What’s Working in Homebuyer Education and Counseling Presented by

1. What’s Working in Homebuyer Education and Counseling Presented by Milt Sharp, President & National Administrator NCSHA 2014 Annual Conference and Showplace

2. Our Three Business Goals • Increase the revenues and the sustainability of local counseling agency partners and eHome America • Increase the perceived value of homeownership education and counseling (HEC) by consumers and partners • Increase the market share of first-time homebuyers who receive homeownership education and counseling (est. at <10% now)

3. eHome Background • A web-based education program for prospective homebuyers linked to local counseling services • Developed by Community Ventures Corporation, a nonprofit HUD-approved counseling agency and NeighborWorks Network member • Based on “Realizing the American Dream” curriculum by NeighborWorks America • Exceeds “National Industry Standards” for Homeownership Education

4. eHome Today • Over 85,000 completed registrations since 2009 • eHome has over 370 nonprofit agency partners nationwide including Puerto Rico and Guam • Provided over $2.75 million in revenues to agency partners to support local counseling services • Approved by USDA, NeighborWorks America and numerous State Housing Finance Agencies

5. Revenue Sharing Model • Customers are charged $99.00 • Discounts codes are available to reduce price for USDA and HFA customers • eHome charges a $25 admin fee • $74 in revenue to agency partners for support of their Homeownership Education and Counseling Program

6. Existing HFA Partnerships • HFAs or their partners in GA, CO, NM, WY, CA, WA and TX account for 10 out of eHome’s top 20 users. • HFAs and their partners accounted for 29% of eHome’s registrations in 2013 • 7,830 total eHome registrations

7. Sustainable Counseling System • HFAs would charge a higher consumer fee for eHome, retain a small portion for their administrative overhead and pass-through a portion of the revenues to local counseling agencies that provide the follow-up one-on-one counseling services. • This revenue sharing would greatly support the sustainability of local counseling agencies without requiring the use of Housing Finance Agency income

8. Sustainable Counseling System • Consumers will benefit from receiving not only DPA (if available) and the eHome course, but also individualized counseling and advice (review of their budget and credit report, affordability analysis, and development of a personalized action plan).

9. Benefits to Housing Finance Agency • Building out and supporting a sustainable network of high-quality counseling agencies in their state and region • Supporting local counseling agencies with a fee for service that doesn’t come directly from annual HFA budgets • Building stronger relationships with counseling agencies so that they also become a pipeline for sourcing potential borrowers for HFA products

10. Benefits to Housing Finance Agency • Providing great value to consumers by offering education, individualized counseling and potentially DPA to them at a very reasonable cost • As studies have shown again and again, consumers receiving education and counseling have much lower delinquency and default rates on their mortgages than consumers who do not receive these services

11. Summary • eHome is committed to high-quality and sustainable HBE programs • eHome wants to achieve a more sustainable business model for its partners and reach more first-time buyers • We think this will be a win-win effort

12. Thank you! For more information Milt Sharp msharp@ehomenetwork.org