VALDOSTA — Opening doors for potential homeowners is the purpose of a weekend housing fair.
The Housing Resource Fair is being hosted from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday by Housing Resource Solutions and the Lowndes County branch of the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Office. The fair will be held at the Lowndes County Civic Center, 2102 E. Hill Ave.
The event is free to the public.
The idea of the fair is to bring community partners together in helping educate the public on housing opportunities, said Kelley Thomas, housing specialist and owner of Housing Resource Solutions.
“This is something they cannot afford to miss,” she said.
There is a large gap between affordable housing, housing programs that are available and people who need to be connected to those resources, she said.
The housing fair is an effort to provide citizens information on affordable rental housing, the homeownership process, first-time homebuyer down payment programs and incentives (including the first-time homebuyer tax credit), affordable new construction housing and foreclosure prevention information.
“This is the first time we’ve done something like this of this magnitude and of this level,” Thomas said.
The housing fair will allow people to gain information on affordable rental housing, she said.
A representative from the Valdosta Housing Authority will be on hand to talk about the application process and eligibility requirements for residency within the authority.
There will also be discussions on affordable rental housing for the elderly, Thomas said.
Homeownership will be a topic of discussion, with information on various programs, grants, incentives and the importance of home inspections.
People will learn about down payments, the closing process and the purpose of a Realtor, Thomas said.
Programs like Dream Valdosta, USDA incentives and the Georgia Dream Program will be discussed.
Habitat for Humanity will discuss its programs and education classes on becoming a homebuyer, she said.
The Lowe’s Katrina Cottage will be presented as an additional avenue of affordable housing.
The cottage is perfect for small lots and can be built for about $70,000, Thomas said.
The Lowe’s Katrina Cottage was designed by Marianne Cusato, after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.
The concept of the cottage is a small, permanent home designed as an alternative to the FEMA trailer. Dream Valdosta Homeownership workshops and classes are offered each month by the City of Valdosta, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the Georgia Dream Program and various DCA certified agencies within Valdosta.
The Georgia Dream Homeownership Program helps low to moderate income families and individuals purchasing homes by offering fixed, low-interest rate mortgage loans.
Presenters will include Habitat for Humanity, the Valdosta Housing Authority, UGA and Fort Valley State University Cooperative Extension Program, the City of Valdosta, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, USDA-Rural Development, D and E Group, Premier Home Inspection, Coleman Talley Law Firm, Housing Resource Solutions, Lowe’s Home Improvement of Valdosta, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, American Realty of Valdosta and Colonial Bank.
For more information, call Housing Resource Solutions at (229) 257-0318.
On the Web:
www.dca.state.ga.us/ housing/homeownership/index.asp
www.lowes.com/katrinacottage
Local News
Fair to focus on affordable housing
- Local News
-
-
Search for survivors continues
Helmeted rescue workers raced Tuesday to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives, including those of nine children.
-
Curator offers arts a helping hand
If you’ve been to the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts in the past four years, you have seen the quiet art of Bill Shenton.
-
Albino gators visit Wild Adventures
Two rare albino American alligators have joined the other gators at Wild Adventures for the summer.
-
Officers wound man in shootout
A Lanier County man was wounded Saturday during an exchange of gunfire with lawmen, according to a Lanier County Sheriff’s Office press release.
-
Woman fights to live after cancer
To be whole again, the desire that sometimes overwhelms chair-bound Mandy Painter, fuels the Realtor each day through walking lessons during physical therapy and it's also what could see her through a cutting-edge program in Boston, where world-class neurologists can reawaken her cerebellum and see the mother of three to her feet again.
-
North Ashley Street closed following accident
A Sport Utility Vehicle traveling north on North Ashley Street drove into a telephone pole Monday morning, resulting in the closure of the road.
-
Gornto extension half complete
The Gornto Road extension project is more than half-way complete, and could be finished ahead of the one-year deadline contractors were given when the project was approved Oct. 11 by the Valdosta City Council.
-
Nashville honors history, musical tradition
There were more than a few Nashville residents and guests from out of town fiddlin’ around Saturday to celebrate the grand opening of the Georgia Humanities Council and Smithsonian New Harmonies exhibit, celebrating roots music from the state and across the Deep South.
-
Locals, out-of-towners come out for food, fun at Peach Festival
The Morven Peach Festival drew a smaller crowd than usual in its 26th year, but planners weren't complaining.
-
Coliform found in drinking water
The cause of a water quality issue is still under investigation by the City of Valdosta Utilities Department after a water sample taken from a line in the area near the intersection of St. Augustine Road and West Hill Avenue tested positive for coliform bacteria.
- More Local News Headlines
-
