My Second Favorite Organ

MOVING IN!!!

2011-12-17T12:27:00.000-08:00

We're moving in this weekend to the top floor of our house, which will be the future rental unit. It's *almost* done, we're just waiting for the boilers to get connected and fired up. I'm upset about a few things, like the baseboard heaters being so flimsy and in installing it the crew mowed over one or two electrical outlets. If we had a bigger budget, I would have used Runtal baseboard heaters, which are much nicer with clean lines. C'est la vie pauvre. A few photos from the various stages of work:

Ugh, the worst room in the house: the bathroom. New vinyl window, new baseboard heating, but the tub is leftover from the previous cheap remodel, and the tiles are horrible. Since this photo, we've added a recycled toilet and recycled pedestal sink.

First bedroom, with refinished original floors, original base molding that needs to be fixed up, new aluminum-clad wood windows, and new baseboard heaters.

Second bedroom, refinished original floors, new baseboard heating, the original base molding, new vinyl window on the left, new aluminum clad wood window on the right, which faces the front of the house and therefore must be somewhat historic.

The living room with new vinyl windows, refinished original floors, new baseboard heating, new base trim and new matching window trim. It's not as ornate as the original, but we ran out of money. Maybe in the future we'll try to match the trim to what exists in the rest of the house.

Above is the kitchen with the new (cockeyed) baseboard heat and new bamboo floors. Since this photo, our contractor put together and installed the IKEA cabinets which look awesome. We prepped it for a washer/dryer combo on the left if the future tenant wants to buy and install their own set.

So, at least we are going to live in the house!!

Major Grant opportunity for Newburgh and its Artists!!!

2011-11-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

Kresge Foundation Invites Preliminary Applications for Arts and Community Building and Artists' Skills and Resources Grant Opportunities

Deadline: February 1, 2012(Preliminary Applications)

The Kresge Foundation's Arts and Culture Program seeks to foster the power of arts and culture to recharge and rebuild communities of all sizes in the United States.

As part of this effort, the program is accepting preliminary grant applications from nonprofit organizations for its Community Building and Artists' Skills and Resources focus areas.

The Arts and Community Building focus area is intended to help develop a systematic way to support arts and culture as a tool for revitalizing communities. To achieve this goal, the program will invest in exemplary efforts and identify and share best practices within the field. At the national level, the foundation wishes to fund exemplary organizations dedicated to integrating arts and community-building activities and identifying new methods as models for the field; commission and publish research on efforts to integrate cultural organizations and artists into community-building efforts; elevate the visibility of arts and community building, and disseminate best practices through meetings, publications, and other means as appropriate. The foundation is accepting preliminary applications from grantseekers for national-level projects.

The Artists' Skills and Resources focus area is based in the belief that community transformation would be more widespread if more communities embraced artists as important contributors to the identity, vitality, and cohesion of the places where they live. The program seeks to boost artists' skills and resources by supporting leading practitioners as well as efforts to increase the number of live-and-work spaces for artists.

Preliminary applications for both funding areas will be accepted and reviewed on an ongoing basis through February 1, 2012. (After that date, the grant opportunity may be modified.) The preliminary application contains a data-entry component and several attachments, including a narrative. Applicants with promising requests will be asked to complete the second part of the application process.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE WEBSITE!

Good News!

2011-10-27T05:24:00.000-07:00

Our contractor just informed us that the building next to us - a shell - is condemned and Habitat for Humanity will build a similar looking building in its place!! It has a beautiful facade and was probably an amazing house, but it fell on some serious hard times.

Great Grant Opportunity for Newburgh Art Community

2011-10-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

New National Arts Initiative Invites Letters of Inquiry for Art-Centered Community Development Projects

Deadline: November 15, 2011 (Letters of Inquiry)

Eleven private philanthropies have joined with the National Endowment for the Arts and a number of federal agencies to establish ArtPlace, a nationwide initiative to drive community revitalization with a new investment model that puts the arts at the center of economic development.

ArtPlace will periodically awards grants to organizations doing groundbreaking work in creative placemaking in communities across the United States. The project recently announced its first round of grants, awarding a total of $11.5 million to thirty-four projects in cities from Honolulu to Miami.

Each project supported by ArtPlace was selected for developing a new model of helping communities thrive by strategically integrating artists and arts organizations into key local efforts in transportation, housing, community development, job creation, and other areas. The program will provide a similar level of support in 2012.

ArtPlace is inviting Letters of Inquiry for its second round of funding from partnerships involving arts organizations, artists, designers, and local and national organizations working to produce a transformative impact on community vibrancy. The initiative seeks to provide seed grants for entrepreneurial projects that already enjoy strong local buy-in, that integrate with a community’s economic development and community revitalization strategy, and that have the potential to attract additional private and public support.

Award amounts are decided on a case-by-case basis. In the grant program's first year, grants ranged from $63,100 to $1 million. The average grant was $349,784 and the median grant was $275,000.

ArtPlace Request for Letters of Inquiry

Apple-Pumpkin Picking

2011-10-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a year since we moved to Newburgh! We went apple/pumpking picking this weekend, just like last October, except this time we had Elliot with us. Requisite baby in pumpkin patch pictures:

Rough Plumbing Finished!

2011-09-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how awful these photos are, but I guess you'll get the idea. We just passed the first plumbing inspection!

I have no idea what I'm looking at, but apparently it's up to City of Newburgh plumbing code. And we received the Rehabilitation Grant from the City of Newburgh, finally. It was contingent on the boilers being installed and working, which I guess they are.

These last photos are the PVC pipes running from the second floor bathroom. The old houses have joists evenly spaced and don't leave much room to run waste pipes, etc. You'll see a lot of cut joists from previous plumbers trying to work the situation. We decided to sister up the joists, but that leaves the original problem of how to run the plumbing. Originally, we were going to build a pedestal for the toilet so that the pipe could snake over the joist and be close to the back wall, where we wanted it.

Now, instead of the toilet being on a pedestal, the pipes are placed so that the toilet is further away from the wall. Our contractor is building a knee-wall to make up for the space behind the toilet, and on the plus side we get to have some built-in shelves and recessed medicine cabinet.

DEMO!!!

2011-08-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

We finally started doing some work. It's just the first stage, demolition, but it has made a big difference in how we see our house.

This was our yard somewhere around the spring of 2010.

Here is our yard, now, with all the crap inside the house vomited out:

The floor of the extension was crappy and rotted:

Our contractor tore out the old flooring and put in the plywood subflooring:

The master bathroom before:

The master bathroom, now:

The first parlor looking into the second parlor area, separated by a wall with french doors:

The wall is gone and the two parlors are now combined:

There's a lot more getting cleaned out, but nothing too exciting. We should have the building permits soon and be able to start doing some major work.

A few belated things...

2011-05-24T12:41:00.001-07:00

I finally uploaded pictures from my cell phone to the computer, so some of these are months old. Above is Tracer in our old apartment, enjoying life as the only small creature in our lives.

In late April, we finally excavated the old water main and replaced it. The driveway is still a pile of dirt, but the excavator promised to return and blacktop it.

Here's a photo of the fence we put up in the back about a year ago. Before that, it was an open invitation to the neighbors to use our backyard as a dumping ground.

We're finally ALMOST there with the renovation loan from Wells Fargo. If everything goes well, and it won't, we should start work in July!

Grants Grants Grants

2011-04-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

Home Depot is giving $5,000 to community organizations that help improve the living conditions of seniors, veterans, and/or the disabled with housing repairs, weatherization and modifications.

The shoe company, Saucony, has a Run for Good program that awards up to $10,000 in cash and in-kind donations for youth running programs to encourage active and healthy lifestyles for children under 18.

KaBoom! and the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group have a program, Playful City USA, that awards grants up to $30,000 to help local governments use best practices to ensure their children have the time and space they need to play and to be active and healthy.

Banfield Charitable Trust offers non-profit organizations support for keeping pets and their people together.

