If you are seeing this message you have accessed my website via an older link. Visit the new Basking Ridge Real Estate website here.
The Bernards Township Health Department, located at 262 South Finley Avenue and servicing Basking Ridge, Bernardsville, Chester, Long Hill Mendham and Peapack-Gladstone, is offering radon kits for $10.00. January is Radon Action Month. Radon is a clear, odorless gas that occurs naturally in soil. There is only one known health effect – and that is the risk of developing lung cancer. This is very scary, especially because radon is very common in our area.
It is always recommend that a buyer test for this gas during their home inspection. If the levels of Radon are greater than 4.0 picocuries the seller of the house has an obligation to remediate.
The remediation process involves installing a fan in the attic that is attached to a pipe that pulls air from below the foundation and sends it out over the roof-line. These systems are essentially fool-proof and bring the levels in to acceptable range – I’ve never seen that not happen.
Once the levels are down, the risks are gone!
On a lighter note – the headline on the article in the Bernardsville News says, “Radon KIDS available in Bernards”. I just thought that was funny. Especially because the last time they ran this article was in 2010 and they didn’t get it right then either! ”Free Radon Kits available in Basking Ridge”
Have any questions about the real estate transaction process? I am happy to help, click here to contact me directly.
=================================================================================
Get Basking Ridge Listing alerts in email; Basking Ridge Home Value; Basking Ridge Townhouses for Sale
Basking Ridge Condos for Sale; Basking Ridge Homes for Sale
Basking Ridge Real Estate – Questions and Answers
Submit questions here, I will do my best to answer them here on the blog or via email.
Q. If my house is listed with a realtor and someone calls me directly and I show them the house and they make an offer, do I have to pay the commission?
A. The short answer is Yes. Probably not what you want to hear, but it’s in the listing agreement. Paragraph 2 of the listing agreement used by all brokers listing in the Garden State MLS states the following: “GRANT OF EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO SELL, LEASE, EXCHANGE OR OTHERWISE TRANSFER AND TO MULTIPLE LIST PROPERTY. In consideration of the Listing Broker listing and endeavoring to find Buyers/Tenants for the Property at the Listing Price, the OWNER, (or their legally authorized representative) grants the Listing Broker the exclusive right to sell, lease, exchange or otherwise transfer the Property, at the Listing Price and on the terms as stated in this Agreement, or upon such other Price and/or terms as may be acceptable to the Owner. The Listing Broker is directed by the Owner to list the Property with the SERVICE and to distribute this listing to Service participants.”
This basically means that the broker is due a commission regardless of who introducest the property to the buyer. It is very likely that the buyer knew of the availability of the property due to your agent’s marketing efforts.
The other pertinent paragraph is number 11. “REFERRING INTERESTED BUYERS TO BROKER/NEGOTIATIONS THROUGH LISTING BROKER. The Owner shall refer to the Listing Broker every prospective Buyer/Tenant who contacts the Owner during the term of this Agreement. The Owner directs that all negotiations for the purchase or lease of the Property shall be conducted through the Listing Broker.”
This really is in your best interest – as a REALTOR® and an unbiased third party, I am less likely to say something that might hurt your negotiation. Seemingly innocent interactions between a seller and a potential buyer can muddy the waters. There are some things that are better left unsaid – I’m not talking about hiding material information, I’m referring to things like where you are moving, why you are moving, when you are moving, etc.
=================================================================================
Get Basking Ridge Listing alerts in email; Basking Ridge Home Value; Basking Ridge Townhouses for Sale; Basking Ridge Condos for Sale; Basking Ridge Homes for Sale
Contact Jennifer Blanchard
What happens first, what can wait for what? Appraisals, inspections, second deposits, oh my!!
Here’s how it goes: you make an offer, accompanied by a $1000 good faith initial deposit. Your Realtor will likely hold this check until the offer is negotiated and you will get it back if the deal doesn’t get agreed on. Your Realtor cannot hold a check for more than five days – so if it takes longer than that to negotiate, it might be deposited into the escrow account and will be returned to you if the purchase agreement is not executed.
Negotiate the contract, sign the contract.
Congratulations!
You have three days to get the executed contract to an attorney in order to start attorney review. The duration of attorney review varies based on the availability of all parties to discuss the contract, make and agree to changes.
Once attorney review is completed you will schedule the inspection and apply for your mortgage. These two things happen concurrently. This is an important point to make – you cannot wait for the inspection contingency to be satisfied before you apply for your loan. This means that you can’t hold off on ordering the appraisal either. If you wait too long to order the appraisal because you don’t want to spend the money you run the risk of missing your mortgage commitment date because you can’t predict what sort of issues might come up and you need to leave time to resolve them. Losing the money you spent on the appraisal is a risk you have to take in order to continue the process in good faith.
Your second deposit will also likely be due before the inspection contingency is cleared – you can’t wait to write that check; you have to write it when it’s due; you will receive your deposit monies back if the deal falls apart over inspection items (as long as your contract allows for that).
