For the past 6 months, the
immigration issue has surfaced
in topics of politics
repeatedly. There’s a general
idea that immigrants, legal or
illegal is becoming a drain on
the U.S. economy. This is a
misconception, and should be
cleared up. There is good news
for immigrants who would like to
own a home in the U.S.
According to the U.S. Census
(’04), immigrants make up
roughly around 12 percent of the
U.S. population. There are 34.2
million foreign born residents
out of the 301 million
population currently living in
this country. 53 percent were
born in Latin America, 25
percent in Asia, 14 percent in
Europe, and the remaining 8
percent were boring in other
regions such as Africa and
Oceania.
Particularly, data from studies
conducted by the Census,
National Association of Realtors
(NAR), and the Institute of
Housing at Harvard University
have all shown that immigration
helps the housing economy.
Immigrants and minority
communities help aid to the
tremendous growth of home
ownership over the recent years.
This counters the nations
economic recessions and keeps
the housing market from
bottoming out.
Moreover, in a 2007 Harvard
University report, “in large
part to recent immigrants and
their native-born children,
household growth between 2005
and 2015 should grow by 2
million, exceeding the strong
12.6 million net increase in
1995-2005.” The growth has
resulted in governmental and
business support for promoting
economic development and
stability for the immigrant
population, regardless of
documentation status.
According to the Wall Street
Journal, back in 1997, the IRS
issued ITINs (IRS Issued Tax
Identification Numbers) to
foreigners who weren’t eligible
for a Social Security number.
This was to encourage them to
file an income-tax return
regardless of their immigration
status. As of December of 2004,
the IRS had issued eight million
such numbers. With the FDIC
encouraging banks to lend and
invest in underserved
communities, some banks are
utilizing the ITIN numbers in
order for undocumented
immigrants to obtain a
mortgage.
In Chicago, there are financial
institutions that are not only
providing residential mortgages
but also, commercial mortgages
to undocumented immigrants using
the ITIN number. This helps make
the home ownership and
entrepreneurship possible
amongst immigrant communities.
As a result, the housing market
has also grown due to
undocumented immigrants’ demand
for rental housing, but also for
owning their own home and or
business.
****I was thinking of ending the
article there, and then put the
rest in these neat looking
boxes, its almost like an
image.. it works sort of
advertisement for you. What do
you think? –Cat****
The NAR
research groups claim that there
are 8 factors that can impact
immigrants’ decision to buying a
home:
These include:
Age
citizenship status
length of time in the U.S.
education and income
family size
origin
regional location
and home financing
Other factors that might impede
or promote home ownership
amongst immigrant communities is
the willingness of institutions
to help immigrants overcome
housing affordability issues,
language barriers, establish a
credit history, and become
familiar with the real estate
buying process itself.
Hence, it is crucial that
immigrants (documented and
undocumented) become educated
about the home buying process
and have a team of experts
representing their interests.
This team should be bilingual,
sensitive to cultural nuances,
and able to accommodate their
services to meet the unique
needs of every client.
The most important players that
any real estate investor needs
on their team includes: a real
estate agent, real estate
attorney, financial mortgage
representative, and home
inspector. The path to home
ownership can become a reality,
but it begins with a plan that
can be created and executed by
the team you choose.
Written by:
Alejandro Padilla, Ph.D.
Real Estate Consultant
Team Buoscio Realty, Inc.
2202 S. Halsted, Chicago,
Illinois 60608
Office: 312-738-0758
alejandro@teamBrealty.com
One of
the major problems within the
African-American community is
not having enough money for
unexpected events. This reason
occurs because many of us do not
put away a percent of our money
to save. Many people do not
know how to save or what is the
best saving option. Some simply
just don’t realize the
importance of saving money. Not
saving money is like not
sleeping. You can go without
sleeping but eventually you will
loose your thought process and
your good looks.
Tips on saving:
When you get paid, pay yourself
first. Put away a certain amount
into savings. You worked hard to
earn this money and you should
be the first person to see a cut
of it!
Start low with an amount that is
achievable, for example, if your
paycheck was $3,000 per month,
you can set aside $400-$800. By
the end of the year, in twelve
months, you’d have close to
$10,000, good for a downpayment
on a house, or a car!
You can begin saving by starting
low with an amount that is
achievable and won’t give you
added financial stress and
gradually increase the amount of
money you are saving per month.
Budgeting is important! Start a
budget of your financial
obligations including your
personal “allowance.” Write
down all the bills you have so
you have an idea of how much you
are spending for the month.
