Home buying tips today in Armenian
By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer

Los Angeles Daily News
Aug 20 2005

GLENDALE – Buying a first home can be daunting enough in the current
housing market, but when the buyer has a language barrier, the hurdle
can be that much higher.

So to help Armenian-speaking first-time home buyers, the city today
will hold an all-day class in Armenian offering tips on how to
negotiate the different steps of buying a home.

“Homeownership is hard enough right now in Southern California
that having language as a barrier makes it even harder,” said Anne
Bockenkamp, Glendale administrative analyst, who is organizing
the class.

Census data do not provide information on the percentage of
homeownership among Armenian-Americans. But City Councilman Bob
Yousefian said homeownership has increased among Armenian-Americans
in recent years, which can best be seen in northwest Glendale, an
area with mainly owner-occupied homes instead of rentals.

“I remember you used to go to northwest Glendale and
(Armenian-Americans) were maybe 10 percent, 15 percent” of the
residents, Yousefian said.

But an analysis of last names on electric utility bills shows that
Armenian-Americans make up about half the residents in some northwest
Glendale ZIP codes, Yousefian said.

“The ones that are doing financially better themselves, things are
picking up for them,” he said. “The ones that are new immigrants,
like any other community, it is a little more difficult for them.”

Census 2000 data show that of the city’s 73,713 occupied housing
units, 38.4 percent are owned by their occupants and the remaining
61.6 percent are lived in by renters, said Kristen Asp, planner for
the city.

By comparison, Pasadena had a homeownership rate of 45.8 percent,
in Burbank it was 43.5 percent and in Los Angeles it was 38.6 percent.

“In this market, you have to be very persistent to buy,” Bockenkamp
said. “You have to be determined; you have to be prepared.”

The city holds one class a year in Armenian for prospective first-time
home buyers, and it holds six classes a year in English.

The class will be conducted by an instructor certified by the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development, and at the end of the
class, participants will get a certificate showing they participated.

The certificate can be showed to lenders that require homeowner
education before offering loans with small down payments.