The Mental Health Foundation's "It's OK to talk about it" grant initiative awards up to $10,000 to support innovative programs that address the reduction of stigma, the promotion of public awareness, and education on mental health issues for the target population of young adults. These programs must entail a peer component of young adults who have personally lived with mental illness and can share their condition and stigmatization in a candid and positive manner with peers. The grant program's goal is to improve acceptance of and access to mental health services and supports. The deadline to apply is the end of this month.

More Grants

2011-04-04T07:37:00.000-07:00

I'm back at work after three beautiful months of disability/bonding leave. I'm seeing a few grants that might be interesting for Newburghers:

Preserve New York program offers grants to municipalities and non-profit organizations for historic structure reports, historic landscape reports, and cultural resource surveys. Typical awards are between $3,000 and $10,000.

Scotts Miracle-Gro is giving community organizations up to $1,500 in money and in-kind support for gardening and community beautification projects.

Dollar General is offering up to $5,000 in Back-to-School literacy grants to assist school libraries and media centers. They are also awarding up to $3,000 to schools, public libraries and non-profit organizations for Youth Literacy programs.

M.A.C. AIDS Fund is awarding up to $25,000 for programs that provide food and nutrition to people living with HIV or AIDS.

Women Helping Others (W.H.O.) will support grass-roots programs serving the overlooked needs of women and children with grants up to $40,000.

JustFilms, an initiative from Ford Foundation, awards grants to film, video and digital works that show courageous people confronting difficult issues and actively pursuing a more just, secure and sustainable world.

Cinereach is also funding full-length fiction and non-fiction films, with up to $50,000 per project.

Let me know if you have a particular area for which you'd like to find funding.

Community Grant for Collaborations with Police

2011-02-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

From the Foundation Directory RFP Alerts:

Applications Invited for MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Awards Program

Deadline: February 28, 2011

The MetLife Foundation and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation are partnering for the tenth year to recognize, sustain, and share the work of innovative partnerships between community groups and police to promote neighborhood safety and revitalization.

The MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Awards program invites applications from partnerships that exhibit tangible accomplishments in their efforts to advance the process, outcome, and evaluation of potent police-community collaborations. Eligible applicants must be member organizations of partnerships that include, but need not be limited to, community organizations and police.

Awardees receive a monetary grant and their work will be promoted via case studies to a wide audience of practitioners, policymakers, and academics.

The program will award grants in the following two categories:

Neighborhood Revitalization Awards (six awards of $15,000 to $25,000 each): These awards celebrate exemplary collaborations between community groups and police that yield crime reduction as well as economic development outcomes such as real estate development, business attraction, and job growth.

Special Strategy Awards (five awards of $15,000 each) will be given to community and police partners who have achieved significant accomplishments in applied technology, aesthetics and greenspace improvement, diversity inclusion and integration, drug market disruption, gang prevention and youth safety, and seniors and safety.

Program information and the full Request for Proposals are available at the LISC Web site:

http://www.lisc.org/section/ourwork/national/safety/awards

Straight from the oven

2011-01-23T11:43:00.001-08:00

The baby is here!! He was born January 4, exactly on his due date.

He's already being outfitted in the season's hottest knitwear:

Both are courtesy of my friend, Toni. She hand dyes her own yarn and uses tooth picks (or something equally small and impossible) to knit.

We've been so preoccupied with the baby that the house has been sitting idle. Eddie is still working on the State and Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credit applications, but it might not matter. Sadly, this past week he learned that the two City of Newburgh grants he applied for kind of fell through.

He had received a letter stating that his applications were approved and had verbal confirmation that the full amount he was asking for had been set aside, but now the loan committee will only award him a small portion of what he applied for, so it looks like the house won't be fixed up anytime soon and he'll be one of those vacant property landlords that we have been railing against. It's sad, but part of the reality of Newburgh, I guess. I just wish he hadn't wasted so much time on it (since April, 2010).

In the meantime, we're learning a lot about local politics and trying to enjoy Newburgh. One of the best things we've come across is this bbq restaurant, Christine's, on Broadway. The smoked ribs, fried chicken, brisket and smoked chicken are AMAZING, as well as the collard greens, baked mac 'n cheese, coleslaw, potato salad, and sweet potato fries. We've ordered take out three times in the past two weeks.

Kingston Craft Fair

2010-12-08T08:11:00.000-08:00

One Mile Gallery Craft Fair is happening this weekend, December 11 and 12, from 12pm to 5pm. I'm trying to buy local this year, and already planned on sending Christmas cards from Thornwillow Press and peanut butter brittle from Commodore Chocolatier on Broadway. The craft fair is in Kingston, so it won't be a Newburgh-area spending spree, but some items are super cute:

(Photos via One Mile Gallery website.)

Baby news

2010-11-29T08:12:00.000-08:00

I was feeling a little sorry for myself this weekend, being 35 weeks pregnant and uncomfortable sitting, standing, and lying on my side...until I read that African elephants are pregnant for 22 MONTHS. Their calves are between 175 and 250 lbs, and nurse for 4 to 5 years, or until the next calf is born.

On the plus side, they don't have a 20% copay on their medical insurance, so they won't be in debt immediately after giving birth.

Grants for Newburgh

2010-11-17T13:42:00.000-08:00

I came across three grant opportunities recently that I thought some organization in Newburgh would be interested in. One is for the City of Newburgh - maybe someone in the Planning and Development Office would be interested in applying?

Project Orange Thumb
Sponsored by Fiskars, 10 winners will receive $5,000 in cash and tools to support neighborhood beautification through community gardening, and one winner will receive a complete community garden makeover. The deadline to apply is December 31, 2010.

IBM Smart Cities Challenge
The application for the Smarter Cities Challenge must be signed by an executive officer of a municipality or local government, whose title varies by location – for example, s/he may be the mayor, city manager, chief administrative officer, county manager, county executive, etc. The most successful proposals will:

Describe 1-3 potential problems or opportunities to address with the grant
Provide clear, compelling evidence that the city is well positioned to utilize the resources offered in the Smarter Cities Challenge
Outline how a grant of IBM talent and technology has the potential to substantially enhance the city's capacity to act on key issues
Highlight recent efforts to develop innovative solutions to public problems, including any initiatives to implement new technologies or open data policies
Demonstrate the city is ready to match IBM's investment with its own commitment of time and talent, including access to the city agencies and personnel relevant to the project

The deadline to apply is December 31, 2010.

JPMorgan Chase
The bank supports non-profits in communities where there is a Chase presence, and Newburgh definitely fits. You have to root around on the website a little to get the full scope of what they will support, but briefly, they support green initiatives (green building, green jobs, sustainable development), employment training, affordable housing, education, and arts and culture. I've included wording directly from their website:

Targeting Challenged Neighborhoods

The JPMorgan Chase Foundation directs the majority of its time, attention and investment toward specific neighborhoods in cities where we have major operations. These neighborhoods are typically among the most challenged areas of major urban centers, defined by unacceptably high rates of poverty and historic disinvestment. JPMorgan Chase works to lead a renaissance in the neighborhood, by engaging the most qualified non-profit organizations, neighborhood residents, and other sources of public and private advocacy and funding.

The firm's philanthropic investment in these targeted neighborhoods is predominantly focused in three centers of excellence:

Community Development

Our strategic focus is to work with community-based partners to address issues related to poverty and social exclusion by building economic infrastructure, promoting self-sufficiency, and supporting efforts to narrow social inequities.

What we support:

Resident-focused programming that addresses: workforce development; asset building, and financial literacy:
- Continuing Education Courses
- Adult Literacy Outreach
- Job Training
- Money Management Basics
- Credit Repair
- EITC Workshops
- Homeownership / Homebuyer Workshops
- Foreclosure Prevention
Community-focused programming that addresses: economic development and affordable housing:
- Economic Planning
- Small Business Technical Assistance & Financing
- Job Creation
- Affordable Housing Development & Preservation

Education

Our strategic focus is to ensure that all children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, have access to high quality educational opportunities with a particular focus on K-12 public schools that help them acquire the knowledge and skills needed to be productive, engaged students.