Note:
Remember, to save is to live
less than you earn. If you make
$3,000, do not run up a credit
card bill of $3,001. Know this,
the credit card companies today
are out to pray on people who do
not know how to budget or manage
their finances! Credit card
usage is a means to spend excess
money. When you have a credit
card, you can buy now and pay
later. However, when you pay
credit card companies you are
paying more than the original
item cost when you bought it due
to the interest they charge you
monthly. Try to avoid using
credit cards for things you can
easily pay with cash.
Day to Day:
Purchase generic brand items.
When you purchase name brand
items you are mostly paying for
the advertising dollars they
spent on branding the product.
Generics are just as good.
Eat at home instead of
restaurants. It is less
expensive, no tip involved. It
is healthier, cleaner, and to
your taste.
Spend smart, look for sales, and
try to control impulse buying.
Every American has an impulse
buyer rooted deep within because
we are bombarded with
advertising each and every
minute of the day! On average we
are exposed to 247 commercials a
day in one form or another- from
radio commercials, to fliers,
billboards on busses, and logos
on sides of buildings. It makes
us want to buy even if we didn’t
set out to buy.
There are
a lot of different approaches to
saving money. There are array of
choice such as savings account,
money market account,
traditional CD, liquid CD, or an
online CD.
BANKS:
Chase:
Savings Account
Account opening rate: $25
Every 90 days, there is a .04%
interest rate on the amount of
money you have in there.
Money Market savings account
Opening rate: $100
Charge: $12/month, but only if
the amount in the account is
under $1500.00
Montly interst rate: 1% of the
amount in the account.
Traditional CD
Account opening rate: there is
no minimum
Interest: 2.71% per month with
checking account, and 2.47% per
month without at checking
account.
The longer your CD is locked the
more money in interst you will
earn.
Washington Mutual:
Savings account opening rate:
$4.00
If your monthly balance is under
$300, there is a $4 monthly
charge.
The interest rate: .25% per year
Money Market account:
The interest rate: between .12%
and 2.33% depending on the
amount of money you put in.
Monthly Fee: $12.00 if the
amount in the account is under
$2,500.
Money Market Savings account:
There is no minimum.
Interest rate: between .10% and
5.25%. Fee: $15 dollars monthly
if balance is under $25,000
CDs are offerd, but the interst
rate fluxuates depending on type
and the length of time you lock
them in.
Harris Bank:
Savings account opening rate:
$100
Monthly balance: $4.50 if
balance is less than $500
Interest rate: between .49% and
.74% per year depending on how
much you put in the account.
Premium savings account opening
rate: $5000
Monthly balance: $25 if balance
is less than $5000
Interest rate: between .49% and
4.15% per year depending on the
amount deposited
Harris health savings account
opening rate: $100
Monthly balance: $3
Interest rate: between 1.48% and
3.43% per year depending on
amount deposited
CDs are offered, but the
interest rate fluxuates
depending on type and length of
time you lock them in.
The interest rate varies
depending on how much money you
have in the account.
Citibank:
Ultimate money account opening
rate: no minimum to open
No monthly fee
The interest rate: 5% per year
Ultimate savings account opening
rate: no minimum to open
No mothly fee
The interest rate: 4.75% per
year
Must apply online for the
Ultimate savings account
*for most savings accounts with
Citibank you will need a
checking account.
HSBC
Online savings opening rate: $1
No monthly balance
The interest rate: 5% per year
HSBC premier investor opening
rate: $1
No monthly balance
The interest rate: 3.50% per
year
Minimum balance to obtain
interest rate $25,000
Premium money market plus
opening rate: $1
No monthly balance
The interest rate: 2.65% per
year
Minimum balance to obtain
interest: $15,000
All CDs have a $1000 minimum to
open. Interest rates vary
depending on how long CD is
locked for.
*These rates only apply if
accounts are opened through the
HSBC website.
The formula to calculate how
much you will make on your money
is your balance mulitplied by
the interest rate. For example
if you have a $350 balance and
the interest rate is 1% you
would take $350 x .01 to equal
$3.50.
Saving money is a trade off for
not spending money on what you
want today. Start thinking
about future goals and what you
will want, is it a home, a car,
higher education, a business, or
to help a relative with their
medical bills, etc?
Always think about what you are
buying, and if it is necessary.
Can the money you spend today on
this item add to the bigger
picture you’ve painted for
yourself? If you’re not going to
save money for any other reason,
save to avoid financial stress.
