Spring Break Immersion: Volunteers from Yale Chaplain's Office

 Spring Break Immersion:

Volunteers from Yale University Chaplain's Office

On Monday, March 9, NHS hosted 9 volunteer participants from the Yale University Chaplain’s Office Spring Break Immersion Program.

These tireless volunteers worked with us from 10:00am-3:00pm. We started the morning with introductions and a conversation about the student’s interest in participating in the program. The volunteers all agreed that they shared a desire to explore and better understand the city that they currently call home. 

We then geared up with a host of shovels to tackle the snow and ice in the driveways and walkways around two NHS-owned properties on County Street. While shoveling, we explained NHS’ neighborhood revitalization philosophy, emphasizing how renovating clusters of houses on a block can have a greater impact than renovating just one house. Volunteers also got to see the quality of work NHS puts into its rehabs.

At lunch, we continued our conversation on housing issues in New Haven and how they connect to issues of socio-economic inequalities, access to healthy food, community and economic development, and transportation. 

We were so excited to engage with this group of volunteers and share such a productive day with them.

MLK Day of Service 2015

MLK Day of Service

We were excited to reunite three of our wonderful volunteer groups for an MLK Day service event, just as we did in 2014. Volunteers from Squash Haven, Connecticut Public Allies, and Dwight Hall at Yale joined us at 216 Crown Street, the location of Hallah Edutainment. Hallah Edutainment promotes various learning initiatives for local youth.

Our volunteers dispersed into five groups to work on a number of tasks to help Hallah Edutainment make their program space as productive as possible. Volunteers helped to spruce up reclaimed wood that will be used as a stage, remove ceiling tiles to make room for acoustic ceiling clouds, organize student discussion spaces, and scrape paint from walls. 

 

A well-deserved lunch break featured food donated by local New Haven restaurants: Westville Pizza, Chap’s Grill, Jeera Thai, Jake’s Diggity Dogs. During lunch, the volunteers took part in a conversation intended to provoke considerations about how things have and have not changed since Dr. Martin Luther King’s generation. We then watched a 40-minute video of the 1963 Children’s March in Birmingham, Alabama, protesting segregation in the city. At the film’s end, the student audience shared their impressions of the film. All agreed they were impressed with the children’s bravery and ability to take part and found the film to be inspiring.

 

 We hope to see these groups together again next MLK day, if not sooner!

Shopping for Mortgages

Shopping for Mortgages

by Michael Haynes,

Supervisor, HomeOwnership Center

 

Before you head to your local mortgage professional to get pre-approved for a mortgage, be sure to learn all about the mortgage programs for which you are eligible.

Start by making sure you have at least two months of mortgage payments already saved in one of your bank accounts. The next step is to confirm the amount of money you currently have designated to cover the down payment and closing costs.  

The prospective homebuyer that has funds to cover closing costs in full but does not want to pay mortgage insurance premiums should consider getting a Connecticut Housing Finance Authority first mortgage with a Housing Development Fund SmartMove second mortgage. The SmartMove mortgage program provides the homebuyer with a second mortgage in the amount of 20% of the purchase price, and therefore diminishes the requirement to pay mortgage insurance. 

The prospective homebuyer that has limited funds to put toward a down payment and closing costs should consider researching mortgage programs offered by regional and national lending institutions that have a more feasible loan-to-value requirement. In many instances, these programs may require the homebuyer to come up with 3% to 5% of the purchase price. You may still need a second source of financing to cover down payment and closing costs, but the amount of the second loan will be less than 20% of the purchase price.    

Finding the right mortgage product requires work but is very possible with the right resources at your disposal. The Homeownership Center at NHS of New Haven specializes in helping home buyers research and understand all of the mortgage programs that exist for home buyers seeking to purchase in New Haven County. Check us out on the web at www.nhsofnewhaven.org and then give us a call at (203)777-6925 so that we can start working to find the mortgage program for you…

Thankful for... Squash Haven!

Thankful for...

Our Squash Haven Volunteers!

 

On Saturday, November 15, the Community Building & Organizing team hosted another volunteer event with Squash Haven at the Stevens Street Community Garden. Seven students, along with their supervisor, Kyle Compton, spent two hours raking leaves, breaking down a debris pile, and helping to construct a three-bin composting system. 

It was a very chilly morning but the students worked hard and were excited to have the opportunity to learn the proper use of hand tools such as rip saws, hack saws, and power drills! 

Their efforts resulted in a tremendous improvement to the appearance of the garden, and we look forward to the next time that they can join us in the garden. 

