Buyer Services & Information

First Time Home Buyers through HAPEC

2009-04-19T14:06:00.002-04:00

The Housing Assistance Program of Essex County is a non-profit organization that exists for the sole purpose of assisting Essex County residents in a variety of ways. They provide a wide variety of excellent services and information to home buyers, including assistance to First Time Home Buyers.

Housing Assistance Program of Essex County
103 Hand Avenue, PO Box 157
Elizabethtown, NY 12923

(518) 873-3691
info@hapec.org

Services Offered to Buyers

2007-02-23T14:23:00.000-05:00

A list of Services either provided or planned with links to the details:

A Private Buyer's Blog
Special Advanced or Early Notice of Properties
Property Preview
Events & News Items of Interest to Buyers
Pre-Qualification of Buyers
Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)
Negotiations
Transaction Tracking BLOG for Parties to Contract
Links to Documents
Professional Services Contacts for Buyers
Links to APA Regulations

Links to APA Regulations

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This is a start to understanding more about the Adirondack Park Agency and the regulations that apply to all property within the park. Please email me or leave a comment about sites you may have found helpful and I'll be happy to add those to this list.

Links to Documents

2007-02-23T14:21:00.000-05:00

The following documents require Adobe Reader:

{list coming soon}

Negotiations

2007-02-23T14:20:00.000-05:00

I remain actively involved in the negotiation process and keep an online record in your private blog. Personal references will be available soon

Pre-Qualification of Buyers

2007-02-23T14:18:00.000-05:00

One of the single best and easiest things a buyer can do to improve his/her bargaining position is to obtain a pre-qualification letter. For cash buyers this can be in the form of a letter from their financial institution simply stating they have sufficient funds available to cover the intended purchase costs. For someone that plans to secure a loan, lenders can normally obtain all the information necessary by phone in a few minutes. They can then fax or email a letter for me to have on file that states you are approved up to some amount.

I have no need to know particulars of your financial situation, only what range we should stay within.
A Seller has no need to know what your limit is, only that it is sufficient.

This is of utmost importance to both of us. Most of the services I provide can only be provided for per-qualified buyers

Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)

2007-02-23T14:17:00.001-05:00

Before any of my clients makes an offer I run a CMA to come to our own assessment of a fair price. I use that information when presenting the offer, in person whenever possible, so the seller has a clear understanding of the basis for that offer. This is valuable in all transactions, but may be even more so in offers to FSBO property.

My goal is to present a fair and well thought out offer from the start. This places the buyer in a strong position and improves the prospects of obtaining the desired property for the best possible price with the least amount of negotiation delay.

Property Preview

2007-02-23T14:12:00.000-05:00

For Clients, I am happy to preview properties. Many clients are out of the immediate region, making a personal visit costly and time consuming. For many of my clients I have provided additional photos, video tours and even virtual yours. All the information I obtain is available through your personal web log. You can share that information with anyone you wish and all comments are available to everyone right through the blog.

Over time, after several previews, we can narrow the search and often make it possible to decide on a formal offer during your first visit. For highly desirable property locations, such as lake front property, you may be at a significant advantage to other potential buyers by being positioned to make your best offer at the earliest possible moment.

Private Buyer Blog

2007-02-08T13:22:00.000-05:00

For each of my Clients I create a Private Buyer's Blog. The Blog is of the same form you find here, with a few significant differences.

The blog is Password Protected. You control who you give the username and password to and when you want it changed.
You have Author privileges, which means you can create your own posts as well as comment on the ones I create.
You can automatically be alerted to new posts by email or by text messages to your cell phone.
You can take the information with you on your PDA or iPod.

Read an interesting discussion in a recent NY Times article called Blogging for Property Sales that I placed in my News Blog. The form of the blog, in my estimation, is a perfect vehicle for interaction with my clients, hugely better than email.

The internet is now the first place most Buyers begin their search for a property. Unfortunately, they are then confronted with agents that haven't evolved past a fax machine or say, with great pride, "I can email you that".

I hope you'll consider allowing me to put today's technology to work in helping you find the right property in this beautiful Adirondack and Champlain Valley region.