Living on the North side

[northside lurker]

Thanks for the replies Shar and Allan.

I should have updated this thread sooner, but I was just going to "let sleeping dogs lie."

Unfortunately, not long after my last post, my hours were cut by 20%.  So, all of the "disposable" income that I had planned to use on this house dried up. (my profession is directly connected to some of this stimulus money that has recently been released, so if we get enough work, I might be back in the game)

I didn't think about refinancing my house before.  But, I don't think the money saved would be enough to carry a second mortgage comfortably.  I'm also not willing to consider taking a roommate.  I'm just not comfortable with that.  I hear too many horror stories about bad tenants.

If having rental property makes me more credit-worthy, maybe I should consider buying the house across the street and renting it out?  Then, I wouldn't have to worry about giving my house-keys to a virtual stranger.

I guess, for now, I'm going to save what I can until we go back to work full time.  Until then, I hope this house survives, or is bought by someone else who cares.

As an architect, it's my professional opinion that this house is more worthy of saving than others.  The houses in my current neighborhood were built for the average worker, and are very similar to houses across the country from the same era.  The house on the north side was built for management, and is one of the houses that makes the north side unique.

[AllanY2525]

OH.. I forgot to answer one of your questions about structural problems
and how to check some things:

1) Start in the basement.  Look for ANY sagging or cracked beams.  Bring
two "carpenter's levels" with the little glass/water/bubble things in them.
Hold the levels up to the beams in both directions and check for bent,
broken, or sagging beams.

2) Go to the first floor and lay the two carpenter's levels in an "L" pattern
on the floor in a couple spots in every room.  The bubble indicators will show
even a slight slope in the floors. 

3) If you see a wall that looks like it's leaning, turn the level upright and
check for "out of plumb" wall studs.

4) Look at all of the door jambs in their frames throughout the house.
Close the door in every door frame and look at the crack between the door
and the frame, both on top and running vertically - are the gaps uniform from
one end to the other - or are the door frames "out of square"? 

This is an easy and accurate indicator that floors and/or walls have shifted,
sagged, etc.  If a door frame is so bad that the door will not close, or
someone has cut the door to work around the problem, then you have some
structural issues that will eventually have to be dealt with if you want to
really fix the place up right.

Hope this helps...

Allan

[AllanY2525]

Westsider...there are programs out there but you're going to have to do
some digging.  As far as going on the demo list, you could write a letter
to the building inspector - stating your intentions regarding the property,
and a rough time table for getting any code violations fixed and he might
be willing to take the house off the demo list.  I bought the apartment
building at Woodbine and Bryson and it was on the demo list at the time.

I talked to the building inspection and demolitions guy at the time (can't
recall his name right now) and he took the building off the list, making
it possible for me to buy it and stabilize it - for now.

As far as the sewer and drains stuff - we tested the drains in the basement
and nothing we could do would get the water to go down - we then tried
snaking out the pipes and discovered they had shattered under the floor.
It's not a common problem with these old houses, but it happens because
the terra-cotta ceramic pipes get brittle with age.

Check and see if the house is within one of the historic districts here in
town.  All of the properties I bought were close enough to Wick Park
that the fall within the historic district and are listed on the national
register.  Some day, I will pursue some historic restoration tax credits
when I do the work on the apartment building.

Talk to all of the organizations on the North Side, as already mentioned
in other responses....they might be able to steer you to lenders willing
to give you a shot - and a loan - on this house.  Ten to twenty thousand
dollars worth of work could render this house "habitable" with the city
inspectors and, if you can sell your present house it could work for you.

Also - have you considered renting out your current residence if you buy
this other house?  If you can get enough rent, you can keep the house
you already own and have your tenants pay your mortgage.  At the very
least, you would wind up with two homes - one paying for itself - and
have more assets and more income.  You can deduct the mortgage interest
on an "investment" [ie: rental property] to some extent on your taxes, along
with depreciation deductions, and deductions for any maintenance and repairs
on an investment property.

I won't be nosy and ask your current payment or interest rate on your
mortgage, but if it's more than 5% or so, it would be worth re-financing
ONLY what you owe on the place to get a lower monthly payment, and a guaranteed fixed rate.

Interest rates are at their absolute bottom right now and a re-fi could
save you tens of thousands over the life of the mortgage.  The new, lower
payment would be like getting a raise at work - giving you more money to
buy and fix the property you are interested in.

Having this property rented out also makes you more credit-worthy with the
banks and lenders - because you would have more assets and more income
to show them.  They could look at your loan application and say to themselves
"this person has a job, good credit, they already own property operating as a
small business [ie: rental], etc.  Owning multiple properties WILL give you some
leverage with lenders - especially with the rent coming in on one of them.
It shows them a higher income-to-debt ratio.

I don't know your personal living situation [ I wouldn't be so nosy as to ask]
but if you have a couple spare bedrooms, have you considered the possibility
of renting one or two rooms to YSU students?  It could bring in extra
[undocumented, and therefore tax-free] income to help you buy and fix up the
house you are interested in.

