Find your place.

A village home, historic house, country property, or land: the right choice starts with your everyday life and a plan you understand. I’m Carrie Smith with Krutz Properties LLC, and I’ll help you compare properties and the steps ahead.

1. Build your budget

Talk with a lender about financing, preapproval, monthly costs, and cash needed to close. Include taxes, insurance, heating, utilities, maintenance, and any well or septic needs. Program eligibility and terms vary by borrower, lender, and property.

2. Understand representation

We’ll review applicable disclosures and a written buyer agreement covering services, duration, compensation, and your responsibilities. Compensation and agreement terms are negotiable. Seller contributions may be requested but are not guaranteed. Read the agreement carefully and ask your attorney about legal questions.

3. Compare the property and the place

Research the actual address for internet service, school assignment, zoning, flood information, utilities, commute, and property condition. Open my Buyer & Relocation Resource Hub.

4. Make an informed offer

We’ll discuss comparable sales, price, financing, contingencies, and timing. Any seller credit must fit the contract, loan rules, and appraisal requirements; it is not automatic cash back.

5. Investigate and prepare

Choose your inspector, attorney, lender, and insurer. Ask which inspections and tests fit the property, including well, septic, radon, or specialist work when appropriate. Get current written fee estimates. Your contract controls deposit handling and refund rights; review those terms with your attorney.

6. Move toward closing

Stay in touch with your lender before making changes to credit, employment, or finances. Track deadlines, review closing figures, arrange utilities and insurance, and plan the final walk-through and move.

Buying land or a farm?

Start with the parcel and your intended use. Confirm zoning, legal access, lot requirements, utilities, and required approvals with the municipality. Ask the serving utility whether sewer can be connected; for septic, confirm the reviewing agency and required site and perc testing. Soil maps and pH tests answer different questions and do not prove that a lot is buildable.

Open the land and farm resources for USDA soil maps, Cornell testing and local advice, Farm Credit East, USDA farm loans, and septic-planning contacts. Get written findings, estimates, and lender feedback, and discuss inspection and approval contingencies with your attorney before committing.

Buying a manufactured or park home?

Confirm whether the sale includes land and whether the home is legally personal property or real property. A home on a leased park lot often needs a home-only, or chattel, loan. A double-wide on a permanent foundation with owned land may fit a real property mortgage, subject to legal status and lender requirements.

Ask a manufactured-home lender to review the construction date, HUD labels and data plate, title, foundation, and land or lease arrangement early. The HUD code began June 15, 1976; 1978 is not a blanket financing cutoff. Loan programs and lender rules differ, including FHA home-only and real property options.

For a park home, review lot rent, other charges, utilities, the lease, community rules, and buyer approval. Find New York manufactured-home lenders and official loan guidance, including a Gloversville home-only lender listed in the New York Housing Association directory.

Start with a conversation

Call Carrie’s cell at 518-900-7204 to discuss your town, budget, and next steps.

What could your monthly payment look like?

Try Fannie Mae’s free mortgage calculator to compare a home price, down payment, interest rate, and loan term. Check the taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance, and any association fees entered in the estimate.

Use the property’s full annual tax bills and a current insurance quote. Budget separately for heating, utilities, repairs, and maintenance. A calculator is a planning estimate; your lender’s written Loan Estimate provides loan-specific figures, closing costs, and cash needed to close.

Thinking about an investment property?

A first rental, a multifamily property, or a fixer-upper starts with the same question: do the real numbers fit your plans? I help buyers compare properties across Montgomery, Fulton, Herkimer, and Schoharie counties, including people exploring Upstate New York from out of town.

Before treating a listing as an opportunity, we’ll ask for leases, rent received, full taxes, insurance, owner-paid utilities, repairs, and available operating records. We’ll also investigate legal unit count, permitted use, property condition, and any well or septic needs. Asking rent and potential rent are different from verified income.

Allow for vacancy, maintenance, management, financing, and larger repairs. Compare conservative scenarios before deciding what to offer. I can help gather property information and connect you with your lender, inspector, attorney, and tax professional.

Text Carrie with your budget, target towns, and the kind of property you want to explore.

Plan your Upstate New York home search

Start with the guide that fits what you’re figuring out today.

Country homes with acreage — Compare the land, access, wells, septic systems, and everyday upkeep.

Planning a house-hunting trip — Narrow your choices and organize a useful visit from out of town.

Your budget and wish list — Sort your essentials, compare locations, and consider costs beyond the asking price.