FREDDIE MAC, TRANSITIONAL HOUSING BARN, INC., VA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION LAUNCH FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYER EFFORT IN PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY

McLean, VA – A new first-time homeowner initiative for families in transitional housing is underway in Prince William County, Virginia, thanks to several public and private organizations working together to offer homeownership counseling and workshops and a variety of mortgage products.

Under this initiative, Freddie Mac, BB&T, Transitional Housing BARN, Inc. (BARN) and the Virginia Cooperative Extension will help families in transitional housing become homeowners.

“Families in transitional housing are on their way to self sufficiency,” said Veronica Roth, Executive Director of BARN. “For the women in the BARN program, regaining their financial footing is an essential step to breaking the cycle of homelessness. Through the curriculum of CreditSmart^® and the help of BB&T, Virginia Cooperative Extension and Freddie Mac, we have an opportunity to provide education and real life change that can move families toward financial and housing security.”

BARN provides housing and access to supportive services and programs for homeless women and their dependent children for up to two years. BARN can house up to12 families at a time, and of these families, 98 percent obtain permanent housing and employment. Many of BARN’s clients are overcoming financial barriers and are struggling to find affordable places to live.

“Homeownership is the largest source of long-term wealth for many families and the path to owning a home begins with understanding the mortgage process,” said Craig Nickerson, vice president of Expanding Markets for Freddie Mac. The goal is to help more families overcome the key barriers to homeownership such as impaired credit, inadequate resources for down payment and lack of information about the home buying process. We look forward to working with BB&T, BARN and the Virginia Cooperative Extension to help more people become homeowners.”

BARN will identify individuals who are interested in pursuing homeownership and who have completed the BARN Life Skills Curriculum, which includes Freddie Mac’s CreditSmart financial education curriculum. Participants will learn about budgeting, credit, the home buying process, and maintaining and keeping a home.

The Virginia Cooperative Extension will provide pre- and post-purchase homebuyer education. In addition, BB&T will offer flexible mortgage products with low down payment. Freddie Mac will buy eligible mortgages from BB&T.

“Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Home Buying Education program prepares homebuyers to make choices that best suit their needs. Our program addresses use of credit, budgeting, home maintenance and all aspects of the home buying process,” said Joseph Botta, manager, Financial Education Program for VCE.

“At BB&T, part of our mission is to help make the communities that we live and work in better places. Helping borrowers achieve the dream of homeownership is what drives our lenders,” said Carol Ordess, BB&T regional mortgage manager for Manassas, VA. “We are honored to participate in this great initiative with such dedicated organizations as Freddie Mac, BARN and the Virginia Cooperative Extension. Helping to promote homeownership and affordable lending are areas where we can all work together to benefit more people throughout the Virginia area.”

A major tool within the housing initiative is Freddie Mac’s new Home Possible^SM suite of mortgage products, offered through BB&T. The Home Possible mortgage features low down payments and flexible credit requirements.

Today’s launch builds on Freddie Mac’s efforts to expand affordable homeownership in the metropolitan Washington, DC area. Over the past five years, Freddie Mac – one of the nation’s largest residential mortgage investors – has purchased $60 billion worth of mortgages in the Washington, D.C area, financing 438,000 homes.

Winston-Salem, N.C.,-based BB&T Corporation and its subsidiaries offer full-service commercial and retail banking and additional financial services such as insurance, investments, retail brokerage, corporate finance, international banking, leasing and trust. BB&T operates more than 1,400 financial centers in the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Indiana and Washington, D.C. With more than $120 billion in assets, BB&T Corp. is the nation’s 10th largest financial holding company. National consulting firm Forrester Research Inc. in 2003 named BB&T Corp. as the top financial services company in the nation based on “customer advocacy.”

Transitional Housing BARN, Inc. is a secular non-profit 501(c)3 organization providing temporary housing and supportive services for up to two years to homeless women and their children in Prince William County, Manassas City, Manassas Park and the surrounding areas. BARN has been providing housing and supportive services to families since 1997. To date, 10 mothers have purchased homes after leaving the program, and one mother reacquired hers.

Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) is part of a nationwide, research-based network of educators; we serve as the educational outreach arm of Virginia Tech and Virginia State Universities in cooperation with Prince William County Government and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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