What we support:

Development of instructional leaders
Implementation of innovative curricula
Deepen teacher content knowledge
Strengthening of instructional strategies
Strengthening district capacity to support innovation
Extending learning opportunities
College access initiatives
Dissemination of best practices

Arts & Culture

Our strategic focus is to increase community access to rich cultural resources that foster creativity, promote self-expression, celebrate diversity, and strengthen our environment.

What we support:

Arts programs in schools and after school
Build capacity of community-based arts institutions
Broaden access to artistic excellence and diversity by partnering with major arts and culture groups

Working Weekend

2010-11-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

Fall! The scenery is gorgeous right now, and we enjoyed it on a leisurely drive through Cornwall-on-Hudson/Storm King/West Point following Route 218. It was so hard to motivate ourselves to work on the house, but we finally did.

First, we scraped a paint sample from the side of the house, and matched it at Home Depot. Then we set to work covering the graffiti on the three sides of the house.

Before:

After:

The last square:

Then we decided to plant some shrubs in the front yard. We planted two limelight hydrangeas, two asters, and two...shrubs.

Before:

Mid-way:

After:

Admittedly, I didn't do much since gardening is backbreaking work! ...and the whole congenital toxoplasmosis thing. Sometime soon, we'll get a grinder and remove the iron fence. We'd love to save it, but it's too far gone.

And finally, Halloween! We didn't get ANY trick-or-treaters, so the only person Eddie could scare was me.

Community Revitalization Funding Opportunities III

2010-10-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

And two last opportunities:

M&T Bank makes community improvement grants through their regional offices.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation and MetLife Foundation give an annual award to recognize, sustain and share the work of innovative partnerships between community groups and police to promote neighborhood safety and revitalization. Through the MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Awards, MetLife Foundation and LISC identify and honor partnerships that exhibit tangible accomplishments in their efforts to advance the process, outcome, and evaluation of potent police-community collaborations.

Eligible applicants must be member organizations of partnerships that include, but need not be limited to, community organizations and police. Awardees receive a monetary grant and their work is promoted via case studies to a wide audience of practitioners, policymakers, and academics. For questions or for those interested in being notified of future funding opportunities, please email us at csi@lisc.org.

The website if very informative and relevant to Newburgh, so I suggest checking it out even if you're not interested in the award opportunity.

Community Revitalization Funding Opportunities II

2010-10-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

More Funding Opportunities:

The Dyson Foundation has a Management Assistance Program (MAP) to help nonprofits in the Mid-Hudson Valley strengthen their organizations and find greater efficiencies in administration, operations, resource development and programming. Nonprofits can better focus on their core missions and serve their community when they are well managed and fiscally sound, have engaged boards and good governance, and rely on sound planning for strategic results.

Mid-Hudson Valley-based nonprofits can apply for these grants to improve operations, administration, and management. There are two major funding areas: the Mini-Grant Program and the Strategic Restructuring Initiative.

The Lander Street community center that the Newburgh Heights Association is interested in saving would be a prime candidate!

Community Revitalization Funding Opportunities

2010-10-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

I've been coming across a lot of grant opportunities that organizations in Newburgh might be interested in. Since I don't know a lot of people, yet, I'm going to post the links here in the hopes that people will apply to them.

The Norman Foundation support efforts that strengthen the ability of communities to determine their own economic, environmental and social well-being, and that help people control those forces that affect their lives. These efforts may:

promote economic justice and development through community organizing, coalition building and policy reform efforts;
work to prevent the disposal of toxics in communities, and to link environmental issues with economic and social justice;
link community-based economic and environmental justice organizing to national and international reform efforts.

They will consider the following in evaluating grant proposals:

Does the project arise from the hopes and efforts of those whose survival, well-being and liberation are directly at stake?
Does it further ethnic, gender and other forms of equity?
Is it rooted in organized, practical undertakings?
Is it likely to achieve systemic change?

In pursuing systemic change, they would hope that:

the proposed action may serve as a model;
the spread of the model may create institutions that can survive on their own;
their establishment and success may generate beneficial adaptations by other political, social and economic institutions and structures.

The Foundation provides grants for general support, projects, and collaborative efforts. They also welcome innovative proposals designed to build the capacity of social change organizations working in our areas of interest. Priority is given to organizations with annual budgets of under $1 million.

City of Newburgh Grants and Loans

2010-10-26T08:30:00.001-07:00

A quick update on the Facade Grant and Renovation Grant/Loans: there's a stipulation to the programs that the building cannot have any code violations, meaning it must be habitable and up to code in order to qualify for the grants. Unfortunately, Eddie's house doesn't have windows or plumbing/heating, therefore it is not up to code and not habitable.

Eddie's trying to make the argument that the combination of his own money, his own efforts and the city grants would allow him to fix the building and make it habitable. It's an uphill battle, though, and although the city officials seemed to be helpful at first, they have not returned his subsequent phone calls or emails. Sigh.

Anyway, it's a shame because the house is on a crucial corner and its occupancy could change the whole outlook of the neighborhood it's in. We attended the Newburgh Heights Association meeting last week, even though we don't live in the Heights, and they echoed the same sentiment that Eddie voiced to the City of Newburgh in an appeal letter - that every house makes a difference. Each abandoned or boarded-up property devalues the surrounding area and only perpetuates the cycle of crime, lowered neighborhood pride, and lower rates of owner-occupied housing.

It would be great to start up a Montgomery-Grand-Liberty Association, where there are lots of beautiful historic homes that need to be remembered and advocated for. And there are a lot of people already in the neighborhood who take care of their own properties, who I imagine wouldn't be opposed to expending energy on making sure other properties are taken care of.

Since we haven't done anything with the house in a while, we were shamed into taking some action...so, maybe this weekend we'll do some landscaping in the front yard.

Week Three in Newburgh

2010-10-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

We've been living in Newburgh for almost three weeks! It's been hard adjusting to the commute, being so far away from friends and family, and not having a routine. We didn't take any time off work to adjust, and even though we're only a train ride into the city, I don't think I gave the journey its due.

To be more positive, I have been thinking it's a good opportunity to rebuild my life, to anticipate the baby and to live with less. Plus, Newburgh is only 30 minutes away from Ananda Ashram, a great place to meditate.

The neighbors at the next house over brought us a welcome basket the first weekend. Everything was homemade and delicious. The tomatoes, cucumbers and dill she used were grown in the yard. We also found mushrooms growing up through the gravel in the driveway. I picked a handful but haven't done the research to see if they're edible.

We had a barbecue last weekend and were so happy to see all our friends. It really made the apartment feel like a home.

I was in charge of the vegan portions: grilled vegetable sandwiches, dill beer bread, and vegetarian chili. Eddie made the Kansas City BBQ ribs and chicken.

House Update

2010-09-20T07:20:00.001-07:00

The ARC meeting went well, so hopefully we'll start work as soon as we receive notice of the facade grant!

For every step forward, though, there's always two (or three) steps back. The fence we put up in the spring had a section busted down, and people resumed throwing trash in our side yard, including two mattresses, a dresser, and five computer monitors/television sets. The basement entrance and kitchen entrance were broken into as well. Luckily, we didn't have much in the house, so the burglar(s) stole some tools and flashlights but courteously left the chifferobes alone.

I had also just finished reading "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson (I honestly only bought it because of Penguin's new book cover design) and felt this immediate, visceral connection to the characters' struggle to protect their home. It opened up the reality of home ownership to me and how much you depend on the social contract once you own property. I'm more fired up for local politics than ever!

Our New Apartment

2010-09-13T07:59:00.001-07:00

We got the keys to our new apartment! It's on a lovely street, with great views. This picture is from the front lawn, overlooking the Hudson River. We are already planning our first bbq!

