Access to Down Payment Assistance Information Gets Local Boost in Minnesota

May 29, 2012 - PRLog -- Nearly two years after NorthstarMLS became the first organization in the country to offer Down Payment Resource, the first web-based down payment assistance search tool, a new local partner will help increase program visibility and help homebuyers seeking assistance. The Minnesota Homeownership Center will offer direct access to Down Payment Resource to homebuyers through its website, http://www.hocmn.org, and use its local expertise and partnerships to ensure the ongoing integrity of Minnesota-specific program information within the service.

Many first-time buyers are unaware that they may qualify for down payment or other assistance programs in Minnesota.  It can be especially challenging to understand the requirements, benefits and application process for multiple programs.  This new partnership combines Minnesota Homeownership Center's focus on sustainable homeownership through education and outreach with the content-rich online platform from Down Payment Resource.  From www.hocmn.org, homebuyers can click on the Down Payment Resource icon to answer eight simple questions to determine the homebuyer assistance programs for which they may qualify.

“A lack of information about the availability of down payment and entry cost assistance programs is one of the biggest barriers to affordable homeownership, especially for low- to moderate-income Minnesotans,” stated Julie Gugin, Executive Director of the Minnesota Homeownership Center.  “This new partnership will improve access to information that homebuyers need in order to become, and remain, successful homeowners.”

Down Payment Resource is the industry's first product to aggregate down payment assistance information into one online platform and to integrate the information into MLS listing data for homes currently on the market. The tool helps connect eligible homebuyers and eligible properties with assistance, bridging the down payment gap for homebuyers, as well as moving real estate transactions forward in a difficult lending environment.

More than 13,000 REALTOR® members of the NorthstarMLS currently use Down Payment Resource within its extensive listing database to find and share local assistance program information and eligible homes with their homebuyers. In the NorthstarMLS market, a significant majority of residential listings may be eligible for one or more down payment assistance programs. Through this new partnership, the Minnesota Homeownership Center will track and keep current hundreds of programs throughout the state.

“We are thrilled to work alongside partners that share our goal of empowering consumers with information on down payment and closing cost assistance," said Rob Chrane, president of Workforce Resource. "The Minnesota Homeownership Center's leadership in housing, statewide expertise and relationships across Minnesota with affordable housing stakeholders will help increase program awareness across the state."

About the Minnesota Homeownership Center
Minnesota Homeownership Center is a nonprofit organization that promotes successful and sustainable homeownership for low- and moderate-income Minnesotans through counseling and education services for first-time home buyers and those struggling with foreclosure. The Center leads Homeownership Advisors Network, a statewide network of more than 50 nonprofit partners across Minnesota.

For more information, please visit http://www.hocmn.org.

About Workforce Resource
Founded in 2008, Workforce Resource® is a web-based software company with a mission to connect people with hard-to-find financial resources for better living. In 2010, the company launched Down Payment Resource to help turn potential home buyers into qualified buyers by connecting them to down payment assistance funding that they may not have otherwise known existed. DPR, winner of the 2011 Inman News Innovator "Most Innovative New Technology" award, is made available through Multiple Listing Services and is available in markets including, Minneapolis; western Wisconsin; suburban New York; central Florida; northern Illinois; southern Wisconsin; Tucson, Arizona; Reno, Nevada; western North Carolina; and northern New England. The product's assistance program information is expanding rapidly for nationwide coverage.

For more information, please visit http://www.workforce-resource.com.