Woman Gets Her Dream Home With City, U.S. Aid

Everything about Zarifa Abdur-Rahim’s future home was right--the kitchen size, the swimming pool, the three bedrooms. After years of renting in Long Beach’s lower-income neighborhoods, she and her children were eager to settle in.

But on Tuesday, the day escrow closed on her California Avenue home, the movers had to hold off while television crews, real estate types and federal officials visited the home.

Abdur-Rahim, 42, said it was worth the wait just so she could share her experiences with the city and federal housing programs that helped her buy the $154,000, 1,750-square-foot home.

“You know how you pray for something and you never get it?” she told reporters. “Well, after 10, 15 years . . . I finally got it.”

The accountant and single mother of six was able to qualify for three homeowner-assistance programs, one a city-sponsored tax credit for homeowners, and two federal programs aimed at lowering down payments, mortgage interest rates and closing costs for first-time buyers.

On hand for Tuesday’s tour, Ronald Brown, a loan specialist, said few people apply for the kind of assistance Abdur-Rahim received.

“Everybody has this fear that [they] might be turned down, but you just have to ask,” he said.