Want to own your own home, but don't know where to start? Attend free homebuyer education at the Chinese Community Center.

The Chinese Community Center became a HUD approved agency in late 2008 and we are the only HUD approved agency in Texas with the ability to provide linguistically appropriate services in Chinese and Vietnamese. We are also a partner of the City of Houston’s Homebuyer Assistance Program. The Center’s financial education program is a participating organization for homebuyers who must complete at least eight (8) hours of homebuyer education to receive down payment assistance. Providing financial and homeowner education, the Chinese Community Center continues to benefit families paving their way to self-sufficiency.

At the Center, we aim to educate clients about various financial topics in order to assist them in building financial wealth. Increasing knowledge about credit and banking services, the more likely families will increase savings, buy homes, and improve their financial health and well-being.

We offer first-time homebuyers knowledge about eligibility for assisted home buying, homeownership, and rental housing programs in the area. We teach budgeting and financial management with the goal of helping homeowners avoid foreclosure or eviction. With these objectives in mind, we provide two types of counseling services: group education and one-one-one counseling on topics such as pre-purchase counseling, pre-purchase homebuyer education, financial management and budgeting for homebuyers, reverse-mortgage referral services, and credit counseling.

CLICK HERE to view the current Financial Education Workshops being offered.

With our local partners, we have a certified counselor to provide 8 to 12 course hours of home buyer education. Specific activities include :

Pre-Purchase Homebuyer Counseling:

• One-on-one counseling for pre-purchase, pre-rental, and searching assistance
• Mortgage calculation or rental payments
• Money management for individual needs
• Housing care and maintenance
• How to establish credit
• How to Improve credit score
• How to apply for housing assistance

The qualified counselor will provide group seminars on how to restructure debt, seek a loan for forbearance and how to manage household finances. Other issues include predatory lending and foreclosure presenting strategies. Will also explain the foreclosure process and assist clients with locating alternative housing.

The Center can also assist participants to understand various financial literacy topics, including :

• Available banking services and how to build a positive relationship with a financial institution
• How credit works and if they are ready to apply for credit
• How to use a checking account responsibly
• How to manage money by preparing a personal spending plan and identifying ways to decrease spending and increase income
• Ways to save money and savings options to save toward their goals
• How to protect their finances and identity
• How to read a credit report and how to build and repair their credit history
• Credit cards and how to responsibly use them
• General information on installment loans, including car loans and home equity loans

Lastly, on a seasonal basis we provide, through VITA (see Income Tax Assistance under Senior/Social Services), free tax preparation in order to assist low-to-moderate income families improve financial stability. By investing in free tax preparation services, we help hard-working, lower-income families keep more of the money they have earned.

We are here to help you progress towards financial independence. Please call us for more information or to make an appointment  for homebuyer counseling at (713) 271-6100.