Three local women have launched a new program that will help first-time home buyers break into the real estate market-and possibly win $10,000 towards their first home.
It’s called the “First-Time Home Buyer Boot Camp” developed by Bradford’s, Debbie Viverios and Newmarket’s Stephanie Vincec and Gemma Leggett.
Viveiros is a mortgage broker with Mortgage Edge in Bradford and says the idea to create a first-time buyer program came after dealing with so many single moms looking to buy a home.
“This for me really aligns with my personal goals of putting single moms into houses. That’s where the idea came from,” she explained.
She reached out to her realtor friend from Remax Hallmark, Legget to see if she would be interested in teaming up to create a program that could help not only single moms, but first-time home buyers as well. Leggett was immediately on board with the idea.
Leggett then connected with her financial advisor friend, Vincec of Keybase Financial Group to see if she wanted to join the two women in their passion project.
“We help young first- time buyers everyday and I think what we’re finding is that they lack information and they lack confidence because they don’t have a plan, so our goal was to really put a plan together that someone could follow week to week, month to month, and be ready for home ownership confidently within six months,” explained Viveiros.
The program will encompass three parts:
A meeting with Viveiros to go over the qualifications for a mortgage, a customized financial plan with Vincec, and finally, a house search with Leggett.
“I think the biggest myth is that young people can’t afford a home or that pricing of homes is too high, when in reality there are very affordable homes on the market,” explained Viveiros.
The program launches Sept. 16, where first-time buyers can fill out an application on their website for the six month program. The women will go over the applications and put forward the families who are ready to make a purchase within the next six months.
The three ladies have pooled together their own money to create an incentive prize of $10,000 to one lucky winner that completes the program successfully.
“Our goal is to get as many individuals in Simcoe County on a customized plan for their first time home buying experience,” said Viveiros.
“We want to ensure the winner is the one who gave the most effort in this program."
The results will be based on a few factors, including how much money was saved, how much money was put towards a down payment, how much a credit score has gone up and finally, an essay component on how well the person/people think they did with their progress.
“We will have them document the process, what it meant to them and how they overcame challenges," said Viveiros.
The women are currently looking for any sponsors who want to be part of the program to add to their list of prizes. Preferably from home design type of businesses.
“We are hoping to find local sponsors for our program, so anyone who doesn’t win the contest can walk away with some prizes for their homes,” explained Viveiros.
“At the end of the day if you don’t win the $10,000, you’ve received our customized plan, all of our time and attention and hopefully helped you into your first home.”
The program is free and will give first-time buyers all the information and tools necessary to prepare them for home ownership. Even if applicants don’t qualify for the program this time around, the women will automatically put them on a plan to qualify for the next session in the spring.
“If there are individuals who come through the program who we feel we can’t prepare within six months...we are automatically going to put them in next year’s program and start them today anyway. So we aren’t turning anyone away,” explained Viveiros.
As this is their first time running the program, they are nervous but hopeful that it will be a success.
The home buying process can be overwhelming with a lot of information to process, and the goal is to break down everything down for individuals step by step.
“We’re going to help them with filling out forms, line them up with programs that they are eligible for. It’s really about helping people on a much broader level,” explained Viveiros.
Anyone who enrolls in the program will automatically be put into a private Facebook group where they can connect with other potential buyers and communicate about the home buying process. The women will also be fielding questions from the group and providing in-person seminars throughout the community.
“I think there’s a myth that young people today will never get into a home and what we find when we look at people’s budgets it’s really about deciding what’s important and giving up the things that are more frills in our lifestyle and instead, taking that money and putting it towards a down payment,” explained Viveiros.
“I’m really hopeful the program will be an eye opening experience for young people,” she said.
To learn more about the program and to fill out an application, check out their website here. Applications will be accepted from Sept. 16 to Oct. 31st.
