Homeless to Homeownership

Homeless to Home Ownership

Your journey from homelessness to home ownership is straightforward because you already know what you want. ,,you want your home! The difficult part is getting started or where can you begin? But getting started is also easy because UNISM as well as many other organizations are here to help you to realize your dream of homeownership. Let us take one step at a time.

Consult with a HUD Housing Counselor
A HUD Housing counselor can help you with rental assistance, purchasing affordable housing and providing you with other living resources. You may contact a HUD Housing Counselor from the following website: https://hudgov-answers.force.com/housingcounseling/s/. You may also call the following number for more information: (800) 569-4287.

Get accommodation immediately
If you are living on the street the first thing you need to do is to ask for accommodation from your family or friends. If this does not work then you need to get into a shelter but continue to look for accommodation and leave the shelter as soon as possible.

Get a Job and Keep it
Keep your job by all means if you were working before you became homeless. If you have no job, make an effort to get one immediately. Jobs could transform your mind because you are a part of something; you are also contributing something and you get paid for it. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has many programs for the homeless. You may contact SAMHSA by calling 518-439-7415 Ext2 or sending an email through soar@prainc.com. Are you homeless, disabled, a veteran or having mental health issues? You are covered….call SAMHSA for more information.

Housing Options
There are many housing options if you are homeless, low income, a veteran, a senior or someone with some difficulty or disability. You could qualify for housing assistance, subsidized housing or supportive housing. You can find out more about your housing options from your housing counselor or you may go to the following websites for more information:

  1. Subsidized Housing: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing
  2. Help Resources: ​https://www.211info.org​
  3. Housing for persons with disability: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing
  4. Senior Housing: https://www.seniorliving.org/hud-senior-housing-programs/
  5. Homeownership Assistance Program: https://www.hud.gov/states/oregon/homeownership/buyingprgms
  6. Affordable Housing List in Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/ohcs/development/Documents/applicants-recipients/OHCS-Aff-Hsg-List.pdf

 

Pay off Your Debts
Begin to pay off your debts the moment you start making an income. The debts won’t disappear because you are homeless. If you want the debts to disappear you could file for bankruptcy but before you do that you need to find out more about the consequences of filling bankruptcy including how it will affect your credit.

Improve Your Credit Score
If you want a loan to purchase your home you need to repair your credit score and improve it. You need a good credit score in order to be approved for a housing loan. It is that important. Here some ways to repair and improve your credit score:

  1. Check your credit report for errors and fix them
  2. Pay your bills on time
  3. Get a credit card if you do not have one.
  4. Pay off your credit card balance at the end of each billing cycle.
  5. Reduce the amount of debt you owe.
  6. Wait for negative items like bankruptcy to expire.

Save for you Home Down Payment
It is always wise to save for the future even if you do not have any reason to save because you could lose your job, get sick, be disabled, get old or be affected by something outside your control. Now that you are planning to have your home saving a certain amount of your income every month is very necessary. Determine when you want to buy your home, how much of a down payment you need and decide on the amount of your monthly saving.

Work with Your Housing Counselor
Work with your Housing Counselor to answer your questions, address your concerns and to help you with a plan for your homeownership. Your Housing Counselor can also advise you on how to buy a home, homebuyer education, down payment assistance and everything you need to know to make your home buying easy.

Buying your Home
In an uncertain world anything can happen and that includes getting sick, disabled and unemployed. Ask yourself if you can still pay your mortgage if your source of income is no more?  If you cannot pay your mortgage when you lose your job what can you do now to ensure the continuous payment of your mortgage? Let us assume that you could secure a second source of income and you will continue to pay your mortgage even if you lose your primary source of income. In other words you are sure to continue to pay your mortgage no matter what happens. Even under such a scenario consider buying a small house that will not put too much burden on you.

UNISM is Tax Exempt Under Section 501(c) (3) in the United States. Homelessness complicates life in general but we can help ease their challenges by giving them food, water and blankets that puts smiles on their faces. Thank you for your donation. You may contact us at UNISM, 10746 SE Highway 212, Clackamas, OR 97015. Phone: 503-309-0083