The Greater Owensboro Realtors Association (GORA) offered a class, Adulting 101: The Basics of Home Ownership, at Owensboro Community & Technical College Monday.
Three local Realtors and a loan officer spoke to nearly 40 students about a 12-year process leading up to homeownership from cultivating a credit score to walking away with the keys to a new home.
“With Owensboro being one of the top cities in the nation for millenials, we thought what better way to reach that demographic than to team up with OCTC and discuss the benefits of home ownership in our community,” said Realtor and GORA Public Relations Committee Chairman Tyler Shookman.
During Monday’s session, students asked several questions about creating healthy credit scores for mortgage pre-approval and also best practices for debt to income ratios. Students reported currently paying $500 to $800 in rent. Realtors were able to address home ownership and comparisons to monthly rent payments while respectfully addressing the unique needs of individual cases.
“In Daviess County home ownership is more affordable than people think, especially in comparison to what people pay in rent,” Shookman said. “We discussed loan programs with little to no money down, credit scores, and the steps to take to get pre-approved for a home loan.”
According to Dr. Meredith L. Skaggs, associate professor of communication, OCTC provides several session outside of school curriculum through the Merit Event program, which encourages students to always be on the lookout for learning.
“Learning about homeownership is a realistic and quickly approaching responsibility as college students,” Skaggs said. “We want students to not only be engaged and effective employees when they graduate, but to be responsible and confident members of the community.”