The front of the house. Notice the one piece of furniture we moved in over the weekend:

Right in front of our apartment door:

That one piece of furniture in the process of being moved in. There's a whole other section that may have to go in the bedroom.

The kitchen. We're putting in our own refrigerator and stove:

View from the bedroom. The windows are curved!

I can't wait to move the rest of our stuff in! And tomorrow night Eddie has a meeting with the ARC to discuss the facade work we plan on doing for our house (which is only a couple blocks away). If all goes well, we'll be starting work in October.

Sonogram Pictures

2010-09-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

From Week 20 when he was 12 ounces, or a can of beer (Eddie's units of measurement):

Scavenging

2010-09-07T06:24:00.001-07:00

We are packing and getting ready to move up to our apartment in Newburgh! In addition, we have been scouring Craigslist for old furniture - particularly chifferobes. We found a children's one for $25 in Long Island that could double as a changing table. I'm sanding that puppy right off:

And a bigger one from the Upper West Side for $120. It's a little busted, but just the right size for a guest bedroom.

I'm thinking of painting them, but Eddie wants to just give them a cleaning and nice finish. I guess I could always paint it later on, when we're moved into our house.

Weekend in Newburgh/Woodland Valley

2010-08-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

We went up to Newburgh again on Saturday and signed a lease to an apartment on Montgomery Street/Grand Street! It needs a little work, but it is a great temporary roost while we work on our house.

After signing the lease, we drove up to the Catskills and camped at Woodland Valley.

Eddie set up the tent as I read the New York Post. We'd only bought it for kindling, I swear! But I didn't want to waste all that print.

Starting and keeping the fire going is my job, and I take it seriously:

We bought corn, fruit, potatoes, tomatoes and an avocado from a farmer's market stand on the way up and went to the grocery store for a rack of ribs and two pieces of steak. We only stayed one night!! But we feasted.

The next morning we packed everything up and started on a trail next to the camp site. We only hiked up for an hour and picnicked on a large stone slab. There were chipmunks running around storing their acorns, and Eddie saw a one-foot long baby snake. It was slithering off the trail, but Eddie thought he could get it to curl around a stick. When he tried to prod it onto his hiking stick, the baby snake coiled up and struck the stick. Its fangs made a knocking sound against the wood. I started running down the trail back to the car, but Eddie took some photos. Google informs us it may be a baby timber rattlesnake, nearly extinct, but lives in the Hudson Valley region and loves the exact kind of forest we were in. Lots of chipmunks to eat and slabs of stone to sun on.

Lots more dangerous adventures when we move up in September!

Newburgh/New Paltz Weekend

2010-08-25T06:32:00.001-07:00

This weekend we went up to New Paltz on Saturday and stayed at the cute hostel on Main Street. Only $60 a night! Unfortunately, it was also the weekend SUNY New Paltz students came back to school, so there was some mighty traffic.

We did a short hike to Splitting Rock swimming hole in the Shawangunk Mountains but didn't swim because it was freezing cold water (picture above).

For dinner, we took our friend Anna's tip and went to The Village Tea Room. SO AMAZING! Eddie had a sirloin steak with shallot herb vinaigrette, while I ordered the lamb tagine. Again, I can't wait to move up to Newburgh and enjoy all the Hudson Valley towns!

Sunday, we drove half an hour to Newburgh, had an awesome breakfast (thanks Anna and Evan!), and viewed one-bedroom apartments we found on Craigslist and with Chris, our realtor who should be on retainer. We're still trying to decide which apartment to rent, but it looks like we'll be in Newburgh on September 15!!!

And, since the City Council voted to return the title of the house to us, we'll be able to start work as soon as we get that matching grant and ARC approval. Hopefully.

Weekend in Newburgh/Beacon

2010-08-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

The view of Newburgh/Beacon from lower Mt. Beacon, which we didn't finish climbing. Halfway up, I realized that a one mile hike is impossible in flats when the incline is more than 45 degrees. And I'm carrying a five month melon in my belly!
The Goldsmith Denniston House breakfast. Nancy, the owner, was so wonderful and she knew a lot about Newburgh and renovating old houses. She gave us a list of good resources.

We're going back up this weekend and exploring New Paltz, which is only 29 minutes away. Our friends hiked around Minnewaska Park last weekend and their dog chased a baby bear up a tree. Luckily, they got away before the baby's family came looking.

We just hope that we'll reach the top of wherever we go, and maybe find a swimming hole. Split Rock Hole in Coxing Kill sounds adventurous - there's also a nude area. Also, we will probably go to the Antique Sale at the Crawford House in Newburgh on Sunday!

Weekend Adventure

2010-08-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

We're going to play tourist to Newburgh this weekend! We're going to stay at a B&B - probably the Goldsmith Denniston House. We have a gift certificate to Akasaka Restaurant, courtesy of our realtor, so we'll be dining on the waterfront one night. If it's not raining, we'll go to Overlook Drive-In for their double feature (only $8 per person!).

We'll probably visit the Captain David Crawford House in Newburgh, and then take a tour of Bannerman Castle on Sunday. Maybe go to DIA: Beacon, too, if there's enough time. Oh, and there's a Corn Festival on Sunday in Beacon as well! Even if we don't have a house, we can still pretend we live there!

Inconceivable

2010-08-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

So, Zaborski's Emporium was massive and crazy and much more pricey than I had anticipated. Kingston is lovely, though, and I hope someday Newburgh can have that level of community pride.

Anyway, we received some pretty awful news on Friday. The City of Newburgh informed Eddie that he doesn't actually OWN the house we bought. The explanation from our lawyer-in-law:

“The title co, your insurer, is working on fixing the problem. The problem took place during a gap between the closing and the last search that was done by the title company before the closing. During that gap, the city foreclosed the tax lien for all those back unpaid taxes. Because it took place during the gap, the title co wasn't aware of it. Notwithstanding, you are insured for not only what you paid, but for the fair market value of the property. I had spoken with Eddie about this months ago, when we discovered the problem when the title co tried to file the deed taking you out of title AND you brought to our attention that you were unable to pay the taxes. The title company is "on it". In the meantime, do not spend any more money on this house until this is worked out.”

Crazy, right?? So everything is on hold - the grant application, the ARC approval for facade work, the historic preservation tax credit application....

Anyway, it wouldn't be an adventure without a few Fire Swamps and Pits of Despair.

ON VACATION

2010-07-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'm on an extended blogging break. So much has been happening, but nothing has really worked out the way we planned...so, we were trying to buy a single-family house to live in while working on the 2 family house, but we were denied the mortgage. Now, we're focusing on grants and low-interest loans to fix up the 2 family house.

Anyway, since we're refocusing, we're going to go to Zaborski's Emporium this Saturday! In Kingston, NY. We'll be on the look out for bathroom fixtures and maybe some wrought-iron fences. If we don't find what we're looking for there, we might go to New York Old Iron, under the F train in Brooklyn. It's only open from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays, but it always looks packed with amazing stuff.

So, maybe there will be more updates after this weekend!

Our House circa 2008

2010-06-07T12:22:00.001-07:00

This photo is from October 2008. Look how gorgeous our house was, and the street it's on, before the foreclosure! The house next door is not just a shell!

Two weekends ago, we cleaned up some garbage and the neighbors five houses down were generous enough to lend us their wheelbarrow and weed whacker (which we then broke...eek!). We cut the overgrown weeds out front and hauled 900 pounds of garbage to the dump.

There's still about a ton of garbage we have to dispose of that we stored in our carriage house. Maybe during the week when the dump is open past noon and we can make more than one trip.

Financial Update

2010-05-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

We're back from Hawaii and ready to tackle the house! A few pieces of bad news.

First, we didn't get the Mount Saint Mary/St. Luke's Hospital Grant. After going through the trouble of taking the Pathstone first-time homebuyer's course and sending in the application last year, Pathstone dropped the ball and forgot about us. They were waiting for the grant to be available to non-employees of Mount Saint Mary and St. Luke's Hospital. When that happened at the end of the summer, they didn't tell us. I spoke with the community liason/grant administrator at Mount Saint Mary and she said she never received our application. Now that we've closed on the house, we're no longer eligible.

