Goodbye 2021, hello 2022! As we ring in the new year and pursue our goals for the next twelve months, we wanted to look back at some of our favorite On the House blog posts from 2021.
We hope this recap will provide helpful information to anyone whose New Year’s resolution is to buy a home in 2022 while also shedding some light on the state of the rental market and how we continue to respond to the challenges of these unique times.
While many Americans were able to shelter-in-place at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, members of our community who didn’t have a place to live were left uncertain about how to protect their health while unhoused in an unprecedented pandemic. Learn about the challenges that surrounded temporary shelters and how one of the graduate’s of TSAHC’s Texas Supportive Housing Institute created space for some of Texas’ most vulnerable residents.
Historically low interest rates combined with a high-demand for single family homes made for an unexpectedly competitive market for home buyers in 2021. Although we still have yet to see which trends will affect this year’s housing market, we’d recommend checking out our advice to home buyers on how to make an offer appealing to sellers without outbidding the competition.
Given the skyrocketing activity that took place in the housing market last year, it’s no doubt that the demand for down payment assistance (DPA) programs was higher than ever in 2021. Yet even despite the fact that more and more Americans are utilizing helpful homebuying resources like these, there are still a lot of misconceptions about how DPA works. If you’re curious about using a DPA program to buy a home, we’d recommend checking out this On the House podcast episode, where we sit down with Sean Moss, Down Payment Resource’s Senior Vice President and Director of Operations, to debunk some common myths that home buyers hear about down payment assistance.
While federal student loans may have been in forbearance throughout 2021, many Americans are still struggling with student debt, especially when trying to make the leap into homeownership. Luckily, it is possible to buy a home even when carrying student loan debt! In this episode of the On the House podcast series, we sat down with TSAHC-approved lender Aubrey Miller with the Q&A Mortgage Team at Cardinal Financial to break down everything you need to know about applying for a mortgage when you have student loan debt.
Each year, the National Alliance to End Homelessness publishes the State of Homelessness report, which details the number of individuals experiencing homelessness across the nation. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the estimated number of individuals experiencing homelessness in Texas was 27,229. Meet participants of the 2021 Texas Supportive Housing Institute and learn their plans for continuing to house the families and individuals who are experiencing homelessness in Texas.
Admittedly, 2021 came with challenges for renters, homebuyers, homeowners, and unhoused individuals alike. We think that this blog post, which contains data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, highlights an opportunity for action as the 2021 report found that not only are Texas’ average hourly wages lagging behind average rental costs, but Texas’ average fair market rental costs have increased by nearly 20% in the past four years. We encourage you to read the full blog post for more information.
While we hope we aren’t tooting our own horn by mentioning this, one of our favorite events of 2021 was when we were able to change the income limits for our down payment assistance programs! Not only did this change make it easier for us to fulfill our mission, but it also increased the number of home buyers that we can serve through our programs. Check out the full blog post to learn more about income limits and why TSAHC made these changes.
In the end, we're excited about the above resources we can provide and our notable accomplishments in 2021 while knowing there is a lot of work to do in 2022. From all of us at TSAHC, we wish you all the best in this new year, and we look forward to supporting each other in the months to come!
If you're interested in learning more about TSAHC's accomplishments from this past year and what we hope to achieve in 2022, check out our Draft 2022 Annual Action Plan which is available for public comment until January 21, 2022.
On the House blog posts are meant to provide general information on various housing-related issues, research and programs. We are not liable for any errors or inaccuracies in the information provided by blog sources. Furthermore, this blog is not legal advice and should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney.
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