"Home Advantage" Published & Taught

On June 3, 2008, The Philadelphia Tribune published a special newspaper supplement entitled "Home Advantage: How to Buy, Keep and Increase the Value of Your Home", made available online also as a virtual newspaper posting (12 pages, Adobe Flash Player required).

The topical articles in the Supplement included:

• Renting vs. owning: Building equity in your future
• Seven tips for first-time home buyers
• A familiar home loan becomes popular again
• How much coverage do you need?
• Mortgage protection plans may be worth a look
• How to recognize a foreclosure rescue scam
• Opening the door to a greener home

The "Home Advantage" topic then was the subject of a public seminar presented by that newspaper, together with PECO, on Saturday, June 7, 2008, from 9 am to 2 pm in Philadelphia.

The details of the seminar were highlighted in a press release, dated June 4, 2008, entitled "More than 400 Prospective Home Buyers and Owners Expected to Attend The Philadelphia Tribune Home Advantage Seminar", posted by CNBC (among others):

The Philadelphia Tribune, the nation's oldest black newspaper, together with PECO, will present a one-day seminar for prospective homebuyers and home owners.

In its eighth consecutive year, the seminar aims to educate attendees about how to buy, keep and increase the value of their homes.

The Home Advantage Seminar will present expert speakers and exhibits focused on information pertaining to credit counseling, lending options, home maintenance and home-buying services, while also answering questions about how and where to increase home values and how to do attractive home design on a budget.

[Participants:]

• Michael Nutter, mayor, City of Philadelphia
• Robert W. Bogle, publisher, The Philadelphia Tribune
• Mariska K. Bogle, director, Strategic Planning & Business Development, The Philadelphia Tribune
• Jeffrey Gordon, manager, External Relations, PECO
• Brian Hudson, executive director, Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency
• Coleen Peters, business development officer, Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency
• Irv Brockington, loan officer, Citizens Bank
• Carl R. Greene, executive director, Philadelphia Housing Authority
  

The "Coming of Age" website, of Philadelphia, had promoted the seminar on its calendar of events and in weekly email messages.

That seminar is over now. However, the Supplement, still available online, contains valuable information & advice, which can be helpful to many elderly Pennsylvanians.

You can read the articles online by "zooming" on the columns containing text. You can also print the entire Supplement using the tools on the Flash Player menu bar. I was able to print to a PDF printer driver, and save the entire supplement into a PDF file.

For next year's newspaper supplement and presentation, I suggest that the subject of "reverse mortgages" should be included.

In television commercials and in mailings, Seniors are the target audience for reverse mortgage proposals. Homeowners over 62 with low assets, high obligations, or fixed incomes, who also possess equity in their homes, are investigating "reverse mortgages" more than ever before, and many more financial institutions now offer such programs.

Reliable, unbiased information about "reverse mortgages" would be appreciated by the Coming of Age crowd, I feel certain.