The Emily Rooney Show

From WGBH in Boston this is the Emily Rooney show. It's Tuesday June 19th 2012 and Emily Rooney mixed messages about home buying cheaper mortgages and lower prices in many markets seem encouraging but many people don't qualify for loans and can't come up with big down payments. But we have some good news for purse time homeowners here in the city of Boston. And do you remember that mass success. Six word memoir series. The editor of Smith magazine is back this time with a series of short stories from the famous and obscure on moments that defined their lives. Real estate and reality it's all coming up this hour on the Emily Rooney show. But first the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi saying President Obama is

spending much of this final day of the G-20 summit in Mexico trying to secure commitments from Europe to contain its financial turmoil. The Eurozone crisis has also come up on Capitol Hill where the head of JP Morgan Chase is facing more questions about his banks more than two billion dollar trading loss. Jamie Dimon testified before the Senate Banking Committee last week and today he is addressing House lawmakers who want to know if the surprise loss was an isolated incident or indicative of the kinds of risks that brought the financial system to the brink of collapse less than four years ago. We have some upbeat news on housing for you today NPR's Yuki Noguchi says the Commerce Department is out with a report that shows the construction of single family homes rose last month three point two percent. The number of building permits an indicator of future construction activity skyrocketed last month to its highest levels in three and a half years. That's also far above analysts expectations and up 25 percent over last year.

Housing market appears to be picking up even as the job market and economic growth in the rest of the U.S. seems to be slowing down. This comes after an historically bad year for housing construction last year demand for housing decreased as families chose to live together under the same roof. This year the National Association of Realtors has said it expects new household formation to increase. Yuki Noguchi NPR News Washington. The government is reporting a bleak outlook for hiring the Labor Department says job openings fell to a seasonally adjusted three point four million in April a decline from the month before for the first time there are more Asians moving to the United States than Latinos. NPR's John Snyder has details on the findings of a new study. That offers further evidence of a slowdown in illegal immigration. Experts say there is no single reason for why Asian immigrants have surpassed Hispanics. But they point to decreased demand for migrant labor due to the sluggish economy and the

impact of increased immigration enforcement. A study by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center shows incoming Hispanics fell to 31 percent of all new immigrants in 2010 compared to 36 percent or 430 thousand Asians from countries such as China India Japan Vietnam South Korea and the Philippines. The Pew report is based on census data and phone interviews with more than 35 hundred Asian adults living in the United States. It shows Asians are now tied with Hispanics as the fastest growing immigrant group in the United States. Joel Snyder NPR News Washington. U.S. stocks rallying with the Dow up one hundred twenty seven points or more than 1 percent to twelve thousand eight hundred sixty nine. Nasdaq up one point two percent S&P 500 also up more than 1 percent. This is NPR News. From the WGBH radio newsroom in Boston I'm Judy you'll with these local stories we're following three state senators are calling for the creation of an independent control board to oversee BTA finances.

The proposal was being offered as an amendment to an MBT bailout bill by the Republican leader Bruce Tarr of Gloucester and DEMOCRAT SENATOR JAMES WELCH of West Springfield and Senator Gale Canberra's of Wilbraham. The lawmaker said the five member control board would be responsible for creating and implementing a long term plan for financial stability while maintaining the quality and affordability on the NPT. Management of the union representing workers at the nuclear power plant in Plymouth have reached a tentative contract agreement the deal goes before the rank and file tomorrow union president Dan Hurley said in a statement that the contract has important protections for workers. Entergy executive Robert Smith called the four year labor contract fair and equitable. The dispute had become contentious with the plant's owner Entergy locking out the union and the union filing labor complaints with the National Labor Relations Board. Seven adults and two children were displaced in a five alarm fire in air this morning but no one was injured in the blaze which destroyed a building containing retail space on

the ground floor and apartments on the upper floor. Investigators think the fire started in a restaurant under renovation in the basement but the exact cause of the fire remains under investigation. Support for NPR comes from Citrix with GoToMeeting bringing high definition video conferencing to online meetings for face to face collaboration a go to meeting dot com support for political Web coverage on WGBH news dot org comes from Century 21 offering Century 21 agents. Well have some clouds this afternoon highs in the 70s cloudy overnight lows in the 60s. Sun in clouds tomorrow highs in the 90s and we may be in for the first heat wave of hate wave of the season with highs in the 90s all through the week right now it's 70 in Boston. It's live and it's local. Coming up next two hours of local talk the Emily Rooney show and the Kelly Crossley Show only on WGBH. Good afternoon you're listening to the Emily Rooney show the dream of home ownership.

It's never been further out of reach for Gen Xers or millennials So this may come as a surprise. Boston may be the city for you. Turns out Boston's first time homebuyers grants and creative financing options are among the best in the country. And if you are willing to be patient and work your way through a morass of paperwork you can save tens of thousands of dollars. You can get your condo fees reduced. One of my guests today did just that. We are talking all things local real estate today and we've got I hope a positive spin joint here in the studio by Michael Nichols he's an attorney and founder of hub realty. Trisha McCarthy she's the president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. And Tom Gleason of mass housing Welcome to all of you. Welcome. All right so you know by all accounts it's really one of the best times to buy a home in Massachusetts. Interest rates are ahead. Historic lows. Home prices in Boston have dropped to about 2001 levels despite this the 25 to 34 year old group has actually dropped in and has seen purchases

down 20 percent 3 in 0 5 in 2010 Anybody want to guess why. Is it nervousness is that incomes aren't keeping up the economy and people are uncertain about their jobs what is it. I think it's just sad Emily I think people are afraid of the stories I've heard over the last five or six years and are staying on the sidelines when it's really a perfect time to get off the sidelines by home interest rates are as low as they've ever been. Prices well down for so many years are kind of bumping along the bottom and starting to come back. So I think it's a perfect opportunity to jump back into the market for people who are looking to buy their first home. So it's safer to rent and wait see if people don't want to get underwater where you owe more on your home than than it's worth. You know you take out a mortgage that some gigantic mortgage and then you realize wait a second has even worth that much. People are worried about that. Yeah I think they are worried about it but we've all heard those stories about people who bought and flipped a home six months later and made $500000 and those are the urban legend.

