LAS VEGAS -- Buying a home and staying in it was part of the focus of President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address. A forum on Wednesday was aimed at getting employers to look into housing assistance programs for employees.
Employees at Opportunity Village who have worked there for a year and qualify as a first time home buyer can get a $10,000 loan towards the purchase of their house from Opportunity Village. They don't have to pay it back if they stay five years after the buy.
Employer assisted programs like this do exist, but the forum is hoping more companies jump on board.
Being a first time buyer comes with plenty of challenges. At the forum, business leaders were introduced to strategies on ways to keep productive, stable workers at their companies, while enticing them with incentives like homeowner or rental assistance.
"When an employers does something above and beyond your salary for you, you do feel a certain level of commitment and obligation to them that wasn't there. And it makes you feel like you have a reason to stay there," said homeowner Nadine Morris.
Morris bought her first home through the help of her employer, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, a company she has been with since 1996.
The group who held the forum says businesses can benefit financially by hiring and retaining quality employees and helping re-build our housing market.
