The median sale price in St. Paul has climbed to $290,000—up 4.1% from last year—while the average home sells in 19 days, two weeks faster than the national average. Entry-level buyers swarm neighborhoods like Frogtown, Payne-Phalen, and North End, where 1950s three-bedrooms still list under $230k. Move-up buyers target Highland Park, Mac-Groveland, and Union Park, where updated 1920s Colonials fetch $350–$450k. Investors focus on duplexes along Grand Avenue and the light-rail corridor, pushing cap rates to 6.5% despite higher interest rates.

Because Ramsey County’s assessor values homes at 95% of market value, property taxes here run about 1.15%—roughly $3,350 annually on the median home. The city offers two homestead exemptions: the Minnesota Agricultural Property Tax program shaves up to $304 off the yearly bill, and the State Disabled Veterans credit can erase the entire tax for qualifying vets. If you buy in one of St. Paul’s Housing Trust Fund target blocks, you may also qualify for a 10-year property-tax abatement when you rehabilitate the home.

Inventory is finally loosening: active listings rose 12% this spring, giving buyers room to negotiate inspection repairs or seller-paid closing costs. Still, anything turnkey under $275k sees 4–6 offers, so getting NMHL’s Same-Day Pre-Approval lets you submit an offer within hours of touring. Our local underwriter pulls Ramsey County title data nightly, so we can clear liens and close in as little as 21 days—fast enough to beat cash investors in sought-after areas like Summit Hill and Cathedral Hill.

Minnesota Housing Finance Agency runs two programs that pair perfectly with NMHL loans:

• Start Up—3% down-payment grant you never repay, plus below-market mortgage insurance
• Monthly Payment Loan—up to $17,000 second mortgage at 0% interest, paid monthly over ten years

Ramsey County layers on its own FirstHOME assistance: up to $50,000 at 0% interest, forgiven after ten years of owner-occupancy. Income caps range from $92,900 for a single-person household to $133k for a family of four—well above St. Paul’s median household income. For houses in census tracts 405–407 (parts of Frogtown, Summit-University, and Rice Street), the county will fund up to $70,000 and combine with Minnesota Housing grants.

City-owned vacant lots in Dayton’s Bluff and Payne-Phalen are eligible for the Build Wealth in St. Paul program: $20,000 down-payment boost plus a 0.5% rate reduction if you build a new energy-efficient home. NMHL finances the construction with a one-time close that converts to permanent financing at the same low rate, eliminating re-qualification risk.

Don’t forget the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines’ FirstHome Match. It provides a 3-to-1 match on your savings up to $7,500—turn $2,500 of your own cash into $10,000 at closing. We open the required savings account for you at Affinity Plus Credit Union, track your monthly deposits, and file the match paperwork so you can pair it with any NMHL loan.

St. Paul’s affordable prices make it the Twin Cities’ best testing ground for rebuilding through homeownership. NMHL’s Fresh-Start FHA program approves borrowers with scores as low as 580 and accepts:

• Credit-rebuilding secured cards and authorized-user history
• Non-traditional credit—rent, utilities, cell phone bills—for applicants without a FICO score
• One-year-old bankruptcies if you’ve re-established two positive trade lines

We pair you with a Ramsey County-certified housing counselor who offers free budgeting workshops at the Rondo Community Library. Complete the eight-hour course and you’ll receive a certificate that shaves 0.25% off your FHA annual mortgage insurance for the life of the loan—saving roughly $60 per month on a $275k purchase.

If your credit utilization is high, we can run a rapid-rescore through CreditXpert in 72 hours. Clients often gain 20–40 points simply by paying cards below 30% and removing old collections under $500. Once you hit 620, you can switch to a conventional loan with 3% down and private mortgage insurance that drops off automatically—cutting total monthly payment even if the rate ticks up slightly.

For medical or student-loan collections, NMHL uses Fannie Mae’s updated guidelines that ignore any collection under $2,500. If you’re coming out of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, we can finance one year after the payment plan is confirmed with trustee approval and on-time payment history. That timeline is six months faster than most lenders allow, helping you grab a rebound listing in St. Paul before prices rise again.

More than 12% of St. Paul residents work for themselves—artists in the North Loop warehouse district, food-truck owners on University Avenue, and consultants near Grand Avenue. Traditional underwriting averages the last two years of tax returns, but aggressive depreciation and business write-offs can torpedo your debt-to-income ratio.