So if that was me back in the 70s. But if you want to buy. If you want to buy a home and it's shelter for you and your family Yeah you have to think of it is that yeah absolutely. You know it's not just investment some place to live. So Mike you actually have an interesting story you're the one who figured out is a first time home buyer how to work the system to your advantage. Sure tell your story yeah I moved up here from Connecticut about four years ago and after a few years you know you get really tired of paying rent to landlords and not seeing it anymore and I was you were there in the back. You live in the Back Bay playing over thirteen hundred a month you know not seeing any of it back and and that's before you know before all the other stuff the utilities and things and so I said there's got to be a better way. And in finding out about the first time homebuyer program in Boston what's called the inclusionary development program I discovered that sort of you know affordable isn't what you've always thought affordable to me and in many cases it could mean for anyone earning under eighty two thousand dollars a year. You know there are opportunities out there to live in great places and great locations around the

city for something that somebody like me a young professional who is working in the public sector and not making a lot of money could afford to have work coming your personal store so. So as it works is that the mayor and you find out about it me feel no no many thing that's my motto I mean nobody knows anything. It's true it's so true I wish I remember exactly how I found out about it. You know it was something where I think I had I had seen a listing as I had started to look at just you know regular houses and condos and I saw a listing that said you know income limits and I said Will. All right well what does that mean I started digging into it a little further. And the sit what the city does now is in all new developments and redevelopments they set aside 13 percent of the units for people with what I tend to call middle income middle to low incomes in the sense of I don't I don't think anybody would say 82000 is necessarily a low income. But with some of these low to middle incomes to you know income qualified to take a homebuyer course to apply to to live in the unit. And if it's a new unit they do a lottery. And if it's a resell unit one that someone's previously owned then it's on a first come first serve basis. And so long as you can afford it based on

what your income is at that time and what you know so your debt your asset you know rates are then there's a great place waiting for you. And I missed out on a lottery or two because it's sort of tough it's very bad it's a top of the game. Absolutely and so after that I said boy I want to go for resale now trying to be one of the first people to find out about a new unit. And I found an absolutely great place in the Fenway two to three minutes from Fenway Park and not so far from the studios there today is a nice easy commute. Well Trish is a realtor. Do you tell people about this and I was also curious out Mike's story about getting reduced condo fees I never heard such a thing. Yeah absolutely and I've done quite a few of these type programs I've done lottery I've done mass housing and it's interesting. Mike's absolutely right. In many cases it's people that maybe couldn't take that first step maybe they didn't have enough equity maybe they thought their income was too low. Up in the North Shore which is where I'm from. We've we've got the word out through multiple areas sometimes it's an planning board and zoning board meeting sometimes it's our Chamber of Commerce that

has flyers about the first time buyer programs. And in some cases it's about mass housing. So people have they can look at it and see if their income if they kind of qualify for that or does it make more sense to do a mass housing. So we are seeing a lot of that first time buyers are looking for that. How does that kind of fuel reduction work is that if you own something you are responsible to the condo association. How in the world do you qualify to get a kind of fee reduced or it's done at the very beginning so they put into sort of the master deed for the condominium complex What percentage of the total rate will be assigned to each unit and so they determine at the very beginning that these units will be proportionally less sort of similar to the initial purchase price so current a brand new unit in this program the maximum one bedroom purchase price at the beginning right now is 167 And so if it's about one hundred sixty seven thousand dollars for a unit and it's $300000 for the other units then based on sort of that differential value they also have the condo fees be that that same issue even if the kind is the same size.

Even I don't get the same size if I was in that building I'd say. Second I'm paying twice as much for the identical space and it's a fair argument I think. I think it's sort of you're thinking you know you want the state to give you a break it's one thing in the city to get a rate but as it is it is a co-owner of the building up there you know and say wait a minute. I think I think it's something where you probably look at you say you know that the benefits of you know a mixed use building of having an affordable you know population in the building it's usually only two or three units out of you know 40 or 50 and so it's such a small margin that it probably wouldn't mean much to those who can afford it but it means a world to the people who can. And if I could emulate it to piggyback on what Mike is saying. It also depends on the complex because like some of the ones that I've worked with and they were involved in the lottery they actually paid the same condo fees. OK. It remained available for a lottery and then when it became a resale we first had to offer it to the same with the same criteria but if no one then qualified we could put it out of the market.