These days people are stressed
for too many reasons, depleting
one reason can be very helpful.
It’s
not everyday we meet a young
successful mother of 2 who’s
company is close hitting the
million dollar mark. Valarie
King-Bailey is the true queen of
innovation with a firm that
offers four different technology
based products to onshore and
offshore companies. Her Lake
Point Tower office is the
workplace of six full time
engineers, sales and tech
specialists, and the firm also
employs 80 offsite freelancers.
Valarie plans to double the
size of her company within the
next year, and with a $2 million
dollar worth of projects in the
pipeline, she should have no
problem hitting a multi-million
dollar mark.
Catiah Li: Please tell us a
little bit of your history and
the company’s background.
Valarie King Bailey: I was the
chief marketing officer for an
Ireland software company called
Qumas Co. When I turned 47, I
was laid off because of off
shore outsourcing. I had an
engineering degree and an MBA,
and not being employed was scary
to me. The natural evolution of
one’s career is to take what you
learn and apply it to a
business. I thought it was time
to give back everything I
learned from my international
travels and work. I wanted to
create jobs and bring them here
to the U.S. with the experience
I had in sales and marketing
linking it with tech and IT
services. I thought of a company
in 2004, which was the height of
offshore outsourcing. I thought
what was happening at the time
was irrational outsourcing. I
was concerned about the fact
that engineering jobs were
getting laid off. If you take
out the brain trust of any
country, you will start to loose
that country’s competitive edge.
CL:
Are you saying that American
education doesn’t gear our
students to compete globally?
VKB: Well, comparatively, we’ve
graduated less engineers,
particularly women and students
of color in recent years. These
were the groups who were not
encouraged for these types of
jobs. We need to keep these jobs
here. We need to have a core
network of talented smart
American engineers! Take
Hurricane Katrina for example
that was an engineering problem.
We could have minimized that
disaster if we had more capable
engineers. Our current education
is not focused on science, math
and technology. China graduated
3 million engineers, India
graduated 4 million. The United
States, 60 thousand.
CL:
That is 7 million of Asian
engineers compared to our 60
thousand. Pretty pathetic. That
is the failure of our
educational system and current
media.
VKB:
We have to ask ourselves how are
we educating our people. We have
the most liberal airways, why is
99% of our programming on
television entertainment. Why is
CSPAN the only station that will
play an interview to its
entirety. I don’t just want to
hear sound bites from FOX and
CNN. Back in the 70’s people
were more aware because TV was
more educational. It’s funny
because some media station was
asking everyone on the streets
how many people are in the
senate, and now many senators to
each state. The answer is two!
Most people didn’t know this.
You can ask people of all ages
about the names of different
candidate members. Name the
secretary of defense. Name
secretary of state, and people
are just clueless. My generation
of engineers are aging. We are
10-15 years away from
retirement, who will pick up
from there?
CL:
Onshore Technology group seems
to do a lot of things. Can you
elaborate what you do exactly?
VKB:
I deal with compliance solutions
for foreign companies. For
example if you were a drug
manufacture company and wanted
to submit a product here, it
must go through the FDA. If your
company is in Ireland, and you
are not familiar to the U.S.
law, then I help bring you
product over here. U.S. is the
most stringent of all nations.
We have packaging and labeling
standards that other places are
not familiar with. In TechPIT,
we set up administrations.
Through Master Marketing, we
help foreign country move
forward in the U.S.
CL:
Did you grow up in Chicago?
VKB:
I did. I grew up in Chicago’s
ghetto State Way Gardens, one of
the notorious housing
developments in Chicago on 35th
and state. Now it’s torn down,
but it was one of the worst
urbane blight right across from
US cellular. My father passed
away when I was 9. My mother was
a dress shop sales person. When
both of my parents worked, they
never took welfare. My father
would rather work two or three
jobs. My mother was very
attentive to us. There was no
nonsense. We were very sheltered
as kids. We got up in the
morning, washed up, ate
breakfast always, and went to
bed at 10 even during summer
time and vacations. Nobody was
to have babies out of wedlock.
We had very strong family
values.
CL:
What kind of schooling did you
have?
VKB:
Back in my parents’ day they
didn’t go to school, so it was
very important for me to go to
school. My Dad always taught me
to work hard for a hard days
pay. He says to us, “don’t
expect people to give you
anything.” If I said my teacher
didn’t like me, I couldn’t use
that as an excuse. My parents
will say “Teachers are there to
teach, not there to like you.”
