ELECTRONIC RESOURCES: Affordable Housing Services

Miami-Dade Neighborhood Housing Services (www.floridacdc.org/members/mdnhs/index.htm) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides affordable housing services to low- and moderate-income residents of Miami-Dade County. These services include homebuyer education and counseling, construction services, and mortgage lending.

The South Florida Community Development Coalition (www.floridacdc.org) provides policy development, advocacy, and public education services for neighborhood development corporations. Communications services include an e-mail list, faxes, and a Web site that keep local development corporations informed about legislative and other developments.

Freddie Mac (www.freddiemac.com) is a stockholder-owned corporation chartered by Congress to increase the supply of money that mortgage lenders—commercial banks, mortgage bankers, savings institutions, and credit unions—can make available to homebuyers and multifamily investors. By purchasing and securitizing home mortgages, Freddie Mac provides homeowners and renters with lower housing costs and better access to home financing.

The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) (www.liscnet.org) provides grants, loans, and equity investments to CDCs for neighborhood redevelopment. When LISC begins a new program, the national LISC matches locally raised funds to provide additional monies for community renovation.

Fannie Mae’s (www.fanniemae.com) mission is to help more families achieve homeownership in America. It provides financial products and services that make it possible for low-, moderate-, and middle-income families to buy homes. Visit one of Fannie Mae’s other sites (www.Homepath.com) to locate a Fannie Mae mortgage lender.

The Homeownership Alliance (www.homeownershipalliance.com) is dedicated to preserving, promoting, and expanding housing opportunities for all Americans. The site provides statistics on homeownership in America, discussions of barriers to homeownership, and a brief history of what Alliance members have done to help more Americans achieve homeownership.

The Ginnie Mae site (www.ginniemae.gov/ypth) provides an affordability calculator for individuals to determine how much they can afford to spend on a home as well as information on finding a home, applying for a loan, and accessing credit counseling. The site includes a list of prospective lenders in different parts of the country. Ginnie Mae is a wholly owned corporation within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that serves low- to moderate-income homebuyers. .