Second, it turns out that we have serious plumbing problems. The water main is cracked and we have to hire an excavator to repair it before we can run pipes into the house.

Third, the City of Newburgh cited us two violations which had existed for the two years that the house was on the market and owned by the bank, but they never cited the bank for it.

Fourth, in our first weekend back there was a pitbull chained to the house and a stolen ATV in our driveway. Oh, and a shrine to someone who died (was killed?) right next door.

A few good things have happened, too:

Our next door homeowner helped us when we had to build a fence between our two properties. He provided barrels of water for the cement.

A wonderful Newburghian and his partner donated solid Victorian doors to us from their collection.

Community members have been introducing themselves (many from NCAC) and offering help, services, and information.

We found the best BBQ place - Brothers BBQ in Greater Newburgh/ New Windsor. The chopped bbq and ribs were crazy good, as well as the collard greens.

Thanks everyone!

National Park Service Preservation Briefs

2010-03-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

For anyone buying and restoring a historic building, I recommend visiting the National Park Service website. The Technical Preservation Briefs are excellent starting points for preservation work.

Oops, I lied! More registry items:

2010-03-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

Nymphenburg Porcelain - more expensive than the chair.

Wedding Registry

2010-03-19T07:34:00.001-07:00

This is the only item on the registry. I saw it in the Restoration Hardware catalogue and almost bought a plane ticket to the Philippines to sell my kidney.

Updated: Apartment Therapy has an article about the origin of this chair. Its original design was to protect porters from cold draughts as they sat in the hallway and kept watch over the front entrance of a home.

Last (?) piece of the wedding puzzle

2010-03-04T11:29:00.000-08:00

We have a wedding officiant!!! Our dear friend Peter went ahead and became an ordained minister of The Universal Life Church Monastery and is applying for his license to perform marriages in the State of Hawaii!

If you want to be married in Hawaii, I now have a highly recommended minister. Who is a deep ~~atheist~~ possibilian.

Restoration...Begin!

2010-02-17T11:41:00.000-08:00

We (well, I spoke for Eddie) were interviewed by a great blog about our decision to move to Newburgh. It was great to talk about the city and our house, and to get excited about moving. There's a really cute photo of Tracer, too.

Things are coming along...we met with an electrician, a plumber, a...heating guy (HVAC guy?), and our realtor, on Saturday. They are all awesome and it was a non-stop hyuk-fest for two hours. We're getting the power turned on this week, and hopefully the plumber can check out the water main to see if any work needs to be done there. If not, we'll be moving forward pretty quickly with fixing up the electrical wiring, installing a tankless water heater and an old boiler on the third floor.

The tricky part is we're also applying for tax exemptions and incentives. Newburgh has two tax exemptions - the Real Property Tax Exemption for First-Time Homebuyers of Newly Constructed Homes, and the School TAx Relief Exemption (STAR). The Real Property Tax Exemption also applies to non-newly constructed homes if there is a renovation or remodeling of an existing home. The renovation or remodeling cost "must exceed $3,000 and the contract for the work must be contracted for within 90 days from the date of purchase."

We need to make sure the work is completed by March 7, in order to qualify, and the deadline to apply is the taxable status date, or March 1. The exemption lasts for five years, "beginning at fifty percent the first year and declining to ten percent in the fifth and final year." Eligibility also depends on the household income and the purchase price of the home. It follows the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) guidelines.

To receive the STAR exemption, the owner must be at least 65 years old, and/or the income of all owners and owners' spouses be $73,000 or less. The deadline is also March 1, the taxable status date.

The tricky part is coordinating the tax exemption with the Historic Preservation Tax Incentives (HPTI) Program. To receive the HPTI, all work that we want to claim the benefit for must be approved by the Technical Preservation Services Department of the National Park Service. The paperwork is long and tedious, with lots of photo documentation. There's no way we'll get the work approved before the tax exemption deadline, so...we'll see?

Working on the house...

2010-02-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

We're going up to Newburgh this weekend to meet with Chris (our realtor), Bill Timmons (plumbing/heating) and Kyle Chick (electric). It's the first time since closing that we're seeing the house...now we're the OWNERS. I wonder if it means we have to shovel 18 inches of snow off the walkway.

We're also going to try and fix the wood fence. Our first project!

Wedding Week!

2010-01-29T13:59:00.001-08:00

Saturday, April 3rd
4pm Arrive at the Plantation House. Dinner at the house.

Sunday, April 4th
6pm Dinner at Cafe VIII 1/2, my uncle's restaurant in Honolulu.
1067 Alakea Street, Honolulu, HI 96813

Monday, April 5th to Thursday, April 8th
General Information
Rush Hour Traffic: tips to avoid it!
Beware of JELLYFISH!!! this is a tentative arrival schedule for April
Don't go into the water if you see them.
Water Safety

Some ideas for activities:
Fun in the Sun: North Shore beaches and Lanikai beach in Kailua
Hiking Maunawili Falls OR Manoa Falls, depending on the weather.
Valley of the Temples - there's a beautiful Buddhist temple
Horseback Riding at Kahuku Kai if they are operating
Ahupua‘a O Kahana State Park for some Hawaiian History
Snorkeling at Waikiki, North Shore or Hanauma Bay
Pearl Harbor
Shopping at Ala Moana

Food ideas:
(Cheap to Moderate)
Jong Ga - cheap Korean lunch near Ala Moana
Sweet Home Cafe - Taiwanese Hot Pot
Genki Sushi - cheap sushi!
Irifune - Japanese home cooking
Eggs 'N Things - get the Ahi and Eggs with pancakes - ask for the salsa
Ono Hawaiian Foods - Pork Lau Lau!
Zippy's - it's a local favorite, but getting pricier and pricier
Hukilau Cafe - in the movie 50 First Dates
Kaka'ako Kitchen - gourmet local food in take-out containers
Kua'Aina Burgers - Ward Center and North Shore
Waiola Shave Ice - if you're in Honolulu
Matsumoto Shave Ice - if you're in the North Shore
Bubbies Ice Cream - there are two locations, I prefer the one on University Ave.
City Cafe - Taiwanese Shave Ice (pick mochi, red bean, taro, and tapioca toppings!)

(Moderate to Expensive)
Legend Seafood - amazing dim sum
Indigo - located in Chinatown; great atmosphere
Alan Wong's - best food ever. Just ask Barry.
Hy's Steakhouse
Chef Mavro's
Sushi Sasabune - if you go, you must sit at the bar for the complete experience!
Sansei Sushi - crab ramen with truffle broth!

This is just a starting point. There's so much good food in Hawaii!!

Friday, April 9th
12pm Lunch at the Plantation House!
6pm Wedding Ceremony on the beach
6:30pm Reception

Saturday, April 10th
11am Check out of Plantation House
12pm Brunch at Haleiwa Joe's in Kaneohe

Wedding Dress

2010-01-20T07:28:00.000-08:00

This is the green dress I returned. Not very beachy, but I love the color and it's flattering. It was not approved.

This is the dress I bought to replace it. Simple, white, virginal.

Flower schemes

2010-01-20T06:36:00.000-08:00

Cocksomb

Bird of Paradise

Torch Ginger

All the flowers for the wedding/reception are going to be from my aunt's yard. She has the bird of paradise, already, and I gave her the cockscomb seeds to plant. Now, I just have to convince her to add the torch ginger into her repertoire.

Other flowers I wanted, like the Sarah Bernhardt peony, purple anemones, and various ranunculuses, aren't readily available in Hawaii.

