This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Staff writer

Another previously foreclosed property is back on the market in Anoka County, but unlike many others, no major improvements are needed.The county bought the Andover home located at 2095 141st Ave. N.W. for $108,800 in June, according to the county’s property tax records. It spent the last few months renovating the home and now has it on the market for $156,500.

Funding for this Neighborhood Stablization Program (NSP) came from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Anoka County has received a total of almost $5 million directly from the federal government or through the state, which also received its money from HUD, according to Anoka County Community Development Manager Karen Skepper.

The Anoka County Housing and Redevelopment Authority March 24 launched a NSP to address the growing number of foreclosures whether through renovation, demolition or downpayment assistance for qualified buyers. The county’s program also has an incentive fund to help qualified applicants with second mortgage financing.

According to county statistics, 843 foreclosed properties went to a sheriff’s sale in 2006. That jumped to 1,671 properties in 2007 and 2,391 properties in 2008. From Jan. 1 through Nov. 25 of this year, 2,020 properties have gone to a sheriff’s sale.

Kate Thunstrom, coordinator of the NSP program for Anoka County,  said the overall program has been very succesful because some wonderful partnerships have been formed with the business community and cities and neighbors are happy to see improvements.

“I don’t think anyone has anything bad to say about this program,” Skepper said. “It’s been very successful.”

The county has already demolished eight properties on sites that new homes will be built on, but the Andover home is the first to be remodeled. Eight other rehabilitaton projects will be completed this spring, Skepper said.

Right now, the Andover home has four bedrooms. The master bedroom in the basement has walk-through access to a master bathroom. The basement could also have the home’s fifth bedroom because of the egress window that was installed. This room is unfinished, so it could also be used for recreation or an office if the additional bedroom is not needed.

A virtual tour that the realtor put together will be posted on the Anoka County Web site at some point, Skepper stated.

Thunstrom said between $40,000 and $50,000 was spent on remodeling the Andover home. The county has an arrangement with Home Depot to purchase all material through its store and in exchange, the business gives back 2 percent of the proceeds, which funnels to the county’s NSP.

According to Thunstrom, this home had extreme moisture problems. The old siding had swelled and started to pop out, so all of it had to be replaced. The wood sills of all the windows had mold, so these were replaced with brand-new vinyl windows. The sliding door on the main floor leading to the backyard was also replaced.

The mold was only on the window sills and not in the walls, Thunstrom said. The water pipes were thankfully not frozen.

The only work needed on the walls was replacing outdated wallpaper and repainting.

The worn carpet was torn out and replaced with new carpet in most rooms except for a wood laminate floor on the first level. The black linonium in the kitchen is in good condition, so it was not replaced. No roof repairs were needed on this single-family home, which was constructed in 1991.

Skepper said the improvements the county focuses on are meant to improve the energy efficiency, health and safety of a home.

“We want to be able to re-sell these homes. However, with a federal program we’re not going to install whirpool baths or and those luxury items that some homeowners may look for,” Thunstrom said.

The purchaser would own the home and land. Proceeds from the sale would go back into the county’s NSP fund to help with another project, Skepper said. The buyer must go through a Homestretch workshop with a HUD-certified counselor.

The home must meet federal NSP affordability rules for the next 20 years, according to Thunstrom, so there would be limitations on how much the homeowner could ask for.

Skepper added that the county applied for an additional $2 million in the second round of NSP funding from HUD. Due to the lack of demand on the incentive fund that helps homeowners with second mortgage downpayments, the county may discontinue the incentive program to purcahse more foreclosed properties to rehab or rebuild. The county has placed a Feb. 28, 2010 deadline on applying for incentive funds.

“We’re very pleased to have purchased as many properties as we have,” Skepper said. “It has become a pretty routine activity for us. I think we all wish that there was more activity in the incentive program. We know there are people out there buying houses and if we could have assisted them with the $10,000 for the second mortgage,  it would have been very nice. For some reason, it didn’t take off.”

The county works with realtor Jared Hoylo of REMAX to locate vacant foreclosed homes that have already gone through the six-month redemption period after the sheriff’s sale. If a city has a dilapidated property that has gone through the foreclosure redemption period, the county will explore purchasing that home, Skepper said.

Fannie Mae notified the county about the Andover home, according to Thunstrom.

Eric Hagen is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it