Loading, Please Wait...
Rockville, Md., Oct. 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Federally funded education and counseling programs aim to help prepare consumers for sustainable homeownership and financial health, two challenges at the heart of the housing crisis. Using data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) First-Time Homebuyer Education and Counseling Demonstration, Abt identified characteristics that predict prospective first-time homebuyers’ participation in free education and counseling services. These findings—recently published online in the Journal of Consumer Affairs—may help homebuyer service providers tailor the training to those who need it most.
Knowing Your Audience
Almost 6,000 prospective first-time homebuyers from 28 large metropolitan areas enrolled in the First-Time Homebuyer Education and Counseling Demonstration and were randomly assigned to control and treatment groups. The treatment groups were offered free access to:
Abt investigated the characteristics that predict the use of in-person and remote services. The team then used the findings to understand the “type” of consumer who takes up homebuyer education and counseling services.
Key Findings
Results from the analysis include:
“The findings in this analysis provide lessons for how agencies market homebuyer education and counseling services to prospective clients,” said Shawn Moulton, Ph.D., Abt scientist and one of the authors of the study. “This research sample comes by way of lender referrals and is not typical of the clientele that federal agencies target and serve, but the sample still serves as a rich and diverse source of useful information.”
###
About Abt Associates
Abt Associates is an engine for social impact, dedicated to moving people from vulnerability to security. Harnessing the power of data and our experts’ insights, we provide research, consulting and technical services globally in the areas of health, environmental and social policy, technology and international development. http://www.abtassociates.com
Abt Associates eric_tischler@abtassoc.com