With a solid background in housing through working at the Met Council and selling residential real estate, Crystal was able to use her experience so far in the MSRE program to secure a new position with Minnesota Housing Finance Agency.
What is your professional experience and education?
“For eight years I worked at the Metropolitan Council as a housing coordinator for low-income housing. In this challenging position, I administered the section 8 program to 390 families. I also spent two years at Target working with their financial analysis and planning team. Working as a real estate agent on the side, I have been learning about all aspects of housing. My undergraduate degree is in organizational management and communication from Concordia University in St. Paul.
Recently I began a new position with Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, as a Senior Housing Paraprofessional. This is a new role for the organization in which I’ll be spending half of my time on underwriting and half on asset management. I’ll be working with both teams, both hands-on as well as working on financial monitoring, special projects, and some process documentation like I did at the Council. In my new position, I get to manage my own time and work flow so I enjoy the pace.”
Crystal began her career with Minnesota Housing at an interesting time- right during the state government shutdown. But the agency is up and running now and busy with their annual RFP process for multifamily properties. Currently Crystal is assisting in analyzing properties that have requested financing for new construction and redevelopment to determine who can be awarded tax credits and subsidized mortgages and loans. “We look at how they score on many different criteria. For example, points can be earned if the development is smoke-free, green, or if they are partnering with the city to utilize public financing.”
On Friday, SPPA’s counsel Eric Larson appealed the state’s move to suspend its dredging permits during the shutdown, citing that closure of just one of its four river terminals will result in 6,000 tons of commodities per week being unable to reach its destination. That’s the equivalent of 200 semi-trucks of product and includes staples such as livestock feed, water treatment chemicals, and recyclable metals, some of which are shipped from international locations.