HER realty will help with house payments

Deal for those who buy through firm, lose job in 1st year
Saturday, May 30, 2009 3:02 AM
By Jim Weiker

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Real Living HER, the real-estate company based in Columbus, announced yesterday that it will cover some mortgage payments for clients who lose their jobs.

The company, the largest residential real-estate firm in central Ohio, will offer a protection plan similar to what some carmakers and home builders began offering late last year as a way to attract buyers nervous about their jobs.

The program is available to those who purchase a home through a Real Living agent and finance the home with Real Living Mortgage. The home must be purchased between June 1 and Aug. 31 and close before Sept. 30.

If the buyer is laid off during the first year of ownership, Real Living will pay up to $1,500 a month on a mortgage for a maximum of six months.

Buyers are covered for an additional year if the home they purchased was listed with a Real Living agent.

The program is also available to those who refinance through Real Living Mortgage, said Chris Derrow, the executive vice president and general manager of Real Living.

Derrow said low interest rates and prices make this a great time to buy a home, but "given the economic uncertainties that exist, we felt … that we needed to provide our potential consumers the added confidence they need to take advantage of the market."

A handful of real-estate companies elsewhere in the country offer similar programs, including Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, in northeastern Ohio and some Keller Williams Realty offices in Florida.