Muneerah Shabazz hopped on the trolley tour last October just to satisfy her curiosity. By the time she hopped off, she was ready to buy a house for the first time in her life.

"It was the best thing that ever happened to me," said Shabazz, who paid $69,900 for a rowhouse in Highlandtown. "I've never had a home before."

Shabazz was one of more than two dozen homebuyers who were able to qualify for a $3,000 voucher toward the purchase of a home in the first of five "Buying into Baltimore" trolley fairs. Last fall's fair explored the neighborhoods of Southeast Baltimore.

On Saturday, the Live Baltimore Marketing Center will hold the second fair at Greenspring Middle School from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be two trolley tours that will visit four open houses on each route and travel through a variety of Northwest Baltimore neighborhoods, from Upper Park Heights to Coldspring New Town to Hilltop and Ashburton.

The first fair, which attracted more than 400 participants, was so successful that the city kicked in an additional $24,000 to increase the number of vouchers from 20 to 28.

Tracy Gosson, director of the Live Baltimore Marketing Center, said the Northwest fair, which is also being sponsored by the Fannie Mae Foundation, will offer vouchers to the first 20 buyers who satisfy the requirements.

The final three fairs will be held May 22 in Southwest Baltimore; July 31 in Northeast Baltimore and Sept. 25 -- a citywide fair -- at the convention center.

This incentive program has fewer conditions attached to it than most the city offers prospective buyers. There are no income limits and a participant does not have to be a first-time purchaser. The mortgage amount can go as high as $240,000, the Fannie Mae limit for a conventional loan.

The $3,000 can be applied toward any home within the area being highlighted, not just the neighborhoods on tour. For this fair, that means homes for sale in the neighborhoods of Roland Park, Hampden and Mount Washington are eligible.

"The Southeast fair was so great. We took people through Fells Point and Canton, but we also took them through 10 other neighborhoods -- from Brewers Hill to Baltimore Linwood to Baltimore Highlands -- all these other neighborhoods that you don't really hear about," Gosson said.

"I was afraid that we were going to get a lot of Canton [buyers] because there is so much activity going on down there. But we didn't," Gosson added. "We sold about 75 percent of the houses in those 'other' lesser-know neighborhoods, which was exactly what we wanted."

Gosson said the $3,000 vouchers went to buyers of homes that ranged from an $8,000 property in the 1000 block of N. Milton Ave. to a Canton condominium in the $200,000 range.

Shabazz, 53, combined her voucher with the city's Settlement Expense Loan Program that reduced closing costs to the point where her out-of-pocket money to move into the home was about $1,000, she said.

"We always shopped on Eastern Avenue when I was a little girl with my parents," Shabazz said. "I've always wanted to live in Highlandtown, and this was my opportunity."

The nine-room end unit on South East Avenue was one of the homes open to trolley riders at the Southeast fair. The interior design attracted Shabazz, she said.

"I saw the house and went to see it again. And that's when I saw that my husband really liked the house, because he was one of those guys who always thought that living in an apartment was much easier, [but] we both fell in love with the house. So that was something great that happened," she said.

Shabazz submitted a contract Oct. 23, closed on the house less than a month later and moved in by Christmas. "It was meant for me," she said.

Qualifying for the homebuyer grants

A $3,000 voucher will be provided by the city for use toward a down payment or closing costs when the following conditions are satisfied:

Be one of the first 20 homebuyers executing contracts within 90 days of each of the final four Housing Fair and Trolley Tours.

Buyers must close on property within 90 days of the event.

No annual income limits.

Mortgage loan may not exceed $240,000.

Buyer must agree to use property as his/her principal residence.

Buyer must use a Fannie Mae-approved lender for mortgage financing.

To be eligible, applicants must: obtain trolley tour ticket at Housing Fair table, visit at least two open houses listed on the tour and have ticket validated, submit executed contract of sale with validated tour ticket to: HomeOwnership Institute, 417 E. Fayette St., Suite 1125, Baltimore, Md. 21202.

The Northwest Fair on Saturday will have two trolleys that will visit the following neighborhoods:

One trolley will visit Mount Washington, Fallstaff, Cheswolde and Coldspring New Town. The other trolley will visit Ashburton, Forest Park, Arlington and Howard Park.

For more information, call the Fannie Mae Foundation, 888-752-7170. Information is also available on the Internet at www.livebaltimore.com.

Pub Date: 3/14/99