Title

Archive for the 'Real Estate' Category

Mortgage rates are at their all time lows!!!

Steve Lupton Loan Officer ISB Mortgage 908-591-4235 steve.l@comcast.net

Steve Lupton sent this email to our office on Friday:

CNBC and Bankrate.com just reported that home loan rates are at their all time lows. Yes, all time lows! This is great news for anyone in New Jersey who has yet to refinance to take advantage of the lowest rates ever recorded, or to purchase that new home or investment property more affordably than ever before.Both 30 Year and 15 Year Fixed Rates clipped down to their lowest levels. All this is incredible as just months ago, many experts had anticipated that rates would be well above 5% this summer and on their way to 6% by year end.  Read the rest of this entry »

Important Mortgage News for anyone considering buying or selling a New Jersey home

Don’t buy that furniture and flat screen TV just yet if you’ve recently applied for a mortgage.

Beginning June 1st most lenders in New Jersey will be ordering a second full credit screening just prior to closing. This last minute screening is designed to determine whether you’ve incurred any additional debt between the date of your loan application and loan closing. If additional debt, or even application for new debt, is discovered you may experience a delay, or a hold on your loan closing. We’re talking about debt of any kind, a new credit card, line of credit, appliances, furnishings, TV’s, automobiles etc. For many borrowers it’s difficult to fight the urge to shop for all the things needed for the new home. You go to Best Buy or Home Depot and it’s difficult to pass up 0.00% financing with 2 years of deferred payments. If you take on new debt large enough to exceed the original debt to income ratio, or there are recent inquiries in to your credit, your deal could unravel just before the finish line. Read the rest of this entry »

Multiple Offers are back on NJ homes, but Sellers, the game is not the same.

 

As many predicted, with rates on the rise, pent up demand, and the tax credit deadline approaching, NJ real estate market activity this spring has really picked up along the Midtown Direct Trainline towns, and it has once again become the norm to see multiple offers on homes that are priced well and in great locations

The difference is some buyers initially dont believe it. Then once  they lose a house or two in a multiple bid situation, and later become  the winning bidder who paid above asking price ,  they may try to negotiate the price back down during inspections or from low appraisals.  

The smartest thing a listing agent can do while weighing multiple offers, in my opinion, is to try to bulletproof the transaction right then and have the buyer agree that the inspection is for major defects only and that anything disclosed in the Seller Property Disclosure Statement is NOT  an inspection item, because the offer price should take those disclosed items into account.

Read the rest of this entry »

NJ’s Midtown Direct Towns housing recovery keeps on rolling!

NJ Inventory of Unsold Homes ( courtesy of Jeffrey Otteau) 

The home sales in  our Midtown Direct Town geographic area ( Millburn, Short Hills, Maplewood, South Orange, Summit, Chatham, Madison, New Providence, Livingston, and beyond), are seeing an improvement in home sales for the 10th straight month. There were so many buyers sitting on the sidelines for such a long time, and now the pent up demand from the “fence sitters” over the past few years,  the low interest rates ( and the threat of them rising),  has brought buyers back into the game.   Inventory has still been relatively low so when a nice house in a nice neighborhood is priced well, you can count on multiple offers…. really in any price range, but primarily in the under $1,300,000 range in Short Hills,Summit, Chatham and Livingston, and the under $850,000 range in Maplewood,  South Orange, Berkeley Heights and New Providence.  Read the rest of this entry »

For Some NJ Home Buyers, It’s Chatham or Nothing

 

For Some Buyers, It’s Chatham or nothing at all. Ranked as the 2nd best place to live in NJ by New Jersey Monthly Magazine 2010, and one of the top 10 places to live in the United States by Money Magazine in 2005, Chatham Township is known for its beautiful homes, tree-lined streets, a bucolic setting and only a 43 minute commute to New York City on the Midtown Direct. 

That’s why, after many home owners live  in Chatham, they simply won’t move anywhere else. They tell me it’s like “no other town.” Everybody knows everybody and they all seem to be on the street when I’m showing a house. Playing lacrosse in the yard, walking with their kids to a soccer game and let’s not forget the two golden retrievers that are always in tow. Did I stage this? You would think I did.  Read the rest of this entry »

Low Inventory brings opportunity for Sellers in the Midtown Direct Town Real Estate Market

The inventory along the NJ midtown direct trainline towns is the lowest I’ve seen in years, so I am playing “Matchmaker” and writing this post on behalf of the Sue Adler Team’s buyers who have seen everything currently on the market and are waiting for their perfect home to appear!

