Spring is when some people's fancy turns to homebuying, so it's not surprising that a pair of buyer 101 events are coming up soon.

Live Baltimore has a Smart Homebuying Night scheduled for April 6 at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore, 5700 Park Heights Ave. (That's not the same as the twice-yearly Buying Into Baltimore, next scheduled for May 14.) An exhibitor fair with real estate agents, lenders and others will run from 5 to 6:30 p.m., with a pre-purchase counseling class from 6 to 9 p.m. for the first 100 registrants. The class is part of what you need to get a counseling certificate, which makes you eligible for some homebuyer incentives.

April 9 -- the following Saturday -- is the Howard County Housing Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., which will have industry folks (including homebuilders and remodelers), a bus tour of new developments and a lottery to buy a renovated townhome at what organizers describe as a "substantially reduced" price. (Deadline to register for the lottery is April 6.) The event will be held at Long Reach High School, 6101 Old Dobbin Lane in Columbia.

Residents looking for ways to improve their neighborhood have an event to check out, too: The Greater Homewood Community Corp.'s Fourth Annual Neighborhood Institute, which this year is focusing on "Building Blocks for Better Neighborhoods." That's scheduled for April 2 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Govans Presbyterian Church, 5852 York Road in Baltimore. Workshop topics will include marketing your neighborhood, training "block captains," starting a community garden and dealing with problem properties.

Know of other upcoming housing or neighborhood events? Please leave a comment with a link.