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NEW HOTLINE HELPS UNIVERSITY-AREA NEIGHBORS
COMMUNICATE
Members of the community, specifically residents of the east neighborhoods adjacent
to Syracuse University, now have a dedicated hot line to report non-emergency
issues, complaints and concerns, or ask questions related to off-campus student
life. By dialing 442-CARE, callers may share details
and contact information on the voice system, and the Office of Government & Community
Relations and the Office of Off-Campus Student Services will work together to
resolve issues of concern. This hotline responds to concerns raised by residents
in the east neighborhood regarding off-campus student behavior. It was also brought
to Syracuse University’s attention that it is difficult for neighbors and
students to determine who to call and when to call if a concern arises.
SONYMA CHANGES ITS RULES
From Tim Knauss, Real Estate Notebook, May
2005
The good news: the State Of New York Mortgage Agency better known as SONYMA,
has raised the maximum prices that first time homebuyers can pay for houses
and still quality for low interest mortgages. The bad news: SONYMA has reduced
the amount it will pay toward closing costs. Previously loan recipients could
quality for closing cost assistance up to $5,000 or 5 percent of the mortgage.
That was recently reduced to $3,000 or 3 percent of the mortgage. For more
information go to www.nyhomes.org or
call (800) 382-4663.
LENDERS SEEK OUT IMMIGRANTS
By Holden Lewis, Columnist for Real Estate
Watch / Scripps Howard News Service
Immigrants are increasingly getting the message, "Welcome to America,
now go buy a house." The federal government’s policy is to raise
the homeownership rate, and the most efficient way to do that is to concentrate
on minorities and immigrants. The white homeownership rate is almost 75 percent.
A little less than half of black and Hispanic households own their home, and
the Asian rate is a big higher than 50 percent.
For years, mortgage lenders have had programs for minorities, especially blacks,
that involve relaxed credit standards and neighborhood outreach. Now those
efforts are being tweaked and expanded for immigrants. There’s a good
reason for that: Immigrants head more than one in three new households, according
to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (www.jchs.harvard.edu). More
than 1.2 million immigrants have arrived every year since 2000. Immigrants
are where the housing growth is.
The nation’s largest mortgage lender, Countrywide (www.my.countrywide.com),
markets aggressively to immigrants. "The major challenge when we’re
dealing with multicultural markets is the educational aspects," says Rudolfo
Saenz, Countrywide’s Executive Vice President of Multicultural Markets.
Many immigrants do no know much about this country’s banking system. "They
don’t really know what questions to ask, how to select the best product,
what papers and questions will be part of the application."
Last year, Countrywide introduced its Optimum Loan program, under which borrower
education is just one facet. Optimum combines disparate features of many loan
products into one: allowing low or no down payment, supplementing the credit
record with "non-traditional" credit, recognizing cash income and
rent from housemates, and permitting the pooling of money for down payment
and closing costs. Mortgages with low or no down payments are relatively common
nowadays. Optimum’s three other features are relatively unusual.
Take the nontraditional. A lot of immigrants don’t have extensive credit
histories in the U.S., both because they don’t have many car loans and
credit cards, and because they just haven’t been in the country long
enough to establish a track record. Countrywide and other companies (such as
credit scoring Fair Isaac) are creating ways to augment meager credit histories
with records of utility payments, rent and even money sent to families abroad.
They are finding ways to confirm cash income from services such as child care
and landscaping. Rent paid by long-term boarders is counted as income. Down
payment money from multiple sources is allowed. This last item is important
for immigrants with extended families.
U.S. HAS RECORD HOMEOWNERSHIP RATE IN 2004
From Nehemiah Corporation of America Newsletter,
February 2005, www.getdownpayment.com
A new homeownership record was set in 2004 according to the Census Bureau.
The new annual rate of 69.0 percent surpasses the previous record of 68.3 percent
set in 2003. There are now over 74 million Americans who own their own homes.
Minority homeownership also set records. A new record annual rate of 51.0 percent
was set in 2004 with over 15 million minority homeowners in the United States.
