March 29, 2008: At The Home Buyers' Fair
Story and Photos By Joe Zlomek
"It's our last call for the day's first seminar," said a man
holding a wireless microphone. On cue, a few stragglers wandered in and found
seats at a class titled "Homebuyers' Basics," the first of several
scheduled today (March 29, 2008) during the Home Buyers Fair at the Montgomery
County
Community College campus in Blue Bell PA.
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| A mortgage broker helps a potential client look for paperwork
during the annual Homebuyers' Fair held March 29, 2008, at Montgomery
County Community College in Blue Bell PA. |
Publicists billed the fair as a place to "come learn from the
experts" about the joys, challenges and pitfalls of buying and owning a
home. Its primary target: first-time buyers.
The fair's sponsor, the
Montgomery County Partners for Homeownership, is a coalition of public and
non-profit agencies and housing-related businesses. Members see the annual
event as a prime venue to provide local residents with information they need
to fulfill their own versions of the American Dream.
That the dream is still alive, despite a serious slump in home sales and a
sickened credit market, was evidenced by turnout for the opening session. The
classroom was filled to capacity by about 60 people, sending organizers
scrambling to find more chairs and tables to accommodate the crowd.
The Basics course was intended as an overview to a much broader discussion
with fair-goers about the particulars of buying and owning a home. Also
scheduled during the day were seminars covering home finance and insurance,
home maintenance, credit scores and credit reporting, obtaining a mortgage,
and grant programs that provide financial assistance for closings.
Outside the classrooms, at a series of many display booths lining the walls of
the College Hall cafeteria, were representatives of banks, real estate
brokers, mortgage companies, home inspectors, and other firms and agencies
offering assistance to home buyers, or those who wanted to be.
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| Gregory Malcolm and Shirley Fulmer of the Montgomeryville PA
branch of PNC Bank were among the vendors operating booths and
welcoming first-time and would-be buyers to the Homebuyers' Fair . |
The Saturday event also attracted people who probably wished they were
somewhere else: the children of parents attending educational sessions.
Some kids occasionally left the warm confines of College Hall to run around
outdoors. Unusually chilly spring weather quickly forced them back inside,
where they visited the adjacent college library or played games on
Internet-wired computers in the lobby.
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