Money, Money, 50 Get Grant Money

By: Alicia Schuller, Marketing Coordinator, NHS of Baltimore

45 minutes into Live Baltimore’s “Buying into Baltimore” Home Fair and Tours and our table was nearly empty. We participate twice annually at the Live Baltimore events and I have yet to see so many people come through the event at one time as I did this past Saturday. The hosts of “Buying into Baltimore” announced that about 900 people had registered for the event and that well over 700 would make their way through the vendor’s floor at Baltimore City College High School.

According to a story in last Wednesday’s issue of the Baltimore Sun, Live Baltimore contributed the upsurge in interest in the event to the special grant being offered to homebuyers who buy into the specific neighborhoods in east Baltimore. The grant, which was made available to the first 50 people who registered for the event and go on to further fulfill the specified requirements, will provide $3,000 to help cover down payments and closing costs. Down payment and closing costs are what often times leave first-time homebuyers feeling like owning a home is out of their reach.

The event was a complete success for NHS of Baltimore. We had over 40 people sign up to take our homebuyer education and financial fitness classes and several more visited our table just to tell us how great their experiences with us has been. As a HUD certified housing and credit counseling organization, many people come to us for their homebuyer education certificates, often times required by the state of Maryland for first-time homebuyers receiving financial aid.

If you did not attend the “Buying into Baltimore” event you truly missed out. Live Baltimore offers the event twice a year, usually once in the fall and once in the spring. I highly suggest you attend at least once and take the tour of the neighborhoods and homes. Baltimore has a lot of potential to offer but that potential will never be achieved until people start believing and investing in this great city once again.

Next spring, NHS of Baltimore hopes you’ll come by our table and say hello.