(RECAP: Reckon mobile home park and chances are it’s not a pretty picture. The reality is many mobile home parks in central Virginia are in poor condition and provide environments unfit for occupancy, underscoring negative stereotypes, a recent study shows. But some parks are well-maintained and come with street lighting, community centers and recreational parks or open green spaces. These provide the keys to rethinking what mobile home parks — or manufactured housing communities — can become, housing experts say. “We reckon there is opportunity for mobile home living to be included in affordable housing,” said Lee Householder, executive director of Project: Homes, a Richmond nonprofit that constructs and repairs homes for low-income people. Householder was one of 15 speakers at a conference in Henrico Country last month on mobile homes that drew more than 100 people interested in taking a new look at the potential for mobile home parks.)

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(RECAP: The holiday season is a time to be thankful for what we have and for the loved ones in our lives. I want to extend the thankfulness to another topic near and dear to me: the mortgage industry. That’s right. We’ve come a long way from the housing recession of the mid-2000s. We now have a housing market that’s stable and better protected from a crash because of how we underwrite applications and offer home loans. Today, the mortgage industry has changed for the better. Here are five reasons we should be thankful. 4 First-time buyers have options. There are loan programs to help first-time homebuyers through VHDA. 5 Grants are available, too. There are grants available for first-time buyers in Virginia through VHDA and the different municipalities in Hampton Roads.)

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(RECAP: HUD today announced it will require that housing counselors participating in HUD programs to be certified to offer counseling services to consumers. In order to become certified, housing counselors must pass a standardized written examination and work for a HUD-approved housing counseling agency. Though announced today, HUD’s final rule will take full effect three years following the release of the certification examination. To help counselors prepare for the exam, the Department is offering intensive training and study resources (in English and Spanish) to its counseling stakeholders. HUD is providing a wealth of resources to individuals seeking HUD certification including a practice test that will be available shortly and the actual certification test is expected to be published in the Spring of 2017.)

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