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Expanding Affordable Housing in Central Florida

Dedicated to increasing access to affordable rental and ownership opportunities.

Our Mission

HANDS works to increase the supply and availability of affordable housing in Central Florida through development, counseling, and community partnerships.

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Our History

Housing and Neighborhood Development Services of Central Florida, Inc. (HANDS) is a private not-for-profit housing corporation created in July of 1989. HANDS is a 501(C)(3) organization created by the Orange County Housing Finance Authority to provide affordable housing for Central Florida.

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Resources

Access a comprehensive list of HANDS resources
for housing, education, and financial support.

Directors

Meet the dedicated directors
leading our mission and programs.

Outcomes

Explore our key achievements
and community impact in 2024.

FAQs

Anyone may contact HANDS for mostly free private counseling. A Certified Housing Counselor will then be able to look at your personal household income, current debts and help you understand what level home mortgage you may qualify for at a bank. If you have credit issues that must be resolved before a lender will give you a loan, our counselors will identify those and help you with a written Action Plan to begin resolving those issues.

Currently all of HANDS counseling services are mostly free for as many sessions as you need. You and a HANDS Housing Counselor will determine through a written Action Plan the benchmarks for additional counseling sessions. HANDS is a HUD-certified and HUD funded Housing Counseling Agency and also receives funding from Orange County. HANDS is paid for our services from these sources so that our counseling is mostly free to our clients.

Yes. During a mostly free One-on-One Counseling session, HANDS will pull a free credit report for our clients, teach them how to read it, and assist with negotiating payoffs with their creditors. HANDS does not take any money from clients for payment to creditors. When possible, our clients pay off their debts directly. This and all HANDS services are mostly free.

No. HANDS loans no money. Potential homebuyers must qualify for a home loan with a bank or mortgage company. HANDS provides the required homebuyer education course for local downpayment assistance to eligible clients. After taking the homebuyer seminar, participants receive a certificate of education that must to included in their loan package and sent to the City or County providing the downpayment assistance. HANDS certificates of education are accepted in Orange, Osceola, Lake, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the Cities of Orlando and Deltona.

Yes, if the home has a sales price less than $219,000 the home can be listed on HANDS' website. Please read the info. we need to develop the "cut sheet" to post on the website. The instructions are on our web site under the "Homes for Sale" button on the home page. To begin the process - HANDS will need a $100 check for each home mailed to the address below. We will then need the info. on the home + .jpeg photo to send to our web developer who we pay to put info. into the "cut sheet". The web listing is for 90 days and we love to hear status so we can change to "Contract Pending" or "Sold".

HANDS Success Stories

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our funders Wells
Fargo and The Dr. P. Phillips Foundation. Their generous funding
made this web site possible.

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