Increase Your Home-Buying IQ at Saturday Fair

Home sales in the Los Angeles area jumped 33% in the second quarter of 1996, more evidence that the housing market is heating up and making it more important than ever to be a smart house hunter.

For a one-day course in savvy shopping, come to the Los Angeles Times Home Buyers Fair, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Burbank Hilton and Convention Center, 2500 Hollywood Way.

Along with 35 exhibitors, including Realtors, lenders and governmental housing agencies, the fair features two one-hour workshops presented in the morning and the afternoon.

The first workshop, “Starting Out,” will run from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. and will be followed by another workshop, “Your Mortgage,” from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The same workshops will be repeated from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Fair-goers can also meet with experts from the IRS, the Department of Real Estate, Consumer Credit Counseling, California Housing Finance Administration and Veterans Affairs, as well as Realtors and lenders.

Home buyers can get pre-qualified for home loans and learn about the various mortgage programs available when buying a house.

This year’s fair will offer special sessions on the Internet, giving home buyers computer tools that they can use when buying and selling homes. The cost is $6 a person, or $5 with a coupon. Please see the ad on K5.