Resources

What We Do

NMCAA's mission is to enrich communities by empowering our neighbors to make confident homeownership decisions, build wealth, and achieve a higher quality of life through sustainable and profitable programming.

Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency, Inc.(NMCAA) .

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Is Homeownership Right For Me?

What is Group Education?

The decision to rent or buy depends on your financial situation, your lifestyle, how long you expect to remain in a certain area, the prevailing mortgage rates and rents in your area, and many other factors.

If you’re a renter, it can be frustrating to write a rent check every month and have no home equity to show for it at the end of the year. But if you aren’t certain that you’re going to stay put for a few years, it’s probably not the right time to buy—equity or no equity. You should not buy property and automatically assume that you’ll be able to rent it out or sell it when you move.
Ask your homeownership advisor for his/her assessment. There are also a myriad of tools available online to calculate the financial benefit of renting or buying, depending on your situation. Here are a few that may be useful –
What can I expect when I engage with Group Education?

Owning a home takes time and hard work and it is perhaps the greatest financial investment you may ever make. It’s essential that you protect your new asset through home safety precautions, sound household budgeting, and regular home maintenance. As you pay down your mortgage over time, you have the satisfaction of knowing that you are building equity for the future. You also will gain pride in ownership, personal stability, potential tax benefits and be a part of building a stronger community.

Practically, you should expect to spend time and money on maintenance and house-related tasks –cleaning, repairs, improvements, landscaping/yard work, and more. Please see
How do I get started?

The amount of money you can afford to pay for a home depends on many factors, including your income, your debt, your monthly expenses, the amount of money you can contribute to the purchase up front, among other factors. The maximum dollar amount that a bank will agree to lend you should be the upper limit; in most cases, it is advisable to borrow less than this amount.

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Pre-Purchase Counseling

Appraiser

An appraiser will estimate the market value of a house, make sure that the house meets minimum property standards/requirements and verify that the house is marketable. As a buyer, you will not work directly with the appraiser, but the price you pay for a house is in part based on the value of the home assigned by the appraiser prior to listing or in conjunction with the buyer’s mortgage loan application.
Attorney

Your Housing Counselor will review your financial information, identify any obstacles to getting a mortgage loan, and work with you individually to create a budget and next steps customized to your unique needs. Your counselor will assign a few tasks at a time, and as you complete them, you will take progressive steps toward mortgage-readiness, and ultimately homeownership.
Homeownership Advisor
To get started with Pre-Purchase Counseling, please create an account. If you are logged in, please visit the Services page.

Budgeting

What is Financial Capability?

A budget is a plan for your money. It allows you to track the money going in and out of your household. A budget can also help you prepare for large or unexpected expenses, encourage savings, identify wasteful spending, and help you accomplish financial goals, such as becoming a first-time homeowner, or improving your credit report.
What can I expect when I engage with a Financial Capability counselor?

The sessions will include financial metric review and goal setting, credit report review, creating a budget, and the assignment of tasks that support your progressive movement toward achieving your financial goals.
How do I create a budget?
To get started with Financial Capability, please create an account. If you are logged in, please visit the Services page.

Credit Readiness

What's a credit report?

A credit report is a point-in-time summary of historical borrowing and repayment activity that provides insight into your financial status and obligations. It contains information about your credit, some bill repayment history, and the status of your credit accounts. This includes how often you make on-time payments, how much credit you have available and are using, and whether a debt collector is collecting on money you owe. It can also contain rental repayment information and public records such as liens, judgments, and bankruptcies.
What can I expect when I engage with a Renter counselor?

. You can receive a free credit report once every 12 months from each of the three reporting companies. Your free report does not include a score; you must purchase your score directly from the reporting agency.

You should check your report at least once a year to make sure there are no errors that could keep you from earning credit or the best available loan terms. For consumer protection information, go to
How do I get started?
A credit score is a number that is used to predict how likely you are to pay back a loan. It is derived from information about you obtained from your credit report. Most scores range from 300-850. A higher score gives you more loan options and may result in a better interest rate.

