Archive for the ‘General Real Estate Information’ Category

Last week I wrote an article for Basking Ridge Patch about the expiration of the tax credit.  I think we are all a little anxious about what might happen next.  You can tell from my article that I am remain very optimistic, and this was supported on Sunday evening when the agent who hosted my open house at 50 Church Street in Liberty Corner called to tell me that there had been THIRTEEN intersted parties at the open house that afternoon.  I honestly don’t think that the market will come to a screeching halt becasuse the tax credit is over.  There are many people who didn’t let the tax credit drive their choice of home as well as people who just weren’t ready yet. 

I’ve been very busy myself keeping deals together (and I don’t think half of them are with buyers or sellers who qualify for the credit).  I have several listings in various stages of the transaction process and have been working through home sale contingency issues as well as inpsection issues.  Last week I had two closings and I have another at the end of this week. 

One thing I’ve noticed recently is that deals are taking longer to get to closing and many of them aren’t getting there smoothly.  While the process is the same for every deal, each one has it’s unique issues: home sale contingencies, back-up offers, inspection issues, appraisal issues – I have encountered each of these at least once this year.  While it seems like torture when you are going through it – try to remember, that usually these issues get resolved one way or another. 

If you are ready to make a move, contact me so I can help. Not ready just yet, get started by viewing what’s for sale in Basking Ridge.

Tweet This Post

Please visit the following open houses today:

57 Dogwood Terrace, Millington – $839,900

50 Church Street, Liberty Corner – $499,000

1502 Bayley Court, Bridgewater - $409,000

If your attorney is quick, you can make an offer today or tomorrow and still be under contract by Friday – in time to qualify for the First Time or Repeat Buyer tax credit!

Are you thinking about making a move into or out of Basking Ridge, Bedminster or Bernardsville?  I’m happy to help. Contact me today for information about properties available in any of these towns or the surrounding areas.  I’m also happy to help you understand the value of your home in today’s market.  Feel free to follow any of these links for more information.

Have a great Sunday!

Tweet This Post

Yup, the topic has come up yet again.  And again.  I am mentoring a new agent in the office - she wrote her first contract not too long ago.  During attorney review, her buyer asked that the seller remove the decommissioned underground storage tank. ALL buyers ask for this to be done – it’s a no-brainer.  But, because of the nature of this particular negotiation, and the perceived discount that this seller gave this buyer, both parties dug their feet in and the deal fell apart.  The seller was still getting used to the idea of selling their home for less than they had anticipated and wasn’t prepared to spend additional money to get the house sold.  The second scenario has a happier ending – a potential buyer for one of my listings presented an offer for one of my listings and offered to let the seller leave the tank in the ground as long as they could get insurance.  I had already prepped my seller client that they would probably have to pull the tank, so when we found a buyer that wasn’t concerned about it, we were thrilled.  Then along came the attorney… and the calls to the insurance companies… and while you can get insurance, it is not without stipulations.  After lots of discussions and a good night’s sleep, my seller clients agreed to have the tank removed.  I’ve written about this before and I updated it this morning on my Bernardsville blog.  Follow the links for more information about this popular topic.

If you are considering a move into or out of Basking Ridge, please allow me to send you listing notifications of properties as they come on the market.  Also feel free to review closed sales in Basking Ridge.

Tweet This Post

According to the National Association of Realtors, the Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in February, rose 8.2 percent from January. The index remains 17.3 percent higher than it was in February 2009.

“The rise in buyer contract activity may signal the early stages of a second surge of home sales this spring,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Anecdotally, we’re hearing about a rise of activity in recent weeks with ongoing reports of multiple offers in more markets, so the March data could demonstrate additional improvement from buyers responding to the tax credit.”

 Here in Basking Ridge, there have been nine contract sales since April 1st, and 21 new listings (price range $238,000 to $1,600,000).  Four properties have closed so far this month:

92 POTOMAC DR, Spring Ridge condo listed for $240,000, sold for $220,000
234 IRVING PL, Society Hill listed for $245,000, sold for$240,000
489 KING GEORGE RD, single family, listed for $650,000, sold for $625,000
9 CALDWELL CT, The Hills, listed for $1,299,000, sold for $1,258,500

Do you have questions about today’s real estate market?  Email me now to reserve a seat at our upcoming “Real Estate Market Update” Seminar on Saturday, April 10th at 11am. We will have an attorney, a mortgage rep and my broker on hand to answer questions about the market, the process and the tax credit.

