(BOISE)The nonprofit Finally Home!® Home Buyer Education program recently celebrated its 10,000th course graduate, according to Idaho Partners for Home Buyer Education (IPHBE) Statewide Administrator Sue Pisani.

"The Finally Home!® course has proven to be extremely helpful to potential home buyers," said Pisani. "In the eight-hour class, buyers are guided through the terminology and paperwork of a mortgage transaction and much more."

More than 100 Finally Home!® classes are offered around the state each year. Classes also are offered in Spanish. Nearly 2,600 people graduated from the program last year, and a total of 2,400 are expected to graduate in 2004.

"IPHBE is the result of organizations collaborating to fulfill an identified need throughout Idaho," said Jane Pavek, Finally Home!® board chair and vice president, community development officer for Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, N.A. "Everyone involved with IPHBE should take pride in this accomplishment and realize that without their participation, 10,000 Idahoans would not have received the skills and knowledge that contribute to their success as a home owner."

"The program significantly reduces the risk of foreclosure," Pisani said. A Federal Mortgage Assurance Corporation ("Freddie Mac") study of 40,000 loans made between 1993 and 2000 shows that home buyers who spend a few hours in a home buyer education class before making their loan deal are 26 percent less likely to become delinquent on their mortgage payments than buyers who don't participate. Program graduates are eligible to receive down-payment and closing-cost assistance from Idaho Housing and Finance Association. A qualified graduate also may be eligible to use "gifted funds" at the time of closing, could qualify for lower mortgage insurance premiums, and may be able to participate in programs that accept higher debt ratios.

Specifics on the Finally Home!® program are available on the IHFA Web site at www.ihfa.org/nonprofit_homebuyer.asp. An overview of the program is available, and prospective home buyers can access schedules for courses, which are offered in every population center in the state through eight Regional Training Partners.

"In the class we touch on credit issues, home maintenance, inspections, predatory lending, identity theft and wise use of home equity," said Pisani. "We have great instructors-lenders, REALTORS®, home inspectors, escrow officers, credit counselors, insurance people."

"If we hear one complaint, it is that people who come to the class wish they had done it sooner, before they even started the home-buying process," said Carolyn Ernst, a Caldwell REALTOR® who coordinate IHFA's Finally Home!® classes in Canyon County.

More than 60 organizations across the state have endorsed the idea of financial literacy for Idaho's citizens by becoming members or financial sponsors of Finally Home!® as recognition of the program's rewards has grown. These organizations are partnering with other industry professionals to support low- and moderate-income home buyers, open the doors for minority home ownership, help reduce the risk of foreclosure, and work to create better communities.

The Idaho Housing and Finance Association, a financial services and housing organization, provides funding for affordable housing in Idaho communities where they are most needed and when it is economically feasible. IHFA uses no state funds or state employees to support its operations. For more information, visit our Web site at www.ihfa.org.