NMHL’s 12-Month Bank-Statement Program solves that:

• Use 100% of personal account deposits or 50% of business deposits as income
• Only one year of statements required—perfect if 2022 was slow but 2023 rebounded
• Loans up to $1.5 million with 10% down on purchase price
• Accepts credit scores down to 660 and debt-to-income ratios up to 50%

We recently helped a Lowertown photographer who showed $42k net income on her Schedule C but deposited $110k into her business account. Using bank statements, we qualified her at $108k annual income, approving a $375k mortgage for a live-work loft near Mears Park—something no conventional lender would touch.

Prefer to stay conventional? Fannie Mae’s 1099 Option lets us use the most recent year’s 1099 income plus year-to-date bank statements if revenue is up at least 20%. We simply verify self-employment through a business license or CPA letter, no tax returns required. Pair this with 5% down and cancel PMI once you hit 80% loan-to-value—easy in St. Paul’s appreciating market.

Got a new business? Our Profit & Loss Statement Loan only needs a CPA-prepared YTD P&L and business bank statements. You can close as early as your first year in business with 20% down and a 700 score. For fast-moving listings, NMHL issues pre-underwritten approvals that sellers treat like cash—crucial when you’re bidding against other self-employed buyers on a coveted duplex in Mac-Groveland.

Ramsey County is home to 24,000 veterans, and St. Paul listings welcome VA buyers with open arms. Because VA loan limits were eliminated for full-entitlement borrowers, you can finance the full $500k+ cost of a Highland Park colonial with zero down and no mortgage insurance—something conventional jumbo loans can’t match.

NMHL’s VA Advantage features:

• 580 minimum credit score—one of the lowest in Minnesota
• Up to 4% seller-paid closing costs allowed, covering everything on a $300k purchase
• 30-day close guarantee or we pay the seller $2,500 for delay
• Streamline IRRRL refinances whenever rates drop 0.50%

Surviving spouses and National Guard members activated after 1990 qualify, and we can layer a $5,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines Home4Heroes initiative for closing or moving expenses. That recently saved a veteran at Fort Snelling $3,800 in out-of-pocket costs on a $285k purchase in the West Seventh neighborhood.

Even if you’ve used your VA entitlement before, NMHL can calculate remaining entitlement quickly—helpful when you’re upgrading from a $200k townhouse in Cottage Grove to a $450k newer build in Como Park. We also offer the VA One-Time Close Construction Loan if you’d rather buy a vacant lot in Dayton’s Bluff and build a barrier-free ranch with ADA grants from the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs.

Disabled veterans rated 10% or higher receive an additional Minnesota Disabled Veterans Homestead Market Value Exclusion that wipes out the first $300k of assessed value for property taxes. On a $290k home, that means zero county taxes for life—saving roughly $3,300 every year. Our loan officers file the paperwork at closing so your escrow payment reflects the exemption immediately.

With the median at $290k, a 3% down payment equals about $8,700—still tough after covering inspections, appraisal, and moving costs. Here’s how NMHL stacks assistance to shrink or erase that gap:

• Minnesota Housing – Monthly Payment Loan: up to $17,000 at 0%, 10-year term = $142/mo payment on a $250k purchase
• Ramsey County FirstHOME: up to $50k, 0% interest, forgiven 10% per year—free if you stay a decade
• City of St. Paul – Build Wealth: $20,000 on vacant lots plus 0.5% rate buy-down
• Federal Home Loan Bank – FirstHome Match: 3-to-1 match up to $7,500 for first-time buyers

Example: Buy a $250k duplex in Frogtown. Use Minnesota Housing’s $17k Monthly Payment Loan plus Ramsey County’s $50k forgivable loan, and the $7,500 FHLB match. You arrive at closing with $0 down and still pocket $24,500 for renovations—perfect for upgrading the 1920s plumbing every St. Paul duplex seems to have.

Self-employed? You can still receive assistance; Ramsey County only requires a 640 score and two years of self-employment history. We’ll document income with bank statements, and the county uses gross revenue minus a standard 30% expense factor, so aggressive write-offs won’t disqualify you.

Investors aren’t left out entirely. The St. Paul Rental Rehab Program offers $25,000 per unit at 0% deferred payment if you rent to households earning 80% area median income for ten years. Pair that with NMHL’s 85% LTV investor loan and you can acquire a $300k four-plex on Selby Avenue for $45k out of pocket, rehab included.