Buyer Beware

Buyer Beware

by Michael Haynes,

Supervisor, HomeOwnership Center

Imagine this scenario… You are pre-approved by your lender for a mortgage in the amount of $200,000. You enlist the services of a realtor and together you both hit the ground running in search of your dream home. After several weeks of house shopping, you find the house of your dreams, which happens to be priced under the $200,000 amount for which you were pre-approved. This home has all the bells and whistles that you are looking for, and you are in love with the property’s location. You make an offer to purchase the home and have the details of your offer outlined in the purchase and sale agreement. The seller accepts your offer…

Before you go any further, treat this transaction as a business investment that may come with risks. Your task is to minimize your risks as much as you can. Start by understanding the local market and related activity. You can get information on current and future economic development activity from the town hall where the property is located. Study recent sales of homes in close proximity to the home you are trying to buy. This practice will help you to have a better understanding as to whether the home you want is priced in line with other homes in the same market. Your realtor will be able to help you with this.  

Make sure you attend your home inspection and use it as an opportunity to “look under the hood.” The home inspection will give you an excellent opportunity to see property damage and related issues that should be addressed both internally and externally. You may not have caught these issues when you were initially walking through the home to see if it had enough bedrooms and bathrooms for your needs and yard space big enough to have summer cookouts.  

During your home inspection, look closely at all aspects of the home including the mechanical systems. Ask questions about the wiring, plumbing, roof, and windows. You will want to know whether there are electrical, plumbing, or structural issues. You may not be able to see every finite detail, but do the best you can to take note of the items you can see. Think carefully about how you want to proceed should you come across costly issues that must be repaired. You can use this as leverage to get the seller to give you a better deal, but the seller does not have to comply. Think about the future costs to repair and renovate items in the home and whether the costs are feasible.  

Do not allow yourself to end up with a home that will cost you more to live in than you bargained for… Take the time to understand the local real estate markets and the home maintenance costs expected prior to closing on the home. This can save you money and headaches.

The HomeOwnership Center at NHS of New Haven knows the local real estate markets well and has access to information pertaining to home maintenance expenses. Check us out online at www.nhsofnewhaven.org and give us a call at (203) 777-6925 so that we can help you minimize your home buying risks.

Volunteers: Solar Youth

Volunteers in Action:

Solar Youth at the Ivy Street Community Garden

On October 9, 2014, NHS and the Ivy Street Community Gardeners hosted a volunteer event with Solar Youth.

For this event, our Community Building & Organizing team, the gardeners, and the volunteers cleaned up the garden and assembled new garden beds for future growing seasons.

The kids also learned a bit about gardening and composting, and their favorite activity of all was raking the colorful autumn leaves (and raking them again after jumping in them!).

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers!

Keeping the Keys: Safeguarding Your Finances

Keeping the Keys: Safeguarding Your Finances

By Michael Haynes,

Supervisor, HomeOwnership Center

You have just closed on your property and now have the keys… what next? 

The homeownership process does not end with the closing!  

The buyer’s focus prior to closing on a house is on the management of transactions and documents to ensure that ownership legally passes from seller to buyer.  After the closing and the ceremonial passage of the keys from the seller to the new homeowner, the focus shifts to property management and financial sustainability. 

A strategy for addressing home maintenance issues and personal emergencies while protecting all assets becomes extremely vital to your ongoing financial well-being. Consistently saving the appropriate amount of funds will put you on the right track. However, merely saving a random amount of funds each pay period or per month may not ensure that you are financially capable of covering home maintenance issues or an emergency.  In addition, not paying attention to appropriate protective measures necessary to safeguard your real estate assets can create major financial hardships.  

The concept of home maintenance is extremely important to the homeowner at every stage of the home buying process. When deciding to buy a home, the buyer is trying to assess the current home maintenance needs. In addition, the buyer is also trying to use the home maintenance issues that may already exist as a leveraging tool to see if the seller will cure the issues prior to closing. As a homeowner, you are responsible for the upkeep of the property. You will want to understand the preventive measures necessary to ensuring the optimal functionality of the property. Become familiar with these preventive measures and be aware of potential issues before they happen. Educate yourself on the cost, life expectancy, and age of the property’s roof, windows, and mechanical structures. You will want to use this information to develop a savings plan for addressing repairs and replacements.

Personal emergencies should always be thought of as a separate category despite the urge to lump them in with home maintenance. Home maintenance funds should be used strictly to address property issues. An emergency fund is used to address issues such as a flat tire on your way to work or an unexpected medical expense not covered by your health insurance. Increasing your emergency funds will help to minimize the likelihood that you will be wiped out financially by unexpected life events.

Protecting your real estate asset does not just include obtaining the proper insurance and taking the proper home maintenance precautions.  Make sure that you always keep a copy of all loan documents signed at closing and your homeowners’ insurance policy. You may want to keep these items in a fireproof safe to ensure that they will be properly maintained even in the event of a fire.

Home maintenance, emergency funds, and asset protection are crucial components to the sustainability of your property and your finances. Make sure that you treat them as priorities.

NHS can help you create your homeownership strategy. Give us a call today at (203) 562-0598 ext. 26, or check us out online at www.nhsofnewhaven.org.