Homeownership is a vital tool for generating wealth creation and transforming
the lives of millions of American families – giving them a short at long-term
prosperity.
WANTED CITY DWELLERS WHO OWN THEIR OWN HOME
From Upstate Letter, March 17, 2005
A program to encourage homeownership in some of old neighborhoods partners
the city with six colleges that call Albany home. The new "Midtown Plan" should
motivate homeowners to live in and around the places they work, and discourage
the kind of absentee landlordism that has taken its toll on Albany’s
housing stock. The thousands of students who migrate to Albany every September
spill off campus and into residential rental properties throughout the city.
Come May they’re gone. This kind of influx brings a lot of wear and tear
to a city and to neighborhoods. "Absentee landlords do not plant pink
impatiens." The city hopes to harness the energy of the colleges and even
stimulate walk-to-work programs. The plans include establishing homeownership
zones eligible for cash grants and attractive financing for mortgages and rehabilitation
loans from local lenders. This type of program is already up and running in
Schenectady at Union College. With the 9,000 faculty and staff at these six
Albany schools, and the 10,000 of their students who live in the neighborhoods,
surely these incentives should help.
According to City Councilman Jimmy Scalzo, "It’s mutually beneficial
for the colleges and universities to make healthy vibrant neighborhoods." Stemming
the tide may be a challenge. The day after this program was announced one local
real estate firm, Tech Valley Homes, brokered the sale of 14 two-family rental
homes in this neighborhood to a California investor.
HOUSE FLIPPING
From The Post Standard, Opinion Page, March
24, 2005
Owning your home is part of the American Dream. It also helps maintain stable,
safe and attractive neighborhoods and communities. Given the strong urge to
buy a home, it should be no surprise that unscrupulous practitioners are ready
and willing to make a buck off of it. One result of this is "house flipping".
Briefly, house flipping means buying a house at market or below market price,
then turning right around and selling it to a gullible customer at a much-inflated
price. Buyers may have poor credit ratings and be willing to pay higher interest
rates, both factors that make them easy marks.
In one real estate transaction staff writer, Tim Knauss described agent Carlton
Phipps bought a house on Midland Avenue for $47,500, then sold it for $84,000 – the
same day. In another, Phipps brokered the sale of a city property on Salt Springs
Road for $65,000, 15 days after it was purchased for just $29,000.
Some varieties of house flipping are not illegal or unethical. If you buy a
house in poor condition, fix it up and sell it at a profit, you’re in
the clear. But you can’t buy, fix up and sell the same day. Phipps even
found an appraiser willing to quote the higher market value of the property.
And the law requires agents to disclosure they are working for themselves,
not the customer. The State has filed civil complaints against Phipps, two
appraisers and the owner of his company.
Would be homeowners can protect themselves. In the absence of a concerted crack
down on house flipping, the best protection for those seeking their piece of
the American Dream is information. Home Headquarters, an agency in Syracuse
linking federal and local programs, provides such information. Call 474-1939
or visit www.homehq.org for
more information.
YOU MIGHT BE OWED MONEY FOR REFINANCING
From Tim Knauss, Real Estate Notebook, April
2005
If you refinanced your mortgage since June 1996 (and who hasn’t) you
should dig out your paperwork and see who issued the title insurance. It could
be worth $75 or more to you. A $31.5 million settlement is pending in a class
action lawsuit against eight companies that plaintiffs had accused of overcharging
New York state residents for title insurance on refinanced mortgages. A final
hearing will be held July 29 in State Supreme Court in Nassau County. If the
court approves the deal, consumers will be eligible for refunds of at least
$75, and up to $600 depending on circumstances.
State regulations say that borrowers who refinance within 10 years of taking
out an initial mortgage on the same property are entitled to a discounted rate
for title insurance. The class action lawsuit alleges that the defendant companies
did not make the discounts available, a claim that defendant deny.
You may be eligible for a refund if the title insurance on your refinanced
mortgage was issued by one of these: American Pioneer Title Insurance Co.,
Chicago Title Insurance Co., Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co., Fidelity
National Title Insurance Co., First American Title Insurance Co., Lawyers Title
Insurance Co., National Title Insurance Co., or Stewart Title Insurance Co.
