| In our first earlier
issue we had mentioned about the benefits and disadvantages
of buying a house. This issue will discuss homeownership in
greater detail and offer some tips to first time homebuyers
on things that they need to look out for.
|
Home buying is a responsibility and you need to understand the
pros and cons of homeownership before you take on this journey
of owning a property. There are monthly payments that need to
be made over a period of time (15 or 30 years) regularly. Added
to this are the responsibilities of maintenance, repairs and so
on.
Types of homes
It is important to understand the types of homes that are available
in New York and to analyze which one best suits your needs.
Home ownership can be in the form of:
- Apartments
- Houses
Apartments are mainly of two kinds:
- Co-op
- Condo
In a co-op, one buys shares in a corporation and gets a proprietary
lease for an apartment. The size of the apartment is directly
proportional to the number of shares owned. There are monthly
maintenance charges and the apartment is subject to rules and
regulations of the co-op who can lay down rules on occupancy,
subletting and repairs.
A condo apartment can be owned. Apartments do not have the
kind of restrictions that co-ops have as to occupancy, subletting,
resale and so on. There are monthly maintenance charges for
the maintenance of common areas of the building but these are
much lower than that of a co-op.
There are many types of houses that one could buy. These range
from:
- One-family homes
- Two to five-family homes
- Six and more unit dwelling houses.
Six- (or more) unit apartment buildings are subject to rental
stabilization. Some things that you need to do before you buy
a house:
1. Get a pre-approval letter from the bank for a loan
When you begin to look for a house, we advise you to start
looking for a way to finance the home of your dreams. Start
applying for loans from banks. Get a pre-approval from a bank
for home loans. The pre-approval letter will show your real
estate agents and home sellers that you are serious. It also
assists you in making a decision regarding the house based on
the your finances
and the money that a bank can or will lend you.
2. Check your credit history
Check your credit history – obtain your credit report
from a credit-counseling agency. Credit scores range up to 850
and anything above 700 is a good score. In cases where you do
not have adequate credit history, you should build a record
of alternate creditwhere you maintain a record of all monthly
payments such as telephone bills, rent and other monthly bills,
which you show that you pay on time over a period of time.
3. Assess your needs and the type of home you want to
buy and the neighborhood you want to live in
Assess your needs — when you decide on a house, look around
the neighborhood and see whether it satisfies what you want from
the neighborhood. In our community, children’s education
and safety is key so check to see if you are satisfied with the
public schools in the vicinity or if it is a safe neighborhood
to bring up your children. Check the distance from the house to
the subways and grocery stores.
4. Do an affordability analysis
Everyone has a dream house but that dream house may not be
within the reach of your pockets. When you go out to buy your
home check to see if you can actually afford it over a period
of time. The monthly costs for housing (which would include
mortgage, taxes, maintenance and so on) should not exceed 33%
of your gross monthly income. In some cases where home buyers
buy a multi family house, the rents from the other units (70%
of the rent) is deducted from the monthly mortgage and the amount
should not then exceed 33%.
5. Home-buyer beware — shop around for loans
In all home-buying processes, the burden falls on the buyer.
So the buyer needs to be very careful when undertaking any transactions.
Whether it is a document that you sign with the broker, agent
or the homeowner — be aware of all the implications of
the documents that you sign. In cases where you do not understand
it take your time — ask someone who you think is trustworthy
and reliable. In the real estate business you are there to look
out for yourself. The real estate agent represents the seller
and the seller’s interest and the mortgage broker wants
the mortgage commission. Do not go to a ONE STOP SHOP where
there is a real estate agent, mortgage broker and a lawyer all
under one roof. Try to get a separate lawyer, broker and real
estate agent.
6. Home buying counseling
There are many non-profits that offer free home buying counseling
for first-time homeowners. For us, the first place that we should
be going is to Chhaya CDC (a South Asian housing Community Development
Corporation). Chhaya CDC offers free counseling and referral
services.
Chhaya's mission is to
address and advocate for the housing and community development
needs of South Asian American communities in New York City
regardless of class, caste, country of origin, or religious
affiliation. Further, Chhaya seeks to leverage existing
resources by learning and working with other organizations
to establish equal access to systems of support and to promote
civic participation. Broadly, Chhaya also seeks to collaborate
with other ethnic and minority populations to further better
understanding among these communities.
Chhaya
CDC
You can call Chhaya at 347-438-0056 for free counseling |
When you have decided on the property that you want to buy...check
the property.
- Do a detailed home inspection
A home inspection is vital to understand the present condition
of the building. Make sure that when you negotiate on the final
price that you add a contingency of home inspection. Get a licensed
and approved home inspector on your own. Ask the inspector to
do a thorough structural and detailed home inspection which
should include the conditions of the boilers, electrical, paints
analysis (lead paint), condition of windows and so on.
- Get an independent home appraisal
While the bank that gives you the loan will do an appraisal
in order to protect its investment. You should do the same.
Get an appraisal of the house to ascertain that the value that
you are paying is the actual value.
- Check for violations and ask for various documents
You should check to see that the house that you are buying is
free of violations. Some one-family homes are marketed as two
family or two as three family homes by converting the basement
and cellars into illegal apartments. Do not be fooled by this.
Check and ask for documents that show the number of units in
the certificate of occupancy of the home. Illegally-converted
apartments should be removed or regularized and this process
costs a lot of money. Be prepared for this.
| Domestic
Workers’ Bill of Rights |
Whether you are documented or not, you are protected
by most federal and state
labor laws.
You are entitled to:
A minimum wage of $5.15 an hour (various states have
various minimum wage requirements — in New York
it is $5.15 though there is a campaign to push for the
minimum wage to be raised to $7.10. Connecticut —
the minimum wage is $7.10 and in Massachusetts it is
$6.75 )
Payment for all the hours you worked
Payment of wages in US dollars once a week
Over-time pay of 1 and a 1/2 times your regular hourly
wage for every extra hour you work over 40 hours in
a week if you live out and 1-1/2 times your hourly wage
for every extra hour you work in a week if you live
in
One hour additional pay at the minimum
wage for any day in which you work more than 10 hours
or there is a split shift.
Benefits
If you work more than 40 hours a week for the same employer,
you have the right to Workers’ Compensation which
pays for your medical bills and lost wages if you get
injured on the job and miss work.
If you are documented and have earned at least $2,400
in the previous year at an
average of $123 per week, then you may be eligible for
Unemployment Insurance if
you leave your job for a good cause or are fired.
Abuse and Harassment
It is illegal for your employer to:
Employer’s Threat to Report You to BCIS
False Promises of a Green Card
-
Your employer may offer to take care
of your immigration matters. Do not
take your employer’s word for it. Consult an immigration
attorney on your
own.
-
Often employers’ say that they
will sponsor you for a green card, it can
take as long as 15 years to obtain a green card as a
domestic worker. If
you leave your employer while you are waiting, you will
have to begin the
procedure again.
-
Your employer does not have the right
to withhold your earnings for more
than 7 days after the end of the pay period.
-
Whether you are documented or not, you
have a right to be free of abusive behavior, including
unwanted physical or sexual contact.
Some Government Resources
For Basic Wages/ Hour please check
US Dept. of Labor/ Wage and Hour Division
26 Federal Plaza, Suite 3700
New York, NY
Tel 212-264-8185
Workers Compensation
Workers Compensation insurance provides cash benefits
and /or medical care
for workers who are injured or become ill as a direct
result of the job.
The Brooklyn serves most of NYC.
Brooklyn District Office
180 Livingston Street
Brooklyn, New York 11248
Tel 718- 802-6600
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