Mortgage & Finance

The Minnesota Homeownership Center and Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota have entered into a partnership aimed at helping homeowners facing financial difficulties due to COVID-19 to keep their mortgages in good standing and avoid foreclosure.

The two organizations will administer up to $10 million in relief through Minnesota’s newly established COVID-19 Housing Assistance Program (CHAP)

To qualify for assistance, Minnesota households must meet all of the following criteria:

• Income at or below 300% of federal poverty guidelines, with a preference for those at or below 200% of federal poverty guidelines.
• Have an eligible expense incurred after March 1, 2020, that is past due. Housing assistance funds can only be used for eligible expenses incurred between March 1, 2020, and December 30, 2020.
• Be unable to make one or more payments owed because of the public health emergency due to unemployment, illness, or another COVID-19 related issue.

The program covers past-due housing expenses such as:

• Mortgage payments
• Rent payments
• Contract for deed payments
• Manufactured home park lot rents and payments
• Utility payments
• Homeowners Association fees

For more details go to the Minnesota Home Ownership Center  

I’ll never forget the great housing crash of a decade ago where banks foreclosed and then turned around and sold the houses at much lower prices making the houses affordable for new owners.

The banks made it through the foreclosure crisis and remained profitable while some homeowners never recovered.

Interest rates on mortgages are very low. For people who have jobs, this might be the perfect time to refinance. A few of my clients who had higher interest rates did just that to lower their monthly payments.

Mortgage interest rates are oh so low. When we bought our first house we got a super low rate of 8.38% and refinanced a decade later to get the low-interest rate of 7%.

Here is a look at rates today:

Now might be a good time to refinance.

I keep seeing these ads on how to sell clothing and household items as a way to “make” money. The items being sold are items that the seller already owns.

To make money that way a person would have to sell the items for more than they paid for them so that there is a profit.

Most of the time people who sell items that they have used get less for the item than what they paid for it which means they lost money. Buying stuff and selling it for a lower price than you bought it for isn’t a way to make money it is a way to lose money.

If your closet is filled with items that you don’t need or want you might want to stop buying stuff for a while.

In the advertisements people, mostly women are using the money to pay for vacations, cars, and houses. A better and easier way to save up for a big purchase is to buy less instead of reselling used items every month.

Buying less has other advantages. It doesn’t help billionaires fund moon exploration or run for president but buying less might mean being able to live in a smaller home or apartment which can save enough money each month to pay for vacations and cars.

Here is a look at some average mortgage interest rates. The averages are intended to be a guide.

Rates are affected by the borrower’s credit rating and other factors. Interest rates remain at historic lows.