Wedding Menu

2010-01-19T09:18:00.000-08:00

Appetizers

LEMON WASABI EDAMAME PUREE WITH RICE CRACKERS

VIETNAMESE EGGPLANT DIP WITH TARO CHIPS

Entrees

PURPLE AND ORANGE SWEET POTATO VOLCANO

LAULAU WITH SEASONAL HAWAIIAN FISH ON A BED OF CARAMELIZED SHALLOT, SPINACH, LEMONGRASS, KAFIR LIME AND GINGER.

CUMIN AND CORIANDER GRILLED LAMB WITH GUAVA BBQ DRIZZLE

VEGETARIAN PUMPKIN, BREADFRUIT, AND BANANA GREEN CURRY

TOFU, CUCUMBER, WATERCRESS, TOMATO SALAD WITH THAI BASIL

SHRIMP AND WATERMELON SALAD WITH CHILE, LIME, AND CILANTRO

JICAMA PINEAPPLE MINT SALAD

INDIAN SPICED BASMATI WEDDING RICE

Dessert

SRI LANKAN LOVE CAKE WITH PASSION CURD

Plantation House

2010-01-19T09:08:00.001-08:00

Ka'a'awa Plantation! Some photos of the house we're renting for the wedding...

There's 10 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms. So, almost everyone will get their own bathrooms. Did I mention, if you RSVP yes, you HAVE TO stay here with everyone! It's just easier, since the house is located in an out-of-the-way town.

Back from vacation

2010-01-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

Nothing on the Newburgh home repair front. But lots on the getting-married-in-April front. Eddie proposed in November with this beautiful Me&Ro ring. I love it!

I wear it every so often and when I do, I can't stop staring at it.

The wedding will be in Hawaii with only family and a few friends attending. I returned the original green dress I had immediately purchased after the proposal and replaced it with a white beachy dress from Tamara Katz, a boutique in Pa'ia, Maui.

It's not a formal wedding dress, but I think it fits with our low-key approach. The ceremony will only be 10 minutes, on the beach, with everyone standing. Then the reception will be at the vacation rental we've secured for a week, where the out-of-town guests will be staying.

We're compiling our playlist by asking guests to suggest a song on their RSVP postcards (vintage Hawaii travel poster postcards). The RSVPs and invitations were hand-written, which isn't so hard when you're only inviting 20 people.

Some recommendations:
"Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis
Hawaiian Wedding Song (various artists have performed it, including Elvis)
"No Ordinary Love" by Chris Botti
"Blues for Pablo" by Miles Davis
"Olomana" by Ku'u home o kahalu'u
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Braddah Iz

WE CLOSED!!!

2009-12-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

YES. Today at 8am, our lawyer-in-law (wonderful Margaret's coinage) came over and we signed the documents. She pushed the send button on the wire transfer to pay the seller, so the deal is d-o-n-e.

We're looking for homeowner's insurance, and we're going to grieve the taxes. Right now, it's over $8,000 a year. Inconceivable.

Also, did you know you have to TIP the title person at closing?!?! I think it's only a New York thing, but that's another $100-$200 they surprise you with. Luckily, we didn't pay that because our lawyer did most of the legwork and we didn't have a traditional closing.

We're leaving on vacation on the 14th for about a month, so we can't start work right away. I'll be thinking obsessively of the house while trying to enjoy...Hawaii. It won't be all sun and surf, though, because...

...we got ENGAGED! Our wedding is in Hawaii, next April. We'll be spending a good chunk of our vacation on wedding planning. I immediately got a dress, but my mother's making me return it because she won't allow me to wear green on her big day. That's fine...I'll keep it for the second reception in New York.

No closing, yet

2009-12-03T12:44:00.000-08:00

I promised myself I would not prematurely celebrate, so I'm waiting until our lawyer confirms that we've finally closed. It's taking so long because there were issues with the contract, then the seller's attorney had to push back the closing date because of back taxes, and now, we're waiting for the title company to pay the back taxes and to get the deed, and to execute affidavits...I have no idea what's going on.

We Signed!

2009-11-04T12:19:00.000-08:00

The contract is signed...we're supposed to close in two weeks. I have no idea what happens between signing and closing, so I hope we do. The last thing we need is another deal falling through.

Tracer Antics

2009-10-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

So...for those who know my cat...we made spaghetti and meatballs last night for dinner. Eddie made the meatballs from scratch. I carefully browned them, then we made the sauce from almost-scratch. We combined the sauce and meatballs in a big cast iron pot and let it simmer on the stove, uncovered, while we read on the sofa. Tracer, meanwhile, was roaming around, sniffing the ground for dropped food.

After reading a few chapters, it was eerily quiet, which gave me a start. I listened for Tracer, but couldn't place him. Then we heard a clang, short and punctuated. I ran to the kitchen, but the cat was already gone. Nothing looked amiss. The trashcan wasn't overturned. There were no dishes in the sink for him to lick.

I decided to check on our dinner. There, I saw a trail of spaghetti sauce that lead to a meatball with two little divots eaten out.

The m*f*er had somehow taken out a meatball from a boiling pot of sauce. He had probably nibbled away at the exposed top, then decided to try for the whole thing. His fatal flaw - the meatball dropped right on top of the neighboring saucepan. The lid of the saucepan clanged once before the meatball rolled off.

Credit problems

2009-10-02T07:29:00.001-07:00

So...we tried to get a mortgage for Courtney Avenue, but it turns out that Eddie's credit score dropped 100 points since June. It was shocking! Well, I think the most harmful factor was that a lot of the credit cards dropped his credit limit by half or more, and so whatever balance he had in his credit card accounts went from being 20% of the available credit amount to 100%.

Then the most recent payments we made to lower his credit card balance hadn't shown up, yet.

From now on we're going to be vigilant about credit scores and asking for corrections on credit reports.

Anyway, we can't get a mortgage for the amount we had wanted to offer. So...it looks like we're going to focus on Liberty Street, which is in fact back on the market.

Mortgage Complications

2009-09-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

I'm learning more and more about mortgages each time we can't get one. After looking at those houses last weekend, we decided we liked the latter one, on Courtney Avenue. It's an AMAZINGLY well maintained house with original floors, moldings, fireplaces... We loved it! The basement was clean and usable. Nobody had painted over the stair banister. The copper was still in place. As Eddie joked to our wonderfully wonderful realtor, Chris, it had us at "you-don't-need-a-drill-to-get-in" and "you-can-walk-around-without-flashlights."

Then...the mortgage. We talked to three new banks (not Wells Fargo, the one that approved us for our loan that we ended up not taking). All of them said that it looks like we would not qualify for a loan (although we would need to actually apply for pre-qualification before they could reject us officially).

This house costs $15,500 less than the other house and we are going to lay down 20% for this house rather than just 3% for the other house. So, technically, if we had gotten a loan for the other house, getting this one should be a piece of cake. The most informative person in the whole process was Keith at HVFCU. He kept plugging in numbers for me so we could troubleshoot our loan-worthiness.

It turns out that Wells Fargo was possibly very forgiving and allowed us a higher debt-to-income ratio than other banks would have because they assessed and took into consideration the increased value of the house after our renovations. Those few percentages of allowed ratio make a big difference. The difference, for us, between a 45% debt-to-income ratio ($45 per $100 of income we could spend on mortgage) and a 50% dti ratio is about $90,000.

The higher down payment you're willing to lay out and the better your credit score also bumps up those percentage points. If you have a credit score less than 720, you automatically have to pay an origination fee of .5% of your mortgage. So, it makes sense for us to take some money that we had saved to pay down our debt, and hopefully increase our credit score and lower our monthly debt expenses.

Well, the point of all this, is, I think the property (pictured in this post) we were all set to buy in June, and had a mortgage for, is now back on the market. I just saw it relisted on the CitiMortgage website, but that could be a glitch in their machinery. I hope not. If we can, we're going to buy it. With a straight mortgage and renovation loan and cross our fingers that the magic of its numbers still work.

Rewind

2009-09-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

Ah, fall. When the slate is clean, again. Well, we pressed the rewind button, and we're where we were exactly a year ago. Eddie just found a job and we're attempting to buy a house. The only difference is that I'm in a social work program and now I have an internship on weekends, so I don't have any time to spend on a fixer-upper. We'll have to look at houses that are move-in ready. In many ways, this makes the prospect of buying a house less exciting.

