All Forum Posts by: James J.

Welcome to BP Dan! You should join us for the next Western New York REI meetup. I usually attend it and plenty of people of varying REI experience do as well. Mostly from BP. Give a shout out to @Michael Sherwood to add you to the email list for the next one.

Good story, thanks for sharing. Definitely something to always keep in mind when you are advertising for prospect tenants.

Thanks so much for all the great responses and promptness! There were a few responses that I had questions on. Anyone can answer of course, they're all general questions.

@Joe Fairless 

• What type of insurance coverage do you have? -- I don't understand what this actually is. Who is this protecting? I didn't know property inspectors would have insurance coverage of any sort. What's a good example of insurance coverage?
• What do you see your role being in the buying process? -- What should I expect them to have or say in response to this?
• What kind of going training do you receive? -- What do you mean by "going" training?

@Kathleen Leary 

How often do buyers and sellers negotiate on the original price offer? I definitely see a reason to if there are some serious things that come out in the inspection. Can you go as far as to negotiate on neglected maintenance? It seems like it could be under handed but I guess the price needs to be right for both sides. 

@Paul Timmins 

I just tried out ASHI.com and none of the inspectors I was gunning for come up in the searches. Should I be worried? I know there's a lot of inspectors out there and each one with a variety of experience.

Hello BP!

I'm looking for advice on getting a good property inspector here in Buffalo. I'm in the middle of getting my first home and investment property. So I am relatively new to the scene. 

What are some tips or questions to ask a property inspector? Can I ask for references from past clients and see reports of what someone has done? 

A few quick things I thought up would be if he/she has inspected multifamily homes and familiar with the area I'm buying from.

I'm currently enrolled in the process right now, just about a month less in the program before I can settle on a house.

Overall, I think it's a good program. That is, if you intend to get financing from a bank, looking to buy in a year or two out, and intend to live on the property for at least 5 years. If you're not making a ton of cash now, you're probably eligible.

Quickest example and explanation: If you can show the bank you can save $188 dollars, diligently deposit that once every month for a minimum of 10 months, they will put up to $7500 towards your down payment of the house you intend to buy and live in. It's $4 for every $1 you put in. 188*10=1880*4=7520. This includes multifamily homes (1-4 units only).

Things to consider:

- The $7500 is a lien on your property. If you were to sell after 3 years from when you bought the house, you will owe the prorated amount left so you would pay the remaining 2 years ($3000)

- You will need to take a 1 time 6-8 hour first time home buyers club class. It's $30 well spent if you're a beginner. They'll give you a certificate of completing it which you show to your bank and a big booklet at the end of the course on one you learned.

- From what I heard from an agent friend, you don't need to finance with the bank you started the program with. So he suggested not to hesitate to get the best rate around.

- If you quit the program, you keep your money from the bank. Do whatever you want with it.

- If you can't buy the house for the traditional time period 10 - 24 months you can request more time to "think about it" for at least another year, maybe more.

Some resources:

https://www.firstniagara.com/Borrow/Personal/Mortgages/Home_Buying/First_Home_Club/First_Home_Club.aspx - very in depth, pretty much says it all, you can check your eligibility too

Aside: Not sure if I should have revived this old thread or not but I didn't see much information about it on BP so couldn't see it hurting.

Both days are fine with me too.

Ok, cool. The Frog Hair sounds like a good place.

Same here, I'd like to join. I'm not worried about the distance. I'm usually free after 5pm most days. After September 2nd is fine too.

I would go. Although, I'm a complete beginner at real estate in general. Do you have any ideas on how to get a group of us together? Maybe we should start a meetup.com group?