- Last Updated on Monday, 29 January 2018 17:42
If you’re renting an apartment or living with relatives, Jonathan Weaver, a housing counselor with Mon Valley Initiative (MVI), wants you to consider putting your tax refund toward a down payment on a house of your own.
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| An MVI House |
“When you get your tax rebate check, you naturally want to spend the whole thing on something fun,” says Weaver. “If you’re renting, I’m suggesting to put a portion of your refund aside and invest in your future in 2018.”
MVI partners with group in Charleroi, Monessen and elsewhere to rehabilitate homes and commercial buildings and provide financial coaching and job placement services.
For potential homeowners interested in Charleroi Borough, there’s an especially sweet deal available. From now until June 2018, qualified homebuyers can receive up to $10,000 in down-payment and closing cost assistance through Washington County. Call 724-565-8040 for details.
MVI’s housing counseling program, launched in 2004, provides one-on-one advice about applying for a mortgage, getting a home inspection, working with a real estate agent and avoiding problems in the home-buying process. The program is supported with a grant from Citizens Bank.
Since its inception, the program has counseled nearly 5,500 people. More than 2,000 of them have purchased homes, and more than half of those homes were in the Mon Valley. In 2017 alone, more than 90 people who received counseling from MVI purchased homes.
“Not everyone decides that homeownership is right for them,” Weaver said. “Some people decide they want to save more money first, or that they’re better off renting. And that’s fine. But for people who do decide to buy a house, we want to make sure they have a good experience, and hopefully encourage them to stay in the Mon Valley,” he said.
In addition to its one-on-one housing counseling, MVI also runs ‘homebuyer’s clubs’ - evening group sessions, usually with a guest speaker - throughout the year. Six sessions are planned in 2018.
For information about down-payment and closing cost assistance available in Charleroi Borough or about housing counseling at MVI, or to be notified when the next homebuyer’s club is scheduled, call 724-565-8040 or email jweaver@monvalleyinitiative.com.
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