Category : General

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4 Step Guide to Buying an Accessible Home

Are you planning on buying an accessible home soon? If so, you may be wondering where to start with your search and the entire buying process. Whether this is your first home or not, figuring out the steps needed to find a home that fits your lifestyle can be a challenge. Which is why we created this handy list of steps to guide you through the process.

Selling Your Current Property

If you currently own a home, chances are you need to sell it before you can purchase your new one. Before you list your current property, however, be sure to use a home value estimator, for example, to determine just how much it may be worth. While these sorts of online real estate tools are not meant to replace a professional appraisal, they can at least provide a realistic picture of how much you can expect to net from the sale of your home. Listing agents will have more insight into your home’s value, and these professionals can also provide practical tips for marketing your home to buyers. Working with a listing agent can take the stress out of selling your home, but you will need to take some steps on your own to stage and prep your home for a quick sale.

Preparing Your Budget & Finances

As you research the current value of your old home, you should also look for online tools that will help you figure out a budget for your new home.  These calculators and worksheets can really take the hassle out of calculating a budget on your own. Coming up with a comfortable budget will also require you to take a good look at your current debts and financial obligations, which can also be beneficial when it comes time to apply for a home loan. So pull free copies of your credit report from all three bureaus, and then review them to ensure that everything is correct and that there are no surprise debts or hits that could prevent you from getting the best rate on your new mortgage.

Once these initial financial steps are figured out, you can start shopping for financing and get pre-approved for a loan, which can make your offer more attractive to sellers. If you have a credit score of at least 620, you may qualify for a conventional loan. These loans offer fixed or adjustable rates, and if you put 20 percent down, you can avoid having to pay for mortgage insurance.

Finding Your New Accessible Home

Taking care of the critical financing and planning steps above can ease some stress. Still, you will also want to plan your home search carefully, especially since you will be looking for a home with accessibility features. This is especially true if you are not sure which features you need in a new home, so think about doing that homework and coming up with a list of features that matter the most to you. This can include wider entryways and halls to allow for the use of a wheelchair or even access to public transportation from your new neighborhood. Be sure to share this list of accessibility features with your buyer’s agent, so that they can narrow down the list of local properties to streamline your search and find the best home for your needs.

Making Your New Home Your Own

So while you may be able to find a home with a few of the features on your list, you should know that making accessibility modifications may be needed before your new home is absolutely perfect for you. If you’re concerned about covering the costs associated with these upgrades, you may be able to use certain programs and financial tools to help offset those expenses and avoid paying for them out of your own pocket. Once you have a plan for making any needed home upgrades, you can move on to taking other steps to make that new house really start feeling like your new home. Start by unpacking a few essentials and favorite items or decorative pieces that give you comfort, but also try to take things one room at a time, to avoid stress.

Work through this list of home buying tips and steps and you can take some of the guesswork out of finding your perfect new accessible home. Of course, it also helps to have expert local real estate pros at your side.

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Learn How Our Program Works

Everyday Hero Housing Housing Assistance Fund was created in 2011 with a mission to help our nation’s teachers, doctors, nurses, fire and police professionals, and social workers with their home purchases. Since our founding, we have helped thousands of families get into their dream home, and in the process we have given out hundreds of thousands of dollars in gift funds to help cover closing costs.

Over the last 15 years we have recruited, interviewed and trained a national network of passionate, dedicated real estate agents and mortgage lenders who appreciate the sacrifices community heroes and their families make for this great nation.

By having this network in place, we are able to specialize in the home purchase process for local everyday heroes. Our entire team is assembled with the goal of providing you with gift funds to cover your closing costs.

Is EHHAF some sort of scam?

Absolutely not. There are some misinformed, skeptical voices online who have asked if our program is a scam. We want to address their questions head on. Our program has helped thousands of families get into homes, and you can read testimonials directly from our happy clients here

We have developed a network of licensed, highly-experienced real estate agents and lenders who are a part of this program because they want to give back to our nation’s heroes.

How does EHHAF work?

We have assembled a network of agents and lenders who are experts in negotiating for concessions on behalf of community heroes like police, firefighters, teachers, doctors, nurses, and social workers. They are strong, experienced and passionate about fighting for every dollar you deserve during the home buying process.

This highly-experienced, and highly-specialized network allows us to connect you with a team who will do everything they can to secure closing cost assistance funds for you during your home purchase.

To get started, you must submit an application here. Then, you will have an orientation conversation with an EHHAF agent, who will explain the full and complete details of the EHHAF program. Once that conversation has been completed, they will move your application to the next step and assign your lending team to get the pre-approval process completed. Once the pre-approval letter has been issued, you will be assigned a real estate agent in the area in which you are wanting to make your home purchase. 

How do I get my money?

Your agent will negotiate the best price for your home and for concessions to be used toward your actual closing costs from the seller. The gift funds from MHAF will be given as a contribution toward the remainder of your actual closing costs. The mission is to get your actual closing costs down to a smaller, more manageable amount left for you to pay or down to $0 if possible. 