Well I mean. Do you go around. Is there a way to encourage people I mean how do you even find people who are right I mean Boston is just full of people just chock full of people who are renting young people you get all these kids pouring out of colleges and universities right into the city you know looking for apartments you reach out to them how do you go about that. You do everything you can. Sometimes you're on radio shows talking about what's going on in housing in the city of Austin through as much outreach as you can. Social media has been a great way that we found that we're reaching out to the younger demographics of people who are ready to buy a home and buy their first home either through Facebook or Twitter or however you get the word out you market as aggressively as you can. And I think as these stories build stories like Michael's compounds people start getting saying you know I think I can buy I actually am ready to buy I can afford something like that and I'm not going to

worry about being a myth becoming a millionaire just by buying my first condo. I need a place to live. I'd rather put it into a mortgage than pay the landlord the same amount in rent so let's go for it. Tell me how the formulas work Michael because you get the same. You have a low interest rate how much you'd have to put down if you don't mind telling you how much you have to put down. Because a lot of this say to the market a lot of sellers are asking for 20 percent. I mean that's kind of the isn't it about the going rate Treasury tax on 20 percent. No actually most of the people are trying three and a half percent to 5 percent down to get down. Yeah and again it goes for the old RAM. Yeah you know I mean but but it in the regular housing market isn't it isn't sort of standard to do that. I've had a few that have been 10 to 20 percent down but I would say 80 percent at least within the last year have looked for three and a half percent program. You know it's. So how did it work with you. So traditionally it is the 20 percent rate and so it's something I think as programs have cropped up it's as gracious as has changed but for this program it's it's 3

percent of which only one and a half percent has to come out of pocket which is an incredibly low amount I mean that's that's why I plead you know sort of through you know the realty company that I put together for sort of to help people in my same position. And where does the rest of it come from if you rent without one and a half percent. Right you come up with one half percent and the other one half percent can come from either gift. So perhaps that's the Bank of Mom and Dad or it could come from city or state programs such as. Boston has what's called the cash to close program which they would provide you up to 3 percent of the purchase price to go towards not only downpayment costs but also closing costs and so a lot of why do they give it to you. I think it's to incentivize homeownership I think they know that the people who are living in a city such as Boston who set down the roots who own the homes who are owner occupied the same reason why they offer sort of the the property tax abatement in Boston which is equivalent of 15 or 16 hundred dollars a year. Those are the people that you know will build your community that will take ownership over the committee community and will really make Boston day to day life better. I think history has shown us in the market that it's not the low down payment that's causing a

problem. It was when lenders and everybody simply through common sense underwriting out of the window. That's when we got all the foreclosures and the delinquencies 80 20 loans in the U.S. 80 20 90 10 piggybacked make up. You know it was a name does your. We've got a program no one else has and it was the same program that everyone has it was a bad program. But common sense has returned to the market now. Remember John Houseman in the commercials he said we did things the old fashioned way. That's what lenders are doing now they're underwriting all the loans that come in. And we see now what we saw 10 years ago that low down payments are not an indicator of default or a bad loan. If you underwrite it properly and you know people like Michael will prove that out. But that was that was kind of what created the housing burst that people were they were getting these low or no down payments 90 10 20 80 whatever it was and there was no down payment and they could

make either one of the loans. Well I think Emily more importantly than the no down payment was the problem is that the no document loan process and people that I mean when I say people throw common sense out of out of the window when you make a mortgage application. Lenders were not verifying where you worked what your income was what money you had in the bank they weren't requiring any documentation at all. They don't do that anymore. Yeah that's why low downpayment mortgages. If you do it the right way. Make all the sense in the world because that's how people are going to come into the first time home buyer market. People are able to save in a place like Boston where you might make you might pay 13 15 $2000 a month and you can save enough money for a down payment. So you have to have the low down payment program working what is mass housing do you. Well we call ourselves the state's affordable housing bank we do two things principally we do construction

lending for affordable rental housing and then we do mortgage financing for first time home buyers. All across the aisle across the commonwealth and you set them up with lenders or do you go between. We have a network of about 150 lenders that anybody who's looking for a home loan can find a place we do it from one corner of the state to another from Williamstown to Provincetown and literally every place in between you can pick the lender you want to go to their mass housing qualify and you come through them and you get a mass housing loan. Talking all things real estate here today we've got good news because my guess here in the studio saying now is a great time to buy and there's some great deals to be had through the city of Boston and it's the first time homebuyer programs I'm joined here in the studio by Tom Gleason for mass housing. Trish McCarthy was the president of the mass Association of Realtors. And Mike Nichols who's attorney and founder of hub wise realty So Mike did you have this wise before or after you bought a condo.

Oh certainly after it was certainly you know after all the paperwork and all everything I said Boy it's just such a great program and why not help people in the same position and you know as people should know I mean as a buyer's agent as someone who primarily works with buyers you know that you know that you know you can help your friends you can help your friends or friends they don't have to pay you upfront this is something where you can help people at no additional cost to what they would pay if they did it themselves to to work through the program with them to help them through the lotteries or to help them fill out the yeah the B R E applications it's paperwork and I mentioned So you're actually the guy to go to. If I if I. I'm just totally overwhelmed by all the paperwork that you went through. So sort of for some kind of a fee. You'll work them walk them through the products I will I would be compensated out of the seller's Commission which is natural for what a buyer's agent will in or out of this program would do. Someone who can help you know I mean Boston has the highest rate of 20 to 34 year olds in the country. Any big city in the country the highest rate and 70 percent of them have jobs. So that 70 percent has to be looking at paying money to a landlord each year as a sort of a detriment any reason to possibly move to the suburbs or move to another major city that could be you know less expensive and I think I'm there to try and find

these listings find them right as they're coming online. Right is they're coming as a resale or as the lotteries are approaching and help people understand that they can actually afford this program like I did. So what happens Mike when all of a sudden you know you strike gold oil and suddenly your income and your assets go up by leaps and bounds. Does that kind of association then come knocking on your door and say you know we want you to pay a full freight they take the house away from you. You have to then refinance what happens. None of the above. It is you have to income qualify on the day that you purchased the unit the next day you can be rich. You could I hope that for everyone it hasn't hit me yet in these two years but it is something that could happen yes. Yeah that's it. Saying All right we're talking off things real estate here on the Emily Rooney sure we're going to take your phone calls in the next segment at 8 7 7 3 0 1 9 7 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 and any question you have about first time home buying home ownership.