Tweet This Post

I received this information this morning in my sales associate newsletter.  Given that I am working with several people short sale or foreclosure issues, I thought it was improtant to share it.  The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program will go into effect on April 5, 2010. Part of the government’s Home Affordability Modification Program (HAMP), HAFA was designed to help stabilize the residential real estate market by allowing the short sale process to move forward more easily.

Under HAFA, borrowers will be allowed to receive pre-approved short sale terms before listing the property, as well as $1,500 in relocation assistance, and they will be fully released from any future liability for the first mortgage debt. In addition, HAFA prohibits servicers from requiring a reduction in the real estate commission agreed upon in the listing agreement, up to 6 percent.

In order to be eligible, the property must be used as a principal residence, the first lien must have been originated before 2009, the unpaid balance must not exceed $729,750, and the borrower’s total monthly payment must be more than 31 percent of their gross income.

This new, streamlined process makes short sales a better option for mortgage servicers, who are expected to now choose short sales over foreclosures in many cases. The decrease in foreclosures should help to stabilize the housing market. In addition, real estate sales professionals will be able to close more short sales and keep more of their commissions.

For more information on this program, please contact me directly.  Once we have the Frequently Asked Questions document completed, I will be happy to share it.

Tweet This Post

Yes, 2010 tax assessments have been published. And yes, they are lower than they were last year.  Mine dropped almost 7%.  But this does not mean that all listings currently on the market are overpriced! (okay, I will admit that there are probably lots of listings on the market that are overpriced, but that’s not because of the 2010 tax assessments and we can talk about that later.)

Tax assessments in Basking Ridge follow the market – NOT the other way around.  I wrote about this in June and I do often analyze sale price to tax assessment when working with buyers and sellers – either to set a list price or to make an offer.  But – we only have past data to look at.  We KNOW how properties are selling relative to 2008 and 2009 taxes, we do not know yet how properties will sell relative to these new 2010 tax assessments.  I have told all of my current seller clients that my pricing recommendations will not change just because we got our new green tax cards.  And to any potential buyer who brings up the new assessment, my counter offer will be this: “we cannot base a current sale price on the new 2010 tax assessments, we can only look at what we know – which is relative to 2009 tax information, not 2010.” 

Another angle – Jeffery Otteau, at his last seminar, stated that prices have dropped approximately 4% this past year.  My tax assessment dropped 7%.  There’s a 3% discrepency there – why would I base a negotiation on the lower number?  I’d rather base it on recent comparable sales.

Visit Basking Ridge Real Estate for information on the value of your Basking Ridge home – relative to current tax assessment or not.

Tweet This Post

Ahhh, another snow day here in Basking Ridge.  This time I am letting my kids sit in front of the television!  I will be posting Basking Ridge sales activity shortly, but I also wanted to share some information that I received from my broker.  One of the reasons I like working for Weichert, Realtors is that I feel that the management team does a great job of staying on top of the market – at a level one (or two) higher than I sometimes do.  It is so important for your agent to be clued in to the LOCAL market and sometimes people forget to look at the bigger picture.  Weichert makes it impossible for that to happen to me.

This news release was issued about a week ago.  Buying a Home Offers Many Happy Returns:

Investors who are uneasy with the ups and downs of an unpredictable stock market might be interested in a more reliable, steady option. If history is any indicator, perhaps the best decision those investors can make at the moment would be to purchase a home.

Since the 1940s, home prices have risen an average of 4 percent a year. However, since most buyers only put down a small percentage of the home’s total cost, a buyer who pays 20 percent down still gets to enjoy all of the appreciation. That turns a 4 percent increase in home prices into a 20 percent yield on the money actually invested by the buyer.

“Today’s market gives individuals a chance to enjoy some of the lifestyle perks associated with owning real estate that they might not otherwise be able to afford. This might be the only time they can move to the more prestigious neighborhood, trade up to the larger home or get that cabin by the lake they always wanted,” said Jim Weichert.

