Immigration Reform: A Boost for Housing?

Recent data shows that the housing market continues to improve here in Minnesota and in many markets throughout the country.  The recovery may get an additional boost if the forecasts of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) hold true.  

On May 20th, NAHREP released a report that projects over $500 Billion dollars in spending related to real estate and homeownership spending if Washington passes comprehensive immigration reform for the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the US.  

They forecast that up to 3 million of these immigrants could become homebuyers over the next several years with an average home price of about $173,000. 

Their reasoning is simple: the options for accessing mortgage loans and lending products for undocumented immigrants are extremely limited.   Any legalization of their immigration status would immediately allow these potential buyers to obtain a Social Security number, a requirement for most lending products.  

NAHREP’s projections maybe overstated (it’s impossible to gauge the future intentions of those who are currently out of status in the US) and immigration reform is far from a done-deal in Washington, but the Minnesota Homeownership Center understands the potential boost for housing that legalization would bring.   A recent report from the University of Southern California found that over one third of the increased demand for homes in this decade has been generated by immigrant buyers. 

The Minnesota Homeownership Center is prepared for a possible influx of new first-time homebuyers:

• Our website contains important information for potential homebuyers and easily allows users to switch quickly between Spanish and English;
• We continue to provide support for Home Stretch workshops (and supplemental materials) in Spanish throughout the State;
• Our online homebuyer education tool, Framework, will be available in Spanish in the coming months;
• We continue to support and administer the Emerging Markets Homeownership Initiative that brings together industry professionals and non-profit organizations working to improve homeownership rates in communities of color.

First-time buyers, citizens and immigrants alike, are reminded that before you start the process of making what may be the LARGEST PURCHASE IN YOUR LIFE, we highly recommend that you participate in a Home Stretch workshop or take the online homebuyer course, Framework. These classes are recognized nationally as a proven tool for preparing Minnesotans to be successful homeowners.  These workshops help you to understand, start to finish, the process of becoming a successful homeowner and cover important topics like:

• real estate and mortgage loan terminology, 
• how to shop for a home and a loan that are right for YOU, 
• how your credit affects your loan payments, 
• how to avoid being taken advantage of during the homebuying process, 
• and much, much more. 

For more information about upcoming Home Stretch workshops, click here.  To take Framework online, click here.

ECHO TV Program on Affordable Housing

The MN Home Ownership Center is pleased to have worked with ECHO (Emergency, Community and Health Outreach), the Minnesota Community Foundation and the Saint Paul Foundation to produce a new television program for Minnesotans with limited English proficiency about the resources available in Minnesota to obtain affordable housing.

The show, aptly titled "Affordable Housing" will air on Twin Cities Public Television’s Minnesota Channel throughout the summer in Spanish, Hmong, Somali and English.  (All shows are closed-captioned in English).

You can learn more about "Affordable Housing" at the upcoming launch event to be held in St. Paul:

Thursday, June 3rd

8:00-10:00 am

Skyline Towers

1247 St. Anthony Avenue, Saint Paul

Attendees receive free DVD of program in four languages.

RSVP (required) to Ashlee Bethel at 651-325-4212 or amb@saintpaulfoundation.org

Click on the image below for more info:

 

¡EXITAZO! Evento Contra El Embargo (Foreclosure) En Minneapolis

Readers... don't panic... you're still at the MN Home Ownership Center's blog!  The Spanish headline is a response to the Center's "Borrower Workshop for the Latino Community" that was held at Plaza Verde in Minneapolis on Saturday January 9th.

'Exitazo' means HUGE SUCCESS... and the event was, indeed, a huge success:

• More than 160 people attended the event;
• Over a dozen foreclosure prevention counselors from local non-profit housing counseling agencies worked with homeowners to get their questions answered and start the counseling process
• Four lenders/servicers (Chase/JP Morgan; Freddie Mac; US Bank and Wells Fargo) assisted with outreach by mailing and calling consumers and sending loss mitigation staff to work with homeowners
• More than a dozen volunteers worked tirelessely to register homeowners and coordinate the event
• Mayor's from Minneapolis, St. Paul, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Plymouth, Richfield and Bloomington assisted with outreach by signing letters inviting homeowners to the event.
• The event was highlighted in two Spanish-speaking newspapers and two radio stations.  Graciela Mendez from Neighborhood Development Alliance was interviewed on "La Invasora" during the event.

Here are a few pictures from the event:

For additional pictures, feel free to visit the photoset at the Center's FlickR album.  Did you take pictures of the event?  We'd love to add them to our album.  Contact Ed Nelson.

The Center's outreach to the Spanish-speaking community is not limited to large-scale events like the workshop at Plaza Verde.  The Center has a Spanish-Language website here, and is constantly working with its network partners to improve information sharing with the Latino Community.  A complete list of all of our handouts/fact sheets in Spanish is available here.

Foreclosure Sale Postponement Info in Spanish

In order to postpone the foreclosure sale of their property, Minnesota state law requires that homeowners complete several steps. The first step in the process is to completely fill out an "Affidavit of Postponement".

This can be a confusing, if not impossible, undertaking for non-English speakers.

To assist Spanish-speaking homeowners that might be interested in postponing their foreclosure sale, the MN Home Ownership Center has created a "Cheat-Sheet" that helps explain the information the Affidavit is requesting.

Information about foreclosure postponement in Minnesota can be found here (in English) and here (in Spanish).

To see the new Affidavit description sheet in Spanish (The 'Cheat-Sheet')... click here.

Before deciding to postpone a Foreclosure Sale, homeowners are encouraged to consult with a foreclosure specialist to understand the pros and cons of a postponement, and to see if there are any other resources or assistance available to them. To find their local foreclosure specialist, homeowners should click here.

Center Launches Spanish-Language Website

¿Habla Español?

The MN Home Ownership Center is pleased to announce that its Spanish-Language website it up and running!

The Center assumed responsibility of the Emerging Markets Homeownership Initiative earlier this year, and continues to strive to reach emerging markets homebuyers and owners with the launch of its website in Spanish.

In addition to the launch of the website, the Center has translated ALL of its fact-sheets, flyers and consumer alerts in Spanish as well!

You can visit the new site, here.