I've got my guest right here in the studio and answer your questions. You're listening to the Emily Rooney show from eighty nine point seven. WGBH Boston Public Radio each. The betta outweigh. The Breda A. Miss thank you and say. Wow good night. You can. See. Us. Close up. We love our contributors. That means you and Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates offering complete health care for you and your family with 21 locations across Greater Boston Harvard Vanguard welcomes new patients and accepts most insurance Care Made Easy dot org an affiliate of Atrios health. And Old Sturbridge Village celebrating Independence Day a chance to celebrate America's birthday with music magic and a fireworks display at dusk on July 3rd and a full day of family fun

on the 4th. Details and tickets at OSD dot org. And members of the Ralph Lowell society. These most generous annual contributors lead the way in sustaining WGBH as a public media resource available and free to all. WGBH dot org slash Ralph Lowell. In Silicon Valley it's the F-word that entrepreneurs say in polite company all the time. I think failure in the culture means you just haven't gotten your success yet. I would say failure is mandatory but you almost don't even trust about her new or who hasn't failed before. Failure is as pervy says whether the relationship between failure and success in the world of high tech. That's later on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. This afternoon at 4:00 here on eighty nine point seven WGBH. Support WGBH right now and you'll automatically be entered to win a trip to England. Make an online gift a new and a guest could be going to visit high clear Castle referred to on Masterpiece simply as Downton Abbey's. Prize includes round trip airfare from

Lufthansa for an hour each day at the vineyard and stock cross and a private tour of Highclere Castle led by the lady of the house Fiona Countess of Carnarvon for a chance to win visit WGBH daughterboard. Great question and it's a great question and that's a great question. It's a great question. Rick great question on FRESH AIR. You'll hear unexpected questions and unexpected answers this afternoon at 2:00 here on eighty nine point seven. WGBH. You're listening to the Emily Rooney show the dream of home ownership you think it's out of your reach. This may come as a surprise Boston may be the city for you. I'm joined here in the studio by Mike Nichols attorney and founder of hub wise realty Trisha McCarthy president of the mass Association of Realtors. Tom Gleason of mass housing we're taking your phone calls this segment at 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 seventy anybody had the question about getting into the housing market.

How to break through the morass of all that paper ship one of the breaks for people buying for the first time and they last forever just talking to Mike who says they actually do give us a call 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 and I've got Joshua from Gardner Myst who says Go ahead Josh.. Hi there. I was just wondering how we could parlay some sort of B.A. law into some of these other housing programs that are available. Good question. Tom anybody know how that works. Trish V.A. loans actually they they have some great programs out there if you talk to a local lender they can help you with the information that is required your exit your certificate of eligibility. Of course you have to have that up front and some of the loans and Tom may be able to expand on it but most of the V.A. loans are zero down. Now they allow closing cost to be paid by the seller which in the past that was never allowed. So they certainly have some great programs out there.

Josh I also tell you a program that we started a few years ago called the home for the brave program. We are finding that people with that were coming out of the military were having a hard time qualifying for a mortgage because if you can believe this they couldn't prove that they had a stable monthly income. And we thought that was wrong. So what we did was we worked with about 50 banks all across the state to create a home for the brave program where those banks will make the mortgages and will buy them from the banks who are going to make mortgage commitments to veterans coming out of the service. Josh thanks for the call. First time home buyers need apply. Give us a call here at 8 7 7 3 0 1 9 7 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70 we're talking all things about buying your first home here in the Bay State maybe Boston in particular which is got a couple of great programs to help people with creative financing and even reducing your condo fees and we've got somebody here in the studio who can

walk you right through that process. Mike Nichols is attorney and founder of pub wise realty. Let's see let's go to Maureen from him. Hi hi hi. My question is that I think that I'm very curmudgeonly and I also have two kids in their 20s. They'll probably kill me for asking it but about the condo that condo that example I think was you know hundred eighty seven thousand dollars. And the real prize is a three hundred thirty thousand dollars. When that condo by that buyer if if it's not so somebody else in his situation a new buyer. That goes in the market 330 people pocket. Good question. Again you know my question that Syria has so more is basically asking if my place goes up that much in the next couple years could I sell it. No there are actually resale limits so you are you are limited to sell the unit. First you're limited to only sell it back to someone in the program so you can only sell the unit to someone who also income qualifies for the

program. Second you are limited by how much you can resell it for. For a limit of up to 5 percent more per year than you paid for it so if you buy a unit for $200000 you can only sell it after a year for 210. After two years for a little over to 20 so you are limited to a maximum resale value in addition to that you can. The only other thing you could add is any capital improvements you've made. If the the unit starts going up in price to the point where it may price out someone at sort of the income limit level the lowest level is fifty two thousand a year which is that the 80 percent of Boston's area and median income than the BRM reserves the right to elevate which income level can can choose to purchase that someone at 52000 someone is 60 for someone at 82. But you cannot make a windfall on the program. So does that answer your question What is your name. You know I you know I feel a little better. I know I know how you feel Maureen you know you and I and the first time we bought our homes we paid full price. I did a little better how broke we were. I do remember that it does have a discount on the condo. I mean I guess you know I'm going to try

to wrap my mind around that. That's OK I know I'm trying to wrap my mind about that one too as somebody who bought a condo about six years ago you know feels like. I think. OK thank you. It's interesting that so I guess you can you can understand my computer worried about you know these young young and then suddenly they're entrepreneur look you started a business off this whole thing they think wow you know these guys get going and suddenly they got the break and everybody else is sitting around you know struggling to pay their full freight. Sure and that's why I'm trying to make sure that everyone knows about the program so I think it's something that everybody who's in a similar position should know that this program out there and existing could help them. OK a caller just called and left a message and he wanted to jump in for this because they just want to know in sort of what I started asking about in the very beginning my quote where can you get the information about these programs in other states like New Hampshire Vermont Rhode Island where you go to find out if other states other communities other cities offer breaks to first time home buyers. Same question how would you even