Foreclosure Intervention Services

What are Foreclosure Intervention Services?

Foreclosure Intervention Services help homeowners who are facing foreclosure and risk losing their home or are having difficulty making their mortgage payments.
What can I expect when I engage with a Foreclosure Intervention counselor?

The Foreclosure Intervention counselor will discuss your financial situation with you and offer guidance and information on options for avoiding default or foreclosure. The objective for these individual counseling sessions is to find a way to help you keep your home.
How do I get started?
To get started with Foreclosure Intervention Services, please create an account. If you are logged in, please visit the Services page.

Reverse Mortgage/HECM Counseling

What is Reverse Mortgage/HECM Counseling?

A Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) is a type of reverse mortgage that is insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Reverse Mortgage/HECM counseling helps seniors, who are interested in converting their home’s value into cash, navigate the process for determining eligibility and obtaining a loan. Reverse Mortgage/HECM counselors may also assist seniors who are at risk of defaulting on a HECM loan.
What can I expect when I engage with a Reverse Mortgage/HECM Counselor?

Reverse Mortgage/HECM counselors cover several required topics to ensure that seniors are fully informed about how a HECM loan works. Counselors will cover eligibility, loan amounts, loan limits, and future repayments. Reverse Mortgage/HECM counselors may also identify possible risk of default if the borrower fails to pay real estate taxes, homeowner association fees, or other recurring assessments.
How do I get started?
To get started with Reverse Mortgage/HECM Counseling, please create an account. If you are logged in, please visit the Services page.

Post-Purchase Counseling

What is Post-Purchase Counseling?

Post-Purchase Counseling helps individuals sustain homeownership by supporting the homeowner in engaging as a good neighbor in the new community, maintaining the home and protecting the investment, and keeping finances in check. Post-Purchase Counseling often helps people avoid the pitfalls that can lead to default or foreclosure.
What can I expect when I engage with a Post-Purchase counselor?

Post-Purchase counselors will help you create and maintain a realistic budget, work with you to avoid credit and debt issues, provide checklists and tips for maintaining your home, and ensure that you are informed about the responsibilities related to owning a home.
How do I get started?
To get started with Post-Purchase Counseling, please create an account. If you are logged in, please visit the Services page.

Homeless Counseling

What is Homeless Counseling?

Housing counseling agencies may provide a variety of services for individuals and families that are currently experiencing homelessness or that may be facing homelessness. While the counseling agency may focus on addressing both short-term and long-term housing needs, counselors may also connect individuals and families to other types of supportive services that could include access to food and clothing, physical healthcare, mental healthcare, employment services, protection from domestic violence, and other vital services along the continuum of care within a community.
What can I expect when I engage with a Homeless counselor?

You can expect the housing counselor to inquire about your current living conditions and basic human needs. The counselor will be an empathetic listener, will work with you to provide options and access to community resources targeted to address your most immediate needs, and will establish a plan for addressing longer term needs and goals over time.
How do I get started?

Resources

What We Do

Is Homeownership Right For Me?

What is Group Education?

What can I expect when I engage with Group Education?

How do I get started?

Pre-Purchase Counseling

Appraiser

Attorney

Homeownership Advisor

Budgeting

What is Financial Capability?

What can I expect when I engage with a Financial Capability counselor?

How do I create a budget?

Credit Readiness

What's a credit report?

What can I expect when I engage with a Renter counselor?

How do I get started?

Foreclosure Intervention Services

What are Foreclosure Intervention Services?

What can I expect when I engage with a Foreclosure Intervention counselor?

How do I get started?

Reverse Mortgage/HECM Counseling

What is Reverse Mortgage/HECM Counseling?

What can I expect when I engage with a Reverse Mortgage/HECM Counselor?

How do I get started?

Post-Purchase Counseling

What is Post-Purchase Counseling?

What can I expect when I engage with a Post-Purchase counselor?

How do I get started?

Homeless Counseling

What is Homeless Counseling?

What can I expect when I engage with a Homeless counselor?

How do I get started?