All Forum Posts by: Nic Bernal

@Adam Sankowski that was last year but I have the paperwork still. I'll get it tomorrow. Feel free to @ me in the afternoon in case I forgot. 

P.S. nearly certain they discussed all those questions. The class was $20, had pizza that people from upstate consider "good", and tbh I liked how they approached it from a community involvement standpoint... while being realistic about the challenges with tenants. I know it's a haul but it's semi frequent so I'd consider asking when the next one is. 

p.s.s. happy to rec my realtor. Also have a contact for a PM for within the city who has worked with LMI, though I haven't worked with her. If you look outside the city to Rotterdam NY, I have PM for there I've worked with and will gladly rec. 

Post up. Are you talking about NEIS?

It'll require legwork... But I have two, related leads. 

Albany has a United Tenants Alliance that hosts a landlording class for new homeowners. One of the gentleman that speaks there is a former police officer who LMI housing and section 8. He has 2 decades + of experience. He had some great info. 

second would be the actual United Tenants Alliance. There was a woman there who was a big proponent of section 8 in general and she had a ton of info. Basically trying to encourage more people to hop onboard and dispell myths and the usual dog whistles.

I'd start with a call there. I used the UT as a resource both as a tenant and now a landlord. 

If you're motivated, share what you learn.

@donald

Fyi most closing costs here have been minimum $6k for a multifamily. If you shop around for inspection, attorney and title, you can save ~$300 more. This does not include Radon, sewer, or pest inspection.

Also, home insurance here is always higher than what the banks quote. Expect ~$1000-1200 for a year on these old houses.

Keep in mind taxes are pretty high... 3.4 in some areas, and you have to prepay that as well. So some taxes may be $6-8000 on a ~$200k house

Hi everyone, I wanted to update. Things are still up in the air, however I took some advice and pursued some other avenues of communication. 

Speaking of which, I have 3 big lessons here: 

1. Vet your lenders, put more value on the relationships you work with. 

2. Communication is key. This likely wouldn't be frustrating, or an issue to me if the lender was an excellent communicator. Without regular, informed communications, I have lost trust. Without trust, a switch quickly flipped and it became a "Me vs Them" situation. Coming from a sales background myself, this is extremely frustrating. Communication is 50% of a salesperson's job, I'd argue even higher if I had the time. A timeline shouldn't be pushed back 5-6 times over 2 months. That's not a timeline, it's a sweet nothing of a promise to keep the heat off for another week. 

3. Confidence - I have little confidence in my lender because the communications that did come in, were to put out fires and all last minute requests. A sale is a business process. Documentation exists. Every step is written somewhere, and has had oversight approving it. The entire thing could be laid out on a flow chart in a closed system - no exceptions should be excluded. This is how this works (funny enough, I went from sales to a business analyst career!) When I receive 'oops, here's a surprise, and a last minute ask from the underwriter!' I assume you have no idea what you're doing, because banks especially, do not have surprises. Surprises just show you're ignorant to the way your business works. 

So I still have my fingers crossed, with some documentation the seller knows we are making progress, and that the hold up isn't a personal one. Wish me luck, looking forward to this!

P.S. Definitely take some time to look into business analysis. Every single poster could make use of understanding some of the basic principles!

Hi, 

My family is looking for a loan for an apartment building in Albany NY. Does anyone have any local recommendations for who to work with? My family is out of town (Long Island), though would be able to travel in person if absolutely needed. 

Thank you,

Nic

 Hey, great idea. I dig it. thank you!

Thanks for reaching out, I think that I an appeal to the seller would be our next move. I'll try and take some more time off to make my way in person to the bank. Thank you for the advice. 

Hi, 

I began my house purchasing process with SEFCU, a local bank in Albany, NY. I was going through the SONYMA program, and my LO was supposedly experienced and versed in the program. This is a program that is low downpayment, and targeted for people just starting out such as myself. 

Our mortgage Contingency has been pushed back 7 times over 8 weeks. It's been a part time job on my end supplying all the documentation the bank asks for last minute. If it wasn't for the flexibility in my 9-5, Id be SOL. 

I had my credit pulled twice in the last 3 weeks, in addition to the first times in November.

It appears the the LO doesn't read the documents I send over, and something always comes up. The latest, they are requiring bank statements going back to November 2018, because they are taking so long now, that the mortgage insurance company has my statements from November, and since it's seen by them, they want everything. So, Last week I sent over the last 30 days (Jan). Then the day before the latest contingency expires, the underwriter says they now need back to November. 

There is a laundry list of other issues, many similar to this (I send something over, radio silence for week, then they read it the day before contingency expires, and ask for more), but I'm not here to vent anymore - rather prepare for the next steps. 

Every step of the way, the bank has been taking it's sweet time, regardless of the number of emails I send (daily). It's reached the point that now the Seller has decided to give me 48 hours as of this writing to get a mortgage contingency. 

Am I stuck losing my $6000 (HUD inspector, multiple appraisals from an earlier bank mistake, bank apps, lawyer, etc.) if the seller walks away? Are there any other options here I don't see?

I really really want to know if there's any legal recourse I can take on the bank. Their incompetence and laziness will have cost me a few thousand. I figure I'd break even with lawyer fees, but at this point I'd rather make someone else's life miserable. Tired of getting taken advantage of without any justice. 

Note: I was sold on this mortgage because they said it typically takes 30 days. I offered first late October, for reference.  

P.S. 4 weeks ago I sent an email (with receipts) addressing the issues I had with them, and requesting that they include their supervisor in communication from here on out. They repeatedly ignore me. I then sent an email to their customer service 3 weeks ago, and they replied to me with an email addressing 'Sarah' and a different issue completely. Can you believe that? I can't even complain!

Thanks, 

Nic

@Justin Roland

I'd appreciate the information. My deal is nearing falling through, after calling 50 GCs / roofers / carpenters in the area, not one has wanted to work with me. The bank is asking I complete at minimum a roof and back porch project. No one is interested in working with a bank loan though. Perhaps your contacts would be different.