Last Thursday night I had the pleasure of being a guest speaker at the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation First Time Homebuyer's class.

This educational opportunity is offered about once per month here in Juneau.  There can be anywhere from 4 - 30 students, and they are all in the process of buying a home.  They could be anywhere from just beginning to think about it to signing at the title company the day after they get the certificate.  To get credit, they must attend both sessions, for a total of 8 hours.  This can be tough on the schedule on weeknights as it's usually 6:00 - 10:00 PM and there is no childcare provided.

In return for their time, the buyer receives $250 off the AHFC Commitment Fee, which is ¼ of 1% of their loan amount.  On a $200,000 loan the fee would be $500, so this is a significant discount.  There are a lot of advantages to AHFC and to the FTHB program, but I'll save that for another article.

Most of the agents in my market are not interested in being a guest speaker for this class.  There are always students that are already in a contract.  Many of the others have already committed to working with an agent.  Only a few are really left looking for buyer representation.  Many are just there for the discount. 

The buyers attending this class always learn something.  Unfortunately, sometimes they learn too late that they already made a mistake.  I've found that they really help teach the rest of the class, and reinforce just how big an investment a home purchase can be, and how many stumbling blocks are along the way.

While I may not always get a new client out of the deal, I jump at the chance to be a guest speaker.  I can work on my public speaking skills, help people, and most importantly, I always walk away with a sense of the "buyer pulse" in my market.