AHFC: Getting Alaskans into Homes.

• Author: SMITH, DAWNELL
• Position: Alaska Housing and Finance Corp.

When interest rates inch up, many prospective house buyers put their desires for dream homes on the back burner.

But what if an organization could trim a few percentage points off the top to help you buy your first home? Or offer financial help to weatherize your breezy abode? Or incrementally slash the interest rate for every step you take to make the home you buy more energy efficient?

For those who qualify, Alaska Housing and Finance Corp. can do all of that and more. In fact, AHFC has financed over 126,000 home loans since 1972 through programs that assist everyone from first-time home buyers and low to moderate-income borrowers to veterans and people living in rural areas.

The self-supporting public corporation established 3,562 loans in 1999 with over 50 percent of them through the prevalent First-Time Home Buyers Tax-Exempt Program. Last year, another 1,500 families became home owners through the Interest Rate Reduction Program for Low-Income Borrowers.

All told, AHFC has about 47 percent to 48 percent of the current mortgage loan market share as reported by AHFC approved lenders, according to James Wiedle, an AHFC research analyst for planning and program development. In past years, the finance corporation only accounted for 20 percent to 25 percent of market share, but climbing rates have encouraged buyers to shop around.

"And I think that that's to be expected because as the interest rates creep up we see kind of a rush to our programs because of the interest rate incentives," he said. "My general feeling about activity in the 1990s is that buyers paid more attention to rates than people did in the '80s. Frankly, people just don't have the kind of money that they used to have."

Though the organization can always help buyers find the best deals, people tend to do less legwork during periods with low interest rates, added Sherrie Simmonds, a corporate communications officer for AHFC.

"A year or two ago when rates were at their lowest, people didn't have to look around quite as hard," she said. "They might have thought they were getting a good deal-it still might not have been the best deal, but they felt good about it. Now, with interest rates up, they feel like they can't afford (high interest rates), so they look harder."

The harder they look, the more likely they'll find programs that shave a quarter to a few percentage points off their interest rates. Buyers simply go to any of a few dozen approved banks, credit unions or...