Freddie Mac Raises Awareness About Home Buying Misconceptions

In an effort to enable more African Americans and Latinos to become homeowners Freddie Mac is helping launch an awareness and outreach campaign called "Homeownership. Let the TRUTH Move You." The campaign debunks common misconceptions about homeownership that are stopping financially able families from even considering buying a home.
The campaign is being launched in key cities nationwide, including Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, Columbus and Baltimore.

According to research conducted by Freddie Mac, reliable, accurate information about home buying is not reaching all communities. The research uncovered common misconceptions about home buying held among African Americans and Latinos. For example, almost half of African-Americans and Latinos believe that they need a 20 percent downpayment to buy a home, and that they need almost perfect credit to get a loan. In addition, more than half of African-Americans and Latinos believe that they must have the same job for at least three years to get a loan.

In addition, according to the U.S. Census, homeownership rates for Hispanic and African American households are 25 percent lower than the rates for non-minority households. In the Baltimore-Washington DC area, the minority homeownership rate is 49 percent, compared with the non-minority homeownership rate of almost 74 percent.