For a recent forum on lending, it was a juicy process question: Why don't lenders make home-buying classes part of qualifying for a mortgage?

"The banks haven't stepped up to say, 'We're going to require people to have counseling,' " said Deborah Post, director of housing finance for Community Housing Innovations, an affordable housing nonprofit in Patchogue. "That's really important in not having another foreclosure crisis occur."

The Community Development Corp. of Long Island, a nonprofit housing counselor, organized the Feb. 15 event.

Linking classes to the mortgage process is an idea that more nonprofits and lenders are mulling. But it's not a slam-dunk proposal. First, there's disagreement on who should take such classes, said Marianne Garvin, chief executive of CDC of Long Island. Should it be first-time buyers only, borrowers getting certain types of loans or everyone? she said.

Garvin said federal housing officials have another concern: "Is the counseling industry large enough to handle the demand?"

The nonprofit, which runs home-buying classes, has been exploring how to reach bigger audiences. This includes webinars, with access to counselors if needed; YouTube videos; outreach through Facebook and more. - ELLEN YAN


GOTTA HAND IT TO HIM

This Amagansett house has a lot to offer, including a giant hand in the dining room. "It's a nice memento from back in the times when I was really active in architecture," said owner Nick Zizelis, who is selling the summer home for $2.1 million.

The hand was from a window display at the now-defunct De Pinna department store in Manhattan, near Zizelis' office. "They always had stunning and unique window displays," says Zizelis, an architect.

When the clothing store went out of business in the early '70s, Zizelis was given the hand.

He is willing to sell it, along with the house, for the right price. The 1-acre property is listed with Chris Coleman of The Corcoran Group.

The hand has been in the home since 1972, when construction of the house was completed. "I painted it marble white, and since it was exactly when I was designing my Amagansett home, it seemed a natural setting. . . . It was pointing up, and the house also was to be tall, with the stairs going up," Zizelis says. - JESSICA LEWIS

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