Rep. Johnson Announces July 23 Lucky Chance Homeownership Drawing with Freddie Mac, Bank of Texas Mortgage Group, HomeSteps Properties, Enterprise Foundation

DALLAS, June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- If you ever dreamed of owning a home, mark July 23 on your calendar now! That's when the Bank of Texas Mortgage Group, Freddie Mac, HomeSteps(R), and the Enterprise Foundation will hold Dallas' first-ever Lucky Chance Homeownership Drawing where working families will compete for nearly 100 Dallas Metroplex area homes in all price ranges -- and a separate chance to win six months of free mortgage payments.

Created to help more renters, working families and other Dallas area residents achieve homeownership, the Lucky Chance Homeownership Drawing is sponsored by Freddie Mac , one of the nation's largest investors in residential mortgage, The Bank of Texas Mortgage Group, the Enterprise Foundation, and HomeSteps, Freddie Mac's real estate sales unit. The Lucky Chance Homeownership Drawing uses the features of an auction, but without a bidding contest among homebuyers.

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) hailed the new initiative for Dallas homebuyers. "I am pleased to be a part of an environment where Americans can turn the dream of homeownership into reality. I am committed to finding innovative ways to increase homeownership, and I welcome Freddie Mac's efforts to provide decent, safe, affordable homes to all Americans," Congresswoman Johnson said. "It is my hope that what we are doing today will provide more families with the tools to realize the dream of homeownership."

Starting today, HomeSteps will make nearly 100 properties available to Dallas Metroplex homebuyers exclusively through the Lucky Chance Homeownership Drawing. These are competitively priced homes located in the Dallas Metroplex area including Plano, Arlington, Mesquite and others. The homes come in all styles and sizes. Average prices range from $64,000 (Farmers Branch, TX) to more than $290,000 (Flower Mound, TX).

"The Lucky Chance Homeownership Drawing is a unique opportunity for Dallas families to jump the gap between the dream and the reality of owning a home," said Craig Nickerson, Freddie Mac's vice president of community development programs and services. "I want to thank the Bank of Texas Mortgage Group, HomeSteps and the Enterprise Foundation for coming together to give more Dallas families a real chance at homeownership."

"Homeownership helps stabilize and revitalize neighborhoods, and the Bank of Texas Mortgage Group is pleased to participate in an initiative with Freddie Mac and the Enterprise Foundation that will benefit individual homeowners, as well as the Dallas community," Sara Powell, vice president, Bank of Texas Mortgage Group. "The Bank of Texas Mortgage Group will provide financing by offering its 'Zero Down-Homeward Bound' mortgage product, the Freddie Mac Home Possible mortgage, along with other mortgage products that should fit every borrower's needs."

"We are delighted to participate with the LCD because it is an exciting opportunity for Dallas area residents to learn about homeownership and to purchase a home that meets their family's needs and budget," said Lorenzo Littles, Dallas director of the Enterprise Foundation. "We would like to thank Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Senator Royce West, Freddie Mac, HomeSteps, and The Bank of Texas Mortgage Group for supporting this important initiative."

How the Lucky Chance Homeownership Drawing Works

First, entrants' names will be drawn at random at the Dallas Farmers Market starting at 11:00 am on July 23. When a person's name is drawn they have the right to sign a sales contract for one of the properties on which they made an offer at their original offer price! There are no negotiations. No bidding wars. Their submitted offer is the final price. To sign a sales contract at the drawing individuals must be prepared to present their Bank of Texas financing pre-approval and $500 in earnest money.

Second, everybody who signed a sales contract at the drawing is automatically entered into a second drawing for six free months of mortgage payments that will be held at the end of the day.

Is there a winning strategy for getting the house you want most? Since there are a select number of properties and names will be drawn at random the best strategy is to submit offers on more than one house. That way a buyer can improve his or her chance that there will be a property they want in the event their first choice home is sold before their name is drawn. Entrants can make offers on up to three participating HomeSteps properties.

How to Enter the Lucky Chance Drawing

To qualify for the July 23 Lucky Chance Homeownership drawing, entrants must:

* Complete a homebuyer education course and obtain a certificate of completion from a participating education provider, such as the Dallas County Home Loan Counseling Center. Entrants can obtain a complete list of providers from the Enterprise Foundation or the Bank of Texas. * Pre-approved for mortgage financing at any participating Bank of Texas branch office in the Dallas area. (Entrants must bring a homebuyer education certificate of completion when they pre-qualify.) * Participated in and receive a certificate of completion in a Lucky Chance Homeownership Initiative Buyer Awareness Seminar. * Submit an offer at least at the asking price through a participating Dallas area real estate broker on one or more of the nearly 100 available HomeSteps homes. * There are no income restrictions on who can enter the Lucky Chance Homeownership Drawing. However, the drawing is limited to residents who agree to live in the house they purchase.

Two special affordable mortgage products for first-time homebuyers are also being made available through the drawing. These include Freddie Mac's Home Possible(sm) Mortgage Suite, which enables qualified borrowers to finance a home purchase with as little as $500 of their own funds, and the Bank of Texas' Homeward Bound 103% mortgage. Freddie Mac's Home Possible Mortgage Suite is primarily targeted to borrowers who earn up to the median income, although there are no income limits when the home is an underserved area.

For more information on the Lucky Chance Homeownership Drawing contact the Enterprise Foundation at 214-651-7789.

The Enterprise Foundation helps America's low-income families with their struggle out of poverty by providing decent homes, access to steady employment, quality childcare and safer streets. Working with a network of 2,500 community organizations nationwide and through its 17 offices, The Enterprise Foundation has leveraged close to $6 billion in investments and donations to help build almost 175,000 affordable homes. Visit us at http://www.enterprisefoundation.org/.

BOK Financial Corporation is a multi-bank holding company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company's stock is publicly traded on Nasdaq under the national market listings (symbol: BOKF). Assets of the organization are centered in five bank subsidiaries, Bank of Albuquerque, Bank of Arkansas, Bank of Oklahoma, Bank of Texas, and Colorado State Bank and Trust, and Valley Commerce Bank in Phoenix, AZ. Additional mortgage origination offices are located in Kansas and Missouri.

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation chartered by Congress in 1970 to create a continuous flow of funds to mortgage lenders. By supplying lenders with the money to make mortgages and packaging the mortgages into marketable securities, Freddie Mac sustains a stable mortgage credit system and reduces the mortgage rates paid by homebuyers. Over the years, Freddie Mac has opened the doors for one in six homebuyers in America and two million renters. (More information on Freddie Mac can be found on the company's web site located at http://www.freddiemac.com/.)