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The Nashville Realtist chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) held a Community Wealth Building Day on Saturday, April 22. The event was held at the Looby Community Center, 2301 Metro Center Boulevard, in Nashville. The theme for the day was “Building Black Wealth Through Homeownership” and the event was held as part of NAREB’s national initiative to increase homeownership among African Americans.
“The mission of NAREB Nashville, (the Nashville chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers), is to bring together minority professionals in the real estate industry to promote a meaningful exchange of ideas about our business and how to best serve the under served” says 2017-2018 local NAREB board president LaTonya Martin.
Saturday’s program was one of many the local NAREB chapter is doing. Three Community Sessions during the day provided free education to the attendees on such topics as credit, home buying, financial security, and many more topics related to wealth building through real estate. Gold sponsors First Tennessee Bank and ABL Realty Services sponsored food, give-a-ways and prizes for attendees.
The morning began with a Community Session presentation entitled “Down Payment Assistance Available to You” moderated by members of the Tennessee Housing and Development Agency. It was followed by another entitled “The ABC’s of Home Buying — What to Expect & Preparing to Buy for 2017” with three sub-topics, as follows: Budget, Credit, Money Management (foreclosure prevention) / residential resources; Do’s and Don’ts of Home Buying / Steps to Homeownership – Affordable Housing Resources; and The Closing and Insurance Process – You Can Make It Homeownership, Inc.
Also present at the event was Vivian Wilhoite, current Metro Assessor of Property and former Metro Council Lady. She was interviewed on the radio by 92Q FM’s Ernie Allen. This is a busy time for Wilhoite, as the new assessment values are being released, and she encouraged property owners to contact her office if they have concerns about their assessment valuations. Allen also interviewed Ms. Martin and others at the event.
During the Community Day Luncheon break, there were a Welcome message by Ms. Martin, “the NAREB Message” and the Partner Spotlight. Throughout the day, there were vendor tables with NAREB participants and other organizations giving items and ongoing financial check-up services in addition to home buyer interviews.
The afternoon session was entitled “Show Me the Money! ABC’s of Home Mortgages and Lending” presented by Ken Hampton with First Community Mortgage.
That afternoon attendees were given the opportunity to receive a free credit report and to work 1 on 1 with a HUD approved counselor on-site.
A counseling resource room was made available where a HUD counselor could assist the consumers to understand their credit and home mortgage loan qualifying readiness as well as homebuyer / mortgage borrower assistance programs available to them. The on-site initial counseling intake session also registered the consumers with the HUD counselor to receive the full range of housing counseling services that the HUD agency provides, such as rental, reverse mortgage for seniors, and financial literacy counseling for long-term financial success. Closing remarks were given by Ms. Martin.
“To aid in service to our target market, we promote training and educational opportunities for the entire membership across the many disciplines we represent,” according to Ms. Martin. “Our ability to professionally serve our clients base is the foundation by which we operate. We strive to create an environment where creativity flourishes in both the workplace and marketplace. We are dedicated to the Realtist commitment—” Democracy in Housing.”
NAREB was founded in 1947 out of a need to secure the right to equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed or color. Since its inception, members have participated in various meaningful challenges and legislative improvements to establish fair housing for all. Their national goal is to bring together the nation’s minority professionals in the real estate industry to promote the meaningful exchange of ideas about the business and how best to serve their clientele.
