National Housing Resource Center



November, 2019Outcomes and Lessons Learned Coordinating Eight Housing FairsHISTORYIn 2008, housing counseling agencies around the country began to see more and more homeowners in foreclosure. By 2012, many agencies were receiving funds specifically targeted to provide assistance to homeowners in distress. Funds flowed from Congressional appropriation by way of the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program as well as from various settlements with several large lending institutions. In response, housing counseling agencies ramped up their foreclosure programs to meet the growing needs of homeowners in their area. But by 2016, settlement funds were used up and NFMC ended. Housing counseling agencies began to discontinue foreclosure work and pivot back to a focus on homeownership and financial capability counseling. Yet, while the word had gotten out about how housing counseling can help when you are having trouble with your mortgage, the fact that housing counselors are the best first step in any housing decision remained a best kept secret.In early 2017, Deutsche Bank entered into a significant settlement with the Dept. of Justice for misleading investors in its sale of residential mortgage-backed securities. Under the consumer relief portion of this settlement, Deutsche Bank was required to sponsor three outreach events each year for the three year term of the settlement. National Housing Resource Center (NHRC) saw an opportunity to help agencies get the word out about their services and submitted a proposal that Deutsche Bank chose to use for eight outreach events. The events took place in these eight markets, in order of occurrence: Chicago, Tampa, Inland Empire (California), Atlanta, Phoenix, Newark, St. Louis, and Memphis.THE PLAYERSIn each market, NHRC initiated contact with member housing counseling organizations to determine interest and capacity for the event. Once it was determined that the groups in that market were interested and able, planning calls were set and area agencies were invited to participate. In each market we had at least six participating housing counseling organizations. DESIGN & FLOWThe model NHRC developed was designed to have events planned by, and for, housing counselors. The goal was to ensure that attendees learned the value of beginning any housing decision by meeting with a HUD approved housing counselor first. With that in mind, each event followed a basic outline:Attendees saw a housing counselor for a brief discussion first where they received general information about housing counseling services. At three events, loss mitigation counseling was offered alongside prepurchase counseling. After meeting with a counselor, attendees could take advantage of workshops about the homebuying process, how to build credit, and local down payment assistance programs available. Next, attendees could get a free credit report with a FICO score from at least one Credit Bureau.Lastly, attendees had the opportunity to visit vendors from banking, real estate, housing development and social service agencies. ATTENDEESA key element to the events was pre-registration. All of our marketing encouraged registration and on average, nearly 400 people registered for each event. Overall, 30% of those that preregistered actually attended and constituted 54% of attendees. More than 90% of registrants had not previously heard about housing counseling. 46% of attendees registered on site. and All registrants provided basic contact and demographic information along with how they had heard about the event. This data allowed us to review our marketing strategies after each event to determine what worked best. VENUEWhat is true for real estate held true for these events- location matters. When the event was held at a well-known and trusted neighborhood location, attendance was markedly higher than when held at a more formal setting like a convention center. The four events with the highest attendance were held at a church; the two with the lowest attendance were held at a convention center.MARKETINGWith the sponsorship from Deutsche Bank, we had a unique opportunity to dedicate significant funds to marketing and outreach for the events. We used our marketing dollars on TV, radio, newspaper and social media. We took advantage of free outreach by distributing flyers to popular public locations, churches, and at community events. Participating groups sent email blasts and industry partners (banks, real estate agents, homebuilders) were encouraged to spread the word through their networks.With the data collected from attendees, we discovered some informative marketing trends for the events:? Regardless of?race or ethnicity, Facebook was the biggest driver of attendees. 70% of attendees identified as Black/African American, not Hispanic. 48% of those that identified Black/African American, not Hispanic heard about the event on Facebook.? No other marketing came close. Radio (10%) and word of mouth (13%) combined constitutes another 23% of attendees. 18% of attendees identified as Hispanic.32% heard about the event on Facebook.? However, personal contact was equally as important as Facebook (hearing about the event by word of mouth or from a housing counseling agency/community group) with a combined total of 36%. 6% identified as White, not Hispanic; 2% Asian not Hispanic; 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native, not Hispanic.Facebook is where most heard about the event.? TV was not a big driver overall but was at 10% for Hispanic and for White, not Hispanic attendees.Radio was not a big driver but was most effective with Black/African American, not Hispanic attendees at 10%.Newspaper was less than 1% overall.LESSONS LEARNEDConducting brief face to face sessions for attendees to meet and talk with a housing counselor as their first stop proved to be quite popular. We learned that group meetings can work as well as one on one and provide the added benefit of more efficiently providing the service to attendees, particularly when a large number of attendees are expected. Marketing with a heavy focus on social media was incredibly effective. While it was the biggest driver of registrants and attendees, it was most effective when initiated by a local, recognized agency rather than by a general page such as “St. Louis Housing Fair.” While social media is a useful marketing tool, direct, one to one marketing is incredibly important with Hispanic/Latinx consumers. Location is also critical to successfully promoting events to these consumers. Engaging volunteers was essential to the ultimate success of the events; their contribution cannot be overstated. They made it possible for the housing counseling agencies to focus on conducting workshops and promoting their services. Offering access to a free credit report was a big draw. Partnering with a local agency that specialized in credit counseling that could pull credit reports proved to be the most efficient and effective way to offer this service. Registration was an important tool for these events. We collected important data and gave the local housing counseling agencies the list of those that registered but didn’t attend for follow-up.CONCLUSIONThese eight events offered a unique opportunity to experiment with, and learn about, effective ways to reach consumers that are in historically disenfranchised, marginalized communities. They also offered a perfect opportunity to learn the most effective way to get the word out about one of the best kept secrets in housing; the benefit of beginning any housing choice by meeting with a HUD Housing Counselor. We achieved our goal of connecting with new consumers with an average of 90% of registrants saying they had not previously heard about housing counseling. The Housing Counseling Agencies were integral to planning and making these events so successful. They did all the leg work and all the “on the ground” grassroots outreach. At the conclusion of every event, the participating Housing Counseling Agencies discussed plans for working together to coordinate an event with a similar format on an annual basis. Putting housing counselors up front as the main attraction is unusual for housing fairs such as these but at these events they were the stars. Attendees repeatedly expressed gratitude for being able to sit with a housing counselor and learn about all the options available to them. We consider this to be one of the best outcomes of these events. ................
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