Howard Hanna - Pete Montana

05/28/2025

Brand new listing! Feel free to share. Baseline Road, Grand Island. Check out the 3D Tour!!

This 2033 square feet Single Family home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It is located at 1031 Baseline Rd, Grand Island, NY.

02/26/2025

Feel free to share!!!

Proud to announce that I have my first listing in this new career of mine! There will be an open house on Saturday at 11-1 if it's not sold by then. 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom in Sloan! The basement could easily be made into a mancave or she-shed, and it's clean enough that it would be easy to do. Come check it out!

Talk about good bones! This house is solid from the basement up. Quiet neighborhood, two downstairs bedrooms, and two upstairs bedrooms, cozy kitchen, and it's just had some touchups, so it's ready for its new owners to move right in. Forced air with AC built in. Good sized yard, partially fenced in...

11/27/2024

One of the words that I had never heard before during my 77-hour real estate training was 'Escheat'. Basically, if a person dies without a will and without heirs, their property goes back to the state. I was shocked by this, but at the same time, I could not think of an alternative.

While we were on this subject, I also learned that there is a lien holder on all property that trumps your first mortgage. Want to guess who that is? That's right, it's also the state.

And the third surprise in this chapter was that the state truly owns everything, but they just let us use it! I thought this was crazy!! But that's how it works.

11/27/2024

Gifting equity to your children: We are living in difficult times for today's youth. The prices of homes are disproportionately higher than ever! So how do we help our children?

Legally, a married couple can gift their married son or daughter AND their spouse a total of $68,000 without tax implications. ($17,000 per parent, and then $17,000 per recipient so it's $17,000 times 4.)

So how do you access this $68,000? My advice is to take out a Home Equity Line of Credit. In Erie county, Financial Trust Federal Credit Union is a great place to get a HELOC. I can personally attest to the great rates and ease of ex*****on.

It's becoming more and more common for parents to gift money to their children before it becomes an inheritance.

***Be sure to consult your accountant prior to carrying out this plan, just to be sure you're doing it right.

11/22/2024

If you've owned your home since before COVID, then you're in a great position equity-wise. I am willing to do two CMAs per week for the foreseeable future - free of charge. A Competitive Market Analysis is NOT the same as a formal appraisal, but it is certainly similar. It includes comparable homes that have sold recently, and those sales support the value of your home.

So even if you're not even thinking about selling, I can still provide you with that "money in the bank" feeling by going through this quick and simple process to find out your equity position.

Message me to set this up!

11/15/2024

Fiduciary - as your real estate agent, I have made a pledge to put YOUR interests before my own. Yes, real estate agents are paid commissions, however I want the general public to know that I take this pledge seriously and will always put YOUR interests first.

11/15/2024

Have you ever stopped to calculate your net worth? It's not complicated. It's simply your assets minus your liabilities. Add up all the things you own and subtract all the debt you carry.

One really simple way to increase your net worth is to make extra payments to your mortgage. Now, when you do this, you have to call the bank that holds your mortgage and make it clear to them that this extra payment is to be applied to the principal. Making an online payment WILL NOT do this. Banks will take your extra payments made and apply them to future months. This is to their advantage, not yours. So, calling them to make PRINCIPAL payments is to YOUR advantage. It takes a little extra effort on your part, and most people I know don't do it.

Equity is like money in the bank. Additionally, it increases your net worth. Don't be afraid to do this because your equity is easy to tap into if you encounter the need for that money. Home equity lines of credit are easier to acquire than a first mortgage with much lower closing costs.

If you'd like to get started with extra payments to increase your net worth, message me and I'll gladly show you how!

11/15/2024

Paying your mortgage - As you may know, for every $100,000 you borrow, you end up paying back approximately $240,000 - at today's interest rates. So how do you beat this? Well, the banks are structured to make tons of money, and they're good at it. But if you understand amortization, you can help yourself to beat them, even just a little bit at a time. In fact, when your mortgage is new, each extra dollar you pay reduces your interest paid by a factor of 7!!! What I'm saying is, each extra $100 becomes $700 off of the interest. Each $1,000 becomes $7,000.

As your balance falls, the effectiveness of the extra payments reduces, but that's not a reason to avoid doing it. If you happened to get a bonus at work for, say $5,000. Apply that to your mortgage and save $25,000 in interest. (Yes, this is a factor of 5 not 7, but that's because that multiplier drops as the balance drops.)

It works differently for everyone, so to fully understand this, you'd have to share your mortgage terms with me. Amount financed, interest rate, and term. From that, I will create an amortization schedule and show you how to beat the banks.

I will do two free amortization schedule presentations per week. If you'd like me to do this for you, just let me know!

11/12/2024

Our newest listing - on Grand Island
* 5 bedrooms
* 2 1/2 bathrooms
* 2773 square feet!!
Share with someone who is looking!