know. Well. I think Trish and I will probably come out of from different angles and we may end up at the same place so I run what's called a Housing Finance Agency in Massachusetts we're not that creative So it's a Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency there's one of us in every state in the country so if you're interested in finding out what kind of special programs are available in Connecticut there's a Connecticut Housing Finance Agency in New Hampshire's a New Hampshire Housing Finance Agency. They have all of their programs online. It doesn't take it doesn't take much to find them. And I think contacting realtors who are more and more educated about every vailable program that's going on in their city is a great place to go. And that's exactly where I was going to go. First thing that they should do is contact a local realtor to the area that they're interested in. And then in addition to that most of the states I can speak to the states surrounding us here in Massachusetts and including

Massachusetts if they go to the state Realtor Association site there's oftentimes more information there including links of where to go to look for various programs. But I think the key is to start with a realtor local to the area that you think you want to go to. But in all honesty Trish urt are realtors anxious to be helping out people in these programs who don't get the same kind of they're not going to. The same percentages of the sales I mean you know I think a lot of us have had a real wide range of experiences with the shark world of real estate and actually not to be adversarial but I'm going to be great yeah. Seriously the realtors that are out there if they find a local realtor the bottom line is homeownership. And you know it starts with just one inch by inch is essential I guess I could say yard by yard is very hard so if you start with a local realtor and even if it's a small amount what's going to happen is if you make that person happy they're going to refer you at the business so it's not it's about a lifelong relationship it's

not just about one one time. All right we're taking your phone calls today on All Things. First time home buyer about the grants and creative financing options that are available if you have any questions I've got the experts here in the studio to answer your questions. Give us a call at 8 7 7 3 0 1 8 9 7 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. Why is it that young home owners are so critical to a community what is it that makes it. Why do we care if young people are buying homes or not. I think we care because the young people are the folks who are setting down the roots restoring the families who are looking after the school systems. These are the people who are breathing life into the city. You know what hours that sort of others might not be if they're really the ones that contribute to that sense of a 24/7 you know atmosphere in the city in addition their the workforce I mean like I said you know the 66 percent of 20 to 34 year olds are working in the city of Boston for the ones that live in the city. Sixty six percent of them are working in the city and 70 percent of them are employed you know period so these are the people who are it's our young

workforce it's allowing our companies to grow. And they're the ones who are looking after our schools and breathing life into our economy. In addition to that that's apt. Absolutely right. They are the roots of our community the at the grassroots what we're seeing is when some of these young people are moving in and all of a sudden they're part of the school board they want to get on planning but they want to be on the Conservation Commission and they really do. They are a breath of fresh air but they're also the roots. You know I think as we look at young people that are buying a home we're looking at the definition of the first time home buyer market. If there is no first time home buyer market there is no ability to trade up and have people sell and buy a home. That's of more value so first time home buyers are critical to the market. The young people are critical to that because of everything that might interest show said Alright we're taking your phone calls 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. We've got Jeanne on the phone from Lowell. What's your question Jane my question is I have a son who lived with owned the first house

I Hospital came along and wanted to build up a complex for elderly there and so he acquiesced to go with the community and do that. Then he bought a second house and got caught up in the Countrywide there but he qualify as a first buyer since he was with the master. Because he would did a good deed with the first oh I see what you mean. No interest. Thanks Tom. Thanks Gene for that and yes I can completely understand what you're saying Tom maybe can expand on it but. But typically the requirements for a first time buyer is. You are a first time buyer. So he probably wouldn't qualify for that but he would qualify for some of the other loan programs the mass housing the the USDA loans many of those programs right. You know there's a unique way that you can actually get your first time home buyer status back in it's buried in the federal tax code.

If you did own a home once but haven't owned a home as your principal residence for the last three years you can actually be a first time home buyer I got one more call I can take you I've got Shay from Salem Go ahead say. Hi there thanks for taking my call. I just tuned in. I have never purchased a home before but my husband has many many years ago. She just sold it. Within the last two years would we qualify for first time homebuyers program. Because I question the whole why can't she just own it by herself. Good question. Well if you can buy the home on your own income and your husband your husband is not involved then you can be a first time home buyer if the two of you need to buy it together and it's been less than three years. Then you cannot. She could borrow money you could borrow money from your husband and buy it now. When that going well I think that would be between you and your banker and how that mortgage application gets filled up.

OK now in addition to the sum of some of the programs such as the cities you know cash assistance programs they have to close a program don't require first time at our shop so even if you may not be able to qualify to purchase a unit one of these programs some of the financing options that are out there for you would be as if you were a first time home buyer. People have the question so I mean it's like these things when there's so much nuance and layers to this been what I'm hearing you say this is probably a lot of ways to work the system even even in his case. Yes absolutely if you're a credible buyer in the marketplace today you're going to find somebody who will finance your mortgage right. It's all about finding a buyers agent who can help you through the process. Anybody got a website we can throw up to people you've got hub wise realty wise really like com which will be also on your website. OK. And we'll have that on our website. I'm a realtor dot com. Right. And mass housing dot com. All right thanks so much for joining us here today that was great Tom Gleeson Tricia McCarthy and Mike Nichols all things First time homebuyers. All right up next we're going to continue our conversation on what's we're going to be talking about when we talk with Larry Smith he's the man who's collected and published a series of popular six word memoirs. He's back

with a new collection from Writers Famous and obscure about the single moment that changed their lives. You're listening to the Emily Rooney show from eighty nine point seven WGBH Boston Public Radio. WGBH programs exist because of you and Comcast Internet essential Internet essential is available to help families in need. Families with students qualified for free school lunches may be eligible for Internet Essentials. You can learn more at Internet Essentials dot com. And design here in New Bedford. Twenty percent of our audience comes from outside a 45 mile radius. Katherine Knowles executive director we're reaching demographically a broader audience and geographically. We now draw from Boston and

