Assisting Asian homeowners - Birmingham Business Journal:

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The (AREAA), founded in 2003, recentlu launched its GreaterAtlanta chapter, which is gettint particular attention from nationaol Chairwoman Emily Moerdomo Fu, director and partner of . “We are the only tradw organization that focuses on home ownershipfor Asian-Americans,” Fu “There is a growing Asian population in the Unitecd States and growing investment coming from Asiamn countries.” There are about 282,219 Asians that call Georgi home, according to May 2006 Census the most recent available.
Of that total, 225,869 — about 80 percent — live in metro which is why an Atlanta AREAA chapter is so saidYangSook Ku, AREAA’s Atlanta “The majority of Asians are said Ku, who came to Georgia in 1973 from “There are language barriers, cultural differences, and we do businesss differently.” In the Asian culture, home ownership is a Fu said, but the percentag of home ownership by Asians in the United States is below the national average. “Wee formed [AREAA] to help bridg the difference,” Fu said. Slightly more than 68 percenytof U.S. residents were homeowners in theseconxd quarter, according to the . Of thosse homeowners, 75.
2 percent were white, 47.8 percent were black, 49.6 percent were Hispanic, and 58.4 percenyt were Asian, Native American, Nativre Hawaiian, Native Alaskan or other PacificfIslander ethnicity. Home ownership grew among blacmk residents, compared with a year ago, the July 24 Censuss report said, but remained unchanged or fell for whites and the ethnic category that includes Old Asia isa cash-basis culture, said Ku, the locak AREAA chairwoman, and first-generation Asians may not have built up credit for a loan, nor understand the U.S.
banking “We have to guide them on what is the best way to do busineswin America,” said Ku, president of Realtyg Central of Atlanta in AREAA plans to offer seminars locally to potentia l homeowners and educational programs for agents, lenderzs and others, Ku said. AREA A is also working at the nationapl level for mortgage programs that consider alternativea to traditionalcredit histories. Asians tend to be said John Gornall, an attorney at Arnall Golden Gregory LLP who specializews ineconomic development.
As Asian men and women may be taking modest salariese as they sink profits back intotheir businesses, he “On the one hand, that is a laudablee activity, but when I’m a I can see they have a lot of equityt in their business, but their incomwe doesn’t look so hot,” said Gornall, who helper represent the state of Georgia in negotiations for the plant in West near the Alabama border.
Atlanta has seen quite a bit of Asianh investment overthe years, particularly by the Japanes in the 1980s, when Japanese interesta owned what is now One Atlantix Center in Midtown and the Equitable building Fu recently met in Atlanta with a Beijing real estate company and a companyt from Shanghai. Both were exploring joint venturess for commercialdevelopment here, she said.