One of the two properties we're going to look at tomorrow:

Unfortunately, it's not move-in ready, as our realtor revealed to us only after we decided it's perfect for us. It needs new plumbing and electrical wiring, but we're going to take a look anyway since it's in a great location (river views!!!).

Then the second place is only a few blocks away:

Anyhow, we're back in the market!!

Price Decrease

2009-07-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

So...I'm still tracking the property on realtor.com and the price went down by $10,000! It all doesn't matter until Eddie finds a job, of course. On that front, he's had two interviews but no job offers.

Our apartment in Ditmas Park is pretty awesome, so maybe it's all a sign we need to stay in Brooklyn.

Mount Saint Mary/Saint Luke's Hospital Grant

2009-06-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

Here's more information on applying for the Homeownership Incentive Grant from Mt. St. Mary and St. Luke's Hospital.

The grant is for $10,000 towards the downpayment/closing cost/renovation of your prospective home, if it is located within a certain radius of the college and hospital. It is basically within the boundaries of Robinson, North, Liberty and Broadway. Grants are first distributed to employees of either institutions, but the grant becomes available to community members in July (2009).

The grant is administered through Pathstone/Rural Opportunities. In order to be eligible, you have to meet the income requirements ($43,050 for a one-person household, $49,200 for a two-person, $55,350 for a three-person, $61,500 for four-person, etc.) and then attend the first-time homebuyer's course.

The next information session for the homebuyer's course is Monday, June 29, 2009. It takes place in Newburgh on 36 Chambers Street at 5pm.

The number for Pathstone/ROI is (845) 569-0770. For more information, there is a recorded message on ext.1.

Plan B

2009-06-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

Our new timeline:

June
Eddie finds a job *right now*!

July
Receive grant from Mt. Saint Mary College/St. Luke's Hospital ($10,000)
Receive RECAP grant ($24,000)

August
Apply for mortgage. This time, if we get the grants (to cover the 20% downpayment), we'll try for a traditional mortgage and renovation loan. Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union offered a great rate for that combined loan (less than 5.5%) and the closing costs were half what it is for an FHA loan. Plus, no mortgage insurance.

September
Close on the house. Maybe. Hopefully.

In the Meantime...

2009-06-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

While Eddie is looking for a new job, I'm thinking of how to fill up blog posts until we finally get our house. I'm not qualified to write about much...maybe post pictures of my stamp collection or my japanese pen collection. I'm obsessed with these Hi-Tec-C Pilot pens:

Backtracking

2009-06-03T08:18:00.001-07:00

Everytime I think we're going to get the house, something happens and I have to backpedal. Well, Eddie lost his job and now we have to postpone buying the house - once more. Hopefully something will turn up soon before it gets vandalized, again. There is already an emaciated pit bull chained to the backyard and signs of squatters in the carriage house.

The face of indignance

2009-05-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

This is my handsome kitty, Tracer. He's upset that we're going to move to NEWBURGH!!!

That's right. We got the loan today, and our contractors are submitting paperwork to be validated. And with luck they will be.

Don't worry about Tracer. He's moved at least 12 times.

A new day...

2009-05-18T07:23:00.000-07:00

Two amazing things happened this weekend:

1) My first Woody Allen sighting!!! I have lived in New York for six years, plotted to stalk him for at least four of those years, and then magically, he sits one row in front of me at the Martha Graham Dance Company performance Friday night. Soon-yi was there as well as two children, both of whom did not look like his. Plus, he carried his floppy hat in his back pocket.

2) Less importantly, we met a new contractor over the weekend, he looked over the house, and said he could rehab it in our budget! We have to check his references, but he was very professional, knowledgeable, and extremely optimistic.

We also had lunch with Door Sixteen blogger Anna, and her husband, Evan. They've been living in Newburgh for four years, three in their amazing house. They gave us a little tour of their home and it looks more amazing in person than in the photos on her blog (which are still amazing). They also gave us a lot of great tips, so hopefully, we'll be able to speed up this process.

So...off to email the contractors our FHA 203K work write-up, documents the bank needs them to fill out, and some inspirational photos/clippings.

Still looking for a contractor

2009-05-11T09:15:00.000-07:00

We are hopefully done with submitting information to the bank for the mortgage loan. We haven't been officially approved, but the bank finally stopped asking for more proof of funds/proof of where those funds come from.

This weekend we're going to meet more contractors and see if any will take the job (a lot of work for little money), and if so, will the bank accept them? The last two contractors didn't pass inspection because of credit histories - too poor or not enough of one.

We're only pursuing half-heartedly now. It seems impossible to find good contractors willing to jump through FHA hoops.

On the precipice of dashed dreams

2009-04-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

So, bad news. Our bank has yet to give us a commitment, and we are supposed to close in less than two weeks. We're not going to make the deadline and the sellers won't give us an extension.

The only compromise is if we pay a per diem of $100 a day after the scheduled closing day until the actual date we close. Eddie is fed up and just wants to kill the deal, while I feel like we're so close, we should just keep at it. Keep your fingers crossed!

OUR HOUSE!!!

2009-04-09T16:44:00.000-07:00

We have the cutest house on the block. Srsly.

The bedroom:

Close-up of the fireplace:

One of the three fireplaces on the first floor (coal burning):

The living room - these windows face the front of the house:

French doors opening to the hallway. The light on the left is coming from the front door:

The bank is supposed to give an unconditional commitment by April 15th. After that, there is a pretty high chance of closing. Whoo-hoo!

Work-arounds and Free Money

2009-04-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

Mortgage crisis update: we figured out that we can use the first-time homebuyer tax incentive to cover the additional funds that we need. Luckily, Eddie hadn't filed his taxes yet, so once that money gets direct-deposited, we just need to send our bank a copy of his bank statement showing the additional funds. Crisis averted!

Contractor crisis update: the contractor that we originally planned on using is going to use a partner's company to get validated. Maybe it will work...?

Additional info for home buyers: we're applying for a grant from St. Luke's Hospital and Mount Saint Mary's College - the two biggest employers in Newburgh. It's a homeownership incentive program to revitalize the neighborhood around them.

If we had been smarter, before even looking for a house, we would have enrolled in the Rural Opportunities Inc. Homeownership Assistance Program for First Time Homebuyers. After attending a three- session Homebuyer Education Course, we would have been eligible for a slew of grants that would have assisted in downpayments, closing costs and for half the cost of the mortgage. They recently merged with Pathstone, for those interested. But, since we are already in the process of buying a home, we don't qualify for the program or the grants.

And finally, since the house is in a historic preservation district, we qualify for NY State and Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credits. This means we get back 20 to 30% of the renovation cost as state or federal tax credit.

I have a disease

2009-04-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

In the last two weeks I purchased 9 purses on ebay. Mail services sent me a personal correspondence stating that employees are not allowed to receive mail at work. Here is a sample of what I've bought. I'm still waiting for two purses.

More obstacles

2009-03-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

We just got a letter asking us for MORE documentation. Now the bank needs 1) proof of an additional $700 cash in hand for closing costs; 2) evidence of reserve funds amounting to 3 months' PITI (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) in liquid assets; 3) a detailed budget of how we plan make our mortgage payments every month; and 4) an explanation why Eddie's license address is different from the correspondence address (uh, because we moved, bank robomaton).

Jumping this hurdle will be impossible because they won't accept "gifts" as a source for these additional funds. Previously, I funneled my money into Eddie's account as a "gift" to cover the closing costs. If we had known about these additional funds, say, two months earlier, we could have transferred all the cash needed from my account into Eddie's and they would not have detected it because they only look at the last two months' bank statements.

Lesson #2: Don't trust anyone

2009-03-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

Later the same day...

On my lunch break I stopped to help a man in a tweed suit with an old-fashioned fedora who was asking for directions.

