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Housing Counseling

Help Buying a New Home

Even if you have a low to moderate income, there are many programs and options available to help you buy a home.

If you're interested in buying, but not sure you're financially prepared, the housing counselors at Westmoreland Community Action and Mon Valley Initiative can help you realize your dream of home ownership.

Housing Counseling is FREE! Our programs are approved by both the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) to provide housing counseling.

Our Housing Counselors will be glad to meet with you in person to determine if you are financially ready to buy a home or if you need to improve your credit score first.

Even if you're not ready today, it may only take a few months to turn around your credit rating and become eligible for home ownership.

Once you know you’re ready for home ownership we can provide support during the whole process of buying a home.

  • We’ll help you determine the price range of the house you can afford to buy.
  • We’ll talk with you about the steps in buying a home and answer all your questions.
  • We offer group sessions where we discuss things like home insurance, planning for hidden maintenance costs, how to save and plan for utility costs, real estate taxes and more.

Programs to Help You Pay for a Home

Our goal is to help you find a new home where you can afford the monthly payments and comfortably handle your other financial demands. We do this by working with a number of local lenders and federal and state agencies to find the best financing and mortgage rates in today’s market and any extra assistance that may be available.

You may be eligible for down payment and closing cost assistance if:

  • Your total household income is within a certain range (usually 80% of the Area Median Income), or if you are:
  • First time homebuyer
  • Veteran
  • Disabled or need an accessible home
  • Displaced homemaker