What Does a Housing Counselor Do?

Have you wondered, “What does a housing counselor do?” You’ll find the answer on this page. The National Financial Educators Council has housing counselor certification programming that trains financial counselors to help people move closer to their financial goals. Through this training, they’ve formed a nationwide network of highly-trained consultants who have demonstrated capability, adhere to strict standards, and have a passion and knack for helping others. Called Certified Personal Financial Wellness Consultants, these professionals will examine your unique situation, discover your goals, and help prioritize a list of actions that will propel you toward greater financial health.

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What Does a Housing Counselor Do to Become Qualified?

There’s no restrictions on who can call him or herself a financial counselor, but what does a housing counselor do to actually become qualified? An NFEC consultant has proven his or her compliance with standards that define top quality for a housing and financial counselor – including education, experience, and background. A Certified Personal Financial Wellness Consultant is mandated to complete hundreds of hours of instruction, undergo a criminal background check, and pass a challenging exam. NFEC Financial Coaches also must meet performance evaluation and implementation requirements.

Principles taken from the fields of education, counseling, consumer protection, and psychology lay behind the standards that govern NFEC consultants. These were the industries chosen because a financial counselor has to handle people’s issues around money, which can be a topic fraught with emotion. NFEC Financial Coaches are charged with discovering clients’ goals and requirements, offering support and education, and holding them accountable as they work their plans to achieve financial wellbeing.

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The Typical Service of a Housing Counselor

An ordinary housing counselor definition describes a person with whom clients may talk about finances. On the other hand, NFEC counselors from the NFEC Financial Coach network are fit to address a much greater breadth and depth of personal finance topics. We learned this fact by carrying out research, using the terms ‘financial coaching’ and ‘financial counseling’ to perform a Google search in which 137 websites appeared in the first 50 pages of results. Of the 137, just 26 indicated their pricing and package data upfront. The number one service offered was direct contact with the counselor. That was followed by education materials, and then with money management planning and re-planning.

What Does a Housing Counselor Do, at Which Life Stages?

The housing counselor definition remains fairly narrow in scope. For example, housing counselors might aid clients to find a house to buy or rental property to lease. They might do a cursory review of clients’ finances to determine their ability to make mortgage or rent payments, and counsel those who are having trouble meeting their housing expenses.

As a point of comparison, consider the broad variety of services a NFEC Financial Coach has to offer. They are prepared to work with clients across all the important stages of life – from moving out on their own through the golden years, and all points in between. NFEC Financial Coaches are ready to provide financial counseling resources to help clients with challenges they’re facing as well as to increase their financial health. And as an individual transitions into a new life stage, the NFEC Financial Coach can re-examine the situation and work with that client to adjust his or her financial plans.

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Exploration and Planning – Part 1

What does a housing counselor do, versus what does a NFEC Financial Coach do? Recently Kendall was asking the same question. He found out that a NFEC Financial Coach carries out consultation in four phases. The first part involves a full exploration of the client’s personal finance profile. The counselor reviewed Kendall’s bank balances, income, liabilities compared with assets, insurance coverage, and credit history. Once that step was done, the NFEC Financial Coach had a clear notion of Kendall’s full financial picture and relationships with money; and Kendall received a tailored Personal Finance Plan with actions prioritized.

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Direction and Resources – Part 2

The second part of Kendall’s process toward finding out “what does a housing counselor do” versus the NFEC Financial Coach services was receiving guidance and education. Kendall had consistent meetings with his counselor where he got guidance toward achieving his action steps and education about financial topics relevant to his situation. Kendall was making strides toward becoming a self-sufficient money manager, while his financial counselor helped him update his strategies as circumstances changed.

Maintenance and Upkeep – Part 3

Now that Kendall’s initial challenges had been addressed and he was moving steadily toward his objectives, the NFEC Financial Coach was able to fade into the background and simply support Kendall as needed. You can see how this ongoing support might contrast with the housing counselor definition, which is more limited. The NFEC Financial Coach stayed readily available to give Kendall nudges about deadlines and important dates, and had resource materials on hand whenever Kendall had a certain need.

Liaison with Niche Expertise – Part 4

In the fourth part of Kendall’s experience working with a financial counselor, the NFEC Financial Coach – beyond what does a housing counselor do – was able to form a liaison between Kendall and experts in a variety of niche areas. For example, when Kendall was investigating his first property purchase, the NFEC Financial Coach had access to an expert in home-buying. Kendall learned about his options for working with a housing counselor. And, as Kendall found, the NFEC’s team of industry experts are fully independent, 100% responsible to clients.

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