Archive for the ‘Real Estate Transaction Process’ Category

On Friday, July 2, President Obama signed two important pieces of legislation into law to help homebuyers.

The first one extends the closing deadline for the homebuyer tax credit until September 30, 2010, for any transactions that had ratified contracts in place as of April 30, 2010, but did not close by the June 30, 2010, deadline. The legislation creates a seamless extension, and therefore, there will be no gap between June 30 and the date the President signed the bill into law.

Due to the high volume of home sale transactions that needed to be closed by June 30, there were up to 180,000 homebuyers who were eligible for the tax credit, but were unable to close before the deadline. The extension will enable the majority of these home sales to close, and for the buyers to receive the tax credit.

In addition, the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides flood insurance to homeowners in participating communities in flood-prone areas who could not otherwise obtain coverage due to cost or ineligibility, was also extended until September 30, 2010. As a result, buyers in these areas can now obtain mortgages and transactions can move forward. This bill is retroactive and covers the lapse period from June 1, 2010, to the date of enactment of the extension.

In local news – 20 Old Coach Road closed last week for $850,000.   There were 39 closings during the last 10 days of June, 34 of these were under $800,000 and therefore likely qualified for the tax credit.  There were 20 contract sales – proving (to me anyway) that the market in Basking Ridge is still moving!  Inventory levels are under 5 months – a relatively balanced market.  If you are considering a move into or out of Basking Ridge, I’m happy to help.  Start with a search for available townhouse or condos or single family homes - you can search by price range.

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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

This month’s seminar is scheduled for Saturday, June 19th at 11am.

Can’t make it?  That’s okay, you can still get started by searching available homes in Basking Ridge.  I can also send you listing alerts – monitor the market directly from your inbox!

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There were seven closings here in Basking Ridge during the first week of June:

47 Baldwin Court, Society Hill condo, List price $265,000, Sale Price $256,000
8 Countryside Drive, Countryside Manor townhouse, List price $349,900, Sale price $335,000
30 Peachtree Road, Homestead Village, List price $649,000, Sale price $588,000
146 Patriot Hill Drive, townhouse, List price $649,000, Sale price $630,000
7 Goltra Drive, List price $705,000, Sale price $680,000
323 Old Army Road, List price $1,100,000, Sale price $1,250,000
42 Old Farm Road, List price $1,395,000, Sale price $1,300,000

There have been 38 contract sales in the last 30 days and there are currently 231 homes available in Basking Ridge.  This calculates to an inventory level of six months which is a relatively balanced market.

I am finding that home sale contingencies are becoming more popular; in fact, I have been involved in several recently.  Each deal is structured a little differently, but essentially allows for the same thing:  a purchaser who intends to use the proceeds from the sale of their home to complete their purchase.  This is a classic problem for most move-up buyers and many downsizers.  As we have worked our way through this challenging market, more sellers are willing to consider contracts that are contingent upon the sale of the purhcasers current residence.  However, a property is considered to be Under Contract when Attorney Review has been completed per the attorneys involved, and the real estate commission requires that this status be fully disclsosed to all parties viewing the property.  In the past, this meant that the listing status had to be changed to UC (under contract) and the listing was removed from the public eye – essentially defeating the purpose of the “continue to show” clause.  The MLS has created a new status to accomodate this scenario.  It is called “US” and instead of UC for under contract.  This new status does NOT remove the listing from third party sites – it still stays active and can easily be shown until all contingencies are met.

In other news – don’t miss the Liberty Corner Fire Company’s 8th Annual Comedy Night on Saturday evening, June 5, 2010 in the ballroom of the firehouse at 95 Church Street at 8:00 (wine and beer bar opens at 7:00).  Tickets can be purchased at the door for $45 – attendees must be 21 or older.

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Contrary to reports and newspaper articles circulating widely on the Internet, there is not a 4 percent sales tax or transfer tax on the sale of a home included in the recently signed health care reform bill.

This myth has been invalidated by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and other experts who are knowledgeable about what is included in the heath care reform bill.

