Here's to Ken and Diana Tate and their newborn son, among the first to buy a Sacramento bank repo renovated with federal stimulus funds.

The couple paid $117,000 for a house near Fruitridge Road and Highway 99, and moved in two weeks ago. The Housing Group Fund, small-scale local builders, remodeled it, and SMUD made it an energy-efficient demonstration home.

It's a tiny piece of the $3.9 billion federal Neighborhood Stabilization Plan that sent $32 million to Sacramento County earlier this year. The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency contributed $86,000 from the allocation to bring back a house nearly destroyed on its way to foreclosure.

"It's been a long time coming," Diana Tate said Thursday at a ribbon-cutting marking the accomplishment. In another moving scene, husband Ken said they had looked at houses for a year. "We finally finished the race," he said.

Washington still trying

The U.S. Treasury Department is moving on new fronts to help struggling borrowers stay in their houses or, at least, exit more gracefully. At the same time, however, another arm of the federal bureaucracy, the Federal Housing Administration, may make it more difficult for homebuyers to get loans.

Here are three changes that may affect Sacramento:

• Lenders are being pressured to make more three-month trial modifications permanent. The Treasury Department – again – rattled swords at lenders this week, saying they aren't performing well and will be "subject to consequences which could include monetary penalties and sanctions."

• The same officials announced new rules to motivate faster short sales. Those are deals where the lender accepts a sales price below what is owed. It's cheaper than foreclosing and causes less damage to a borrower's credit rating. But the deals take months and easily fall apart.

So, the U.S. government will pay lenders $1,000 to cover administrative costs and pay secondary debt holders up to $3,000 to let go of loans. Borrowers get $1,500 for moving costs.

The downside: The new rules don't start until April 5. And they're still voluntary for secondary debt holders that often disrupt short sales.

In October, one in five transactions in Sacramento County were short sales, according to the Sacramento Association of Realtors.

• The FHA, which insures loans for first-time buyers, is looking at stiffer requirements. The FHA's reserves are getting critically low because of foreclosures. Officials told Congress they may raise the 3.5 percent minimum down payment, charge borrowers more for insurance, raise the minimum credit score (now often in a range of 580 to 620) and make buyers pay more closing costs. Watch for updates.

Decking the halls: $63.30

Everywhere in capital-area neighborhoods, Christmas lights are going up and lighted trees are appearing in front windows. What's it all costing to dress up these houses in holiday cheer?

The average buyer of Christmas trees, strings of lights, candles and other decorations will spend about $63.30 this year, says the National Retail Federation.

Its newest shopper survey says two of three Americans will spend on decorations.

Not surprisingly the biggest spenders are in the family-friendly demographic between 25 and 34 years old. The retail federation estimates they'll spend $75.

Who's back from Africa?

Roseville's Paramount Equity executives, who spent eight days in Mali helping start a schoolhouse. The mortgage firm's customers, employees and friends raised $37,000 for BuildOn, a nonprofit that builds schools in developing countries. Paramount's school opens in two months with room for 150 students.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call The Bee's Jim Wasserman, (916) 321-1102. Read his blog on real estate, Home Front, at www.sacbee.com/blogs.