Potential Home Buyers
| But, unlike everyday
items and some small investments, investing in a house is
one of the biggest financial decision that is taken in a
lifetime: if this decision is made badly, it can have serious
repercussions — not just on your finances but also
for your family. |
In previous issues, we discussed the pros of buying a home
and what financial benefits there are in investing in a home.
Since writing those articles, I have come across people who
have come up to me and complained about the cons of buying a
house.
In our communities, there is a competitiveness that can be
either positive or negative depending on circumstances. If someone
buys a car, others want to do so. And if someone buys a house
others do not want to be left behind. But, unlike everyday items
and some small investments, investing in a house is one of the
biggest financial decision that is taken in a lifetime: if this
decision is made badly, it can have serious repercussions —
not just on your finances but also for your family.
Himalayan people — who might be lured by bank loans and
the phenomenon that others are buying houses — may have
been buying properties without carefully analyzing the impact
of this financial transactions.
Affordability
| Getting an affordability
analysis done is the first most important to take before
you undertake this journey towards buying a house. |
A home mortgage is not something that homeowners pay for a
short period of time. While most mortgages are typically for
30-year periods, there are others that are for 10 or 15 years.
Getting an affordability analysis done is the first most important
to take before you undertake this journey towards buying a house.
Monthly mortgage payments have to be made each month for 30
years. A family can scrimp on monthly expenses for a month or
two or even a year but to scrimp for thirty years is a major
challenge.
Some families have bought homes as they have been approved
by some mortgage brokers for high loans and are not able to
make the monthly mortgage payments. As a result of this, families
have members who work long hours and children who drop out of
college to join the ranks of earners. This has a devastating
effect on the family where family members are not able to be
together on occasions as a family, nor are children able to
complete their education. The American Dream of owning a home
then becomes an American family tragedy.
This is not to discourage potential home buyers from purchasing
a property but to prevent a person from buying something which
is much more than what they can afford.
As mentioned in earlier issues of the magazine, the amount
that a household spends on rent or housing should not exceed
33% of the total household income.
Reliable Sources of Rental Income
By reliable sources of income, I mean sources of income which
are legitimate and are not anticipatory. In this case, I can
think of illegal housing units – or units in one or two
family houses which are not legal and are often bought by owners
who see a potentially rentable basement or attic. Taking rental
income into consideration, home buyers often buy properties
only to learn later that the rental unit is illegal and instead
of providing income, the owner could be bogged down with fines
and the complicated legal process of removing the units or legalizing
them.
In such cases, please check the Certificate of Occupancy of
the house to see that a two or three family house is actually
a two or three family, and not a one and two family house.
According to some statistics for every $600 in rent there is
an increase of $100,000 in the value of the home. Illegal units
and the anticipated rents from these units can hike up the price
of the house, so be careful when you buy your dream house that
you haven’t paid a hiked price owing to an illegally converted
apartment.
Tenants Rights in the Winter
Every resident is entitled to heat and hot water. Tenants without
adequate heat or hot water should first speak with the building
owner, manager, or superintendent. If the problem is not corrected,
tenants should call 311. The Department of Housing Preservation
and Development (HPD) will attempt to contact your building's
owner to get heat or hot water service restored.
If service has not been restored, HPD will send an inspector
to your building to verify the complaint and issue a violation.
If your landlord does not live up to his or her legal obligation,
HPD will call in emergency contractors to fix the boiler or
do whatever is required to get your heat and hot water working
again.
If you lose power, call your power provider immediately to
report the outage.
- Con Edison 24-hour hotline: 1-800-75-CONED (752-6633)
- Key Span 24-hour hotline: 1-718-643-4050
For help with all your housing needs, you can contact Chhaya
CDC at (347)
| 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 x347 for free
counseling. |
