A first-time home buying program faces headwinds from Arlington’s hot real estate market

Real estate for sale sign in the Arlington Heights neighborhood (file photo by Jay Westcott)
Recently, a family of five with three boys bought a two-bedroom home with a den in Arlington, thanks in part to a little-known county program that helps first-time homebuyers secure a mortgage with small loans.
“They were completely comfortable with that,” says Karen Serfis, a program manager with Latino Economic Development Center, who helped the family work with the county to get the loan.