NAR is working to spread the word that there is no truth to this rumor. To read their statement, please click here.

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When I first decided to get into the business, the agent who sold me my home said, “don’t even tell me you want to be an agent because ‘you love to look at houses’, because that gets old real fast!” She was right, it does – but luckily that’s not why I decided to become a Realtor.  I love the challenges the business presents – from winning the business to solving the problems, to strategically negotiating the best deals for both my seller and buyer clients.  It is definitely fun to be involved in a really big part of someone’s world – buying and selling homes often goes hand in hand with many of life’s big changes: retirement, marriage, new babies – it’s all very exciting!                                       

And it can be very Stressful!

Over the last few months, I have been part of several. very. stressful. transactions.  If you are in the middle of a dicey sale or a stressful purchase remember that you are not alone.  Really – all the agents, attorneys and home inspectors are talking about it – every deal has had some sort of hiccup along the way.  If you are reading this and feeling lucky that your deal went smoothly, then hats off to you and your agent and all the other parties involved because the easy deals have been few and far between. 

This isn’t a post to moan or complain about my job – I really do love it – I just want to remind you to keep your eye on the ball…at the end of the day you will be in your new home starting a new chapter in your life.  Just remember the sellers don’t come with the house and you will be gone before the buyers move in!

Contact me if you have questions about the transaction process, I can help!

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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.

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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.

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I spent an inordinate amount of time this past week on a potential deal for one of my listings.  We had seven offers on the table – yes, SEVEN, in this supposedly dead real estate market (more on that later as this market is certainly not dead!).  The subject of my commission came up several times – my seller and more than one of the bidders asked us to reduce our commission in order to pull the deal together.  I can’t let that go without some sort of comment … I have two messages:

1. To the Buyers, commission is between the seller and the listing agent, you cannot change that and if your agent wants to reduce his or her commission to make your offer stronger, he or she needs to present a letter from their managing broker agreeing to that fact before I will let my seller sign the contract. 
2. To the Sellers, you signed a listing agreement giving me and Weichert Realtors the exclusive right to sell your property and you agreed upon a commission rate at the time that you signed that contract – please don’t ask me to address my commission again when we are negotiating a contract. 

Take a look at my current article over at the Basking Ridge Patch, it addresses real estate relationships in the state of New Jersey.  It is important to understand the difference between Buyer’s Agents, Seller’s agents and Disclosued Dual Agents.  You won’t necessarily get a better deal as a buyer if you work with directly with the listing agent; and as a seller, if your agent brings the buyer,  he or she immediately becomes a disclosed dual agent and you will not have the upper hand in the transaction.

If you have any questions about agency relationships please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.

Considering a move into or out of Basking Ridge?  It’s a great time to make a move – buyers and sellers alike.  The market is moving in Basking Ridge; showing activity is up on most of my listings and as I said earlier, I am even entertaining multiple offers in some instances.  I can set you up for listing alerts in Basking Ridge or you can search Basking Ridge homes or townhomes yourself.

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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.

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I had another closing this past week – on Friday.  A few things to remember for your next closing: if at all possible, don’t schedule it on a Friday afternoon.  Don’t schedule it on the last day of your rate lock and don’t schedule it on the last business day of the month.  And whatever you do, don’t schedule it on a day that meets all three put together – especially if you are first time home buyers who are already a little anxious about the whole process! 

My client’s lender entered an incorrect code on the paperwork and all the loan documents arrived at the attorney’s office on letterhead from a bank different from the bank that wired the money!  It all had to go back and be redone – and then there was trouble with the email so the package didn’t arrive, the seller’s attorney was waiting, the seller lived in NYC and needed to get on a train.  Tensions were mounting!

Alas – all documents were finally faxed by 4:30, the seller arrived at 4:45 and we were all on our way by 5:15.  First time home buyers with house keys in their hands and smiles on their faces!

Phew!

Please allow me to help you be as happy as my latest new homeowners are today!  Visit my website to search homes for sale in Basking Ridge or in Bedminster; contact me directly if you are interested in any other areas – i can help there too!

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