AHFA's FY22 Annual Report, 'Creating Home,' Released |
We are pleased to announce the release of AHFA's FY22 Annual Report and financial statements.
The disruption from the pandemic of the past three years has created significant challenges and offered important opportunities for all of us. No facet of life or industry is emerging untouched, and our work in affordable housing is no exception. Nevertheless, we achieved widespread coverage this year, helping improve housing situations for Alabama homeowners and household renters in all 67 counties.
Our 2022 Annual Report displays a gallery of portraits highlighting some of the submissions received this year in our first kids’ art contest, designed to celebrate National Homeownership Month. Their colorful entries illustrate the difference we make in communities across Alabama, both for the adults and for the young ones who get to grow up in safe, secure homes that their parents can afford. We look forward to continuing to fulfill this mission in the year ahead.
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Top 1st Quarter Lender Results Revealed |
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Leading Lenders
The top Leading Lenders for the first quarter of FY23 are, in alphabetical order:
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Top Participating Lending Company
Guild Mortgage is our Top Participating Lending Company for the first quarter of FY23, closing the most home loans this quarter using our homeownership financing options. We asked Guild Mortgage lenders about their goals for the new year. See below for our first two responses.
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"The goal for our team in 2023 is closely tied to the mission of impacting and improving the lives of others through responsible homeownership. 2023 is a year for providing more education for our borrowers and insuring they are well equipped to make the best decision for their family. This involves showing them all the options that are open to them and how they can leverage this one transaction to have a major impact on their future and improve their quality of life."
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"As loan officers, every year we want to get more and more families into new homes. We are always striving to do better than the previous year, not only for ourselves, but for these other families that we help. Since the beginning, relationship building has been a goal of mine and it will continue to be a main focus in my career. It is important to go beyond the numbers and make sure with every client and each referral partner that I am building a strong relationship based on trust, integrity, consistency and accountability. My goal for this year is to continue committing daily to these relationships and to always keep refining and improving my skills so that I am ready to help the next family.
"AHFA’s programs have played a great role in helping home buyers with no down payment. I was honored to be Processor of the Year for AHFA in 2008 and I am thankful to still be able to take part in their programs as a loan officer. I am extremely grateful that our company gets to be a partner with AHFA and build these relationships together."
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Congratulations to these lenders! We appreciate them closing deals this quarter using AHFA programs to make homeownership more affordable for their customers.
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AHFA Banks on Financial Literacy for Kids |
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AHFA is seeking to partner with Alabama banks to add a children’s component to existing homebuyer education efforts.
“We saw a need in our state for basic financial literacy training for children,” said Carrie Hamaker, AHFA’s single-family administrator. “The earlier we can teach our kids about financial responsibility, the better equipped they’ll be to develop good habits and make informed spending decisions as adults.”
AHFA is offering the kids’ sessions in conjunction with Alabama banks who participate in its Step Up program, which offers down payment assistance for homeowners earning less than $130,600. Designed for children ages 6 and up and subject to availability, the classes are designed to complement banks’ adult homebuyer education courses, first-time homebuyer seminars, and other community outreach events.
AHFA has created coloring books, kid-friendly giveaways, interactive online games, and short videos explaining the differences between needs and wants, how to count U.S. coins, good savings habits, and more. Also in the works is a partnership with the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville to present a field trip for children.
“Our classes so far have been very well-received,” said Hamaker. “Our message is that ‘you’re never too young and it’s never too late’ to learn financial literacy.”
Sample videos and other resources can be viewed at ahfa.com/ahfa-kids. For further information on co-hosting a class or event with AHFA, please call Carrie Hamaker at 334-244-9200.
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Pardon Our Progress! 56 New Units Coming to Fort Payne |
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Olympia Construction has begun work on the second phase of the Village at Hixon Pond in Fort Payne.
A development originally approved for AHFA funding in 2020, Village at Hixon Pond II will create 56 units of safe, decent, affordable elderly housing and was financed in part by more than $2.7 million in HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds and more than $1.1 million in Low Income Housing Tax Credits, both administered in Alabama by AHFA.
This development was one of many that faced the material shortages, supply chain disruptions and fluctuating construction costs of a post-pandemic economy. Prior to the pandemic, the construction period for new multifamily rental properties receiving allocations of AHFA Housing Credit and HOME funding averaged 25 months from the time of the original allocation. Post-pandemic, completion of projects has slowed or completely stalled.
AHFA is working to protect the feasibility of all previously awarded projects within the statutory and regulatory constraints of the programs it administers. To that end, the granting of extensions, swapping of credits, and re-underwriting of previously awarded projects results in fewer awards in the current and upcoming competitive cycles.
Kudos to Olympia Construction, Inc. and Community Action Partnership of North Alabama, along with McKean & Associates and The Bennett Group, for overcoming these challenges to contribute to the supply of economical rental housing in the Fort Payne area. Keep on building!
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Picture This: Outreach & Education in January |
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January 12: Realtor training via Zoom with Harris Doyle Homes and Silverton Mortgage in Birmingham
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January 17: Visit with participating lender CB&S Bank in Birmingham
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Let's Connect: Are you plugged in to what AHFA is doing? |
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New Participating Lender
AHFA is pleased to welcome Lennar Mortgage, LLC as a participating lender in the Step Up and MCC programs.
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Holiday Office Closing
The AHFA offices will be closed on Monday, February 20 in observance of Presidents' Day.
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Alabama Housing Finance Authority | Montgomery, Alabama | 334.244.9200 | Email | Website
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