Sunday, December 12, 2010, 12pm-5pm Tour begins at the Captain David Crawford House
189 Montgomery St., Newburgh, NY
This annual tour of private homes and public spaces seldom seen highlights the best of Newburgh’s rich architectural tradition. Tickets are $25 in advance; $30 at the door and can be purchased in advance by either sending a check made payable to the Historical Society of Newburgh to:
Historical Society of Newburgh
189 Montgomery St.
Newburgh, NY 12550
or calling the Historical Society at 845.561.2585 with credit card information.
As part of the blog, I would love to start showing more beautiful homes, and more reno work going around Newburgh. This house on the outskirts of the bluff caught my eye. The gutters being put into place are nice, as is the rest of the home. I am just curious what will become of the first level. Any ideas?
Has it really been a year since the last time we took at look at this property? WOW! Anyway, just thought any interested people out there would like to know that the price has dropped $20k on this gorgeous commercial zoned property. You can convert it back into a residential property. So the new price is $180k. Check out the following link to see more examples of Newburgh Real Estate.
FREE MONEY. Did I get your attention? Ok now keep reading!
This was mentioned before, but I never made an official posting about this. Many current residents in Newburgh love their city, love their homes, and appreciate architecture. With the majority of homes pushing 70-100 years in age, it takes a lot of maintenance to keep homes looking as beautiful as they were in 1880. With that said, people usually focus on the interior of the homes when renovating. You think those bricks still can wait a while. But, in order to keep up the curb appeal of the entire neighborhood, it would be wise to pay attention to the exterior of your home. What if you can’t afford it?
If you meet certain income requirements, the Department of Planning and Development of Newburgh is offering a façade grant. This grant can be used for signage of a business (up to $500 in grant money), or to improve the outside appearance of your home. You can be a homeowner, or a tenant to apply for this grant. Successful applicants may receive up to $25,000 for façade upgrades. I called the Department of Planning and development to see when the deadline is to apply. Apparently there is none however, the lady who gave me this information didn’t seem so sure. Another source tells me this program might only be around till the money runs out. The same source mentioned that if there is a good response for this program, then this is something that might be offered again. Hello people, FREE MONEY TO FIX THE EXTERIOR OF YOUR HOUSE! You would think people would be flocking to see if they qualify. If you don’t meet the income requirements tell your friends and your neighbors! The owner of 12 Liberty Street used this grant for her property.
While we are talking about the grant, it is worth it to mention that you must use a city approved contractor (or atleast I’m pretty sure of this.) Sometimes this can be harder than actually getting the grant! While I can not vouch for any contractor, feel free to comment below and share contractor information. Genie Abrams went through a lot of trouble to publish a list of 106 electricians who are licensed in the City of Newburgh! Check it out and pass along the information! Here is the link again for the façade grant.
If you would like to move to Newburgh, with out actually moving here, this might interest you. There is an opportunity to try out Newburgh for 90 days by house sitting or subletting the property above. The dates are flexible, and possibly could be for a longer period of time. There are 1-2 mid-sized bedrooms available, one facing the back yard and the other a quiet one-block dead-end street.
This offer includes Time Warner cable internet service, TV with VCR/DVD in comfortable living room, dining room, washer/dryer, large EIK with new appliances and glass doors leading to a deck with a back yard and garden with lounge chairs. There is a hammock and a front porch with table and chairs for reading, working or eating. They are looking for a clean responsible person that can take care of the daily maintenance and upkeep of the house. You would have to maintain contact with the owner during long periods away, maintain the gardens and lawn. That includes watering, weeding, trimming, etc. You would also have to take care of two healthy cats.
Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. If you feel you are up to the challenge and would like to see what it’s like living in Newburgh for the summer contact the owner. Vincent Cianni at v.cianni@earthlink.net or call 917.562.8494.
Driving around Newburgh, houses like the one pictured above are a dime a dozen. Perhaps you’ve looked at one of these houses before and thought, “Wow I could fix that place up,” or “That place has so much potential.” You might have also wondered who to contact if you were interested in buying such a house being that there is no real estate information on the property. Well, the City of Newburgh owns a lot of the abandoned real estate that you see crumbling in Newburgh. And, they really should take a more radical approach of offering these homes to people willing to fix them. But instead, they pretty much make the process very difficult and unappealing, thus leaving dilapidated buildings and homes part of the ever constant Newburgh landscape. Their current method is using auctions. But obviously it has NOT been working and those very same properties that are auctioned off end up right back in the City’s hands again in a very short time.
29 Chambers Street-former dog pound This place could have excellent loft/work/live space potential
A certain realtor, Chris Hanson, has proposed the idea of selling City owned property for $1 to first time home buyers who were pre-qualified for an FHA 203K loan (mortgage & renovation loan in one). This type of loan has a time limit in which the work has to begin and be completed (work must begin within 30 days of execution of the Agreement). Thus the city would be guaranteed that the homes would completely renovated and owner-occupied in 6-12 months. That could bring huge change to Newburgh very quickly. If the City was offering something like this how many of you would be interested? I know many people that would. Given the houses are in bad condition and will need a lot of money to fix, but buying a house for $1 one hour from NYC is something unheard of and could be very exciting if the idea was executed. So far this idea has been shot down. But if enough people showed interest in a project like this one, maybe it could take off.
85 Lander
So, until the City can come up with a better idea for selling property, how can you purchase something other than via an auction? TheDepartment of Planning and Developmenthas a guide on their internet page. They also have a PDF file with a listing of the newest properties the City owns. Some of the photos even include original photos of the properties 30-40 years back so you can see what the property is supposed to look like. The list I checked out was last updated in December ’09. Basically, you must fill out a form for a Property Sales Offer, and have a check for $1,500 and funds to finish the project. The check will be placed in an escrow account until a decision is has been made. The money deposited would be returned if the offer was not accepted by the City. You can make an appointment with Tara Miller, Office Manager, at (845) 569-9400 to inspect any of the properties.
Even if the City isn’t making it any easier for dedicated people to make a change in Newburgh, the least we can do is educate each other and find ways to work through their system. Check out the following link to see more examples of Newburgh Real Estate.
Sunday, December 12, 2010, 12pm-5pm
