Dean's Blog

It's likely that Rural Housing will run out of funds by the end of April, 2010. This program, which provides 100% financing in lesser populated areas, has become extremely popular in the last 12 months.

In fact, Rural Housing of Washington normally processes about 200 loans each year. In 2009, they processed 2,152 loans - an increase of almost 1,000%! USDA, which operates the Rural Housing program, gets a set amount of funding from the federal government each year, and that amount has not been increased to reflect the popularity of the program.

In a release issued by today by USDA Rural Development:

This message is to notify you that program funding for the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program will likely be exhausted by the end of April, 2010.

Once funding is exhausted, the Agency will not issue Conditional Commitments “subject to receipt of appropriated funds.” This is because it is not certain when additional funding will be available.

Lenders will not be able to "reserve" funds for a loan being processed. Therefore, it's possible that a loan could make its way through underwriting, only to find at the closing table that the funds are exhausted.

If you're considering a Rural Housing loan, contact your mortgage advisor right away to discuss options. You might want to either enter into contract as soon as possible or consider other financing options such as FHA.

The North Puget Sound Association of Realtors recently presented awards to its top performing members as well as special awards to members for exceptional service. You can view the anouncement that was published the Skagit Valley Herald.

I was humbled to have been presented with the Affiliate of the Year award for the second time. To be included in a group with such fine individuals is indeed an honor.

The debate about the efficiencies of spending in school districts across America and the taxes that it takes to support them are ongoing. It’s especially difficult when the economy is as challenging as it is right now. However, there are good reasons why we should continue to invest in our school, and one of those reasons is it increases our property values.

Now, some taxpayers feel they’re already paying enough in taxes overall, and they don’t want to see taxes raised, even if it is for the education our society’s children.

Others have the mindset that they shouldn’t have to pay school taxes since they don’t have any kids. They will also be the first to complain about the poor customer service they received with their latest purchase.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research:

A $1 increase in per pupil state aid increases aggregate per pupil housing values by about $20, indicating that potential residents value education expenditure.

In another study, Kwame Owusu-Edusei & Molly Espey from Clemson University suggests:
 

Those who choose to live within the city limits of the study pay a premium to live in high quality school attendance areas. Therefore, high-ranked schools have value capitalized into single-family house prices. Further, greater distance to assigned K-12 schools has a negative impact on the value of the property.

On the issue of overspending, NBER found: 
 

Large school districts and those areas with fewer homeowners and in areas in which residents are poor or less education are more likely to overspend.

Here in Skagit County, the Burlington-Edison School District is facing a budget crisis and may soon be asking area residents to pass a bond to continue to support the school district. If you:

• …don’t support the schools because you don’t have kids, think about the poor quality service you’ll receive when you need their help the most
• …think the schools don’t spend the money efficiently, remind yourself it’s those areas that don’t get the funding they need that end up spending inefficiently
• …believe you shouldn’t provide more funding to the schools, remember your choice when you go to sell your house and you don’t get the value that you believe you should.

Supporting our schools makes sense economically and sociologically – even when it comes to your own home value.