Under Construction: A Home Improvement Photo Contest to foster pride and benefits of homeownership

DES MOINES - The Iowa Finance Authority, Iowa Association of Realtors®, Iowa Home Ownership Education Project and the Iowa Mortgage Association have partnered on an innovative social media contest that asks Iowans to show off their best Do-It-Yourself home projects and Pinterest™ aspirations. The contest is accepting entries from now through the end of July and offers a $2,500 gift card as the top prize.

"We're excited to offer this innovative social media contest in partnership with the Iowa Association of Realtors®, Iowa Home Ownership Education Project and the Iowa Mortgage Association as a way to raise awareness of the benefits of homeownership," said Dave Jamison, Iowa Finance Authority Executive Director. "We encourage everyone to enter and to vote often for their favorite entry and show us what fun, home projects that you have planned."

Any Iowan over the age of eighteen can participate by visiting a participating lender, housing counselor or Realtor®. Participants are asked to write a word or short phrase describing their project, or future project on a memo board and take a photo with their project and submit it through a participating lender, housing counselor or Realtor®. Submissions are being accepted now through July 31. A full list of participating locations is available at IowaFinanceAuthority.gov/Contest.

The winner will be determined by public voting August 1-16 at facebook.com/MeaningofHomeownership.

The winning participant with the most votes will receive a grand prize of a $2,500 Lowe's gift card and the winning Realtor® and lender/housing counselor will each receive a $2,500 Community Betterment Grant for all combined votes received. Lenders, housing counselors and Realtors® may sign-up to be a participating location by visiting IowaFinanceAuthortiy.gov/Contest.

"This is a great time to purchase a home or to be an existing homeowner. This partnership has created an exciting, new contest to help raise awareness of the many benefits of homeownership, with some friendly competition and fun," said Dave Bert, CEO of the Iowa Association of Realtors®. "We extended this year's contest so that more Iowans can get involved and realize the wonderful opportunities of homeownership."

Education Series offered by the Iowa Finance Authority,
Iowa Association of REALTORS® and the
Iowa Home Ownership Education Project

QUAD CITIES - On Wednesday, June 5 the Iowa Finance Authority, Iowa Association of REALTORS® and the Iowa Home Ownership Education Project are partnering to bring Quad Cities area home buyers a free educational session.

One in a series of seminars entitled, Free Home Buyer Education Series: Unique Iowa Programs & Information to Get You Started, the program will provide information on state mortgage and down payment assistance programs, homeownership benefits and the steps towards owning a home. Iowa Finance Authority staff will present the information, and housing counselors will also be on hand to answer questions. The event will be hosted by the Quad City Area REALTOR® Association.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5

TIME: 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

LOCATION:
Quad City Area REALTOR® Association
1900 State Street, Bettendorf

COST: Free

REGISTRATION: IowaFinanceAuthority.gov/Registration

Statewide partnerships address affordable housing challenges

Des Moines - Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Reynolds today proclaimed April 21-27, 2013 as Affordable Housing Week in Iowa. Iowa joins organizations throughout the country in celebrating Affordable Housing Month, with this week declared specifically to bring awareness to the importance of affordable housing in Iowa.

"We've taken great strides to provide affordable housing opportunities for Iowans," said Governor Branstad. "We are committed to making even more progress to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing is available to fit the needs of Iowa's diverse workforce, young professionals and seniors well into the future."

"The Iowa Finance Authority and the hundreds of local housing organizations, lenders, Realtors, service agencies and affordable housing advocates share the mission of advancing affordable housing opportunities for Iowans," said Lt. Governor Reynolds. "This shared dedication is impacting the lives of Iowans across the state every day, in turn making our neighborhoods, communities and state an even better place to call home."

The Iowa Finance Authority recently commissioned a statewide housing study that found many positive aspects of Iowa's housing market including a high homeownership rate, low rate of foreclosures and high affordability of housing. The study also detailed the most critical housing priorities over the next five years as workforce housing, affordable senior housing, accommodating preferences of elderly to age in place and the preservation of affordable multifamily units. The full study, including regional data is available at IowaFinanceAuthority.gov.

"The Iowa Finance Authority fulfills its mission through the partnership of thousands of local housing professionals," said Iowa Finance Authority Executive Director Dave Jamison. "Affordable Housing Week is an ideal time to say thank you for the tireless efforts of our partners and we look forward to working together to ensure Iowans have an affordable place to call home for generations to come."

The Iowa Legislature created The Iowa Finance Authority, the state's housing finance agency, in 1975 to undertake programs to assist in the attainment of affordable housing for Iowans. Since then, the Iowa Finance Authority's role has grown to include nearly 40 affordable housing, water quality and community development programs. The Iowa Finance Authority is a self-supporting public agency whose mission is to finance, administer, advance and preserve affordable housing and to promote community and economic development for Iowans.