Claims must be filed by October 27. To download a claims form and find more
information, go to www.titleinsurancelitigation.com.
You can also request a claim form by calling (866) 808-3589 or by writing to
Coordinated Title Insurance Cases c/o The Garden City Group, Claims Administrator,
PO Box 9000 #6220, Merrick NY 11566-9000.
HOUSING PROJECT FOR VETERANS PROPOSED
Homeless veterans would get dibs on 15 of 26 affordable apartments a nonprofit
group wants to develop in Syracuse. Housing Visions Unlimited, a nonprofit
that specializes in revitalizing city housing and neighborhoods, recently unveiled
details of its proposed Englewood East Project. The group wants to build four
new houses and rehabilitate three others on the East Side, in the 1200 and
1400 blocks of East Fayette Street and the 300 block of Pine Street. This is
the first time Housing Visions is doing a project that targets homeless veterans,
according to Betsy Dunlap, Executive Vice President. The group has developed
156 units of housing in the city since 1990. Homeless vets getting back on
their feet after rehabilitation have a hard time finding decent, affordable
housing. The VA will provide the vets with medical care, addiction treatment,
mental health services and other support services. One-third of adult homeless
men and nearly one-quarter of all homeless adults nationwide have served in
the military, according to the VA. Many vets are at high risk of becoming homeless
because of poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and because they
live in overcrowded or substandard housing. To learn more about this and other
projects, please contact (315) 472-3820 or visit www.housingvisions.com.
CONSIDER GIVING A GIFT OF PROPERTY
Property donations to UNPA have benefits for everyone. As a nonprofit institution
dedicated to the mission of promoting the University Neighborhood and increasing
owner-occupancy, UNPA has a special interest in donations of property. A gift
of real property can generate many benefits. By transferring property directly
to UNPA, you, the donor: avoids potential capital gains tax that might occur
from property sale, takes an income tax deduction for the full fair market
value* of the property, and will eliminate property tax burdens and maintenance
costs. Donated properties will be rehabilitated and sold to owner occupants
to generate income for UNPA to help bridge the financial gap that often occurs
between cost of property rehabilitation and sale of property. To discuss a
potential donation, please contact Joanne Stewart, UNPA Executive Director
at (315) 476-5228.
* Fair market value of appreciated
real estate must be determined with a qualified appraiser.
There are specific IRS requirements for such appraisals
and for reporting gifts on your tax return. Please
check with your own financial and legal advisors before
taking any action on the above.
WARNING ABOUT A POTENTIAL FIRE HAZARD!
This is one of those messages that if you didn’t send it, rest assured
someone you know will suffer for not reading it. The original message was written
by a lady whose brother and his wife learned a hard lesson this past week.
Their house burned down … nothing is left except ashes. They were sick
when they found out the cause of the fire. The insurance investigator sifted
through the ashes for several hours. He had the cause of the fire traced to
the master bathroom. He asked what was plugged in the bathroom. She listed
the normal things … curling iron, hair drier, etc. He kept saying to
her, "No, this would be something that would disintegrate at high temperatures." Then
she remembered she had a plug-in air freshener in the bathroom. The investigator
said that was the cause of the fire. He said he has seen more home fires started
with the plug-in type room fresheners than anything else. He said the plastic
they are made from is a thin plastic. He also said that in every case, there
was nothing left to prove that it even existed. When the investigator looked
in the wall plug, the two prongs left from the plug-in were still there. The
lady said the plug-in had a small night-light built in it. She said she had
noticed that the light would dim and then finally go out. She would walk into
the bathroom a few hours later, and the light would be on again. The investigator
said that the unit was getting too hot, and would dim and go out rather than
just blow the light bulb. Once it cooled down it would come on. That is a warning
sign. The investigator said that personally he would not have any type of plug-in
freshening device in his house because he has seen too many homes that have
been burnt down due to them.
