On October 29th, Jason and I attended the In Rem foreclosure Auction with hopes to leave with a few historic gems that are in need for some serious TLC. We left the auction with four purchase papers in hand for ownership of four properties on the West Side of Buffalo – one vacant lot, one double and three singles. Whoa, right?

Our goal is quite simple. To invest in the neighborhood that we love and to provide an affordable, sustainable and overall solid product that raises the bar in Buffalo. Jason and I have a lot of long-term goals which you can imagine are wacky/dreamy/awesome but this is really the start of the bigger picture for us. (more on that discussion later!)

I don’t want to get too much into the process right now because everything could flip upside down tomorrow but I wanted to blog about it since everyone is asking. As of today,  we are still running on excitement and trying to figure out the next steps. Unfortunately there is no guide-book towards buying properties at foreclosure auctions and we have come to realize that each situation is different.

We already have questions coming to mind. Keep in mind, foreclosure auction houses don’t come with keys.. so how do we get in if it’s occupied? What if we think it’s vacant but we think someone is squatting in there? How do we get the city water authority to shut off the water when we don’t have the deed yet?

A bigger question in my mind – why aren’t these auctions held in the early Spring or Summer when people have the ability to work on them during warmer months? Unfortunately, we will be lucky if we get title before January. It would be more ideal if we had time before winter hits to weatherize, take care of roof leaks and get the rehab ball rolling. Instead, we have to hope the previous owner is paying utilities, that a pipe doesn’t burst, squatters aren’t sleeping in them..  etc… there are a lot of unknowns and fingers crossed kind of moments.

Well, I am sure we will have a million questions. Perhaps I should start a journal? Maybe I will use this blog instead. More to come. Stay tuned!

Buffalove Development is Born!

With Buffalove,

Bernice