About Stearns County, MN

Just in today!!! New changes with FHA that affects sellers who are short selling their homes. PHH is one of the lenders who will take on the new changes with FHA guidelines. Sellers who are shorting their mortgages to sell due to relocating, divorce or other type of circumstances (change in family number) can now qualify for a new FHA mortgage. They will not have a two year waiting period. Those sellers will of course will need to meet certain criteria as well as normal FHA guidelines. This is a positive change to help out our clients and keep the housing market stimulated with new buyers! Contact a local PHH lender for more details.

Fannie Mae is now offering additional incentives along with the tax credit. They are offering 3.5% to the buyer in the form of closing costs, new whirlpool appliances or a combination of the two with an acceptable purchase agreement by April 30th and after January 28th, 2010. The home must close by May 1st, 2010. Buyers must purchase a home that is listed on the homepath.com website. Investors are excluded from this incentive. It must be owner occupied. For more details go to www.HomePath.com, read the press release on fanniemae.com

Here is a little direction to get started on collecting on the $8,000 tax credit and the $6,500 move-up tax credit.

The IRS just released the form needed to claim the $8,000 tax credit for first time and $6,500 for repeat buyers who closed after Nov. 30th. I have attached the form. Here is the link to the news release with the forms and instructions. You may want to forward this to anyone who closed after Nov. 1, 2009 as a service to them. IR-2010-6 is the official news release

A blog written by another team member, Lindsay DeLand, inspires me and helps remind me to appreciate what we have in life and to give back to others in need.

Some days, social networking can seem like a hassle. Staying caught up with your acquaintances and obligations online isn't always easy, but there are occasions when we are reminded of all the meaningful ways in which our efforts can be rewarded.

Now, in the aftermath of the recent earthquake that devastated Haiti, is one of those occasions. The internet has made it infinitely easier for us to follow news reports, make donations, and reach out with our hearts and our hands to people in need, no matter how far away they might be. Recently, Tami's daughter alerted us to the existence of Help_Haiti, an online community set up shortly after Haiti's tragedy in order to raise money for survivors. Members of the community offered up their talents--as writers, artists, knitters, bookmakers, and just about everything else under the sun--in an online auction where 100% of the proceeds go directly to charities for Haiti. The first auction closed Wednesday of this week, and although moderators have yet to even finish counting up confirmed donations, the standing amount of money raised for UNICEF and other various charities is roughly $25,000. In a direct quote from the site: Since that only covers about 1/4 of the total donations we expect and hope for, we are wondering if the total could possibly hit six figures, once the various matching funds from people's offices, colleges and countries are factored in.

To put it mildly, this is inspiring. An extended online community coming together in total devotion to helping people in need reminds us of all the good social networking can be capable of. We live in amazing times when this kind of effort, made largely by people who have never met anywhere outside of a computer, is possible.

If you would like to be a part of the extended community, you can donate to Help_Haiti's UNICEF page here.