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Aside from helping home buyers, DeLong's program helps lenders and Realtors expand their market reach to include those who otherwise could not afford to make the down payment.
My Home Angel paid Mike Shelley's $5,700 down payment when he bought his first home. Curtis McNeil, a mortgage consultant with Extraco Mortgage in Austin, did the financing for Shelley's $162,000 home in China Springs, about 11 miles northwest of Waco.
McNeil previously had used other down payment gift programs, but lauded My Home Angel because "it is an Austin-based non-profit that does extensive local marketing and provides referrals of prospective home buyers."
Agents help buyers with difficult credit histories get into a home while also assisting clients in repairing their credit and purchasing their homes.
"If they need to improve their credit score to qualify for the eventual loan or to get a better interest rate, we enroll them in an inexpensive credit repair program that we administer," Horton says. "Leasing to own is an excellent way for people to immediately start enjoying a new home while they are preparing for ownership."
Some buyers need to establish credit while others need to have their credit repaired "National statistics show that more than 70 percent of people have items listed on their credit reports that aren't theirs,
A mortgage broker can make suggestions for correcting the problem areas, paying down the right accounts and raising their [Fair Isaac & Co. credit] scores so they can qualify for a mortgage and get the best interest rate possible
Statistics show Austin has more than 10,000 homes on the market and only about half of those will sell.
Developers target 'creative' class with infill projects
Austin Business Journal
The real estate career paths of Matt Mathias and Gary Krieg went in different directions after they worked together in the 1980s. Mathias focused on commercial projects, while Krieg went the residential route.
Now, the paths have come full circle as the two have teamed to form a development company in Austin called Interurban Development LLC.
As the name suggests, the company will focus on infill or niche residential developments catered to Austin's "creative class."
By building condos, cottages and town homes, they aim to offer broader access to living in the urban core. The units will range from 800 to 1,300 square feet and be priced at $125,000 to $300,000 each.
"There are many people who are looking for cutting-edge innovation and design, but the current luxury loft offerings are beyond their financial reach," Krieg says. "These individuals will find the excitement of urban living in each of our developments at reasonable price points."
While Austin's urban core will be targeted, Interurban won't limit itself to Austin. The founding principals say their sights are set on Round Rock and Lakeway.
The company's Web site (www.interurbandev.com) already is promoting two projects: Bel Air, urban lofts on South Congress Avenue; and SageBrush, bungalows in the heart of Round Rock.
Interurban Development is operating from the offices of Matt Mathias & Co., which will continue as a commercial development and brokerage company.
Both men have a long history in real estate. They met about 15 years ago when both worked for Hardin Corp., one of the largest business park and office developers in the region at the time.
Interurban Development is the third real estate company that Mathias is involved in.Matt Mathias & Co. is the commercial brokerage and leasing company that represented Emerson Process Management in its relocation to Research Park.
Mathias also is a principal of Riata Partners LLC, known for the mixed-use development called Riata in Northwest Austin. Riata Partners has been selected by the Austin Revitalization Authority to redevelop a part of 11th Street.
Krieg most recently worked for Austin-based custom home builder Ash Creek Homes Inc.
The timing of Interurban Development's launch coincides with increased demand on the part of Austin's educated, creative class of workers looking for ownership opportunities beyond the suburban master-plan community options, Krieg says.
Another developer thinks Interurban Development will help fill a void in Central Texas.
"Right now, the options at those price points are to look way out in suburbia," says Terry Mitchell, president of Austin-based Momark Development LLC. "For some people, that's not a great alternative."
Girl power
Austin Business Journal
More single women than single men take
the plunge into home ownership
Jenny Overand decided that her 30th birthday last year was the right time to organize her finances in preparation for buying a home in Austin.
 Overand admits she's a bit of a planner. She planned the path of her corporate sales career at Dell Inc. She carefully plotted her training regimen when she decided to run a marathon. And, last year, she explored her financing options and moved into an East Austin tri-level home last Thanksgiving. She calls the transition "the best decision I ever made."
Though now engaged to be married, Overand certainly wasn't the only single female to take the plunge into home ownership when she moved into her East Austin digs. According to statistics released this fall from the National Association of Realtors, single women are a fast-growing segment of first-time home buyers.
Statistics show that the typical first-time home buyer is 32 years old, has an average income of $54,500 and makes a down payment of 3 percent on $139,000 home.
The vast majority of buyers consider home ownership "a good financial investment."
In East Austin, home buying has become a profitable venture for many people, say some real estate professionals.
Austin mortgage broker Joanna Jennings of Mortgage Pros Inc., who advised Overand on her options, says these days an East Austin home can gain 25 percent in value within a five-year period. Some homeowners see a profit as great as 100 percent. That's tempting for a single woman look for a promising investment option.
"If you take the time to know the market and learn it, you'll make a smart choice," Jennings says.
While married couples continue to dominate the market, 18 percent of those who purchase homes are single women, compared with 8 percent of single men and 9 percent of unmarried couples. Jennings says single women were once an anomaly in the Austin home market. Today, however, single women have the financial means to buy and are taking advantage of the investment opportunity.
Overand is a prime example of this emerging market.
"I met with my mortgage broker, who was really great, and we started talking about my options," Overand says. "I imagined I might be buying a house in a year or two."
Yet, Overand quickly learned that a modified adjustable rate loan, or MARM, could help her afford to buy a home. A MARM gave Overand the ability to adjust her payments over time in tandem with her anticipated rising income.
Overand says her former roommate Lisa Wood inspired her to make the move. Wood, also a single businesswoman, bought a bungalow-style home in Austin's French Place in 2002. It wasn't her first trip down the road, however. Wood, whose mother is a Realtor, bought and sold a one-acre property just outside San Antonio before she graduated from college. Wood called the purchase of her first home in Austin a "major accomplishment
