Buyer Incentives
MN Housing Programs
It’s no secret that First Time Home Buyers have a good number of programs and loan options available in Minnesota. If you’re looking for down payment assistance or closing cost help there are a couple programs you could take advantage of through the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA).
The first is called the “Minnesota Mortgage Program” [...]
Home Buying in Winter
I thought it would be nice to take a break from the serious side of the MN First Time Home Buyers blog and have some winter fun!
I certainly hope no one is out shopping for a snow house like the one pictured here, but if you’re in the market for a new home in 2010, [...]
Home Ownership = Control
Through the years of working with First Time Home Buyers in Minnesota, I have asked a lot of questions to my clients and heard a lot of reasons why people want to buy real estate. Some buyers say they want to be real estate investors and start by owning their personal residence, others simply hate [...]
Homes for Heroes in St. Paul, MN
Throughout the Twin Cities Area you can find a lot of different Home Buying Programs and Grants to help fix up properties or afford a down payment amount.
Some of these programs are just for First Time Home Buyers, and some are for certain types of properties or targeted areas in the city.
In St. Paul, they [...]
Home Buying Timeline
I often get asked by First Time Home Buyers in Minnesota and other states “How long does it take to buy a house from start to finish?”
It’s really very different from person to person. I have helped some new buyers purchase a house within 2 months of meeting them face to face. Others have taken [...]
How to Use the First Time Buyer Tax Credit Before You Buy
Alec Grebis over at the First Time Home Buyer Mortgage Blog wrote a great post which details a way for new buyers to actually save money up using the new $8,000 Tax Credit that the Obama Stimulus Bill includes.
It’s a great idea if you need to scrape together some cash in order to afford a [...]
News Not Really Telling The Whole Story?
I recently read an article on CNN.com about the housing market. It was talking about the mortgage interest rates going down, and also how many people were qualifying for loans these days.
Read this Headline:
“Mortgage Rates Are Low. So Are Approval Rates”
What kind of news does that sound like: good or bad?
Bad, right?!?
But the thing is, [...]
Conquering Fear
Fear is a 4-letter word in this country. Especially with the Economic Downturn and the Housing Slump of the past few years, it’s something the seems to creep into even the most confident person’s mind.
If you’re thinking about buying your first house, or maybe getting out of your rental apartment and take advantage of this buyers [...]
Kare 11 First Time Home Buyer Story
Finally some good News Media!!!
Tonight on the Twin Cities local news station KARE 11, they did a story on the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.
It’s about time that the news media did a story on what is going RIGHT in the housing market. If you’re a buyer and thinking that all the bad [...]
Obama’s Home Buyer Tax Credit
I got a call from a new buyer last night, who was wondering what the details of the 787 Billion Dollar Stimulus Bill had for First Time Home Buyers. As I wrote about a couple weeks back, there is up to an $8,000 Tax Credit for First Time Home Buyers if they close on a [...]
