Peachtree – A Home Buying Seminar will be held at 5 p.m. Monday at 315 Family Church Road, to help local residents understand everything involved in becoming a homeowner. Registration is free.
The seminar will feature speakers Steven Aft, Dr. Jeana Conley, Taylor Gremli, Dr. Sue Lynn Ledford and Gina Sanders. Each member of the panel has worked on making home buying easier and more accessible.
Other professionals will also be in attendance from Clay and Graham counties. Dinner will be provided, and there will be opportunities to ask questions and share concerns in a no-pressure environment.
Mary Jo Dyre, marketing director for Steven Aft State Farm in Murphy, attended The Home Continuum and saw how their goal to make home buying more accessible related to their goal of helping the community through the Extra Mile Scholarship and Shoe Fund.
“There are hard-working people who feel like they can’t buy a home, and we need to help,” Dyre said.
As she started planning a local event, she found others working in various sectors related to home buying who shared the same goal.
“From there, it was about bringing all of these entities together. We knew this would be more successful and beneficial to the community if we pulled together all of these resources,” Dyre said.
Aft, owner of Steven Aft State Farm, will be the insurance and wealth planning representative on the panel.
“Buying a home isn’t just about getting the keys; it’s about protecting your future,” he said.
Aft, who prides himself on being a business owner and trusted guide, said he combines his financial wisdom with a deep respect for Appalachian values.
“I want to help individuals and families make smart, grounded decisions about risk and protection,” he said.
Aft will teach those at the seminar about how to choose homeowners insurance, what financial protection means for your family and how to prepare for what could go wrong – so your focus can be on what can go right.
Conley – founder of Educate 4 Success, the building that will host the seminar – will be facilitator of the seminar and a strategy coordinator. She has 32 years of experience in education, including eight as superintendent of Cherokee County Schools.
“I’ll guide participants through our comprehensive home buying workbook and help to break down what can feel like an overwhelming process into manageable, actionable steps,” she said.
Working in education allowed Conley to see firsthand the challenges many families in the community face. Her goal is to address hidden barriers associated with home buying and share existing resources.
“Housing is about so much more than four walls and a roof; it’s about stability, community and the foundation for building generational wealth. I learned that when families have stable housing, children perform better in school, adults are more productive at work and entire communities thrive,” she said.
“I hope participants leave with three key things: knowledge, confidence and a concrete action plan. I want them to shift from feeling like victims of circumstance to feeling empowered as active participants in creating their housing future.”
Gremli – owner of Gremli Group, Allen Tate Realtors in Murphy – will be the panel's real estate representative. She aims to provide attendees with a start-to-finish guideline for buying a home.
“There’s so much conspiracy and misinformation surrounding real estate and home buying. I hope that I’m able to provide information and education that will help people to realize this is an attainable goal, it and can be easier than they think,” she said.
Ledford, executive director at Four Square Community Action based in Andrews, will serve as a community housing advocate on the panel. Four Square’s mission is “Opening doors for vulnerable individuals and families by providing advocacy, services, and resources to increase self-sufficiency.”
The goals of Four Square Community Action and the Home Buying Seminar are similar in that they both aim to turn the hopes of families into reality by offering education and resources.
Sanders, a mortgage loan originator at Mortgage Financial Group, will be the panel's mortgage representative. Her goal is to help educate on different loan options, prepare finances and credit, what lenders look for, and address common myths about loans and getting a mortgage that might prevent people from buying a home.
“I know how overwhelming and intimidating the home buying process can feel. Over the years, I’ve worked with so many people who didn’t think homeownership was possible for them, and helping them turn that dream into a reality is one of the most rewarding parts of my job,” she said.
Sanders added that buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions a person will ever make, and it shouldn’t be done in the dark. She hopes everyone who attends will walk away feeling more confident and informed.
“Homeownership might seem out of reach, but it’s often more achievable than people think, especially with the right guidance. This is a no-pressure environment that gives you the opportunity to learn directly from professionals,” she said.
The Home Buying Seminar is bringing together community resources and representatives who are focused on the same goal – to help people feel more confident with an actionable home-buying plan.
“We’re facing a serious housing shortage, and knowledge truly is power,” Conley said.
Dyre hopes this will become the first of many events.
“We hope to be able to commit to doing more than one of these home buying seminars each year, and would love to hold seminars in the surrounding counties to make attendance easier in the future,” she said.
Details: Visit tinyurl.com/FreeHomeBuyingSeminar.