Council that would require those who build county-sponsored projects, as well as private developers who build such units as a requirement for their projects, to give preference to residents who participate in such education programs and are deemed ready to buy a home by officials in the Kaua‘i County Housing Agency.
“Everyone would benefit from this arrangement,” Rainforth said.
The program would be open to anyone, but the target groups are these: families of four with household incomes of $51,700 or less; families of three with incomes of $46,500 or less; families of two with incomes of $41,350 or less; and individuals with incomes of $36,200 or less.
Lehua Malott knows the benefit of having participated in the program. Two years ago, she was on welfare, and thought she would never see the day when she could buy a home.
“It became a matter of wanting to own a home badly,” said Malott, who decided to take HHOC classes.
She bought a home, and today she flies to Kaua‘i once a month to counsel program participants during classes offered at the Lihu‘e Civic Center. A teacher also helps out.
Free home-buyer orientation classes are offered on Kaua‘i once a month. Topics include an introduction to home-ownership, assessment of home-buyer readiness, and a description of the home-buying process, county officials said.
A $100 fee is assessed for those who attend the home-buyer-education classes, although a part of that is refunded when the participant becomes a home-buyer, Brown said.
Please call toll-free, 1-877-523-9503, for more information on the HHOC’s orientation program or the home-buyer classes.
- Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
