Mobile Unit Touts Low-Cost Homes, Loans
An Orange County nonprofit group has created a mortgage office on wheels to reach more ethnic communities and explain how to apply for low-cost home loans.
Housing costs have become employers’ biggest barrier in recruiting and retaining employees in Orange County, where more than six out of 10 residents cannot afford a typical home.
In fact, most public service workers cannot afford to live in the municipalities they serve, according to a study by the Orange County Housing and Community Development Department.
The median home price in the county in May was $241,000, according to figures released last week by Acxiom/Dataquick Information Systems Inc. of La Jolla, a real estate research firm.
At a ceremony Saturday in Santa Ana attended by Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), leaders of the community group and other speakers urged renters not to give up the dream of homeownership.
The customized recreational vehicle equipped as a mobile office will help the Affordable Housing Clearinghouse, a Lake Forest-based group devoted to developing lower-cost homes, take its homeownership message directly to communities.
The vehicle and the mortgages were funded by a $20-million grant from Merrill Lynch & Co.
Visitors can apply for home loans with no down payment, have instant credit checks completed and have their questions answered in English, Spanish or Vietnamese.