Western Mass the Cape South Coast and we know that's because of GBH to learn more visit WGBH dot org slash sponsorship. On the next Cali cross-link show innovation the buzzword is taking over once reserved for the likes of Benjamin Franklin and Henry Ford. Today it's up for grabs. Companies use it to describe products like toothpaste and soup. Businesses are putting the word innovation in job titles by overusing innovation. Are we fooling our. Cells that improvements were visions and an entrepreneurial spirit are synonymous with life changing inventions. Today at 1:00 on WGBH. Context beyond the headlines you want to know more about. Stories you'll want to share. News and depth online at WGBH news dot org. You're listening to the Emily Rooney show as the story goes in the 1980s. Ernest Hemingway's

colleagues bet him that he couldn't write a complete story in just six words. His response for sale baby shoes never worn. Their response well they paid up that now famous work of literature was an inspiration for Larry Smith who Smith magazine began collecting other people six word memoirs the response was overwhelming and it led to a popular series of books. Now Larry has expanded that idea collecting a series of short stories from one hundred twenty five writers and artists famous and obscure. And the book is the moment wild poignant life changing stories. And joining me now to talk about the new book is the man behind it Larry Smith. Well. So nice to be here Emily's great Larry I mean I you know I was a big fan of your six word memoirs and I went right through this combing through your index to find out who I knew and who I didn't know because you got one of our favorite guys in here Steve Schmidt who's you regular. He's wonderful and he had a great little short story so how did you get going with this idea How did you expand on the six word.

Well I kept hearing as we would do book tours and just talking to the community through the website Smith magazine you know I want to I want to tell you more and I originally started Smith about six years ago as a place for personal storytelling. Six word was the one that really got it off the ground because it was easy and addictive. But I want to get back to the original idea that everyone has stories to tell in more than six words famous and not famous and they're they're very concise what's the word count of most of these stories. We know we have a couple of six words in there and up to about fifteen hundred words Jennifer Egan the writer wrote about a fifteen hundred word piece and a few others but you know a lot for 500 really quick reads Steve Aman's is about getting a letter from him. John Pike when he was just a budding writer himself. You know so back in the 90s sometime and he gets this fan letter from John Updike and he of course thinks it's you know a put on by his friends and colleagues ha ha very funny and you know nice try and then he's thinking wait a minute they would have had to driven up to BET really Massachusetts Beverly Farms whatever it is actually mail this they didn't take any of it would go that far.

And what I like about Steve's story is that you know most of us may not get a letter from our literary hero but everyone here is from Mentor a little sign some small note as it were that says Keep doing what you're doing. Go for it so most of us won't get a letter from John Updike or like Aaron Huey who was in Afghanistan when the bombs are coming down he was a photographer for The New Yorker that won't happen but Aaron had a gut check so we and that's what his moment was so you read the book and it's like you can relate to even the most wild stories in your own way. You know I actually. RIDGE Well I did look up a couple of people I know. And then I started picking them kind of ramble randomly so I picked up this one Cheryl Della da Truk. She has just amazing little story about. Answering she had some terrible job and she answers an ad on the recommendation for a friend to be Hunter S. Thompson assistant. It's a wild story. It's called Gonzo girl and Cheryl was a grad in 1992 much like these days a recession wants to be a writer wants to be in magazines. The phone rings at

3:00 a.m. and she happen to be up. You have to be up and at 3:00 a.m. the phone rings and if you pick it up and it's Hunter S Thompson on the line he means business. And her moment is that basically he said I like your letter. She faxed it it was 92. Can you get out here tomorrow. Pause. Can you get out here tomorrow. And she knows in that moment yes or no could change her life. And she said yes. Yeah that was just it was a great little story and then and then I like her last line she says and that was just the beginning of it. I mean I'd like to do a whole interview with her what was like being a Hunter S. Thompson. It's a great story and I you know as her editor on on the piece she gave me a gift which I have which is I have Hunter S. Thompson cigarette holder. You do almost makes me want to take up smoking. Well I mean obviously she was she was creative she was a writer in her own right but I mean that must mean a wild ride. And what's so interesting about her piece what she writes is that you know she's like listen I wasn't Tina Brown who's 22 years old. I knew how to mix a drink. I was little I was a little bold. And those life skills which turns out one arrest Thompson wanted so it's not always what you

expect to make you go forward in your career. Magazines radio architecture whatever it is but you know Sheryl was herself and she answered in the only way she knew how it was yes. All right so the other one I had to look up right away. I know you're married to Piper Kerman who wrote one of the books that I just loved and had her on both radio and TV Orange Is The New Black She spent that was 13 months. I got her at 13 month and you know my good memory 13 months in a federal prison for an escapade that she got involved in during her college years that involved drug smuggling drug running that kind of stuff. And I spent a year in Danvers and I thought how I wonder if Piper has you know a moment in this book and I assumed her moment would be you know the minute she gets when she gets nagged for and found guilty or whatever it was but no she's a complete. A different one. Same with me Emily I thought you were right about the moment she was basically caught and knew her life was about to go downhill in a hurry. Or the moment she decided to basically go forward with these people and you know eventually commit a crime you know. And she said No I wrote about that already. And she