"I need to find PIL International," he says, holding a checkbook-size red leather pouch with a lock at the end of the zipper.

"Do you have an address?" I ask.

"No, I just know it's PIL International."

"Sorry," I say, about to walk away.

"Are you agent?" he asks.

"What?"

"Agent. Maybe you can read this." He points to a label affixed to the pouch. There is a line of Arabic scribbled on top, and on the bottom it reads PIL International.

"Do you need help?" A lady interrupts us. She is wearing a plaid wool trench coat with black boots.

"It's in Arabic," I point out to the man, ready to walk away, again.

"I found this on the ground and I'm trying to return it to its owner. It looks important," he says.

"Well, what's inside?" the lady asks. She is taking over, invading the man's space and touching the pouch, looking at its different angles.

"It's locked," he says.

"No it's not," she replies, taking the pouch from his hands and unzipping it. I gasp audibly, maybe even jump, when she opens the pouch and reveals a thick stack of bills. He takes the pouch back and thumbs through. They look like all 100 dollar bills. He finds a note. We all read it.

"Dear Brother: We have hit it big this time. The boys in blue have all been paid off..."

That is all I read, and I also see the figure $100,000 later in the note, before the lady says, "You should keep it" to the man. The man looks nervous, and takes out the wad of cash.

"I'll split it with you. Three ways," he says. He grips the corner of the bills, ready to split it in thirds. The lady looks eager and her hands are open in anticipation. I take a step back, reeling with giddiness and disbelief.

"No, you should take that to the police," I say. "They could come back looking for the money." It was all so obvious to me. If we took the money, we would be hunted down by the Arab mob and in the worst case scenario they would force us to work for them as hired guns.

Both of them are quiet.

"You know what," the man says, "I work right around the corner. I'll take the money there and see if anyone looks for it."

"What?" I ask, incredulous. "We have to call the police right now and figure this out. This is crazy!"

"I work at Chase, just down the block. We'll hold on to it."

"Don't give it to the police," the woman says, "they'll just keep it. It'll disappear."

The man nods in agreement. Before I can pursue this mystery further, they part ways.

I walk away too, totally shocked that I just turned down a three-way split of $100,000.

I cut lunch short and run back to the office. I gather Alicia, Tameka and Margaret to my office and begin the story of my strange encounter. As soon as I utter my first sentence, Alicia and Tameka both start nodding their heads knowingly, "Yep, we've heard this before."

Apparently, it was a SCAM! I'm not clear on the details, but if things had gone another way, they would have somehow got me to put in my money, done a switcheroo, and given me a bag of nothing. WHAT? New York, you are crazy.

*UPDATE: I found a description of the scam online. It's called the Pigeon Drop. If a scam is just a way to part a fool and his/her money, I indict you, McDonald's two-for-one apple pie; free shipping over $150, JCrew; and Amazon's Gold Box of deals.

Lesson #1: Don't trust anyone

2009-03-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

SO, after some high-heaven praising of our general contractors to everyone we know, I am officially entering a retraction.

Wells Fargo looked into their history as part of the bank's due diligence for our 203K loan, and then promptly called us to let us know that they will not give us the loan unless we dump these guys. The bank couldn't disclose what they found out, but it must have been some serious sh*t.

It took us weeks and weeks to even find contractors willing to work on our house, and these guys were professional, courteous and enthusiastic. They were also willing to work at almost no profit. Of course they wouldn't pass the background check.

Adventures in googling

2009-03-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a lunch place near work that served tacos.

New York Tacos: I will not be having one.

Movin' on up

2009-03-06T12:38:00.000-08:00

We are in the process of buying our first home. It is located in Newburgh, New York, along the Hudson River and about 60 miles north of New York City.

The Process:

First, we had an awesome realtor. He went into great detail about the new developments in Newburgh and which neighborhoods would benefit when.

Secondly, we got an informative mortgage broker who was experienced in a special government loan, the FHA 203K, that would allow us to buy the property and rehabilitate it all in one mortgage.

Thirdly, we found wonderful contractors - general, electric and plumbing/heating - who were invested in the community and wanted to help us renovate this house to bring more own-occupied homes to Newburgh.

And fourthly, we had help from Eddie's sister-in-law, since she is a real estate lawyer and gives great advice. Our real estate lawyer proper was also very communicative and got things done quickly.

The hard part was getting everything together to get the loan. If you're interested in the 203K loan, here is what you need to know:

BEFORE you start the whole process for any mortgage, make sure that you have your financials in good shape. Outside of good credit, you also need to make sure your bank statements reflect an adequate amount of money to cover the closing costs and all the other fees. Since most banks look at the past two months' bank statements, it's good to have all the money in the bank before those two months. It's also a good idea to locate your W2's for the last two years and the last two months' worth of pay stubs. You'll have to account for any deposits over $200 in your bank statements. Make sure you have a good income-to-debt ratio and that you're saving a lot of your paycheck during those two months of bank statements.

Not all banks offer the 203K loan, but on the FHA website, you can look up which banks offer it.

The closing costs for FHA is higher than other loans and you must pay insurance on the mortgage (MIP), but the downpayment amount is only 3.5% and the interest rate on the renovation portion is the same as the mortgage making it more reasonable than other renovation loans. Also, you can finance the closing costs in a 203K, if you qualify.

If, like us, you are buying a foreclosure that needs a lot of rehab, it is wise to get a jump start since the selling bank is usually less understanding than real-people sellers.

Get pre-qualified, find a house you like, win the bid. Within a week or two of winning the bid, your real estate lawyer will meet with you to sign the final contract and you must put down a deposit.

Find a home inspector (who is also a 203K consultant, if possible) and get an inspection (usually around $500).

Have a 203K consultant inspect the home for a work write-up. This work write-up outlines what needs to be done to bring the house up to code and the cost. If you're not buying a foreclosure that has been badly vandalised (like ours), and your house is perfectly livable, then the renovation portion of the loan may be used for cosmetic, repair or improvement work, such as installing new lights, fixing the tread on the stairs, or adding a new bathroom. The renovation must be at least $5,000 to qualify for the 203K.

Next, you must find contractors willing to do the work outlined in the work write-up for the cost the 203K inspector indicated. They will have to write up their own estimate that matches the scope of work and price of the consultant's work write-up. They will also have to sign an agreement that the mortgage broker sends to them.

In the meantime, your real estate lawyer will have sent the fully executed contract and title seach to your mortgage broker, and he will have a municipal search listing any code violations that need to be addressed. Those should not be a surprise if you have a good home inspector and 203K consultant.

At this point, you should have everything needed for your mortgaging bank to go into underwriting: 203K work write-up, contractor's estimate and signed documents, fully executed contract of sale, as well as, a photo ID, most recent pay stubs, two months' bank statements, last two w2s, and finally, a check or credit card for the bank to pay for an appraisal of the property, a credit check and a deposit for the lock-in rate ($500, $25 and $500, respectively).

Underwriting takes anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks. During this time, the bank is conducting its due diligence and determining the risk involved in the loan.

The closing cost breakdown for a 203K loan:

Interest rate: 6.5% with .375 discount. We eventially bought it down to 5.5% for around $3,000.
Appraisal fee: $500
Commitment fee: $700
Flood Life of Loan fee: $24
Suppl. Orig. (Reno): $500
FHA Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium: $3,526
203K Consultant fee: $1,000 (this is based on the size of the renovation loan and the fee is set by FHA)
Abstract or title search: $1,947
Attorney's fee: $700
Municipal lien search: $500
Recording fee - deed: $150
Recording fee - mrtg/DOT: $150
State tax stamps: $1,640
Fire and Hazard insurance premium for 1 year: $960
Hazard Insurance escrow (9 months): $720
City property taxes (7 months): $933.31
School taxes (10 months): $2,500
Downpayment: 3.5% of combined mortgage and renovation loan
The cost for items with months in parentheses change depending on the time of year you close.