RISMEDIA, Feb. 15, 2007-To better serve Houston's growing Asian-American home buying community, First American Title Insurance Company has relocated its Southwest Houston office to the heart of Houston's Chinatown area, at6609 Sam Houston Parkway South, suite 101. First American will kick-off the new office opening with an event celebrating Asian culture in conjunction with the Chinese New Year. The event, intended for real estate agents and mortgage lenders, will take place today from 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. and will feature a traditional lion dance.
First American Title's Southwest Houston office has served the city's multicultural real estate market for 18 years. The new location will provide even more resources dedicated to assisting real estate professionals focused on these traditionally under-served communities.
"A common misconception is that Asian Americans have no need for home buying assistance," said Shirley Chiu, First American Title's Southwest Houston branch manager. "By empowering real estate professionals with the knowledge to work successfully with this group, we will not only increase opportunities for those practitioners, but also create new homeownership opportunities for Asian-American families who have struggled with cultural barriers to home buying in the past."
Recent U.S. Census statistics indicate that Asian-American homeownership rates lag behind that of non-minorities by 16%. The national homeownership rate of non-Hispanic whites is 76%, while Asian-American homeownership continues to hovers around 60% nationally.
Feng shui principles were incorporated throughout the new First American office, which will continue to feature a talented staff of employees fluent in numerous Asian languages and dialects.
First American's Houston Multicultural homeownership solutions program is aimed at helping to breakdown the cultural and financial barriers that often arise when members of minority communities enter the home buying process. It is comprised of consumer-focused outreach and educational events, specialized programs for real estate professionals and the hiring and training of key First American staff to better service ethnically-diverse communities.
"Homeownership is a first step toward true financial security and wealth-building for most Americans, but in many minority communities, common barriers such as financial literacy and credit issues often make homeownership seem unattainable" said Jessica S. Verduzco, Texas director of Strategic Markets for First American Title Insurance Company. "The relocation of our Southwest Houston office is yet another example of First American's dedication and commitment to meeting the growing needs of Houston's multicultural community."
First American also currently has a location targeted at serving the Hispanic community located in northwest Houston.
For more information, visit www.firstam.com.