So I never made excuses for
myself even when I failed. If
you do something and fail, find
out what you did wrong. Don’t
blame it onto others, change
what you are doing and be a
better person. I went to
university of Wisconsin, then
onto Keller College for my MBA.
CL:
What source of news do you rely
on?
VKB:
I read the Wall Street Journal
religiously. BBC reports online,
International news sources,
Financial Times, and other
international publications.
CL:
How did you get your start up
money and how much was it?
VKB:
Initially I used some of my own.
Onshore Tech group was started
with $3500 dollars. That was
originally the seed capital. I
turned Harris bank for a
business loan and they gave me
$100K. Recently I won the
American Express “Make Mine a
Million Dollar” Award. They gave
me 50,000 as a prize. I have a
gold card, and we get 30% off
FedEx shipping and Kinko’s
service. It is an incredible
award for women business owners.
The goal is to take one million
women businesses to 2010 if
their idea is a million dollar
idea. All of my divisions within
the firm could possibly bring in
1 million on its own. I won the
award actually on my birthday,
it was one of my happiest days.
CL:
That’s amazing. I’m glad more
programs are set up to encourage
women entrepreneurs. What are
some technical aspects of your
company? What are some of the
skills you must have to run your
company?
VKB:
My company really focuses on
providing a niche. We now live
as global citizens. Everything
that happens over in the Middle
East effects us. Most African
American businesses focus in the
U.S domestically. Mine started
off in 30-40 states, but also
outside the country. I have
customers in Quebec, Montreal,
Slovenia, France, Japan, and
Germany. I’m not afraid to talk
to international companies. I
surf through the web and see who
looks like they need my service.
With some companies I have to
deal with a lot of direct
personal marketing. My websites
are syndicated which increases
the search engines. I have a
high search engine ranking and
people can find me easily.
Today, for a company to market
themselves, they have to be
inventive. I like to talk to
people who are unlike myself. I
tried to learn different
languages so I can converse with
my international clients.
What would you say to an
aspiring young entrepreneur?
VKB:
I say make something. The idea
is to be “untouchable” in a
global economy. When you have a
situation, no matter what
situation, you can make a
living. It’s important to
innovate in America. You must
ask yourself what do we do well.
Find out what you are good at,
and do it. What is my value,
it’s tech and marketing, so I
make Onshore Tech Group. You
need to figure out how to
affectively market and develop
your own product. No economy can
survive just doing a service
economy, innovation is key.
Inspiration box:
From Good to Great, by Tom
Collings.
The
Long tale
Brienne
Kilpatrick
Located
between 79th and 95th, St
Chatham is an area well known to
the black community within
Chicago. This is a place where
the middle class black families
have lived since the mid 1950's.
There resides approximately
40,000 black Chicagoans, it is
home to several of the most
successful black businesses in
the country.
The first
residents in the area were
Italian stones-men who built
frame-houses in what is now
Avalon Park before Chatham
started it’s 1880’s residential
expansion and population growth.
Property value and the
population increased in the
1920s with a majority
demographic of Hungarian,
Swedish, and Irish. By the end
of the decade, the population
grew from 9,774 to 36,228; the
community did a 180 turn going
from working class to middle
class residents.
Toward the
end of the Great Depression, the
Chatham park housing complex was
built. Then in 1959, the Jewish
converted the complex into what
is said to be the first
cooperative rental property in
Illinois.
As the end
of the 1990s approached, the
crime rates increased, there
were more complaints on property
neglect; and economic
instability on the rise in the
Chatham community. The
population declined from 47,287
to 37,275.
Presently,
Chatham is an established area.
The occupants within the
community are devoted to the
upkeep of the community, and are
vocal on their views and
opinions of what Chatham should
be. The area becoming a great
place to settle, the crime rates
are low compard to surrounding
areas. For those with children,
there are four schools located
in Chatham. They are the Ball
Elementary School, Glenwood High
School, Chatham Elementary
School, and Glenwood
Intermediate School.
An
attraction area within Chatham
is Avalon Park. Every hour of
the day Avalon Park offers
programs and activities to young
men and women. Some of the
programs offered are: dancing,
tumbling, cheerleading, fitness,
volleyball, wrestling, martial
arts, and couseling for young
men. This park is one of six on
the South Side to contain a
woodshop as well. One can swim
in the pool, play baseball,
basketball, tennis, and engage
in other outdoor activities.
There is even an ice rink for
the general public in the
winter. Chatham is becoming a
real family oriented place to
live.