Anyways, just some ideas....don't give up just yet!  Buying the house will
increase your net worth, and could be a nest egg for retirement some day,
as well as a source of revenues for you.

[Shar]

Hi Westsider....I live about 6 houses from the one you looked at and I looked at the same house about 3 years ago.  It has been empty for quite some time.  It is actually pretty quiet in the 200 block of Fairgreen and it's a shame that the bank won't loan you any money for that house.  Have you talked to anyone at the City to see if there are programs that would help you get into that house?? 

[hagiwhat]

That made my day!   

[northside lurker]

I was wrong.  The WRTA site is back up, and it appears that the Albert route covers a large portion of Lansdowne.

[northside lurker]

You could get a better built house in better shape with no money down on a larger lot.  Please someone make a deal on my Lansdowne house before it is trashed.   1615 Lansdowne.  Drive by.  Take a look.  No banks needed.  I'll work out a sweetheart deal that you can't refuse.

There are a couple reasons I'm not interested in your house, Rick.  It looks like it would only be accessible to one of 2 bus routes: the Oak or the McGuffey.  But, I don't think there is a location on Lansdowne that is accessible to both.  (I could be wrong, though.  the WRTA website is down right now, so I can't check.)  Also, I don't want a yard any bigger than a quarter acre.  Any more than that, and I'd probably have to get a gas or electric mower. (A quarter acre would probably be quite a chore with a reel mower, but I think it's doable.)

I'm curious though, why do you say your house is better built?  It's my impression that the houses on the north side--like the one I'm looking at--were second in quality only to those built on Fifth Ave. and around Wick Park? (or maybe they were the McMansions of their day? )

[rusty river]

You could get a better built house in better shape with no money down on a larger lot.  Please someone make a deal on my Lansdowne house before it is trashed.   1615 Lansdowne.  Drive by.  Take a look.  No banks needed.  I'll work out a sweetheart deal that you can't refuse.

Some pics would help

[Rick Rowlands]

You could get a better built house in better shape with no money down on a larger lot.  Please someone make a deal on my Lansdowne house before it is trashed.   1615 Lansdowne.  Drive by.  Take a look.  No banks needed.  I'll work out a sweetheart deal that you can't refuse.

[Towntalk]

Westsider:

I don't know if this information just released this morning will help you, but take a look a it.

Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan Fact Sheet

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/politics/20090218factsheet.pdf

Help for homeowners

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/18/Help-for-homeowners/

[AllanY2525]

As far as vandalism goes,  one of the first things I did with the house on Woodbine
was to install an ADT security system, with motion sensors.  A while ago, someone
pulled the phone wire out of the side of the house in an attempt to defeat the
alarm - but mine has a wireless backup, so they were not successful.

:/

[northside lurker]

Thanks for the links!

[rusty river]

AFAIK, my credit is very good--does anyone have any creative financing ideas?

Maybe get in contact with a couple nonprofits to see if there are any grant opportunities to rehab the home. Common Wealth Inc. and the North Side Citizens Coalition are very active on the north side. Common Wealth has created a new marketing program called Resettle Youngstown.
I'm far from being a banking expert, but maybe if you're able to secure some funds for rehab, the banks may be more willing to issue a loan. Its worth a shot.

As far as I know, the only other local grant opportunity for building rehab is the City's historic facade renovation/preservation grant, but this is usually only used for commercial properties.

http://cfweb.cc.ysu.edu/northsidecoalition/
http://www.commonwealthinc.org/

[northside lurker]

Well, I just got a call from my bank, to let me know that they will not lend money on a property that needs this much work.  I can't take out a home equity loan on my own home, because I still owe just a little less than what I could realistically sell it for.  Of course, I haven't shopped around yet.  But I'd be surprised if I don't get a similar answer from other banks.

It will take me about 20 months to save up enough cash to buy the house and have enough money left over to make initial repairs. (THAT SHOULD PROBABLY HAVE BEEN DONE AT LEAST 5 YEARS AGO!!!)  It seems likely that, if someone else doesn't buy it and stabilize it first, it will be demolished by then. (In the recently released vacant properties survey, it was given an "F")

AFAIK, my credit is very good--does anyone have any creative financing ideas?

[Rick Rowlands]

Why doesn't someone buy my brick house over on Lansdowne?  Solidly built two story with an attic and basement, has all the original woodwork (still varnished, never repainted), roof doesn't leak, has one acre of land with several mature trees, retired couple lives on one side and a wooded lot on the other with no houses behind.  I repainted the living room and one of the upstairs bedrooms.  Kitchen was horrible and has been gutted, and I took out all the copper to run PEX.

I just need 10K for it which is the cost to satisfy a couple of leins. It's secured, all windows intact etc. I will never do anything with it, so it will sit until someone either adopts it or it gets vandalized and the arsonists or the dozer gets it.