wrote about it very well but what she wrote about in her book she had written about those incidents but what she wrote about for the moment book was being 14 years old being on a cove in New Bedford not far from Boston and she's driving with a cool uncle you know and he says you know what. Take the wheel. She's like what. I'm working he said. Take the wheel you're old enough down a country road and in that moment driving down the road you know she really grew up in a way and she grew up and you know very interesting ways and did the road lead to you know the drug crime in prison and then you know redemption. Who knows but we all have these moments of like something changes in US can be very subtle can be very dramatic especially involving a car or just how you were probably on the air I just picked up my restored my father's restored 1966 Sunbeam Tiger which I'm going to dare to drive up to upstate New York this weekend. And I learned how to drive on that car and I can remember a moment when I'm on a steep steep hill in our house near our house in Connecticut and that thing's going about 60 miles down the hill because I couldn't figure out how to you know shift and move the

thing up the hill I think. Just hope no one's coming up behind me. Now here I am 40 years later with that car in my. But my driveway and it gets to that universal thing you know. We had thousands of entries to the site to be in the book and when we approached some of our favorite writers like Steve Almond and daggers and Jennifer Egan and a lot were about running and dealing with cancer and parents and you learned and it was really interesting. Piper's was the only one I had driving and it was surprising to me because I kind of like well a lot of people had moments when writing didn't they. I would never thought about doing one of my driving and then it made me think of it. I had this coincidence with what I'm doing dealing with this weekend with my dad and everyone has a driving story absolutely everybody has Here's somebody on the phone who's joining us who's actually written one of the pieces for your book the moment it's Kimberly Rose and you kind of used her as one of the up front ones because it's actually a very dramatic tale and you don't want to let her tell it. Welcome Kimberly. So how are you.

I'm great. Good. So enjoyed your story among all the others in this book. But you know as I said we're going let you tell it. All right well I'm not going to give it all away but oh no I mean yeah but the story is about sort of realizing that my marriage needed to come to an end and not wanting to face that. But looking at some photographs that were sort of this incontrovertibly evident. Said the marriage was over and it was time to time to wake up and it was a really tough moment. The series of moments but a really tough moment. So I guess we can tell a little bit more you know. I can read a little bit if you want to do that do that. OK. So there were I pick up the packet of photos from CBS and there's 60 photographs of my daughter's birthday party. But there's not a me meeting. I'm realizing like where am I. And your husband took the pictures. Yeah. So there was none of me except me. I was only a sliver of a shoulder a hand on a child's arm fingers cutting a cake

a nose kissing a frosting covered cheek never all of me. Not one single picture of me not even one of my daughter and me. I kept shuffling through the stack not believing this was that but it was. It was as if to my husband who took the photos I didn't exist. He didn't want to see me in his album of life. He could not see me and unfortunately I felt like I was disappearing ghosting away until of some sort of iconic mother wife without a name. Yeah it was great. It was really when when when you thought about writing something Kimberly for the for the book. Did that what did that moment jump out at you. Because I mean we all have so many things that kind of flash bias. Oh yeah it did because at the end of the story you know. I end up getting my own photograph taken. Yeah and I had just gotten back the photograph. And so it was definitely the right story to write at that time.

And it was the first story that I had sent out after my marriage. I had written over 20 years and I hadn't worked in 11 years that I had worked or been at home doing a job a mom. And so there's a first story and on after my marriage after my divorce and it got published and it's been like a supersonic rocket ship ride ever. Then I thought about doing a feature length book on that. Yeah I'm actually what I want to do a collection of women's stories about love and mid-forties and and 50s because you know one of the things divorcing in your mid 40s single mom of three in the middle of the great recession having worked 11 years you know everyone was very very gloomy and down that there's you know I could just forget it was going to be a wealth or something but it hasn't been that way at all and I'm just going to be interesting to get some more stories that are a little more positive than what some people have. It's going to happen to a certain age talking to the writer Kimberly Rosen here in the studio is Larry Smith editor of Smith Magazine and author of the moment Larry how did you

and Kimberly come to know each other how did you you know finally is I have to say really like why I started Smith Magazine a place for regular folks who you know have writing in them that may be written in The New Yorker written lots of books but we're all writers write the Smiths tagline is everyone has a story what's yours and you heard about the moment prompt is going to be a new prompt and hopefully book and that kind of thing and it all worked out and you heard about it or maybe heard on Facebook or on or on a radio show that we're doing this. And when I saw her piece come in like I see thousands of pieces the experience of reading that piece was not unlike the experience of the reader reading the book. You don't really know where it's going I thought it was going to be a photo of infidelity you know just reading it and then it's just this lovely piece and it's you know it we hear that it gets Kim writing again and it reminds us all that we're all writers we all have stories. And then you know the conversation continues. What's your moment about love about driving and really like Kim you know is just why we do what we do at Smith Magazine and Kim how did you come to have the

nerve to submit this. Well what happened was I took an online writing class and learned about Smith magazine and the six words. Right and I was immediately addicted and sent in a story to Larry six word story and he emailed me back you want to come to New York and read it and I'm like what. And I did like it went to the Highline ballroom on a Tuesday night three to 400 people came to hear poetry that night and sold out and I was just in heaven you known and I was one of 20 other six word memoirs. So yeah I was a magazine junkie and I was online all the time and it's a fabulous community of writers there. It was like my new family so to speak and I heard about the moment that way. What was your six word memoir. They thought he but she forgot that one that I have shared here that I love to so much crying baby to you. Has a 16 month old so you can't get away from this six word Thank you know the six

