Working families in the Puget Sound area can begin dreaming again about the
possibility of owning their own home
SEATTLE, May 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Parade of Affordable
Homes(SM) event is designed to be both fun and educational for those
contemplating homeownership for the first time. This event is free and open
to the public and organizers encourage you to visit
http://www.AffordableHomeParade.org to browse Parade Showcase Homes and
plan your personalized tour.
The Parade of Affordable Homes will initially take place in King,
Snohomish, and Pierce counties and will last over two weekends, June 16 -17
and June 23 - 24. Almost thirty traditional and non-profit builders have
joined the Tacoma-to-Everett Parade to showcase a variety of homes priced
from $160,000 to $350,000.
Primary sponsors for this first annual Parade of Affordable Homes
include Washington Mutual, IKEA, BECU, and AlaskaUSA Mortgage. A local
television campaign will drive potential first-time homebuyers to the
official event website, http://www.AffordableHomeParade.org. Tour
participants will collect stamps from Showcase Homes in a "Parade Passport"
that can be entered into daily drawings for a $1,000 Shopping Spree at
IKEA. Homeownership Fairs in each county will have informational booths as
well as ongoing orientations for first-time homebuyers.
"With the high cost of housing in the Puget Sound, many working
families are essentially locked out of homeownership," states Jeff Caden,
the Executive Director of WHC. "The goal of the Parade of Affordable Homes
is to provide information to prospective, lower-income, first-time
homebuyers about the available gap financing programs that may allow them
to achieve home ownership. Most eligible people aren't aware of these
programs, and the Parade of Affordable Homes event can be critical in
spreading the word while linking them with more affordable housing
inventory."
It is hoped that as a result of this event, buyers' perceptions about
their first home will begin to return to that of a modest, yet comfortable,
"starter home". According to research done by WHC, one of the greatest
barriers to homeownership for first-time buyers is "not finding a home that
they like." Caden adds, "We hope that our clients can reset their
expectations so they can return to living within 1100 square feet as well
as within their means."
For more information, visit http://www.AffordableHomeParade.org or call
1-866-600-6466.
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