Keep in mind, our program is designed to return gift funds to you, in the form of a reimbursement check after a home purchase. Historically, when the funds have been given before the closing, if for any reason the transaction does not close, the funds have never been returned. Like any other real estate purchase, you will be responsible for down payments, pre-paids, inspection fees, and earnest money.

What money do I have to pay?

The program costs you nothing to utilize. The grant funds are free, never have to be repaid, and the services are completely free.

Once again, you will be responsible for down payments, pre-paids, inspection fees, and earnest money just as you would with any standard real estate purchase.

Our approved lenders will be very open and transparent with you about the costs associated with your home purchase, and any out-of-pocket fees you will have to cover during the home-buying process.

Can you guarantee that I will get a certain amount of money?

We are unable to give you an exact number for your free gift funds because every real estate transaction is different. However, our entire organization is designed to keep your out-of-pocket costs to a minimum and your financial benefit to a maximum during your home buying process.

We have a very high success rate of our clients not having to contribute any of their own funds toward their actual closing costs, but we cannot promise this with every purchase. In many cases, you can end up with surplus funds from EHHAF with which you can do as you please.

What if I have bad credit?

While we can work with those who have credit issues, at the end of the day, it is important that you have the necessary credit capability that will allow you to qualify for a mortgage. Feel free to contact us, and you can speak with one of our no-pressure mortgage brokers about your situation.

What if I already have an agent or a lender?

Our program works because the agents and lenders in our network have been trained to give extra assistance to our nation’s heroes. Your entire team is focused toward an end goal of lowering your out-of-pocket expenditure as we help you navigate the home buying process. 

As such, we cannot offer the same assistance and results if your real estate agent or lender are outside of our network and are not trained or approved to work with the program.

Are you a non-profit?

EHHAF is a fund of The Virtual Sports Academy, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, formed in 2006 for exclusively charitable and educational purposes. The Virtual Sports Academy battles childhood obesity and educates the general public about health, fitness, and sports training through creating and providing professional sports training information and products at no cost to people of all income levels.

Through Everyday Hero Housing Assistance Fund (EHHAF), The Virtual Sports Academy (VSA) is working to promote and assist home ownership in an effort to create strong, vibrant communities for our everyday heroes by inspiring lifestyle choices that encourage health and promote healthy neighborhoods and schools.

Thank you!

We appreciate your interest in EHHAF! You can help us reach more of our local heroes by passing on the word about our program to a friend. This program is very beneficial to community heroes and with your help, we can reach out to more of our soldiers who could take advantage of this assistance. 

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California Homebuyer Assistance Program for Police, Firefighters & Teachers

If you are a firefighter, police officer, teacher, social worker or medical worker in California, you have found the perfect homebuyer assistance program! At EHHAF we offer special gift funds for our nation’s everyday heroes to help you cover your down payment costs.

69% of all Americans own their own home, and yet, less than a third of young service professionals and their families are able to afford a home. There are many reasons for this, including a large student loan burden that makes it more difficult to save up for the down payment and the closing costs. Closing costs can reach into the thousands of dollars on a typical home purchase, which puts ownership out of reach for many public workers. As a grateful nation, we can do better!

EveryDay Hero Housing Housing Assistance Fund, founded in 2011, works with home buyers in California to help them cover their closing costs. Our mission is to expand housing opportunities to teachers, doctors, nurses, fire and police professionals, and social workers and to promote the value of homeownership as the foundation for building strong communities and personal security for men and women serving their communities.

If you are interested in applying for our free gift funds to cover your closing costs, head to our application page and get in touch with our team of expert agents and lenders.

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Florida Homebuyer Assistance Program for Police, Firefighters & Teachers

If you are a firefighter, police officer, teacher, social worker or medical worker in Florida, you have found the perfect homebuyer assistance program! At EHHAF we offer special gift funds for our nation’s everyday heroes to help you cover your down payment costs.

69% of all Americans own their own home, and yet, less than a third of young service professionals and their families are able to afford a home. There are many reasons for this, including a large student loan burden that makes it more difficult to save up for the down payment and the closing costs. Closing costs can reach into the thousands of dollars on a typical home purchase, which puts ownership out of reach for many public workers. As a grateful nation, we can do better!

EveryDay Hero Housing Housing Assistance Fund, founded in 2011, works with home buyers in Florida to help them cover their closing costs. Our mission is to expand housing opportunities to teachers, doctors, nurses, fire and police professionals, and social workers and to promote the value of homeownership as the foundation for building strong communities and personal security for men and women serving their communities.

If you are interested in applying for our free gift funds to cover your closing costs, head to our application page and get in touch with our team of expert agents and lenders.

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Helping This Police + Teaching Family

It was amazing to work with this couple who do so much for their community. As a police officer and a teacher we were able to bring them into our program to connect them with the resources they need and to work on their behalf to earn them gift funds to cover their closing costs.


“EHHAF has been the best decision of our lives. With their support and guidance, we were able to find our dream home. They were always available for our million questions as we were inexperienced in this process. It truly couldn’t have been a smoother process. Thank you EHHAF for making our dream a reality!”

