Summer is Just Around the Corner!

An early spring means an early summer! That means it's time to start thinking about the water again! District 196 Community Education is offering swimming lessons and competitive swimming classes for all ages. They offer caring and dedicated Red-Cross trained instructors in order to offer you and your children the best possible service in a friendly environment. Click here for more information about District 196 Community Education swimming lessons.

District 196 also offers open swim events scheduled until the end of march! These open swim events are going to be located either at Scott Highlands Middle School or Black Hawk Middle School. For more information and specific times click here.

Are you an advanced swimmer? District 196 has a class for that as well! They offer training for grades 3 and up who are interested in competitive swimming. Adult fitness classes are available as well triathlon training! If you would like more information on competitive swimming click here.

HomeFinder.com joins Re/Max's vendor network.

RE/MAX has included HomeFinder.com into it's approved supplier program, which gives all of its 90,000 agents access to the vendor's marketing platform. HomeFinder.com has been a very successful real estate listing and marketing company for quite some time, and RE/MAX knows that this is a good move. Around 90 percent of home buyers start their search online, so this partnership will give RE/MAX's associates a greater web presence, which in turn will help them provide a higher level of customer service.

Are the mortgage rates as low as they will go?

Mortgage rates have risen very slightly for three out of the past four weeks. It has been two months since we have seen the lowest recorded rates of 3.31 percent for the average 30-year fixed-rate loan.

Frank Nothaft, (Chief Economist for Freddie Mac) seems to think that the all- time low rates may be behind us. Nothaft foresees the rates to climb up to 3.75 percent by years end, and move to above 4 percent the next year.

The rates will still be very favorable for new home buyers for a while, however, home owners exploring the option of a re-finance shouldn't wait around too much longer if they want to lock in with these historically low rates. As the economy shapes up, rising rates are a natural occurrence. They will fluctuate a little, but the days of 3.31 percent may be gone.

Valentine's Day Party!

 

Valentine's Day is just two weeks away! Do you have any plans yet? Take your pre-schooler to ECFE's Valentine's Day party on February 9th, from 10A.M. to 12P.M. The cost is $5 per child ($15 cap). Some of the activities will include arts and crafts, face painting, and temporary tattoos! Refreshments will be available. This is a great opportunity to spend some quality time with your child, and get to know other parents within the school system. Click here to register.

Attention Apple Valley Homeowners

The City of Apple Valley, in partnership with the Dakota County Community Development Agency (CDA) and the Dakota Area Resources and Transportation for Seniors (DARTS), is offering a variety of home maintenance and improvement programs for seniors and residents. They include:

DARTS Outdoor Chore Service Program 
This program provides assistance to older residents with heavy chores and outdoor yard work such as raking leaves, snow shoveling, lawn mowing, cleaning gutters, touch-up painting, weeding gardens, packing boxes, and cleaning garages and basements. The Chore Service workers will perform work from a stepladder (6-foot ladder or smaller; no extension ladders). They will not use power equipment while on the ladder. Chore workers are not available to apply chemical treatment to lawns or gardens. The cost for this service program is based upon your income and type of work you request. Contact DARTS at 651-455-1560.

CDA Home Improvement Loan Program  
The Home Improvement Loan program assists low and moderate income homeowners with making repairs and improvements to their homes. Funds are commonly used for furnace replacement, electrical and plumbing repairs, adding insulation, exterior upgrades and special needs improvements (such as ramps, bathroom and kitchen modifications).

Features of the program include 0% interest and no monthly payments. The loans are not forgiven and become payable when ownership changes or you move from the property. You may have to repay the loan if you refinance your home, or take out a home equity loan. The minimum loan amount is $15,000, and the maximum is $25,000.

Eligible applicants must own their home, have sufficient equity in the property, a satisfactory credit history and a gross annual income within the program income limits. The income limits start at $45,000 (for a one-person household) and range up to $85,000 (for an 8+ person household).
Additional information on the Home Improvement Loan program and applications can be found at "www.dakotacda.org". To obtain additional information, or to request an application by mail, please call Mark Hanson at 651-675-4469.

Energy Assistance Program  
This program is administered by the Scott-Carver-Dakota CAP Agency, which provides grants to help income qualified homeowners pay their heating bills. For information or to request an application for the Energy Assistance Program, please contact the CAP Agency at 651-322-3500.

Weatherization Assistance Program    
This program is administered as a joint effort between the CAP Agency and the CDA, and provides income qualified homeowners a grant to help make their home more energy efficient. Grant funds are used to insulate attics or walls or to upgrade furnaces. Households who have applied to and are eligible for the Energy Assistance Program are automatically referred to the Weatherization Program. The income limits are $22,340 (for a one-person household) and up to &77,780 (for an 8+ person household).

If you qualify for the Weatherization Assistance Program, the CDA's Energy Specialist will conduct an energy audit on your home to determine solutions to improve your home's energy efficiency. The CDA will assist you in selecting a qualified contractor to complete the work. Payment is made directly to the contractor on you behalf when the work is completed and after the CDA has inspected the work. For information about the Weatherization Assistance Program, call 651-675-4554.

New Year

Happy New Year! There are a lot of exiting things to come in 2013. We are very happy to announce that we have a new member on the JAM Team! Brad Novy is working with us and will be attaining his real estate license by early February. He just received his Bachelors from St. Cloud State University in December of 2012. Brad will be a great fit with our team and will help our growing business. Brad specializes in working with lake homes and relocating buyers that are new to the Twin Cities area.  We are happy to have such a motivated, kind and diligent new agent share his talents with the team and our clients. 

The real estate market really took a turn in 2012. In the next few weeks we will have the Twin Cities Housing Market Annual Report available. Please let us know if you would like a copy.  Remember, we are happy to be resource to you for any housing related information.

RE/MAX is celebrating its 40th anniversary and Jacqueline is attending the RE/MAX R4 Convention in February.  We look forward to sharing what we learned about the direction of real estate industry from some of the top minds in the world. 

Concert Series at the new Valleywood Clubhouse!

Valleywood Golf Course in Apple Valley is hosting a free concert series to promote their new Clubhouse! There will be three evenings of concerts, each on the first Saturday of January, February, and March from 6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. The featured bands are some of Minnesota's best! Some food will be provided, restaurant and full bar service will also be available. If you are looking for something to do, go check out the new Clubhouse and listen to some great music! Click here for more information.