The information below about a NEW ZERO Down financing program comes from The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and more information will be coming soon!
This type of program could mean help for Twin Cities home buyers that are on the fence about buying their first home. From rumors I have heard, there will be income limits and credit requirements for this program (appears to also be geared for first time home buyers).
As always, check with your local mortgage lender to see if you qualify. I’ll post more information when I get updates. A couple of lenders that I like and that have access to these programs are:Alec Grebis with Bell Mortgage and Cornerstone Mortgage.

New Loan Product for the Minnesota Mortgage Program

Minnesota Housing will soon be offering Affordable Advantage, a loan product that helps serve low- and moderate-income borrowers. The product has flexible terms and is one of the few 100 % LTV products available in the market. The product is based on Fannie Mae’s Affordable Advantage™, an initiative developed exclusively for Housing Finance Agencies, including Minnesota Housing.

Contact me for more information or to start the home search process!
Jen McKinnon
Real Estate Agent / Investor
AGENT REFERRAL NETWORK
Member of The Minnesota Real Estate Team
jen[at]MnRealEstateTeam[dot]com
612.384.1073

So, you didn’t get into the real estate market in time to take advantage of the tax credit? Below is a great article from a newsletter I get from Ronny Loew at Waterstone Mortgage.

What’s More Important? Low Rates or Tax Credit
In a recent survey by Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, an overwhelming majority of those polled found that when factoring in either low interest rates or the tax credit, low rates were far more important in a decision to purchase a home now.

There’s a good reason for this statistic. For example, if you purchase a home for $300,000 and finance $270,000, and your interest rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan was 5.25% versus 4.75%, you would pay nearly $30,000 more over the term of the loan. This is a significant amount of money!

Since the Fed’s Mortgage Backed Securities purchase program ended on March 31, there has been much volatility and price swings in the markets. Rates overall are off their lows and are often quoted above 5.00% today with no points.

Looked at from another perspective, if prospective home buyers are waiting for home prices to decline a bit more before purchasing a home, but interest rates push higher towards 6.00% in the meantime, waiting could well cost those home buyers more money in the long run.

In fact, let’s say a home buyer delays a transaction but receives a $10,000 reduction off that $300,000 home. If, in the meantime, rates were to rise .75% to 6.00% and the buyer financed 90% of the purchase price, the amount of total payments over a 30-year term would be over $35,000 more than paying the $300,000 purchase price and the 5.25% interest rate.

The Twin Cities real estate market is still HOT and there are great homes at good prices – in ALL price ranges and all areas of the Twin Cities. Please call me to learn more about home buying!

Jen McKinnon
Realtor/Investor
AGENT REFERRAL NETWORK

612.384.1073
jen[at]MnRealEstateTeam[dot]com

Are you a first time home buyer in the Twin Cities? Now is a great time and even better than we saw last year! Hello….$8,000 tax credit!
If you are wondering about First Time Home Buyer financing and assistance, Alec Grebis with Cornerstone Mortgage is a great person to contact. He wrote a great article about this at his blog, The Mortgage Scoop. Remember, talking to a knowledgeable lender is the first step in the home buying process!