word thing it really it's very addictive and fun and I wrote so much crying at the baby to when my son was 3 months but now it's Dad's they grow up so fast. Sitting with him the other day I was like I got this. You got it then I got it. How are you going to get really rose. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you. Great story really enjoyed it. Larry I remember your other teacher to our prison visits were surprisingly romantic. You're a really good memory I only sharping listen to the tapes and were surprisingly romantic which I wrote when we came out with the book that I talk to you about the six word memoirs on love and heartbreak which is about Piper and visiting her in prison. You know one of the other pieces I really enjoyed in this book the moment was. Melissa Etheridge and talking about her you know going through some you know horrible cancer treatments for breast cancer and then she gets this phone call that she's won a Grammy and then she gets this second phone call saying we want you to sing Janis Joplin's heartbreak is a piece of my heart he's my home and she's thinking about how she can't do it because of the way she

looks the way she appears and you know she's a cancer victim and then she has this whole sort of denouement. I love that piece too and what's so interesting about Melissa Etheridge his story is that when we contacted her about you know would you like to write a moment and we assume to be something about cancer and becoming a real advocate for it. And boy she talked about was not so much having the cancer but getting the call to be on the Grammys and not so much just saying yes I'll do the Grammys but deciding not to wear her wig. Yeah. So in that moment when she decided to appear on the Grammys and sing that wonderful song without a wig she was making a decision. And to watch that video on YouTube it's like you have your own moment watching it so powerful and such an interesting piece of her story. It was. And I like that some of her most famous contributors really they tell us new information Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote Eat Pray Love. I didn't write about Eat Pray Love or her marriage she wrote about being a 4 or 5 year old girl and hearing her parents. Oh yeah I heard that like I don't. Yeah for the Allies Yeah I saw that and she realized that at that young age that actually they had live separate from taking care of her

and it was she said an exhilarating and scary moment. Now extrapolate Elizabeth Gilbert across the world yeah. And it's just you know everyone Kim Lisbeth Dave Eggers Elizabeth Gilbert they just brought really their best stories to this book and I'm very grateful for the famous people. The first time writers just sharing stories and hopefully starting a lot you know questions there's just a basic sense of cliche but it's just a basic connectivity from these short kind of stories because everybody cannot relate you know even if you haven't had cancer you know. It's just a personal moment. You can think that that either could be near I've had something similar or it's just an oh wow you can fix it just so you internalize it in such a human way. And that's why you know I added a long magazine articles when I worked at Men's Journal in fancy magazine where I jumped off of that to start this. And I feel like sometimes people say oh everything so short with you but where this short is the is the way in. It's the starting point for

larger discussions for people to start writing and and you know some and you can flip through the six word books very quickly of course you flip to the moment book and you just take the piece that matters to you and peace you didn't think you really going to finish or start reading and it finished maybe about you know a story about a conversation a woman had with her dad about the toughest conversation they ever had and it was the best conversation and like maybe that's not your story but there's a conversation that change your life. We've all had that. Do you have a moment my moment which I talked about the introduction was really hard for me to write. And I was conflicted about writing about of course my wife said you've asked all these people to tell the most personal story of their lives and you've got to do it to a man. So I wrote about being in high school and I had an eating disorder. And in the moment I'm on the scale with my parents weekly way and my mom is sort of crying in the corner and my dad just mad and angry about the whole thing and I'm hiding a little weight in my sweatpants. I mean it's crazy though and it doesn't happen that much with guys you know. And in that moment you know as I

remember it I just thought I'm tired. My parents are tired they're upset I'm kind of bringing everybody down and this is not going to end well for anybody especially myself. And whether it was that moment or you know the hell I finally agreed to get help and to talk to someone cause a stubborn teenager I didn't talk to anyone about it. And you know it was a series of you know of a lot of time until I sort of recovered but I just remember thinking I'm so tired and this is so awful so I wrote about that. Honestly I did not want to because I really never talk about it I had talked about it here you say Guys it is embarrassing it is painful and hard it's hard to talk about the stuff but I wanted to bring forth a personal story and hopefully you know maybe a high school kid boy reads this that it's like you know like he got passed and he's OK or a girl and it was important to us to give up a little something of myself. As we're asking others to do and to share these stories with the world. It's a powerful one. All right Larry Smith thanks so much. Thank you. All right that is it for us this afternoon. We'll be back tomorrow at noon. In the wake of the

swearing ban in Middleborough swearing that who's doing it and why and why does it feel so good. Even though we know it's so bad. Stay with us now for the comic cross a show coming up next. Innovation is a word we hear a lot but what does it actually take to make a product innovative. Well find out. And tonight on my television show greater Boston a local family ponders how the president's new immigration initiative affects them. And Roger Clemens is acquitted but what about the court of public opinion. That's tonight at 7:00 on channel 2 the Emily Rooney show is a production of WGBH radio on the web at WGBH dot org Boston Public Radio. I'm Emily Rooney. Have a great afternoon. The elite was us. The Be. The bad. Guy in the

back. To Sweden. Wow. This program is made possible thanks to you and Lincoln introducing the new 2013 Lincoln M K S with organically tanned leather from Scotland Prussian Burwood French seams and curved control more at Lincoln dot com. Lincoln now it gets interesting. And a quarter of a sculpture park a museum presenting British sculptor Gary Webb the first US museum exhibition on view through August 12th. More information available online at de Cordova dot org.

Great question and it's a great question and that's a great question. It's a great question. Rick great question on FRESH AIR. If you hear unexpected questions and unexpected answers this afternoon at 2 with your on eighty nine point seventy WCBS page hey this is public radio from Boston for New England. I'm Steve Inskeep with NPR's Morning Edition You're listening to eighty nine point seven WGBH Boston online at WGBH dot org. Boston Public Radio.