Grand Forks sits at the intersection of two steady demand engines: 14,000 UND students and 5,300 active-duty airmen at Grand Forks Air Force Base. That keeps rental vacancy under 4 % and gives homeowners a built-in exit strategy if orders or diplomas take them elsewhere. The median sale price has climbed a gentle 3–4 % a year since 2020, avoiding the boom-bust cycles seen in oil-patch counties farther west. Entry-level stock is concentrated north of 13th Ave N in the University Village and Columbia neighborhoods, where 1950s ranches trade for $190–$220K. Move-up buyers head south of 32nd Avenue to find 2010-plus builds with three-stall garages and Energy-Star ratings under $300K. New construction is sprouting along the Washington St. corridor where the city extended water/sewer—expect $140–$150 per square foot before lot premium.

Investors take note: Grand Forks allows legal accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in most single-family zones, so finishing the basement on a $230K purchase can add $900/month in student-rent income. Property taxes average 1 % of true value and are payable in two halves—Feb. 15 and Oct. 15—so NMHL builds an escrow cushion of 10 % to avoid any surprises. Because North Dakota is a trust-deed state, foreclosure timeline is 150 days, faster than judicial states but still giving borrowers time to cure defaults.

• University Village: Walk to UND campus, coffee shops, and the Ralph Engelstad Arena. Expect 2–3 bed bungalows at $210K; ideal for professors or parents buying for a student. Street parking is tight—verify garage dimensions before you close.
• Reeves Drive Historic District: Mature trees, brick streets, and homes dating to 1905. Values here recovered first after the flood; prices run $250–$300K. Renovation loans (203k) are common, and NMHL’s in-house ND Rehab allows 96.5 % LTV with one closing.
• South End & 32nd Avenue: Chain retail, new medical offices, and top-rated Discovery Elementary. Four-bed two-stories list around $285K and sell within 10 days. Ask us about the $2,500 builder incentive when you finance with NMHL.
• Airport Heights (Gateway Dr.): Five minutes to base gate, larger lots (0.25–0.35 acres), and no HOA. Popular with pilots; prices $230–$260K. VA buyers can roll the 1 % ND mortgage tax into the loan instead of paying out-of-pocket.
• Lincoln Drive Corridor: Emerging pocket between 13th Ave S and I-29. City is adding bike paths; expect 6–8 % appreciation as the Greenway trail extends. Good spot for a duplex using NMHL’s 15 % down investor program.

North Dakota Housing Finance Agency (NDHFA) runs four programs that stack with NMHL products. FirstHome offers 3 % of purchase price at 0 % interest, forgiven monthly over five years—on a $250K buy that’s $7500 you don’t repay if you stay 60 months. StartProgram gives the same 3 % but adds $500 toward your first mortgage payment, handy after moving costs. For veterans, the Military Appreciation Grant adds $5,000 that can be combined with VA zero-down, covering appraisal, inspection, and the 1 % state mortgage-registration tax. Grand Forks County doubles up with a $2,500 closing-cost voucher for households under 80 % area median income ($66,400 for a family of three). UND staff qualify for the university’s Live-Near-Work grant—$2,000 forgivable after twelve months of employment. Because NMHL is a participating NDHFA lender, we run eligibility in 24 hours and reserve funds so you’re not wait-listed.

Buyers using FHA 203(b) can layer the $1,000 Genesis Grant (available city-wide) to meet the 3.5 % down requirement with only $750 of personal funds. Credit-score floors are 640 for NDHFA assistance, but NMHL can approve you at 580 and still use the grant money toward prepaids, so you effectively close with less than one month’s rent out of pocket.

UND students need rides, food, and package delivery year-round, so DoorDash, Uber, and Amazon Flex drivers thrive here. Traditional lenders balk at 1099 income, but NMHL’s 12- or 24-month bank-statement program counts 100 % of deposits after removing NSF fees. We average your last two years; if 2023 was stronger, we’ll weight 70 % of that year and 30 % of 2022 to boost qualifying income. Write-offs for mileage and equipment? We add back depreciation and 50 % of meals & entertainment to restore income lost on paper. One local borrower who grossed $94,000 but showed $46,000 on Schedule C was approved for a $275,000 purchase at 7 % rate using our Non-QM Gold product with 10 % down.

Seasonal workers—think sugar-beet harvest crews and holiday Amazon temps—can use our Asset-Depletion option: 60 months of bank balances divided by 60 added to monthly income. No tax returns needed, and we accept statements from PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App if they’re transferred to a bank account. For farmers outside city limits, ND Ag-Express qualifies on 480 acres of projected crop revenue rather than two-year tax average.

Medical debt is common in a county served by Altru Health System; 42 % of local collections are hospital-related. NMHL ignores any medical tradeline under $2,000 and allows rapid-rescore vendors to delete paid collections in 5–7 business days. We recently closed a $235K FHA loan for a lab tech with a 592 mid-score by adding her as an authorized user on her father’s 15-year-old Visa—score jumped to 625, saving 0.25 % in rate and $52/month. Bankruptcy? ND allows FHA financing one year after Chapter 13 discharge with trustee permission; we have templates for the local bankruptcy court that speed the process. Foreclosure shortfall? Our portfolio Fresh-Start loan permits a 4-year seasoning period versus 7 for conventional, and only 15 % down instead of 20 %.

Because Grand Forks home prices are modest, a 580-score borrower pays 0.5 % in upfront FHA MIP and 0.55 % annual—on a $200K loan that’s $83/month, still cheaper than the $300/month PMI bump on a $400K Minneapolis purchase. We also offer a free credit-coach program: three 30-minute Zoom sessions with our partner agency that raised the average client’s score 38 points in 90 days.

We opened our virtual ND branch in 2019 and have funded 312 Grand Forks loans—42 % to borrowers declined by local banks. Our underwriters know the difference between Red River flood plain and X-zone, so your appraisal waiver is processed correctly the first time. We underwrite ND-specific quirks like the 1 % mortgage-registration tax and give sellers a guaranteed closing date; if we miss it, we pay $2,500 toward your extended stay or storage. Our rates are quoted with single-day turns—lock by 10 a.m., keep the same price even if the market moves. We participate in every regional grant (NDHFA, City of Grand Forks, UND, Military Affairs Committee), and our software auto-matches you to the maximum combined assistance, often saving $12,000–$15,000 in cash to close.

Local realtors prefer our Pre-Approval Pro letter because it shows the exact program—FHA, VA, USDA, or ND FirstHome—plus the grant layers, so sellers know the financing is solid. And if you’re self-employed, you’ll talk to an underwriter in Minot who actually understands sugar-beet payments and 1099-NEC forms, not a call center in another state. Ready to see numbers? Upload your last two bank statements to our secure portal and receive a same-day pre-approval you can use tonight on that University Village bungalow you bookmarked.