– Yasel H. and Kelly L.

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We Helped These Teachers Get into a Home

Finding a home in a very popular market can be extremely difficult, especially on a teacher’s salary. This testimonial comes from a couple who researched diligently to find a program that would be able to assist teachers in their situation. Luckily, they were able to find our program. We were happy to connect them with the right resources and work to get their closing costs covered through our gift program!


“The Everyday Hero Housing Assistance Fund greatly helped my husband and I find and purchase a house in one of the most expensive regions in the United States to purchase a home. I am a high school teacher of five years and absolutely love my students and the community in which I teach but the cost of living made it difficult to find a home. I researched diligently to find a program that might be able to assist teachers and came across EHHAF. From our communications with our EHHAF agent, to our real estate agent Holly, and the team at Mortgage Solutions Financial, we were able to close on a house we could afford with the closing costs paid for. We are able to continue to live in the area we love and I am able to continue to try to make a positive difference in the lives of the children here. We could not have done it without the Everyday Hero Housing Assistance Fund! Thank you for everything!”

– Teddi and Rodney

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No Program Was as Helpful as Ours

At Everyday Hero Housing Assistance Fund, it is our mission to work with public service workers and help them get into new homes while helping them reduce their closing costs. This family below was able to find a new home after more than two years of home hunting troubles. As a teacher and a social worker, they were able to get into our program so we could help them realize their dream!


“My wife and I are so grateful for the help of EHHAF! For over 2 years we looked for the best homes, bank loan offers and programs to assistance us in our home search and no program was as helpful as EHHAF. It was comforting to know that because my wife is a teacher and I’m a social worker that we were finally seen as everyday heroes and that we would receive assistance in purchasing our first home!

The process was convenient, efficient and rewarding. It took just a few months to complete what we had been trying to accomplish for so long. The EHHAF became our heroes when we were able to finally close on a home that we fell in love with!”

– Darrick W.

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Another Satisfied Family

We were thrilled to work with this amazing family and get the connected with the agents and loan resources they needed to move their family into a new home. At the end of the process, our team was able to help get their closing costs covered as well.


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Our experience with the Everyday hero was amazing. The EHHAF team helped tremendously and the process went smoothly. Compared to the tons of paperwork involved with buying a house, I didn’t even notice getting approved through EHHAF.

The one thing that I did which helped tremendously is buying a printer that scans and sends the documents directly to your computer. Most of the process is online and requires you to send in documents that you have scanned. Going to Fedex/Kinkos every time you need a document would delay the process and not be feasible.

Have fun and enjoy the process and talk to your neighbors before you buy the house, we found out we have amazing neighbors on both sides!

Thank You,

Shawn H.

9 Facts About Labor Day

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Here at Everyday Hero Housing Assistance Fund, Labor Day is very close to our heart. We are honored to have helped so many hard-working public service workers around the country and make available to them our low-cost mortgage program that covers their closing costs.

So to celebrate the occasion we wanted to bring you some little-known facts about this great American holiday:

  1. The first celebrated US Labor Day was on Tuesday, September 5, 1882 in New York City, planned by the Central Labor Union.
  2. 10,000 workers marched from City Hall all the way to 42nd Street and then met with their families in Wendel’s Elm Park for a picnic, concert, and speeches.
  3. Oregon was the first state to celebrate Labor Day as a legal holiday in 1887.
  4. The decision to make Labor Day the first Monday of September was approved on June 28, 1894.
  5. Labor Day started as a part of the labor union movement, to recognize the contributions of men and women in the US workforce, but modernly is seen as a chance to celebrate the last weekend of summer.
  6. Americans worked 12-hour days seven days a week during the 19th century!
  7. The Adamson Act was passed on September 3, 1916 to establish an eight-hour work day.
  8. Historians say the expression “no white after Labor Day” comes from when the upper class would return from their summer vacations and stow away their lightweight, white summer clothes as they returned back to school and work.
  9. There is still a Labor Day parade in New York City, which takes place throughout the 20 blocks north of the 1882 labor march.

We do our best to honor the public service workers, police, firefighters, teachers and medical professionals who are so dedicated to their communities. For many of the folks we have worked with, they wouldn’t have been able to get into a home without the help of our dedicated professionals.

To learn more call 720-932-8249 or email us.

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Firefighter Testimonial

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At Everyday Hero Housing Assistance Fund we love to hear back from the people who have used our program to secure free gift funds to cover their closing costs when they buy a home. Take it from this firefighter below who was able to work with us to purchase his new home!

My thanks to all the wonderful people at the Everyday Heroes Housing Assistance Fund. They were excellent to work with. They helped me find a realtor and mortgage company that were well in-tune with my needs and budget. I would highly recommend them to anyone. My realtor, John Barrett from Keller Williams, and my mortgage broker, Michael DeMorato from Prime Lending, helped me find a house and the right mortgage for my needs. Their professionalism and assistance through every step of the process were greatly appreciated.

My thanks again,
Brendan Murphy