Mobile Unit Touts Low-Cost Homes, Loans

An Orange County nonprofit group has created a mortgage office on wheels to reach more ethnic communities and explain how to apply for low-cost home loans.

Housing costs have become employers’ biggest barrier in recruiting and retaining employees in Orange County, where more than six out of 10 residents cannot afford a typical home.

In fact, most public service workers cannot afford to live in the municipalities they serve, according to a study by the Orange County Housing and Community Development Department.

The median home price in the county in May was $241,000, according to figures released last week by Acxiom/Dataquick Information Systems Inc. of La Jolla, a real estate research firm.

At a ceremony Saturday in Santa Ana attended by Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), leaders of the community group and other speakers urged renters not to give up the dream of homeownership.

The customized recreational vehicle equipped as a mobile office will help the Affordable Housing Clearinghouse, a Lake Forest-based group devoted to developing lower-cost homes, take its homeownership message directly to communities.

The vehicle and the mortgages were funded by a $20-million grant from Merrill Lynch & Co.

Visitors can apply for home loans with no down payment, have instant credit checks completed and have their questions answered in English, Spanish or Vietnamese.