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Free Courses Offered On Buying Home

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By JO-ANN JOHNSTON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 1, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - Yes, property taxes are up, and so are home foreclosures, but people still long to buy their own home.

The nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Florida & The Florida Gulf Coast Inc. is offering one of its free courses for first-time home buyers starting this week. The course will be offered in two class sessions, from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday and Oct. 11 at the West Pasco County Government Center, 7530 Little Road.

Historically, Consumer Credit Counseling attracts 80 to 100 people when it offers a home buyer course in Pasco County, according to Karin Klaasen, a community relations manager for the agency. Courses also are offered periodically at locations in Zephyrhills and in Dade City, and residents are encouraged to take the course well before they start shopping for a home, perhaps months before.

Completing the course is a requirement for anybody who wants to apply for the home buyer assistance programs offered by Pasco County to low-income residents. Many lenders also prefer that prospective borrowers take the course, Klaasen added.

But anybody buying a house for the first time can benefit from the eight hours of instruction, special worksheets and guest speakers, Klaasen said. The course helps people understand what price house they actually can afford, how to qualify for a mortgage and shop for interest rates, and what different kinds of property-insurance risks they will encounter, from sinkholes to hurricanes and other perils.

'You have a chance, in a neutral venue, to ask questions,' Klaasen said. 'It's anonymous, and you're not obligated to anything.'

That's because Consumer Credit Counseling is a nonprofit organization strictly geared to financial counseling and education, rather than the sale of loans or other financial products. The counseling service is one of the 26 nonprofit agencies that gets money each year from United Way of Pasco County to bring its services to local residents.

The service is planning to offer the home buyer course in Dade City, from 6 to 9 p.m. on consecutive Thursdays, Nov. 1 and 8.

To register for a course, call 1-800-741-7040 and dial 4. Parents and guardians should note that no child care is available during the course sessions. To visit the service's Web site, go to www .cccsfl.org.

Reporter Jo-Ann Johnston can be reached at (352) 521-3062 or jfjohnston@tampatrib.com.

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