November 2019

Your Intermittent News & Updates

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"This is a Dream I Never Knew I had"

Felicia and Talivo Salley are one of those married couples that can't stop smiling when telling someone the story of what brought them together--even a decade later. There are laughs, some corrections on dates and a few disagreed upon locations and times, but the proud parents of four remain steadfast in the belief that they were meant to be a family. Where the smiles begin to falter is when both begin to recollect the role housing has played in their lives. Talivo struggled with homelessness and addiction as a young adult in New Jersey and both recount a series of increasingly worse rental properties in Syracuse. "We didn't have access to it, but something must have died in the basement of one property and we came home to flies and maggots everywhere. We left, but found ourselves in one bad place after another," says Felicia Salley. Dangerous apartments with code violations, unsafe neighborhoods where the couple didn't let the kids out of the house for an entire summer to unscrupulous landlords who refused to make repairs or worse, would threaten eviction should the couple complain. At their lowest point and after already moving four times, the landlord started eviction proceedings and worked to keep the family from finding somewhere else to live with bad references. "A guardian angel from our kids' literacy program told us about Home HeadQuarters. We walked in not knowing what to expect and Mary Jo (HHQ & CNY Affordable Housing) grabbed my hand and said, 'we can work with you,'" recounts Felicia. The family moved into a HHQ apartment to get stabilized and both Felicia and Talivo enrolled in the HomeBuyer Education Course and financial counseling. Felicia improved her credit score by more than 100 points and Talivo worked two jobs to save as much as possible. Less than a year after first coming to HHQ, the Salley family qualified for a fully-rehabbed, four bedroom home on the city's Southside. "The first night in our house, with no furniture and everything in boxes, the whole family pulled our mattresses together and slept in the living room. It was like a big sleepover party. We were together, in our own home. This is a dream that I never knew I had, until we got it."

We'd like to make the Holidays even brighter for the Salley Family by filling in some of the gaps. If you can, please considering donating to our Salley Holiday delivery. We hope to replace the family's sofa and dining room set before the end of the year! Please click on the link below and make sure you add "Salley Family" in the donation description. Thank you!

SALLEY FAMILY DONATION

Latoya Allen Joins HHQ

Lifelong city of Syracuse cheerleader Latoya Allen has joined Home HeadQuarters as the Director of Community Engagement. The Corcoran High School grad and former HHQ customer will continue her efforts to increase homeownership in Syracuse and better connect city residents to needed programs and services. Ms. Allen is also one of the youngest people elected to the Common Council and serves the residents of the fourth district on the city's Southside where she also lives with her two sons. In her spare time, Ms. Allen works to mentor at-risk women and young kids through her Rose 2 Rose and Precious Lily Brotherhood organizations. Little known fact? She can't resist fuzzy socks and has purchased so many that she has lost count.

Tidbits from the Last Month

Thank you to La Liga for awarding Home HeadQuarters and our CEO Kerry Quaglia the Evelyn Pagan Community Service Award for our commitment and dedication to the Syracuse Latino Community. We are very proud to be in such amazing company! ***

The big, old and vacant property at Oak and Lodi Streets on Syracuse's Northside finally came down last week. The property, which had housed tenants, restaurants and various stores including a second hand furniture store had been an unsafe eyesore for years. Stay tuned for future development news! ***

Thank you to Opportunity Headquarters Construction Crew member Brian Wright for his 10 years of service to HHQ, our customers and the CNY Community!!! ***

Property for Sale: 700 Oakwood Street, Fayetteville $199,900 3 Bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 2,122 sq. ft., New roof, kitchen, paint and more! Interested? Set up a viewing with Mary Jo by calling (315) 671-6008 or by clicking HERE! ***

When Buying a Land Bank (or any Vacant) Property

Buyer Beware  Caveat emptor, Latin for "let the  buyer beware, " is a principle of contract law that places the onus on the  buyer  to perform due diligence before making a purchase. The term is commonly used in real estate transactions. Home purchases are often the largest expenditure many families will make in their lifetime. Performing your due diligence, or checking on the state of things, is important in any property purchase, but especially for a property that you plan to make your own. Home HeadQuarters has been in the home rehab business for almost 25 years and has successfully rehabbed hundreds of vacant properties in various levels of disrepair. We still find ourselves, at times, surprised by the repair needed and at the cost of those repairs. Sometimes, we also find to our dismay, that a house we thought we could save, costs far too much to repair and needs to be demolished. Houses that have sat vacant, for any amount of time, need a great deal of repair. Home HeadQuarters purchases more properties from the Syracuse Land Bank than anyone. We purchase homes from the Land Bank like other contractors and potential home owners, and then we rehab them and sell them to first time homeowners. We also provide purchase and rehab financing for other Land Bank customers to do the same. We offer first mortgages and rehab financing because bridging gaps in the housing market is part of our mission. Land Bank customers are not required to use Home HeadQuarters to finance their purchase and rehab projects, but often, our organization is the only entity willing to assume the financial risk in doing so. The amount of a mortgage and rehab loan is based on an after market appraisal done by an independent and certified appraisal company combined with the purchaser's own contractor's bid for rehab work. Aging and/or vacant properties = unexpected repairs. Almost all of Syracuse's housing stock is old. The Land Bank provides a basic repair specification for home purchasers. This specification assigns a value to the repairs, but can not take into consideration unforeseen problems like broken sewer lines or the level of repair needed for an investor versus a homeowner. Understanding the true cost to make a vacant property your home is up to you. If you, as the purchaser, do not have the expertise or knowledge to determine the true cost to bring back an old, vacant property, it is up to you to hire someone who does have that knowledge and expertise whether it be a contractor, home inspector or other building professional like an architect. If you are not in the building or construction business, make sure you have the funds and patience to make long-term improvements with a trusted, reliable and talented contractor. Take the time to do your due diligence before you buy!

HHQ's HomeOwnership Center's Record Year

Showing off their very snazzy bowling trophy, Home HeadQuarters' HomeOwnership Center staff celebrated a record-setting year directly facilitating more than 340 first-time homeowners in Central New York. Almost 1,400 households enrolled in our Homebuyer Education and more than 980 people took part in pre-purchase counseling. Great job to all who took the first steps towards homeownership and to our amazing staff for keeping up! If you'd like to join the seeming throngs of people signing up for HomeBuyer Education, please visit HERE!

Landlord Training in Auburn

A lively group of landlords kept panelists on their toes at our Cayuga County Landlord Workshop this month! With topics ranging from lead hazards, to smoke free housing, to fair housing laws, the almost 40 participants got up to date information from presenters including CNY Fair Housing , Cayuga County Health Department , the Tobacco Free Network of CNY, and ARISE . Designed to give landlords tools to improve the health and safety of their rental properties, participants also learned how to best protect their investments by learning about recent changes in source of income laws and lead exposure standards, and received helpful resources, including a copy of NOLO’s Every Landlord’s Legal Guide and a scholarship to complete Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) training to prepare to become EPA Lead certified. Thank you to partners ARISE, the Cayuga Community Health Network, the City of Auburn the Auburn Housing Authority, and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation for helping to make this day possible!

Thank YOU for making our work count--we couldn't do it without you! Have a very Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Home HeadQuarters!