Homebuyer workshops are popping up around the US — here are 8 things you’d learn

You don’t have to be ready to buy.Flickr/strelka

For most, homebuying seems to be an overly complicated process.

Viewed from a wider lens, you have multiple steps — mortgage application and approval, making an offer, competing with other buyers, contract negotiation, the due diligence period and (hopefully) a successful closing — rolled into one larger process that leads to your home purchase.

For something the majority of Americans will undertake at least once in their lifetime, shouldn’t it be easier?

All told, simplifying the homebuying process is hard without taking out key elements that ensure honest lending, sales negotiations and understanding of the details of the deal for both the buyer and seller. But resources for homebuyers to better get a handle on the process are growing.

First-time homebuyer workshops are popping up throughout the U.S. as real estate agents, lenders and agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have taken up the task of providing more transparency for homebuyers about getting approved for a mortgage, making an offer and preparing to close on a home.

This is particularly important as new buyers flood the market. First-time buyers make up about 35 percent of homebuyers in the U.S., according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2016 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

For many, an education in jumping into homeownership is necessary. “They’re coming in fresh and brand new and just wanting to understand the whole process,” says Darlene Bharath, a housing counselor for Belair-Edison Neighborhoods Inc., a nonprofit housing organization in Baltimore and a HUD-approved counseling agency.

Of the 50 people that typically attend the organization’s semimonthly homebuyer classes, between eight and 10 have spoken to a lender or real estate agent so far, but the rest aren’t quite ready, says John Watkins, also a housing counselor at Belair-Edison Neighborhoods Inc.

Homebuyer workshops aren’t exclusive to first-time buyers. Jessica Diaz, a Realtor for Coldwell Banker Residential Services in the Atlanta area who puts on first-time homebuyer workshops with colleagues, notes clients listing their home with her decided to attend her recent workshop because they previously purchased their home from the builder and wanted a refresher course on the buying process for an existing home.

“It took the edge off, because [buying and selling] can be scary to do at the same time,” Diaz says.

A first-time homebuyer class can be key to pointing out steps you may have previously been unaware of, walk you through some of the challenging aspects and help you identify the right timing and location for your home purchase.

Here are eight things you’ll learn in a first-time homebuyer boot camp.