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Appendix 2: Fannie Mae Foundation
Free Home-Buying Resources
The Fannie Mae Foundation creates affordable
homeownership and housing opportunities through innovative
partnerships and initiatives that build healthy, vibrant
communities across the United States. The Foundation is
specially committed to improving the quality of life for
the people of its hometown, Washington, D.C., and to enhancing
the livability of the city’s neighborhoods. Among other
activities, the Foundation provides aspiring home buyers
with information on how to buy a home.
The following is a list of free publications
that provide information on the home-buying process. To
receive a free copy, download from the Web site listed or
call the toll-free number.
Knowing and Understanding Your Credit.
Developed in collaboration with the National Endowment for
Financial Education, this guide helps consumers understand
what credit is and learn how to establish good credit, repair
credit problems, and take control of their credit as the
first steps in the home-buying process. To receive a free
copy of this guide in English, Haitian-Creole, Polish, Portuguese,
or Russian, call (800) 605-5200;* Chinese: (800)
524-1112;* Korean: (800) 793-6464;* Spanish:
(800) 541-6300;* or Vietnamese: (800) 851-1199.*
Or visit www.creditguide.org.*
Borrowing Basics: What You Don’t
Know Can Hurt You. This guide shows consumers what
predatory lending is and how it can affect them. It also
provides helpful tips on how to get the best loan and ways
to avoid bad loan choices that could result in the loss
of one’s home. For a free packet in English, Chinese,
Haitian-Creole, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish,
or Vietnamese, call (800) 605-7100 or visit www.homebuyingguide.org.
Opening the Door to a Home of Your
Own. This guide explains the home-buying process,
including how to finance a home and how the mortgage process
works. To receive free copies of this guide in English,
Chinese, Haitian-Creole, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian,
or Vietnamese, call (800) 688-HOME (4663).* For a
free copy of the guide in Spanish, call (800) 782-2729
or visit www.homebuyingguide.org.*
Choosing the Mortgage That’s
Right for You. This guide helps consumers learn
more about shopping for the right mortgage. To receive a
free copy of this booklet in English, call (800) 688-HOME
(4663).* For a free copy of the booklet in Spanish,
call (800) 782-2729 or visit www.homebuyingguide.org.*
Directory of Home-Buyer Resources.
Each directory contains a list of programs to help with
down payment assistance, housing counseling, and other programs
offered by nonprofit organizations and by city, state, and
federal governments. The directories are available for the
following cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver,
Durham, El Paso, Houston, Knoxville, Los Angeles, Miami,
New York, Philadelphia, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego,
San Francisco/Oakland, San Jose, Seattle, and Washington,
D.C. Download from www.fanniemaefoundation.org/homebuy/index.htm.
New Americans Guide: How to Become
a Citizen, How to Become a Homeowner. This guide
provides information on both citizenship and homeownership.
To receive a free copy of this booklet in English, Chinese,
Korean, or Vietnamese, call (800) 544-9213.* To receive
a copy in Spanish, call (800) 693-7557.*
Building Native Communities: Financial
Skills for Families. This financial skills curriculum
is designed for Native communities and includes material
developed to give Native people a firm foundation in financial
literacy. It offers culturally aware training and provides
Native people with the assistance to make good financial
decisions. Graduates of this program will have the tools
to build a stronger financial future. To receive a free
instructor’s guide with 20 free participant workbooks,
call (800) 659-7557.
ESL Curriculum: How to Buy a Home
in the United States. This English as a Second Language
(ESL) curriculum integrates language development with practical
knowledge of homeownership for intermediate to advanced
speakers. It promotes English reading, writing, listening,
and speaking skills through a variety of relevant educational
activities. Free classroom sets comprising one teacher’s
guide and up to 20 student workbooks can be ordered by calling
(800) 544-9224. Please specify the quantity of student
workbooks you would like to receive. You can view online
versions of the student
or teacher workbooks.
Literacy/Adult Basic Education Curriculum:
How to Buy Your Own Home. Similar to the ESL curriculum
but more advanced, this curriculum is for the adult literacy
student. Free classroom sets that include one teacher’s
guide and up to 20 student workbooks can be ordered by calling
(800) 539-4051. Please specify the quantity of student
workbooks you would like to receive. You can view online
versions of the student
or teacher workbooks.
The Fannie Mae Foundation also commissions
research on issues of homeownership and money management.
Personal Finance and the Rush to
Competence: Financial Literacy Education in the U.S.
The Fannie Mae Foundation commissioned the Institute for
Socio-Financial Studies to conduct a field study of the
current state of financial literacy education. The research
was designed to ascertain major trends in financial literacy
education, to learn what challenges are being faced by program
managers and educators, and to identify the strategies and
practices in use that are particularly effective. To request
a free copy, call (800) 665-0012.
Reaching the Immigrant Market: Creating
Homeownership Opportunities for New Americans. This
handbook, written in partnership with Georgetown University’s
Institute for the Study of International Migration, helps
financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, and other
housing industry practitioners adapt successful strategies
for their markets and communities, with information on understanding
the New American homeownership market; developing sustainable
homeownership practices for the immigrant market; determining
creditworthiness for the New American market; and making
homeownership affordable for the immigrant market. To request
a free copy, call (800) 665-0012.
Making New Mortgage Markets: Case
Studies of Institutions, Home Buyers, and Communities.
This study, which builds on a 1998 investigation funded
by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,
examines the lending and other strategies of a cross section
of institutions that are among the leaders in the effort
to expand homeownership opportunities for the traditionally
underserved. The 16 case studies include three national
lenders and one regional lender; four community lenders,
including minority-owned banks and banks specializing in
particular areas, particular products, or both; two of the
nation’s longest running lender consortia; and six
nonprofits that provide homeownership opportunities for
some of the most destitute populations in the United States,
such as Haitian immigrants and Native Americans. To request
a free copy, call (800) 665-0012.
BuildingBlocks: A Practitioner’s
Guide to Planning and Financing Community Revitalization.
This quarterly report strives to put innovative, useful
strategies for distressed-neighborhood redevelopment directly
into the hands of practitioners. BuildingBlocks explores
ways to connect capital markets to emerging communities.
It addresses fundamental operational issues for community-based
organizations. Each issue is devoted to a single aspect
of community revitalization. To receive a free subscription
to this quarterly report, please e-mail fmfpubs@fanniemaefoundation.org.
Housing Facts & Findings: Reporting
on Housing and Community Development Research, Evaluation,
Best Practices, and Innovation. This quarterly newsletter
provides information about housing and community development
issues. To receive a free subscription, please e-mail housingfacts@fanniemaefoundation.org
or download current and past issues from www.fanniemaefoundation.org.
Housing Policy Debate. The
goal of this quarterly scholarly journal is to provide insightful
discussion and original research on a broad range of housing
and community development issues. For example, articles
have explored the challenges facing public housing and neighborhood
quality, and how growth management practices affect the
supply of affordable housing. To receive a free subscription
to this journal, please e-mail fmfpubs@fanniemaefoundation.org.
KnowledgePlex™,
an additional resource sponsored by the Fannie Mae
Foundation,
is a comprehensive, interactive resource for sharing knowledge,
building relationships, and shaping the future of America
communities.
*If you would like to order multiple copies
of these publications, please call (800) 665-0012.
For a current list of Fannie Mae Foundation
resources, visit the Foundation Web site at www.fanniemaefoundation.org.
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