The Top Ten Credit Dos and Don'ts During the Mortgage Loan ProcessFrom the desk of Don DraughnSales Manager  Affordable Home Funding970 Perinton Hills Office ParkFairport NY  14450Phone:  585-425-5811Toll Free:  877-223-0480 ext. 111ddraughn@ahfmortgage.net Keep in mind the actual lender will pull their own credit report at closing, and if your credit scores have dropped, you may no longer qualify for the rate that was underwritten and the final approval may come back with a higher rate. Unfortunately, all lenders qualify you by your credit score as to which criteria you fit and every loan has different criteria attached. The loan to value, the debt to income ratio and so on etc. This is what borrowers do not understand, and they think the loan officer is baiting and switching. They are... 01/02/2008

"Location, Location, Location," is what it is all about when you are thinking about investing in real estate. Investors and want-to-be investors are often asking me what's the current "hot spot" for investing. Usually, once it is a "hot spot" property values have started going up and there are no real bargains to be found. So how do you find a hot spot before it's a hot spot? Generally, you need to pay close attention to the news so you know where new projects are planned. Then you need a ton of guts and a lot of luck as you scope out what is on the market. In recent weeks, there have been numerous articles about the Rochester Public Market area and the newly opened Station 55. I went exploring this morning to try to figure out if this might become the next Rochester Hot Spot. First sto... 12/11/2007

Are people really buying or selling homes in the Rochester NY area in winter time?  YES! according to Susan Aser, Associate Broker with RE/MAX Plus in Rochester (Brighton) NY.  In a recent article dated 11/15/2007,in the DAILY RECORD, Aser says "The market is currently steady with listings selling in a reasonable time frame when they are priced appropriately,"  Aser, who is also the incoming Chairwoman of the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors Education Committee, said recently the regions market doesn't plummet in the winter months as many people believe.  "People laugh when I tell them that January is smetimes my busiest time of year.  Buyers are not as plentiful, but they are more serious." Aser said in the article written by Danielle Derringer.Susan Aser has been a real estat... 11/20/2007

I spent the day with clients from North Jersey. They came to Rochester looking for investment property. I spent as much effort introducing them to Rochester as I did showing them property. And every time they asked me about a location, I assured them it was 15 minutes away. The malls are 15 minutes away. The universities are 15 minutes away. We visited Corn Hill and then in less than 15 minutes we were in the South Wedge. Fifteen minutes to the Public Market or Lake Ontario. In fact, Rochester is known to have some of the shortest commute times in the nation.This is in contrast to life in North Jersey. No matter what they want to do, they get in line. One of my clients were telling me about the evening before his visit to Rochester. He dropped his son off at the local mall. He never got... 11/14/2007

Wendy Cunningham, Broker Associate for Century 21 Premier Properties. Serving all of Rochester NY and surrounding counties.  Specializing in Foreclosures, Fix and Flip Properties, New Builds, Residential and Commercial Real Estate.  Wendy Cunningham is a Multi-Million Dollar Producer.  Ranked in the top 30 of Century 21 Professional Real Estate Producers. Wendy worked as a NYS Certified Crisis Counselor for over 15 years for the County of Monroe. Wendy also specializes in divorce situations in getting your house sold and working with both clients to reach a amicable resolution.  Wendy will work hard for you in getting your property sold. 10/10/2007

Yesterday I had the pleasure of touring the Caring and Sharing Child Care Center at Webster Avenue in Rochester. If you are not familiar with Rochester, Webster Avenue is in the heart of the city and is surrounded by some of Rochester's most neglected and violent streets. The building that houses the child care center is recently renovated and freshly painted. Maybe it's the playhouse outside the main entrance but something about this building is just down-right inviting. I've had the urge to visit it for a long time.This child care center has 89 slots for child care and because public schools were closed yesterday for Columbus Day, they had a full house. So I guess I was expecting pandemonium that comes from lots of young energy. Instead, I found peacefulness at this center that was di... 10/09/2007

We got the letters in the mail several weeks ago announcing a reassessment of all residential and commercial property in the city of Rochester during the next four months. There was a neighborhood meeting last night with good information about the assessment process.The city announced that on average, property assessments will go up 10 percent in order to have assessed values closer to market value. Of course, that fact caused many groans as most citizens thought that meant property taxes will go up 10 percent. The representative of the city assessor's office did a good job explaining that an increase in assessment doesn't automatically mean an increase in taxes. Tax rates are based on budgets and if the budget stays the same and all assessments increase the same amount, that taxes stay... 09/28/2007

Aren't blogs wonderful things? My background before real estate was advertising and marketing. I was the owner of a graphic design company and we did everything from corporate IDs to websites. I have to say this forum for real estate is fantastic. I recently started my own real estate blog, www.homegrrl.wordpress.com but I'll be adding to this one as well! I am located in Victor,NY, just outside of Rochester. This is a post off my HomeGrrl blog:MARKETING: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY Marketing seems to be the buzz word nowadays. How to market this and that. Brand your product . . . Selling a home is no different–you are trying to put a product (a home) in the best light to appeal to a target audience (a buyer). The official definition of marketing is: “Means to make a communication ab... 09/25/2007

It's been 19 years since I relocated to Rochester, NY from Laurel, Maryland (same town as Rochester's current police chief!) To me, it was huge! I was in my early 30's and had never lived outside of the state of Maryland. I remember being here about a month and one day simply breaking down and crying. I was so tired of being lost and among unfamiliar surroundings and people. Obviously, I got over the homesickness, and learned to love Rochester.This past week, many memories of relocating came back to me as I helped a new client buy his first home in anticipation of moving to Rochester this fall to take a job with the University of Rochester. My contact with him started with an e-mail in which he inquired about one of my listings that had already sold. I offered to e-mail him some similar... 08/22/2007

Have you seen these billboards around town? We Buy Ugly Houses.com! A real estate agents dream come true!Like most agents, when I first started in the business and didn't have much experience, it seemed like I could only get listings that no one else wanted. Believe me, I've sold my fair share of ugly houses. Now, people actually call me to sell their house and usually they are pretty nice. Just when I don't have any ugly houses to sell, this guy's ugly mug is all over town offering to buy ugly house. Dumb luck, isn't it? 08/09/2007

I enjoy watching the ebb and flows of the market. It amazes me how everything is connected. For example, mortgage interest rates have inched up over the past couple of years from 4-point-something to now 6.5 or so. And sub-prime mortgages have dried up. In other words, you have to have pretty good credit to buy a house today. Guess what? Not as many people are buying houses these days. Two years ago, as you drove through Rochester streets, there were for rent signs on most every block. Today, that is not the case.  I recently listed one rental over in Rochester's 19th Ward. I've had 22 phone calls in the past week and the only advertising I've done is put a sign in the yard. I have five houses for sale currently listed and I've not received 10 calls total on the five properties. I'd say... 07/08/2007

The press called me! City Newspaper! It really wasn't me they were interested in but one of my listings.City Newspaper does a weekly column called Home Work in which they feature an interesting city home that is on the market. My listing at 75 Huntington Park qualified. So they sent out a reporter and photographer. That poor photographer! He had no idea that I have the photo bug real bad, so I was snapping photos of him photographing the house. Then the homeowner got into the action by snapping photos of me snapping photos of the pro taking serious shots. It was comical. Anyway, 75 Huntington Park is a wonderful house located just off St Paul Street. Huntington Park is a nice street....kind of an oasis in the middle of the city. It has huge mansions that were built in the early 1900's f... 06/26/2007