Jim Nordlund today kicked off National Homeownership Month in Alaska by highlighting the Agency’s continuing role to help people buy homes in rural areas.
"Owning a home helps promote stable communities and is one of the best ways Alaskan families can build wealth," Nordlund said. "Since 2009, USDA-RD has helped 3144 rural Alaskan families and individuals realize their dreams of homeownership. This year, our celebration of National Homeownership Month will focus on making loans available to remote areas of Alaska where investments in home ownership lag behind the rest of the state."
For example a Single Family Housing 502 Direct Loan was recently made to a family in Galena, which is a primarily Athabaskan Native village located off the road system on the Yukon River. Galena is rebuilding after a devastating flood in 2013, and is in a USDA StrikeForce area. The loan was resulted in a highly affordable home mortgage for this family of three.
USDA-RD builds strong relationships with Alaskan lenders, home builders, realtors, Native housing organizations and community development organizations, to provide homeownership opportunities to low and moderate income individuals in rural areas.
USDA-RD’s Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program assists approved lenders in providing low and moderate income households the opportunity to own adequate, modest, decent, safe and sanitary dwellings as their primary residence in rural areas. Eligible applicants may build, rehabilitate, improve or relocate a dwelling. The program provides a 90 percent loan note guarantee to approved lenders in order to reduce the risk of extending loans to eligible rural homebuyers.
It was recently announced that a series of changes will make it faster and cheaper for rural homeowners with USDA-RD-backed mortgages to refinance their loans and save money with a lower interest rate.
The changes took effect June 2, 2016. Interested homeowners with USDA-RD loan guarantees should contact their lender about refinance procedures.
Homeowners with mortgages through USDA-RD’s Single Family Housing Direct Home Loans in Alaska should contact Greg Stuckey, Director, Single Family Housing Programs at: (907) 761-7778, or email: greg.stuckey@ak.usda.gov.
In addition to mortgage financing, USDA-RD provides grants and loans to help rural homeowners make improvements or repairs, such as removing health and safety hazards or making accessibility modifications for people with disabilities.
Since 2009, USDA-Rural Development has invested more than $2 billion in 226 rural Alaskan communities. These investments in housing, community facilities, business, energy, water and sewer, telecom and electric have helped to grow rural Alaska’s economy and enhance the quality of life for its residents.