WALLINGFORD — Buying a home is a goal for many Latinos across the United States. However, not every Latino has historically been able to achieve that dream whether it be due to a lack of resources, financial stability, racism and homeownership information readily available to Spanish-speaking communities.
However, Latino homebuyers are increasingly becoming a prominent force in the home-buying market in the U.S. The homeownership rate of Latino Americans rose to about 48% in 2021, with 657,000 more Latinos owning a home in the U.S. compared to 2019, according to a report from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. A 2021 Urban Institute study also predicts that 70% of new U.S. homeowners will be Latino by 2040.
Nonetheless, buying a home still poses many challenges and questions for many Latinos wanting to make the big decision of becoming a homeowner. Only 33.7% of Latinos owned a home in Connecticut in 2020, according to the Urban Institute. The Spanish Community of Wallingford, located at 284 Washington St., hosted a free event on Saturday for aspiring homeowners to learn and get their questions answered from industry excerpts in Spanish.
The industry representatives at the event included Mayra Perez, a real estate agent from Showcase Realty, Jocelyn Zapata, a mortgage adviser from Movement Mortgage, Octavio Dominguez, a house inspector from Grizzly House Inspections LLC and Gabriela Rivera, co-founder of Durango Insurance.
Zapata mapped out the importance of buying over renting a house. She explained that houses usually go up in value and your monthly mortgage payment is invested in your pocket, building equity in your home. Also, interest payments are usually tax-deductible.
“It is a wise investment,” Zapata said. “Because you’re going to be making money in your own home from the moment you move in.”
She said one of the essential first steps to buying a house is finding the right team of experts — a real estate agent, an experienced lender and an insurance agent. Next, you would want to kickstart the process of getting mortgage pre-approval, which is the process of determining how much money you can borrow to buy a home. This involves submitting your loan application, collecting necessary documents and exploring your different loan options with your reliable real estate agent.
Real estate agents “need to know what your budget is before they go look for houses because maybe you want a $500,000 house, but that’s going to have a monthly payment of $4,000 a month. So the most reasonable would be a house of $250,000. So it is very important to know how much you can take out,” Zapata said.
One factor that can affect your pre-approval for a loan is your income. Having a stable income assures the lender that you can pay your monthly mortgage payment so your loan application may have you include your car and credit card payments, school loans and other debts to assure reliability, which is why it’s important to have good credit before starting the process of buying a home.
Lenders would also want to see what money potential buyers have in their checking and savings accounts as well as other investments, which can also affect the results of your pre-approval for a loan.
Zapata introduced three types of programs that are popular among new homeowners — conventional loans, Federal Housing Administration loans and an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.
Conventional mortgage loans are not backed by a government agency and often require a good financial profile, a minimum credit score of 620 and a minimum down payment of 3-5%. FHA loans are often attractive for first-time buyers because it offers the option of a low down payment of 3-5% and a minimum credit score of 580. Also, you can still qualify for an FHA loan if you have a bad financial history like a bankruptcy, for example
The Internal Revenue Service issues ITINs to individuals who need to comply with U.S. tax laws and account for tax returns and payments and are not eligible for Social Security numbers. ITINs are issued regardless of an individual’s immigration status so both residents and nonresident aliens can file for an ITIN for federal tax reporting.
After an offer has been accepted for your new home, as a new homeowner it’s best to schedule a home inspection to ensure the home you purchased is safe and well-built. Dominguez explained that oftentimes a house may look perfect at first glance, but imperfections in various areas of your home like the ceiling, electricity and plumbing, to name a few, are often found only after carrying out an expectation.
“There is a risk you are taking when paying for a home,” Dominguez said. “Many times they are going to make the house beautiful and more presentable to sell to everyone. Would you want to sell something that is falling apart or would you want to earn more money for a house that is more arranged?”
Enrique Sepulveda came to the event to support and learn from his colleagues because he also works in real estate.
“I’m here to support,” Sepulveda said. “And possibly try to help the Spanish community with any questions that they might not be able to provide answers to, or anything like that. But realistically to educate the general public and to see if there’s anything that maybe I need to learn, because we don’t always know everything. But it’s always good to be more educated.”
Source: myrecordjournal.com