First Home club graduates

HAVERSTRAW — For almost a year, newlyweds Angela and Kevin Isaacs have taken peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches to work and eaten dinner at their parents' homes to save money.

The Isaacs are hoping their scrimping pays off when they're ready to buy a home.

"We never thought we'd be able to afford a house," Angela Isaacs, 24, said after graduating from the First Home Club last night. "But we've reduced our debt $12,000 and saved about $15,000 through the program. And we hope to up it a little bit until we're ready to buy, hopefully by the end of the year."

The Housing Opportunities for Growth, Advancement and Revitalization, in partnership with the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and HSBC, held a graduation ceremony at Haverstraw Head Start for the 18 Rockland families who completed the 10-month First Home Club program. The graduating class was congratulated by past members and local officials before receiving their certificates.

Andrew Maniglia, director of development for Ginsburg Development Corp., said Ginsburg was working with HOGAR to bring affordable housing to the village, in addition to the $200 million luxury housing project it was building along the shoreline.

"This is a great opportunity for this group," Maniglia told the families. "We hope to play an important role in your future."

Heather Lynch, 32, an art teacher at James A. Farley Middle School, said she hoped to buy a condo in Ginsburg's Harbors at Haverstraw.

"I want to buy a house. It's the American dream," said Lynch, who rents a village apartment for $1,000 a month. "It's why we're all here."

The First Home Club, which began in 1995, is designed to offer families practical and financial assistance in buying a home. Club members meet monthly to learn about various aspects of the home-buying process, including identifying an ideal home, inspections, appraisals, attorneys, mortgages and closings.

Participants must attend all 10 classes and open a savings account. Each member's contribution of up to $167 per month is triple-matched by HOGAR. Then the county's Office of Community Development can match up to $10,000, HOGAR executive director Edna Rivera said. Participants must have very low- or low-income households. More information can be found at www.fhlbny.com.

The families who enroll in the First Home Club also participate in the Debt Busters Club. They were split into two teams that competed to see which could reduce its debt the most during a five-month span. The teams were formed just before Christmas.

The teams began with a combined debt of $386,276, which stemmed from credit cards, student and auto loans. Together, the groups trimmed that by $95,954, Rivera said.

Antonette Balgrove, Luis Lopez and Aurora Asencio paid off their debts completely. Kevin Isaacs, 24, said while he and his wife paid off her student loan from the University of Albany and made car payments toward his Honda Civic, they also made sure to build up their savings account.

"One check covers the bills and the other goes in savings. And we cut up our debit cards so we couldn't get cash," said Isaacs, a design manager for the Expo Design Center in Nanuet. "So much goes into buying a home and we got a lot of insight from the program."

To date, about 362 families have bought homes through the club, Rivera said.

"At the onset, it appears impossible," Rivera said of those helped by the program. "But those are the people we want. This program is not for people who want information, but people who are serious about buying a home."

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.