The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) have joined forces to produce a series of YouTube videos aimed at helping consumers understand and negotiate the home buying process.

The videos, previewed before an audience at the NAR convention in New Orleans, cover three aspects of home buying; shopping for the house, shopping for the loan, and closing the deal.  The first title will help viewers decide how much home they can afford and instructs viewers on how to work with a real estate agent and what happens once a house is identified.  Viewers are also advised about the availability of housing counselors to assist them with credit issues, and foreclosure prevention.

The Shopping for your Loan video is designed to help consumers use the good faith estimate (GFE) to shop for the best loan.  Consumers will learn how to use the GFE to determine how long an interest rate is available for a particular loan and how to identify key loan terms and costs of a particular loan offer.

The film, Closing the Deal walks consumers through the actual closing process including how to make sure the loan they were offered closely matches what they encounter at the settlement table. In particular, the video examines the HUD-1 Settlement Statement and demonstrates ways consumers can compare their actual costs with those reflected on their Good Faith Estimate.

To view HUD's new homebuyer education videos, visit HUD's YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/HUDchannel.