It bears repeating — Ordering the appraisal and submitting the second deposit are NOT intended to be contingent upon successful negotiation of the inspection items. Doing so may derail your purchase…..
I have had two deals in the last two months that almost fell apart because the buyers held off on making their deposit and ordering their appraisal until they were confident that inspection issues were resolved. In one case we were having issues with repair requests – tempers were flaring and both parties were upset with the way things were going…having held back on the deposit led the sellers to believe that the buyers were not serious about the transaction and in turn that made them not want to work on the repairs… In the other scenario, the buyers didn’t want to spend the money on the appraisal until they had resolution on some of the inspection issues (which, by the way, ended up being non-issues, but that’s for another post). Unfortunately, their appraisal came back with a glitch that in ten years neither I nor the buyers agent had ever encountered before! More than likely this glitch will be resolved but as a result it is holding the sellers up from making their next purchase. If the appraisal had been ordered when it was supposed to be, there would have been plenty of time to resolve this issue.
Keep your deal on track…. it’s the right thing to do.
==================================================================================
Search for Basking Ridge homes for sale.
Search Basking Ridge townhouses for sale.
Search Bedminster homes for sale.
See what has sold in Basking Ridge.
A new study by Yahoo! Real Estate shows that people still value homeownership. In fact, 81 percent of the current and prospective homeowners surveyed said that owning a home is still a part of the American dream. In addition, buyers are now more confident that their dream home is within reach due to today’s low mortgage rates and affordable home prices. Of those surveyed, 72 percent said they already live in their dream home, or will own it someday.
Additional findings from the Yahoo! Real Estate Home Horizons study include:
- Half of all respondents are looking for “green” or energy-efficient features in their dream home, as they aspire to reduce their carbon footprint. This was the most popularly cited feature.
- 57 percent of respondents said they were very satisfied with where they live, while 35 percent were somewhat satisfied and 8 percent were unsatisfied.
- When asked why they want to move, 45 percent of buyers said they want to live in a larger space. Other popular reasons were a desire to live in a home that better suited their lifestyle (42 percent) and to live in a better neighborhood (30 percent).
Based on the results of the study, Yahoo! Real Estate expects 2012 to be the year in which demand for green homes, energy-efficient appliances and lowcarbon impact home building materials really take off. Are you ready for the
change?
================================================================================
Search for Basking Ridge homes for sale.
Search Basking Ridge townhouses for sale.
Search Bedminster homes for sale.
See what has sold in Basking Ridge
This is a repeat of an old post – - because, well, because it’s come up again. Twice for me in recent transactions: M O L D has reared it’s ugly head. This disappoints buyers and often blindsides sellers.
The inspection part of any real estate transaction can be very stressful. It is hard enough for many sellers to have people traipsing through their homes, then (especially in today’s market), negotiating a price which is probably lower than they wanted and finally, having a home inpsector examine every nook and cranny and producing what is most often a very lengthy report. There are several inspection issue which as a seller you really need to remediate – regardless of cost, because if you don’t do it for this buyer, you will have to do it for the next buyer. Structural issues and hazardous situations fall into this category.
So does Mold. Mold sneaks up on you, most of my clients who had mold had no idea that it was in their home. In two of the homes it was in the attic, in the three others it was in the basement. Sometimes it is obvious once you know it’s there but at least in one case it was still hard to see even after the mold expert pointed it out.
As a seller you really don’t have a choice but to clean up mold that is found in your home.
Dan Harkins from NJ Mold recommends that every house in NJ should have a dehumidifier in it – period, end of discussion. If you don’t have one, go get one! They make them bucketless now! You can have it drain right into the slop sink or the sump pump pit (but NOT in your sewer drain – that’s against the rules!). They also make them specific for crawlspaces. This small thing may save you from a big expense when you decide it’s time to sell your home.
If you have a question about a home inspection issue, feel free to contact me directly and I will see what I can do!
================================================================================
Search for Basking Ridge homes for sale.
Search Basking Ridge townhouses for sale.
Search Bedminster homes for sale.
See what has sold in Basking Ridge
This morning my latest article was posted over at Basking Ridge Patch. I think the key points are the bullets in the middle of the article – it’s not easy to sell a house in today’s market. I do whatever I can to increase the chances that your home will sell but I need some help… so, take a minute to review the points and then click here so I can help you determine the value of your home in today’s market.
- Price your house right. Houses that are priced right sell within 30 days. In August, I wrote about the Multiple Listing Search research I did to support that statement. I still believe it’s true. And buyers need to realize that a house that’s priced right will sell. It might even spark competition among potential buyers — even in today’s market and especially in a desirable neighborhood such as Basking Ridge.
- Ensure that first impressions are perfect. This is critical — it’s critical that your photos are perfect and show a realistic picture of the home. And it’s critical that whatever the buyer sees first when he or she walks into the home, or even drives up the driveway and walks up the walk, there isn’t something that might cause a buyer to stop and think, “Hey, what else is wrong?” A buyer makes a decision to consider a home (not whether to buy it, but whether it makes the potential list at all) within the first few minutes of being there. Make that first impression count.
