Congratulations!    It is time for that final walk through of your new Western New York home.    Up until now it has been a whirlwind of activity.   This is your final step before signing all of the papers to make this Western New York house your home.   You are excited, and think why is this important?   [Continue]

Once you sign the sales contract there are many details that have to happen.   One such detail on your closing checklist is obtain Home Owner’s Insurance. What good is a sizable nest egg if it’s left unprotected? To make sure your assets are properly covered, you need to consult someone who’s knowledgeable about the [Continue]

Once you have an accepted contract and your mortgage is approved and you are waiting to close there are some details that you must take care of.  The most important detail is making sure that your utilities are turned on or you could have some immediate problems. Cable & Internet: Time Warner Cable 888.668.6044 www.timewarnercable.com [Continue]

Popular with tourists primarily in the summertime, Lewiston has a lot to offer with its many festivals, fine restaurants, Artpark, and fascinating history. Lewiston is situated on the Niagara River, just across the river from Canada, and is half way between the world famous Niagara Falls and historic Fort Niagara in Youngstown, New York. [Continue]

The Perfect Home vs. Nice Home in a Good Neighborhood The perfect home – the holy grail of house hunters today.   Is it really possible to find a perfect home?  Have home buyer expectations gone overboard?  First, let’s start with the word Perfect.  According to Merriam Webster’s defines perfect as: being entirely without [Continue]

We always talk about about what a great time it is to purchase a home in WNY, but there are some very sound reasons why you might not want to purchase a WNY home at this time. Even though you may have the financial resources and the desire to own your own home, it might not be the right time for YOU. Yes you read that correctly. We have a [Continue]

There is a lot of talk in the media about the Buyers Market so you think “Wow!  I can get a great deal in purchasing a Western New York home!”   You are dreaming of purchasing a $150,000 home for $75,000, have the sellers pay all of your closing costs, make all the repairs you want [Continue]

Over on a social network there has been a lengthy discussion regarding appliances and the sale of a home that I thought it would be important to discuss. This discussion was started by a home buyer that thought that the appliances were included when they wrote the contract and were surprised to be asked if [Continue]

I happened upon an interesting program the other day that I thought might be of interest to some Buffalo home buyers. Making Houses Homes program is a resource to those Buffalo communities and residents to improve and assist buyers who purchase in certain target areas. [Continue]

You don't have to be a Yard Sale Queen to have a successful Garage Sale in Western New York. And with National Garage Sale Day coming up on August 10th it is a great time to start thinking about having a Garage Sale. There are a few things that you do in preparing for a Garage Sale that will make your life a lot easier. [Continue]

Buyers Remorse – Do you have it? What did we just do?   It is a question that many 1st time home buyers and even people that are moving from one home to another ask themselves.   They suddenly find themselves very worried about the future that it is going to take 30 years to pay off [Continue]

Before you commit to a Western New York lender, here are a series of questions you should ask them. Next to selecting your Real Estate Professional, the most important thing you need to select is your Mortgage Professional. [Continue]

You are considering a home purchase but you are lost and confused. You can't seem to find the answers you need to start the process. The most important thing to remember is that you can't purchase a home unless you can purchase a home with cash or qualify for a mortgage. So to start the process, you must begin with your finances... [Continue]

In the Real Estate Industry we have this tool called the MLS.  The MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service.   All members of the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors have access to this tool.   We hope that each member takes time to review their listings to ensure that they are complete and full of information — [Continue]

I write about For Sale By Owners to hopefully assist them in the process of selling their homes. I do it for free, giving advice to assist them in the process. I figure that by doing so I will provide information that will prove my abilities, and when they are ready, they will call me for assistance. So it's pretty common knowledge that [Continue]