An Employer Housing Benefit

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An Employer Housing Benefit
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Wheres the Popcorn?
An Employer Housing Benefit
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Course Objectives

• Upon completion, you will be able to

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Why Are We Talking About Home from Work?

• Housing trends
• Affordability challenges

What are the barriers to homeownership?
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What ARE the barriers?

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What IS Home from Work and EAH?

• Unique partnership been all levels of REALTOR
  associations
• Outreach and education effort
• Using Employer-Assisted Housing (EAH) benefits to
  overcome barriers to housing opportunities
• EAH helps employers reach business goals.
• EAH is NOT a mortgage!

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Typical Employer-Provided Benefits
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3 EAH Benefits
Home-Buying Workshops
One-on-One Counseling
Financial Incentive
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Using EAH to Overcome Barriers
Barriers
EAH Benefits
Home-buying workshop
One-on-one counseling
Financial incentive
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What Do EAH Plans Look Like?

• Local city government EAH
• Partners REALTORS, Chamber, non-profits, and
  lenders
• REALTORS and lenders conduct homebuyer workshops
• City offered to employees who were first-time
  home buyers
• Credit counseling offered by non-profits
• 7,500 - 20,000 forgivable loan over five years
• Must buy in the city

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Prestigious Resort Spa

• REALTOR met with HR Rep
  
• Wanted to help housekeeping staff, waiters, valet
  attendants, and other service workers
• Offers free home-buying workshops twice a month
• Delivered by REALTORS and lenders
• Tri-lingual workshops
• Over 5,000 employees

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The Real Estate World

• State REALTOR associations
• Local REALTOR associations
• NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
• Independent and franchise real estate firms

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Benefits for REALTORS

• Exposure

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Why Would Employers Offer EAH?

• Labor shortages
• Others?

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EAH Benefits for Employers 8 Rs

• Recruitment
• Retention
• Revitalization
• Return

• Relationships
• Reduced commuting
• Recognition
• Right thing to do

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How To Identify Receptive EAH Employers Through
the 8 Rs

• Recognition
• Recruitment
• Retention

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How To Identify Receptive EAH Employers

• Revitalization
• Reduced Commuting
• Return

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How To Identify Receptive EAH Employers

• Right Thing to Do

• Relationships

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EAH and Rs Financial Benefits for Employees
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Match the Benefit to its Description
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What are the Cost/Benefits for Employers?

• Tax benefits/implications?
• Cost/benefit analysis worksheet
• Determines size and characteristics of EAH
• We will cover in more detail later.

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Your Knowledge Happy Holidays Resort

• High turnover, lower wages
• Located in high-cost area requiring long staff
  commutes
• Need critical positions like restaurant manager
• Wants to be viewed as leading employer in the
  community

What are the Rs? What is the best EAH benefit(s)?
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Test Your Knowledge Our Town Restaurant

• Wants to appear like a neighborhood restaurant
• Community not happy about restaurant opening
• High turnover in host/hostess position

What are the Rs? What is the best EAH benefit(s)?
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How Can You Participate?

• Five
• Easy
• Steps

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Step 1 Know the Three EAH Benefits
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Step 2 Identify Employers
Determine WHY theyd want to offer EAH
REVIEW from earlier

• Labor shortages
• Corporate-client relationships
• Housing affordability problems (low wages)

• Trend-setters
• Deteriorating neighborhoods
• High turnover

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Step 2 Identify Employers
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Reaching Out to Employers

• Who Do You Know?

Left Names/companies Right Job held
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Step 3 Register Your Contacts (Optional)

• Identify and register employer(s) name
• E-mail or phone
• Determine next steps
• Track interactions

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Step 4 a Contact and Meet the Employer

• REVIEW
• Start with WARM calls only!
• Focus on your best bets
• Start off with the first two benefits as examples
• Ask for a personal meeting.

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Step 4 b Meet with the Employer

• Introduce Home from Work
• Send letter of invitation
• Customize PowerPoint presentation
• Brainstorm to assess employers
  needs
• REALTOR selects lender to conduct presentation
  with employer
• Take TOOLS with you!

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Tools to Share with Employers

• Step-by-Step Employer Guide
• Needs assessment tools (survey, more)
• Home buyer education tools and options
• Templates for promotion to employees
• Cost Benefit Analysis Worksheet
• CD with everything on it!

TIP Make the employers job EASY, turn-key, and
painless!
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Review the Step-by-Step Guide

• Step 1. Typical EAH Benefits
• Step 2. Conduct a Needs Assessment
• Step 3. Developing the EAH Employee Plan
• Step 4. Announcing the EAH Employee Plan
• Step 5. Implementing the EAH Employee
  Benefit Plan

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Needs Assessment Survey
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Homebuyer Education Tools and Options

• What are these?
• Brown bag lunches one or several
• Breakfast, lunch, after work, weekends, whenever
• Include other family members
• Trainers are certified
• Your ideas?

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Conducting Home-Buying Workshops

• Tools
• Template PowerPoint presentation
• Customize for your audience
• Overview
• Achieving homeownership
• Getting your credit report
• Correcting your credit report
• The process
• Resources for more info

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Templates FAQs for Employees
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Cost/Benefit Analysis Worksheet

• Provides estimate of what employer can offer to
  offset recruitment and turnover costs
• Larger the above costs, greater the EAH amount
  can be
• More accurate employer is with above costs, more
  accurate the analysis will be
• Larger employers experience greater cost savings

• If analysis bottom line is in the red, consider
• Reducing of employees receiving benefit
• Charging interest or making some of the loan
  repayable
• Reducing benefit amount

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Worksheet Input Items

• Turnover costs and rate
• Employer size
• Average employee salary
• Average supervisor salary
• of eligible employees
• of employees to use program

• Training costs
• External vs. internal hires
• Relocation and recruitment costs
• HR salary
• Salary inflations
• of gross up (if any)

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Cost Benefit Analysis Example

• Input Items
• 5-year 0 forgivable loan
• 1 change in 20 turnover
• salaries 30k employee 50k supervisor
• 90 hires external
• 50 eligible employees 6 use per year
• hiring training costs 3k administration
  costs1/4,1/3 or 1/2 of 35,000 salary

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Role Play Link the Rs to EAH
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Step 5 Make Connections

• Lender connection
• Local REALTOR Association
• Nonprofit organizations

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Closing More Deals with Low-Cost Financing

• Talk with lender partners about
• Flexible, low-cost options
• Little as 500 down payment
• Local, state, and federal programs
• Housing finance agencies
• Remember
• EAH Benefits Low-Cost Financing More Sales

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Resources to Find Financial Information

• Contact local lenders directly learn about those
  who regularly work with low-cost, low down
  programs
• Check with states housing agency or finance
  authority.
• Check on Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac websites.
• Check with local association representatives to
  provide a list of available loan or grant
  programs locally or statewide.

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CD Contents Tools for Success

• Fact Sheets
• Home from Work
• Frequently asked questions
• EAH examples
• EAH and state and local governments
• Cost/benefit analysis worksheet
• Sample Templates
• Letter to invite employers to participate
• PowerPoint to introduce EAH to employers
• PowerPoint for home buyer workshops
• Promotional flyer for home buyer workshops

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Key Points

• Know the benefits and the Rs
• Introduce to employers
• All loans can work with EAH
• Partner with participating lenders
• Be willing to plan and deliver workshops

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Your Challenge!

• Identify 3 employers you know
• Set a goal to get one to sign up for EAH and be
  willing to set up workshops