Most Homebuyer orientations and classes are currently being held online. Your first step is to sign up for an orientation. Click on the “Register Now!” button below and you will receive an email with a link to attend an orientation session. Your next step is to sign up for an 8-hour HomeBuyer Education Course. Please click on the “Sign Up” button below either the ONLINE HOMEBUYER EDUCATION COURSE or the HOMEBUYER EDUCATION COURSE - LOCAL VERSION. Please call (315) 474-1939 or email info@homehq.org with any questions or concerns. Once you’ve completed your online course, you can call or email to schedule a housing counseling session which is required for a course certificate. Please have patience with our housing counseling staff—at this moment, we are booking appointments two to three weeks out. Thank you!
Step 1
Homeownership Orientation “Live & Local”
Your first step on the path to homeownership is to attend Home HeadQuarters' free HomeOwnership Orientation! Orientations are currently offered online only. Our HomeOwnership Orientation covers:
Steps to Becoming a Homeowner
Programs and services offered by Home HeadQuarters
Homebuyer Education Course Overview
Each year, more than 800 individuals attend HHQ's orientation sessions, after which they have an opportunity to sign up for HHQ's certified homebuyer education course. Pre-registration is required. Register through one of the buttons below!
Step 2
Homebuyer Education Course - "Live & Local" Version
Most classes are online and offer a live and local version of our HomeBuyer Education Course on Tuesday and Thursday both in the mornings and evenings. HHQ also holds an in-person class on some Saturdays, both in English and in Spanish. This local version will include local lenders, home inspectors and insurers and will allow for questions throughout the sessions. HHQ also offers one-day, Saturday classes in both English and Spanish.
Our 8-hour Homebuyer Education course teaches the key aspects of purchasing a home including:
Understanding Credit & Developing a Monthly Budgeting
Mortgage Options & How to Avoid Predatory Lending
Realtor Relationships & How to Make an Offer
Purchase Contracts
Homeowner’s Insurance
What to Expect at Closing
Responsibilities of Homeownership
Classes are offered during the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, in four, 2-hour sessions. Our trained counselors incorporate popular current issues, such as sub-prime and predatory lending, foreclosure, how to obtain free credit reports, energy saving tips, and other relevant topics into the classroom discussions.
You will also be required to meet one-on-one with a housing counselor who will help you review your credit report, create a spending plan, repair your credit, decrease debt, and establish savings to become mortgage ready.
After completing the 8-hour Homebuyer Education Course, first-time homebuyers can be eligible to apply for Closing Cost Assistance.
COST: $50/person or $75/couple for weekday classes, $75/person or $100/couple for Saturday classes.
Online Homebuyer Education Course
This program was developed around the "Realizing the American Dream" educational text, created by Neighborworks® America. All items in this program are designed to enhance understanding of the homebuying process, from start to finish. Go to eHome America for more information
To participate in eHome America is $100.
In order to receive a certificate of completion from the HomeOwnership Center at Home HeadQuarters, you are required to attend a one-on-one counseling session after you have completed the online Homebuyer Education Course. To schedule your session, please contact us at info@homehq.org or (315) 474-1939.
eHome America ofrece su programación en español si es necesario.
Step 3
TO SCHEDULE A ONE-ON-ONE COUNSELING SESSION, PLEASE CALL (315) 474-1939 or email info@homehq.org TODAY.
1-on-1 Counseling
Determine where you are on your path to homeownership
Review and understand your credit report and score
Create a monthly budget and set savings goals
Work with your creditors to repair your credit and decrease your debt
Calculate how much home you can afford
Establish a personalized home buying plan
Post-purchase counseling is available for interested homeowners to help them understand how to navigate homeownership and how to address home maintenance needs, utility bills, budgeting for repairs, and avoiding predatory refinancing schemes that can put continued homeownership in jeopardy.
From Homeless to
Homeowner
When Crystal Otero found herself sleeping at a homeless shelter with her kids four years ago, she told herself that things were going to change. She enrolled in a graduate program to ultimately get a better job, moved to Syracuse for a better cost of living and signed up for Homebuyer Education at Home HeadQuarters. While she wanted to become a homeowner immediately, HHQ's housing counseling and first mortgage lending staff recommended she take time to work on her credit.
Countless phone calls and many sleepless nights later, Crystal is now the proud homeowner of a three bedroom, 2-car garage, fenced-in backyard home in Syracuse’s northern suburbs.
"It was hard, especially the waiting, but it was all worth it. Thank you Home HeadQuarters! I have a yard!"