Archive for the ‘General real estate information’ Category

As people become more conscious of the environment and aim to reduce their carbon footprint, there is a new premium on products and features that promote energy efficiency. Real estate is no exception, and today’s homeowners are taking steps to “go green” as a way to cut costs and to make their home more desirable to buyers.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, going green can cut your bills by up to 25 percent. You can achieve these savings by jumping on one or more of the following green home trends:

• Choose environmentally friendly LED lighting, which gives off the same light as regular bulbs, but lasts 50 times longer.
• Low flush toilets use one or two gallons of water per flush, compared to three to five gallons for a typical toilet.
• Purchase appliances marked with the ENERGY STAR label. This designation means that they meet the strict energy-efficiency guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.

A few small things can help you save money, protect the environment and make your home more attractive when you decide to sell it.

In other news – open house traffic has seen a change since this time last year. 

Open House Traffic On the Rise

Homebuyers seem to be responding to the attractive home prices and historically low interest rates that make the current housing market one of the most affordable in decades. For the weekend of July 31 – August 1, attendance at Weichert Open Houses was up 6 percent compared to the same weekend in 2009. In addition, the average number of attendees at each Weichert Open House was 17 percent greater than last year.  The bottome line is that…..

…..Buyers are out there!

So, if you are considering a move into or out of Bedminster, NJ, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly so we can talk about the market here in town.

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.

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!

72 Birchwood Rd, Birchwood/$248,800/$252,000
21 Knollcrest Rd, Knollcrest/$459,000/$430,000
234 Long Meadow Rd, Long Meadow/$369,900/$352,000
72 Dogwood Ln, Edgewood/$529,900/$517,500
403 Cardinal Ln, Long Meadow/$333,000/$315,000
49 Encampment Dr, Crestmont/$259,000/$220,500
53 Bentley Ct, Crestmont/$339,000/$331,750
9 Danbury Ct, Crestmont/$350,000/$335,000
705 Timberbrooke Dr, Timberbooke/$510,000/$512,000
72 Academy Ct, Crestmont/$299,900/$295,000
5 Pheasant Brook Ct, Wood Duck Pond/$325,000/$316,500
24 Stevens Court, Signal Point/$286,900/$280,000
40 High Pond Ln, Wood Duck Pond/$298,888/$295,000
7 Heatherwood Ln, Four Oaks/$400,000/$390,000
111 Autumn Ridge Road, Autumn Ridge $619,000/$575,000

Are you considering a move into or out of the area?  Search for available Bedminster homes and mark your calendars for our next home buyer/seller seminar which will be held at the Weichert office in Basking Ridge on Saturday, May 22nd.

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.

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 Bedminster, NJ?  It’s a great time to make a move – buyers and sellers alike.  The market is moving in Bedminster, 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 Bedminster or you can search Bedminster homes, luxury homes or townhomes yourself.

The statistics in this article pertain to neighboring Basking Ridge (Bedminster stats are on the home page of the Bedminster Real Estate website) but the tips for getting on the market and showing your home through the winter are applicable no matter which town you live in.  So head on over to the Basking Ridge Patch and check out my latest article.

If you are considering a move into or out of Bedminster, NJ, check out what’s for sale there or request a custom market analysis.

It might have been a snow day for some, but I was busy listing another home!  This property is a vintage colonial in the heart of Liberty Corner.  It features chestnut molding and pine floors - a walk up attic with plenty of space for storage.  It has been wonderfully maintained and features many current amenities, including a new roof (2004), a gas fired cast iron stove in the family room addition and finished 12×20 shed in the back yard.  The yard is just under an acre and backs to Liberty Corner’s English Farm.  I will be hosting an open house this weekend, Sunday, February 14th from 12:00-4:00, stop by for a visit, view this wonderful home and we can discuss what’s happening in the local market.

If you are considering a move into or out of Bedminster, Basking Ridge or any of the surrounding areas, please contact me directly – selling homes is what I do best!

The real estate market continues to show improvement as mortgage rates remain at historic lows and consumers respond to the tax credits for first-time and repeat buyers. In fact, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) just announced that its Pending Home Sales Index rose 1 percent from November.

A forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in December, the index is now 10 percent above December 2008. What’s more, December activity was the fifth highest monthly tally in two years. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not yet closed. Because sales usually are finalized within one or two months of signing the contract, this improvement should result in higher home sales in the coming months.

According to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, existing home sales are projected to rise to around 5.6 million in 2010, an 8.5 percent increase over 2009. As sales rise and inventory levels decline, housing wealth for many middle class families will stabilize.

I posted this about six months ago on my Basking Ridge Real Estate Blog.  In the last few days, I’ve had several inquiries that caused me to go back to that post.  So I thought I would copy it over here.

I recently attended a Weichert sales meeting at which a local real estate attorney was a guest speaker.  He was there to help us help our clients navigate through short sales.  He is one of the only attorneys that I know of who has a dedicated staff member to communicate with the banks and keep on top of each transaction as it works its way through the myriad of steps at each bank.

If you are in a position where you think foreclosure is the only way out – please contact me first – I can put you in touch with the right resources to help you make that decision.  A short sale may be right for you instead. 

(According to Wikipedia, a short sale is a sale of real estate in which the sale proceeds fall short of the balance owed on the property’s loan. It often occurs when a borrower cannot pay the mortgage loan on their property, but the lender decides that selling the property at a moderate loss is better than pressing the borrower.)

If a short sale is for you, it is imperative to get the house on the market as soon as possible since the first thing on the following list is an exectued contract of sale!

To move forward with an attorney’s support for a short sale, you will need to have the following documents:

• Copy of fully executed contract.  Don’t worry if the negotiated sale price is lower than the amount of your mortgage.
• Hardship Letter.  This is written by you, detailing the hardship you are facing in keeping up with your mortgage payments
• Copy of the last two years tax returns
• Copy of the last three months pay stubs
• Copy of the lat two months of bank statements
• Written authorization for your attorney to contact the bank and negotiate the short sale
• HUD-1 Statement (the attorney will prepare this)
• Copy of the last two months mortgage statements (for the first and second loan if applicable)
• Copy of the listing agreement
• Complete list of all debts including monthly expenses
• Copy of your 401k and retirement plan(s) statements
• Market analysis prepared by your realtor
• Commission bills provided by your realtor for both the buyer and seller agent
• Back title: includes your deed, the survey and your title insurance policy

The sooner you have all of this information compiled and sent to your attorney, the better. If you want to contact the bank before hiring an attorney you can do that too – the department you want to contact is Loss Mitigation.  I strongly recommend using an attorney with EXPERIENCE in this process – there are lots of phone calls required, things move very slowly and then all of a sudden very quickly.  It is often difficult to stay on top of where things are in the process.  Except for the initial fee, I believe the balance of of the attorney fees as well as the real estate commission will be calculated into the total debt that will be resolved by the short sale.

Information on this post was provided by Rafael J. Betancourt of Triarsi, Betancourt, Walsh & Wukovits, LLC a law firm in Cranford, NJ.

If you are considering a short sale, an estimate of your home’s value in today’s market might help you finalize that decision (you can use this link for a home any area, not just Bedminster).  This information, along with your mortgage history will help you determine the best course of action.