The charts below ( Click Chart To Page Through To Each Town) show you the active inventory and under contracts in Millburn/Short Hills, S.Orange, Maplewood, Livingston, Summit and The Chathams.

We pulled each quarter over the past year. As you can see, homes are selling … buyers are no longer on the sidelines, but there aren’t as many to choose from. What this shows, and what we , as realtors are experiencing, is that the nice, well priced houses are selling right away. If you are curious to know your home’s value in today’s market or would like to consult to see if this is the right time for you to sell,  just give me a call (973)464-9129   Read the rest of this entry »

Where are all the houses for sale in our NJ Midtown Direct Towns?

 

After a year or more of waiting and watching the New Jersey real estate market,  many homebuyers in our trainline towns of Summit, Millburn, Short Hills, Maplewood, and Chatham,  are ready to buy a home, hoping to take advantage of depressed prices, low interest rates, and a federal tax credit that expires this summer. But many would-be buyers are facing an unexpected concern; not enough homes for sale and high demand for many that are available. Properties below $700,000 are hardest to find; and the most desirable of those, in good condition and reasonably priced, are generating multiple bids within days of going on the market.

What we have is the “perfect storm, increased demand and decreased supply.”

But now that many buyers seem to be gaining confidence in the market, homes are in short supply, because homeowners who don’t need to move are waiting for the market to turn and drive up prices. Read the rest of this entry »

New Jersey’s “Midtown Direct” area home buyers are now back in the game.

For home buyers in New Jersey’s Midtown Direct towns (Maplewood, South Orange, Millburn, Short Hills, Summit, Chatham, Madison, Livingston, West Orange) the time has come.

Interest rates  continue to be at records lows. First time home buyers, I get it, you were in high school when rates were in the double digits, trust me they REALLY were that high!!! 5% is a GREAT place to be.

Today, in this market, at these prices, great homes (the ones you all want) are selling like hotcakes! In the fall we were seeing buyers  sit on the sidelines and wait for the market to “maybe” go even lower, and now the shift the past few weeks is that buyers are realizing that homes are selling instantly when they are priced right. Read the rest of this entry »

Important news for New Jersey Home buyers… Big FHA mortgage changes soon to be in effect.

There were big changes announced by FHA this week, aimed at strengthening their capital reserves and at minimizing risk…..

1. Effective April 5, 2010, the up front Mortgage insurance premium (MIP) will be increased by 50 bps to 2.25% (from the current level of 1.75%.)

2. FHA plans to request legislative authority to increase the maximum annual MIP.
If this authority is granted, then the second step will be to shift some of the premium increase from the up-front MIP to the annual MIP.
This shift will allow for the capital reserves to increase with less impact to the consumer, because the annual MIP is paid over the life of the loan instead of at the time of closing.

3. New borrowers will now be required to have a minimum FICO score of 580 to qualify for FHA’s 3.5% down payment program. New borrowers with less than a 580 FICO score will be required to put down at least 10%.

4. Reduce allowable seller concessions from 6% to 3%.
This change will bring FHA into conformity with industry standards on seller concessions. and will minimize incentives to inflate appraised value.

 
I personally think this is great. Appraisals will no longer be such an issue from large seller concessions,  and if a borrower’s FICO score requires them to put 10% down, that is actually protection for the buyer if the market drops further or even if the market stays flat and the buyer needs to sell within a year or two.  Your thoughts?

Sue Adler Team finishes #1 in homes sold for NJ Midtown Direct train line towns in 2009

 

A huge  thank you to my clients and friends! Because of your business and referrals, in 2009 The Sue Adler Team:

* Sold more homes than ANY other full service  agents in our Midtown Direct Towns in the worst market ever. (according to GSMLS stats)
 
* Placed #1 in the entire Keller Williams New York Region (NJ, NY, CT) for the 5th year in a row.

Update on our market: 

Inventory is quite low right now, and buyers are very frustrated with the lack of nice homes on the market, so if you’re thinking of selling, you may have a great opportunity – call me for a consultation so we can discuss if this is the right time for you – (973)464-9129.

Last week I had the honor of speaking at The Inman Connect Real Estate Conference at the  NYC Marriot Marquis, where all of the biggest innovators in Real Estate meet once a year to exchange ideas. I continue to connect with the best and brightest in the industry and am excited to implement new home search features for YOU that are just in beta right now, but will blow you away when you see them.

Lastly, thank you for the positive response on our neighborhood/town videos! We had a blast putting together this project – over 30 local residents volunteered to “talk about their towns”. These videos have become “viral” via facebook and the local press, as we’re getting many calls  asking us for the “REAL” town tours! Check them out, and feel free to forward them to anyone you think might be curious about moving here:  Click Here to View