Even with real estate’s proven track record of financial returns, perhaps the best reasons to buy now are the personal benefits associated with homeownership that you just can’t get from other investments.

“Many Americans successfully fund their retirement in large part through the equity they earned by owning a home over the years. Why not use that same investment practice for other purposes? Instead of buying mutual funds which are just paper until you cash them out, buy a vacation property that you can enjoy for 10 or 15 years and then sell when it comes time to finance your child’s education. Not only will you have a place to build great family memories, you’ll also see a healthy financial return,” added Weichert.

This press release supports and maybe illustrates my most recent negotiation.  I negotiated a contract yesterday – the property was priced in the low $800,000′s and we offered a very strong bid in the high $700,000′s expecting to negotiate and hoping to end up with a price that would allow my clients to qualify for the tax credit which caps at properties priced over $800,000.  The seller came back with a terrific counter offer but presented it as their bottom line which was higher than my clients had wanted to go.  After much discussion among themselves, they told me that they decided to meet the counter.  Their reasoning:  “it doesn’t make sense for us to be stubborn about $8,000 or $10,000 when we are discussing a property that is going to be our home for many years to come.”  Sometimes, it makes sense to look past the dollars and cents and realize that you are talking about your home.  (Please don’t misunderstand, I am not advocating for spending more than you can afford or for spending more than a property is worth – this example assumes that we are working within the parameters set by your comfort level, your mortgage rep and the appraiser of the subject property.)

Tweet This Post

My new article is up at Basking Ridge Patch – check it out!  I think it’s a great time to have your house on the market – buyers are buying, really!!  No need to wait for the snow to melt.  All the factors are in place making it a great time to buy which can only be good for sellers!  Interest rates are low, the government is funding tax credits and right now, in Basking Ridge, inventory isn’t too high.  If you are planning a move, now might be the time to do it!  Contact me and we can review your needs.

Tweet This Post

I love Thursday afternoons – it’s the little things that make me happy and one of them is reading the Bernardsville News every week!   This week there was an article announcing free radon kits available to all residents serviced by the Bernards Township Health Department (Chester, Mendham, Long Hill, Bernardsville and Peapack-Gladstone).  This is great information and I couldn’t wait to share it with my blog-friends.  However, there are two fundamental crazy things about this particular article.  The kits are not free, they cost $10.00 and they are only available until the end of January, which means you need to get your kit before 4:00 TOMORROW….. go figure.  Anywho – here’s the information:

January is National Radon Action Month and the Bernards township health department is offering home radon kits during the month January.  If you are interested in having your home tested, visit the health department at 262 South Finley Avenue between 9:00 and 4:00 – through tomorrow. 

Bernards Township Public service announcement over. 

What is radon?  Radon is a colorless, odorless, tasteless radioactive gas that comes from the decay of naturally occuring urnanium in the soil.  It is actually quite common in our area and most buyers test for it during the inspection period of the transaction.  A seller has an obligation to remediate of the results are 4.0 picocuries or greater.  It is actually very easy to remediate.  A pipe is installed in the basement – under the foundation – and snaked above the roofline.  A fan creates a vaccuum that pulls the radon out and disperses it into the air where it is diluted to a point where it is no longer harmful.  For a 3200 square foot house it typically costs about $1100.

If you are considering a move into or out of Basking Ridge, please contact me for a buyer consultation or a market analysis of your current Basking Ridge home.  Visit my site to search Basking Ridge Real homes for sale – whether you are looking for a condo, a single family home or a luxury property.  I’m happy to help!

Tweet This Post

You are invited to a free Home Buyer Seminar Saturday, January 23rd at 11:00 in my office at 22 Henry Street in Basking Ridge. I will be there along with other real estate professionals, including my broker, our mortgage representative and a real estate attorney. We’ll address local market conditions and buyer incentives, including the Federal Tax Credit as well as current mortgage products. 

If you want to get ahead of the game, click here to search homes for sale in Basking Ridge as well as all other areas covered by the Garden State MLS.   Space may be limited, so please RSVP today by calling me directly at 908-432-0318 or emailing me at jennifer@jenniferblanchard.com. Please let me know how many will attend and if you have can stay after the seminar or come back on Sunday to get started!

Tweet This Post