[ April 6, 2010; 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. ] Have you been looking for a home and can’t find just that right one? Sure, you could make repairs or remodel certain properties to make them exactly what you are looking for, but that takes upfront money. Enter – Section 203 (k) or 203k. The 203k loan enables you as a homebuyer to purchase a home, make qualified repairs to the home, or rehabilitate the home and roll the repairs and upgrade costs into the mortgage loan.

Well, I can’t answer whether we’ll see a recovery in the economy as a whole but I can tell you, in Minnesota, in my neck of the woods – Dakota and Scott counties – the time to buy or sell a home is now, before the next wave of foreclosures hits. Why?
1) As a nation, we have been artificially keeping interest rates low over the past year.

On an FHA loan, mortgage insurance is required to be paid in the form of both upfront mortgage insurance premium and an annual mortgage insurance premium. Currently, these amount as set at 1.75% upfront and .55% annually for minimum down 30 year fixed rate mortgages. The change, that is scheduled to begin April 4, 2010, increases the upfront premium to 2.25% and leaves the annual premium at .55% for 30 year fixed rate mortgages.

Yes, I’m speaking metaphorically. But it is a great way to describe the real estate market in Minnesota. So humor me…..

Incentives, low mortgage rates, down payment assistance programs, 6 percent seller paid closing costs….

For real?? Yes, your 720 credit score may not be all it’s cracked up to be. To get a home loan, your mortgage lender have to validate your credit.
So you’ve been told you have great credit and to focus on your number, whatever that might be and then I jump in and tell you that 720 you’ve worked so hard for just might not cut it anymore? What’s up with that?!? I know, it’s next to impossible to catch onto this moving target out there known as your credit score.

There are special loan options for first time home buyers when looking at foreclosed or short-sale properties that need a little, or a lot of work. Homes that are in need of repairs don’t need to be overlooked when you’re shopping for your first home – even if you’re not a ‘handyman’. There are mortgage loan options available that still allow you to get into your first home with a minimal down payment AND allow you to fix some things that may need repair.

There is a new first time homebuyer loan program coming to Dakota County of which, we are excited to take part. Here are some highlights of the new program and what it offers to first time homebuyers purchasing inside Dakota County…