- Be flexible with showings. Don’t make it hard for a buyer to see your home. I understand that you still live there and that it’s hard to keep it neat and to skedaddle at the whim of every buyer…but you never know who is going to be “the one.”
- Keep the house clean and clutter free. And make sure it smells nice and is brightly lit. Some buyers can see past these things — but why take the chance?
- Neutralize décor. Remember, you are selling a house that will be someone’s home. You want to keep the pool of potential buyers as large as possible. Why allow the right buyer to rule out your home because they don’t like the wallpaper?
The hardest thing to do is to step out of your role of homeowner and put yourself into the role of the buyer. Walk through your house as if you don’t live there.
Try to think about it this way – you aren’t selling your home, you are selling a house that is going to be someone else’s home. I do not subscribe to the theory that you have to remove all personal belongings. I don’t like to show homes that are completely sterile, but I do believe that people need to be able to see themselves in the home! And that might mean that you need to change some things in ways that you won’t be comfortable with.
Contact me, I will try to make it easy!
I have been dealing with some interesting inspection issues… home inspectors are making me crazy!
In one instance, a hot water heater had been called out as follows: ”An orphaned water heater is vented into an exterior masonry flue. Backdrafting was noted at the top of the water heater as evidenced by the melted plastic caps. The chimney flue appears to be oversized for venting the water heater only.”
I have no idea what this means – I have never heard of an “orphaned water heater”. The hot water heater in question is only two years old and was installed by a professional WITH township permits.
The plumber that came to the house to “fix” it told us that there is nothing wrong with it and that
he has spent the last six months answering calls originating from nutty home inspectors!
Another issue I’ve had twice this year had to do with questionable chimneys – Chimney issues are never good; they are hard to diagnose and every time I have a chimney issue there is a major discrepancy between the reports obtained by the buyer and the seller. For one particular chimney, the buyer had a level II inspection and the report estimated repairs to be between $17,000 and $22,000… YIKES! To read the report, you would think the chimney was about ready to fall off and take the house down with it! The seller hired two separate certified chimney contractors; they shared the level II report and asked for repair recommendations and estimates. Both contractors agreed that the chimney needed significant repairs but refuted the point that it was in structural failure. he two estimates: one under $2,000 and one just over $6,500.
The seller, recognizing the nature of today’s market, offered $10,000 toward chimney repairs.
Last week I wrote about pre-listing inspections – I’m not sure either of these scenarios would have been prevented by doing a pre-listing inspection. I’ll have to think about that one.
I had a listing inspected this afternoon – when I checked in with the buyer’s agent, he told me “so far so good, nothing major”… let’s hope the buyer feels the same way!
Find your next home…
Before you can do an inspection, you need to find the house! Search for Basking Ridge townhouses, condos or do a single family home search in all price ranges.
You’ve negotiated the contract, you’ve done the inspection, you’ve sent the mortgage company all the papers they have asked for – and then some more! The appraisal is done, the utility companies have been called, the boxes are packed and most likely already loaded on a truck! What’s next?
The Final Walk-Through
Before you close on a real estate purchase, you will need to do a final walk-through of the home. This is your opportunity to make sure that all of the terms of your contract have been met and that the home is in the same condition as when you agreed to purchase it.
In advance of the walk-through, review your purchase contract to remind yourself of the items that are to be left in the house and any other details. Here are some of the things you should look for:
• Be sure that any items that were to remain in the house are still there and are in good working condition. This includes appliances, light fixtures, curtains, screens and/or storm windows, and garage door remotes.
• Check to see that any repairs that were required of the seller were completed or that there is a written timeframe for when they will be done.
• Look for any damage that may have occurred to floors or walls during the seller’s move. With the house empty, check to see if there is any water damage that was covered by rugs, furniture or artwork.
• Turn on all major systems, such as air conditioning, heat and plumbing, to make sure they are still in working order.
Taking a few extra minutes and bringing your “eagle eyes” to the walk-through will go a long way toward protecting your new investment.
Time for the final walk-through before closing on your new home
Something to consider is when to do the walk-through; I will often have buyers – whether mine or someone else’s – ask if they can do the walk-through the day before or the weekend before closing. Remember that the walk through is an opportunity to make sure that the property is as you expect it, NOT a time for you to choose paint colors, take measurements or move in some stuff. What happens if you do the walk-through on Monday morning when you plan to close on Tuesday afternoon and there is a storm on Monday night. You don’t go back to the house until after you close… you get there and a tree has fallen across the driveway… or the basement is full of water… Don’t you want to find that out BEFORE you own the house? Do the walk-through on the way to your attorney’s office.
Basking Ridge Real Estate Market Update
Two properties have gone under contract this week and it’s only Tuesday! There’s been one new listing – and there haven’t been any closings … yet! Market absorption is 6.9 months.
Hoping to get to a final walk through one of these days soon? I can help you find your next home in Basking Ridge.