So you found your dream house in Newburgh…Now what??

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So after searching through all of the real estate sites and all the digging you found your dream home in Newburgh. With all of the gorgeous architecture, affordable prices, and proximity to NYC…what is not to love? The problem most likely is that your future dream home that you will showcase on HGTV or some other home repair network, is that your dream house has been stripped of all the heating, and been chopped up in to a few apartments, and is in need of a total renovation! So what is a future home renovista like yourself to do? You might ask yourself what assistance is offered to future home owners wanting to repair a historic home in the city of Newburgh?

Well, the city of Newburgh does not offer grants to private home owners to repair their homes. So the following are some of your options:

 

  1. 203K HUD Program from the government-2 types
  2. Community Organizations
  3. Historic Home Rehabilitation Tax Credit


203k Program has two types: 203k and Streamline 203k
The regular 203k program enables homebuyers and homeowners to finance both the purchase (or refinancing) of a house and the cost of its rehabilitation through a single mortgage or to finance the rehabilitation of their existing home. Why would you need this? Because the house you want to buy has been vandalized or damaged and a regular bank will not give a loan for these types of houses. What are the limitations? You must be a first time homebuyer. The minimum repairs to apply for this loan must be $5,000. See Q&A for 203k loan here.

The streamlined 203k program permits homebuyers to finance up to an additional $35,000 into their mortgage to improve or upgrade their home before move-in. With this new product, homebuyers can quickly and easily tap into cash to pay for property repairs or improvements. Why would you need this? The same reasons as above, but this program is for more extensive repairs. A lot more paper work is involved and requires inspections and appraisals. See here for a word document with more details.

To benefit from this program you must take out a loan with an FHA approved lender. Click here for a list. With speaking with a few lenders, they usually accept a 3.5% deposit, and you can finance the repairs-but they must be done by a contractor, they can not be done by yourself.

Community Organizations:
There are some community organizations that are rehabilitating houses themselves that you can try and apply and qualify for . Most times this is for low-income families. Other organizations will help you identify grants and low interest loans that you can qualify for. Overall, this is ideal for low-income/moderate-income families.

Two such organizations helping out big in Newburgh are:
Pathstone and Habitat for Humanity.

Historic Home Rehabilitation Tax Credit:
This program is available to owners of historic commercial, office, industrial or rental residential
buildings. Generally speaking, private homes do not qualify
. This might work with your home if your home has 1 or more rental units. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 allows 20% tax credit for the rehabilitation of historic buildings. The final dollar amount is based on the cost of the rehabilitation; in effect 20% of the rehabilitation costs will be borne by the federal government.

To qualify for this your home must be in a depressed area, which the city of Newburgh is. To see if the house you are interested in qualifies for this tax credit, you must call Sloane Bullough at the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation at 518-237-8643, ext. 3252. She is only in on Tuesdays and Fridays. Leave a message with the address of the house that you are interested in, and she will contact you if the house applies.

Don’t give up hope and keep digging for resources. Where there is a will there is a way!

 

6 Comment

  • Thank you. This was very informative.

  • This information is useful but potential investors should be warned that they are taking a risk because most of the beautiful architecture you mention is located in some of the very worst areas with the highest crime rates. The police force in Newburgh is not supported by the majority of residents in the city limits and therefore cannot control most of the crime. Crimes are committed mostly by organized street gangs who do not differentiate between rival gangs and residents or people on the streets. Thinking very carefully before investing in something long term in Newburgh is highly recommended as the the risk factors are extrememly high.

  • No one denies the high crime rate that Newburgh has. But the fact is that crime in Newburgh is at its lowest mid-year point since 2004-so was reported this month. I show case all homes in all areas. Park Slope was not desirable in the 80's either. But some people can see potential and see the bigger picture and that is why I even started this blog. If you came to Newburgh just to "invest" and nothing else, then it is no wonder you are sour. One of the many issues of Newburgh is that there aren't enough homeowners and too many renters. Newburgh needs people that are going to stay and work hard at fixing their home and the city, not people who want to buy a house and get profit from all the apartments they have carved into a house. I guess where you "relocated" to was a good idea.

  • I am familiar with the City and have been told Census Tracts 4 and 5 have the most crime. That is fairly vague though, because that is most of the east end. What areas are the worst?

  • Hi, there are certainly some blocks that are more desirable than others. If you email me, I could give you some more information
    NewburghRestoration@gmail.com

  • This is also a very nice article. Its like a historic article because of your picture. But its beautiful anyway. Thank you for the posting that you have. Keep up the good work.