Home Buying and Credit Counseling From Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Berks
Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Berks gives one-on-one counseling to people who want to buy a home, who need to understand and build their credit first, or who already own a home and want help handling it. NHS is a HUD-Approved Housing Counseling Agency, and its office is in Reading.
There are four counseling programs.
- Credit counseling: sessions help you understand your credit score and build a personal budget and savings plan, with the goal of mortgage readiness and financial freedom.
- Pre purchase: a one-on-one session for people exploring the idea of becoming homeowners. A counselor evaluates your financial status, examines your credit report, reviews the Loan Estimate and builds a budget with you.
- Pre closing: this program is for people who want to obtain a PHFA product and have a credit score lower than 680. A qualified counselor reviews your financial situation, credit report and Loan Estimate and develops a budget.
- Post purchase: for people who already own a home. A counselor reviews your credit report and budget and gives advice on maintaining and repairing your home and on budgeting for unforeseen repairs and home improvements.
The HomeOwnership Center combines financial education, financial counseling and financial coaching. Its services and resources include homebuyer education seminars, individualized pre-purchase counseling, home inspection requirement guidelines, affordable first-mortgage resources, NHS Down Payment and Closing Cost Assistance loans, information about how to find a realtor, and post-purchase counseling.
To start, submit the Homeownership Services Inquiry form on the counseling programs page at nhsgb.org. The form asks for your full name, a subject, your email, your phone, your household or family size, a time preference between 9 AM and 4 PM, and any special accommodation you need. Once the team reviews your information, a member of the team contacts you by email about the appropriate next steps. The same page has a link to schedule an appointment, which writes to clabrador@nhsgb.org and mbaez@nhsgb.org, and a budget form you can download. Intake forms are posted on the site in English and in Spanish.
The office is at 210 North Fifth Street, Second Floor, Suite 201 (NHS), Reading, PA 19601. The office is open Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Saturday 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM for the dropbox only, closed Sunday, with a lunch break closure from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm. Counseling itself is a scheduled one-on-one session, and the times of those sessions are not posted. For general questions, call 610-372-8433 or email contactus@nhsgb.org.
The page does not say what the counseling costs, so ask when you get in touch. It also does not say whether you must live in a particular area, how long the wait for an appointment is, or what documents to bring.
Source: nhsgb.org/counseling-programs, read November 2, 2026.
The details
In Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Berks’s words
Buying a house can be challenging, but our counseling services are here to guide you.
En español: la página del proveedor →
Organization
Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Berks
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This listing summarizes publicly available information from nhsgb.org/counseling-programs. Last recorded review: November 2, 2026. Contact the provider to confirm eligibility, hours and availability before you go. If something here is wrong, tell us.