Mobile housing center hits the road

A recreational vehicle loaded with office equipment begins traveling through 44 counties in southern Iowa today to help low and moderate income Iowans purchase homes. Skip Petts of Neighborhood Housing Services in Des Moines says the R-V is the first of its kind in the United States.Petts says they can set up their own classroom to teach people about home buying. The can also get potential homeowners pre-approved for home loans. He says the R-V is more efficient than setting up 44 separate satellite offices. The traveling office ensures they’ll be where they need to be on time and it saves potential homeowners from having to drive all the way to Des Moines. Petts says they expect to eventually serve several hundred Iowans. He says they have 6 to 7 hundred people who take the classes every year in Des Moines.The mobile home ownership center was purchased using money from several federal housing programs and a donation from the Allied Insurance Company.