Helping Housing Professionals

OHEA educates Oklahomans to become successful homeowners. Increasing homeownership in Oklahoma revitalizes our communities and empowers our people to build wealth through the equity in their homes.

Whether your involvement is as a realtor, a lender, a community leader, a housing authority, or a non-profit service provider you should recognize the need for consistent standards that ensure comprehensive and accurate homebuyer education.

OHEA has several ways to accomplish this vision of quality education.

	OHEA trains, certifies, and monitors homebuyer education professionals
	Click here for Training Schedules
	OHEA provides a standardized homebuyer education curriculum that is specific to the laws and business practices of Oklahoma
	Click here for Order Information
	OHEA assists the delivery of education and counseling through cooperative marketing efforts, partnerships and technical assistance

Client Services and Partnerships
Homebuyer Education Workshop Schedules. OHEA contacts hundreds of sources in an attempt to track homebuyer workshops across the state. The response to our inquiries is increasing, and we continually update our schedule. OHEA can also work to arrange workshops for groups on-demand through consultants. Contact Homebuyer Education Programs Director Tricia Auberle for details at 949-1495 (in OKC calling area) or toll-free at 866-HOW-2OWN or HomebuyerEd@okacaa.org.

Click here to go to Workshop Schedule

Partnerships for professionals. We encourage those of you who have a stake in homebuyer education to join with us in helping each other increase homeownership. When you tell us about your clients (and the earlier you tell us) we can offer more classes. When we coordinate our interests and our resources we can enable more Oklahomans to own their homes. Let us know what your needs are, your suggestions for fulfilling those needs, and what resources you can contribute. We’ll look for partnerships that can support you in developing homebuyers. Join the Oklahoma Homebuyer Education Association.  Go to ABOUT US and look for JOIN US for membership details.

Click here to download our Membership Application.
(This link will open in Adobe® Acrobat Reader™, see below.)

For Homebuyer Education Providers

Convenient, cost-effective training and continuing education. OHEA gives programs increased credibility with consumers and funding agencies by acting as an independent, non-profit agency certifying professional workers and providing periodic program review. Our five-day course covers content and methodology for comprehensive homebuyer education programming. The cost is $425 or $400 for OHEA members.  Registration fee includes the training session, materials and OHEA Curriculum Guide, certification exam, certificates and membership for the current year. Contact OHEA for registration details.
                                                                     Click here for 5-day course registration form.

Certification by Advanced Placement. Experienced lenders, real estate associates and housing counselors may apply to become a Certified Homebuyer Education Professional without attending the five-day train-the-trainer preparatory sessions by documenting at least two years of full-time work experience, passing the certification examination and attending a one day class on methods, standards and professional ethics.

                                                   Click here for Advanced Placement Application

Technical Assistance is available for homebuyer education providers who sign a Service Provider Agreement and partner with us to provide delivery throughout Oklahoma’s 77 counties.

Service Provider Agreements. OHEA provides cooperative marketing, technical assistance, and centralized referrals from the toll-free number and website to agencies who agree to present an OHEA-approved curriculum and format, measure the effectiveness of their program, report attendance demographics, provide class schedules for marketing purposes and accept referrals from the OHEA network. Please contact us if you are interested in entering into an agreement.

Standardized Curriculum. Standards have been established to ensure that all Oklahomans receiving OHEA-approved homebuyer education will receive core information in ten areas: the homebuying process, affording a home, using your credit to get a loan, shopping for a home, loan types and sources, the loan application process, the closing process, life as a homeowner, home maintenance, and avoiding foreclosure. Programs may utilize various national curricula that cover these areas or develop their own.

OHEA has developed the OHEA Homebuyer Education Curriculum Guide that presents the core information for homebuyer education and explains key concepts. We believe the curriculum exceeds any national standard because while we are careful to include all topic that national panels agree should be addressed, we can reduce confusion by presenting laws, terminology and business practices that are specific to Oklahoma. The curriculum presents all of the material that should be covered in a basic homebuyer education class, plus helpful handouts and checklists to share with participants, a glossary and other teaching aids. The complete guide is available from OHEA for $40 plus $10 shipping and handling.  The printed pages of the March 2008 edition are available without covers and reference tabs for $20 plus $3 shipping and handling.

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Cooperative Marketing and Networking. OHEA promotes homebuyer education through participation at conferences and workshops for housing professionals.  We have established two e-group communication networks through Yahoogroups.com: one available for general subscription at ohea@yahoogroups.com and one for members at OHEAMEMBERS@yahoogroups.com. We use these networks to update friends and members on homebuyer education issues, curriculum revisions, opportunities for training and continuing education, and special events.

Rural Subsidy Program. Thanks to the gracious support of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka OHEA  may assist homebuyer education providers who provide education to clients purchasing in rural Oklahoma. Those receiving subsidy must sign an OHEA Service Provider Agreement and provide homebuyer education to rural buyers at least once in the quarter for which they are applying. Specifics for the program are available from OHEA at 405-949-1495 or HomebuyerEd@okacaa.org.