A Boost for Buying

Nationally, only 12 percent of employers provided homeownership-assistance programs in 2004, compared with 7 percent in 2002, according to a benefits survey by the Society for Human Resources Management. Advocacy groups have been pushing for companies to take a bigger role.

At the Capital Grille event, speakers implored workers to start the home-buying process. "There are lenders here that can help you get money," Gutierrez said in Spanish. "So what are you waiting for?"

Noe Rodriguez, a Capital Grille waiter who attended the seminar, said he was surprised to learn about programs that could help him buy a condominium in the District. He said he was initially worried that his debt ratio was too high, but now is confident he can find a loan with a decent interest rate.

"I'm just tired of renting," said Rodriguez, who pays $950 a month for a studio apartment in the District. "I'm considering owning because it is an investment."

The process of buying a home can be confusing for all first-timers, but Latinos face some specific challenges. Those include not only language difficulties, but also lack of adequate financial documentation needed to establish a good credit rating and distrust of established financial institutions. Also, officials say Latinos who do not understand the U.S. home-buying process are sometimes vulnerable to predatory lending practices.

"We understand it is not easy," said Luis Carlos Duarte, a counselor for the Hispanic Committee of Virginia, a nonprofit support group. Duarte said it was important for those who want to buy a house to organize their finances so they can make their monthly mortgage payments and avoid foreclosure.

Jose Luis Semidey, president of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Professionals, warned Capital Grille employees to be careful when selecting lenders and real estate agents. "It is critical that the lender you are working with provides you with good information," he said.

Experts in affordable housing point out that lenders, local governments and nonprofits offer an array of free or low-cost bilingual education programs that help people navigate the buying process. These programs teach buyers about lending resources and the importance of establishing good credit and organizing their finances.

For example, low-income first-time home buyers in Alexandria can take advantage of a $50,000 loan to pay for down payment and closing costs on a home valued up to $312,895. The city, one of the most expensive places to live in the Washington area, offers several other programs to its low and moderate-income residents.

Jeanneth and Orrar Ferrufino, who live in a crowded one-bedroom Alexandria apartment with their two young children, said they would look into that city's assistance programs, but still worried that they may not make enough to buy a house.

"Money is the primary issue that we have right now," said Jeanneth Ferrufino, who works part time cleaning houses. "After having children, it's hard to save."

But the Ferrufinos now have a little bit of an extra incentive to start hunting. At the seminar, Orrar, a food-runner at the restaurant, won a raffle prize of $1,000 toward the down payment of a home, good for one year.

Even with financial assistance, many working class people are still priced out of the market. The median sales price for an existing home in the Washington area was $369,000 in the first quarter of this year, according to the National Association of Realtors. Many housing-assistance programs set limits near or below this level.

In Montgomery County, four example, where prices are higher than elsewhere in the region, sets a $370,533 price ceiling on its first-time homeowner-assistance program. "One of the problems is that there is not enough housing to buy under $370,000," said Tom DeBrine, of the county's Housing Opportunities Commission.

"We have all of these programs, but if they have no place to buy, it becomes problematic," said Tony Cato, area sales manager at CitiMortgage Inc.

It can be done, however. Victor Amaya, who buses tables at Capital Grille, emigrated from El Salvador in 1982. By 2001, he said, he was a U.S. citizen, with enough money saved up to buy a $193,000 house in Glenmont, in Montgomery County.

Now, he estimated, that house is worth $450,000.