FIRST TIME HOMEBUYERS SEMINAR: The Washington Trust Company and Rhode Island Housing will host a free seminar, First-Time Homebuying Made Easy, at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23 at Washington Trust’s office at 645 Reservoir Ave., Cranston.

The seminar will explore all aspects of the home-purchasing process, including what to expect when buying a home, down payment and closing cost options, the criteria lenders use to examine applicants, and program qualifications. Speakers will include a Rhode Island Housing representative, a consumer credit counseling service representative, and Jeffrey S. Duscha, assistant vice president, mortgage lending, from Washington Trust.

Attendees will receive the homebuyer’s education certificate that is required for Rhode Island Housing financing. For reservations, call The Washington Trust Company, (401) 348-1334 or 1 (800) 475-2265, ext. 1334.

HOME FORECLOSURE SEMINARS: The Greater Providence Board of Realtors, in conjunction with the Statewide Realtor Cultural Diversity Committee, has announced a partnership with Housing Network and its members to bring relief to homeowners in danger of losing homes to foreclosure.

To help stem the tide of foreclosures in Rhode Island, the groups partnered to offer free workshops for the public, which took place on June 17 at Casey Family Services, 1268 Eddy St., Providence. The workshops ran in both English and Spanish and were facilitated by HUD certified housing counselors. The Realtors also sponsored a workshop on June 26 geared for real estate professionals. This workshop educated over 120 Realtors about a variety of services available to clients and consumers.

HOMEBUYER ASSISTANCE: Bank Rhode Island (BankRI) has been awarded $200,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston (FHLBB) to assist eligible homebuyers in affordable housing. This is the fourth consecutive year that the bank has applied for and received grant money from the FHLBB’s Equity Builder Program and the first year that the FHLBB has awarded such a large allotment to BankRI and other participating financial institutions. The Equity Builder Program is intended to provide households with incomes of not more than 80 percent of the area median income with down payment, closing cost, homebuyer counseling, and rehabilitation assistance. BankRI is one of four Rhode Island financial institutions participating in the program.

“The fact that the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston has doubled the amount of grant money given to participating institutions compared to previous years speaks volumes about the challenging economy,” said Peter Walsh, senior vice president of retail lending and community relations at BankRI. “These are tough times for many people and certainly for individuals seeking homeownership. The increased funds will allow us to have a greater impact in the community by enabling us to help more people with closing costs and down payments. We’re pleased to be a part of the Equity Builder Program and are grateful to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston for this powerful financial tool which helps people secure affordable housing.”

Walsh added that BankRI aims to use some of this year’s Equity Builder funds to assist nonprofit development corporations in Providence that are contending with unsold properties. He said that the bank has talked with groups including Stop Wasting Abandoned Property (SWAP) about setting aside some of BankRI’s allotment to help sell revitalized homes. This year, the first one-third of the bank’s allotment from the FHLBB must go to eligible first-time homebuyers while the remaining two-thirds may go to non first-time homebuyers who are income eligible.

AGENT OF THE MONTH: Celeste Fournier has been named Agent of the Month at RE/MAX Realty Group, Seekonk, Mass. She has been recognized for her professional achievements as Top Listing and Top Sales Agent for June marking the fourth consecutive month that she has received the top award.

TOP COMPANY: Keller Williams Realty of Newport has been honored as one of the country’s top real estate Companies to Watch by RISMedia in its 2008 Power Broker Report.

The distinction recognizes the Middletown brokerage as the only Rhode Island company to make this list.

“We are very proud to be included in this report. All of our agents work very hard in this challenging business and it is definitely paying off,” says Connor Dowd, principal broker at Keller Williams Realty of Newport.

RISMedia is a leading professional publication focusing on residential and commercial real estate news, trends and marketing. The Power Broker Report, in its 20th year, is based on results garnered from a widely distributed industry survey.

harruda@projo.com