FIRST ANNUAL CURBSIDE APPEAL CONTEST
The days are getting longer, the weather is warmer, and everyone is eager to
be outside! It’s time to remove those dead plants, put up a new spring
wreath, and add color to brighten up your home. I you long to give your home
that sought-after curbside appeal, this contest is for you! Achieving curbside
appeal is not difficult, nor does it have to be costly. It increases the value
of your property and that of neighboring properties.
First-, second-, and third-place prizes, along with honorable mentions, will
be awarded to participants who live or own property in the designated area
and have improved the landscaping in their front yards resulting in a more
attractive curbside appeal. Consideration is given to budget. Eligible participants
must live in the area that extends east from Comstock to Cumberland Avenues,
and south from East Genesee Street to East Colvin Street. Entries will be judged
on overall improvement, cleanliness, appeal, creativity, and well-tended landscaping.
UNPA, orangehousing.com, Westcott Bulb Planting Project Committee, Wegmans/Chase-Pitkin,
ACE Salt City Hardware – Nottingham Plaza, and S.U. Offices of Off-Campus
Student Services and Government & Community Relations are sponsoring and
supporting the Curbside Appeal Contest. The contest runs from June 15 through
September 6. All participants qualify for a random drawing for a "gardening
gift basket" at the 2005 Westcott Street Cultural Fair to be held September
18. Winners of other prizes will be announced at the Fair where there will
be a photo display of winning entries. To request an application, call 443-5489.
NEW LANDLORD INFORMATION SHARING
Current SU and SUNY-ESF students living off campus and any student considering
a move from a campus residence hall to an off-campus apartment will benefit
from the Landlord Information Sharing Program recently launched by the SU Office
of Off-Campus Student Services (OCSS). The new program will offer: a constructive
format to raise concerns about the quality of off-campus housing in a manner
that will lead to issue resolution, a neutral context in which landlords can
respond to and address students’ concerns, and a record of concerns raised
and the manner in which concerns were addressed. Students can fill out a comment
form found at ocss.syr.edu or
in the OCSS office at 754 Ostrom Avenue. OCSS staff would like to hear any
positive and negative interactions that students might have with their landlords. "We
hope this program can promote more effective, constructive communication between
students and their landlords. Ultimately we hope this new program will reduce
the number of student concerns that ultimately go unknown, unresolved, or escalate
beyond the point that an amicable resolution is possible," said Laura
Madelone, OCSS Director. OCSS will forward a copy of the submitted comment
form to the student’s landlord, who may respond to the concerns or issues
directly or by sending a letter to OCSS. OCSS will keep a copy of all comment
forms and landlord responses. Students can then view the comment forms and
the landlord responses at the OCSS office as they search for off-campus housing.
OCSS also work with students throughout the process to seek to accomplish a
resolution to all problems. When appropriate, OCSS staff will refer students
to agencies that may better suited to resolve a given situation such as the
Syracuse Police Department, Syracuse Code Enforcement, Conflict Mediation Center,
or Student Legal Services. For more information, call 443-5489.
UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP GETS REWORKED
A small working group of University-Community Partnership members representing
the City of Syracuse, residents of the University east neighborhood, and Syracuse
University met throughout this past semester to reorganize the Partnership’s
structure to better address its goal as a problem-solving and communication
entity. The group finalized its work in late May, and will be making a public
presentation on Wednesday, June 25 at Erwin Methodist Church from 7-8:30PM.
For more information, call 443-3919.
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE
If you hear of a house coming up for sale, or if you hear of someone who wishes
to live in, and buy a home in, the university neighborhood, by all means call
UNPA at 476-5228. We will network with real estate agents and share information
about what help is available from UNPA and other organizations.
UNPA’s goal is promotion of owner occupancy. At this time, most "mint
condition" houses in our neighborhood are selling very well. The challenge
now, as when UNPA was formed in 1990, is bring back into owner occupancy some
of the houses that have been rental properties. We are particularly interested
in hearing from rental property owners who are ready to sell a house in the
area. There are several blocks in the area that will benefit from the return
of two or three homes to owner occupancy. With that change, they can join may
other blocks that have the balance of families and students that many of us
appreciate about the neighborhood.
We look forward to hearing from you.
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