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.

Fannie Mae spokeswoman Janis Smith said lenders “will have to look for things like new credit accounts, increased credit lines, increased balances on existing accounts, undisclosed or newly recorded liens, second mortgages — anything that may have changed since initial application that might impact a borrower’s debt-to-income ratio.” Home buyers and refinance borrowers need to resist any additional credit of any kind prior to the closing of their loans.

If you’re purchasing a home or refinancing, it’s crucial that you be aware of these new rules and proceed accordingly. If in doubt contact your lender about any additional credit you’re considering and make sure you’re given the green light.

Compliments of Rich Hirsch of Mortgage Master Inc Phone: 908-410-9066 rhirsch@mortgagemasterinc.com Feel free to contact Rich directly with any questions.

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. 
According to a recent Gallup poll, more than 1/3 of Americans believe home prices will rise in the next 12 months and that now is a “good time to buy”. http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2010/04/gallup_nearly_three-quarters_o.html

According to Jeffrey Otteau, New Jersey Real Estate market analyst, “A trend reversal is occurring however in the inventory of unsold homes which has been rising and now exceeds last year’s level. While rising inventory is a normal seasonal occurrence in housing markets, the 20% increase is the largest since 2006 when inventory rose 30% in the face of a weakening housing market. This year’s20% increase (YTD) compares to 11% in 2009 and 13% in 2008 and 9% in 2007. The faster rise in 2010 is attributable to portions of the ‘shadow inventory’ of sellers who had given up on selling their homes reentering the market due to positive market trends. This suggests a long slow climb to normalcy for the New Jersey housing market as this shadow inventory will likely continue to trickle back into the active market for the next 12 months.”

This past week, I had 6 offers each on 2 of my new Short Hills listings, and our team had several offers on properties with our buyers that ALL had multiple offers on them.  The big sellers are the homes that are in move in condition and/or  have a nice size yard on a quiet street. Buyers generally still want a bargain on the homes that need updating, have small yards or are on busy streets.

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. 

When the inventory is too low in one town, or the “perfect house” can’t be found in another, most buyers are willing to look at neighboring communities like Short Hills, Millburn, Summit or Maplewood, each which has its own wonderful set of characteristics and allure.

But not the buyers in Chatham. 

When they set their sites on this community, where the median home price grew 6% from 2006 through 2009 – nothing else will do.   In my 15 years in the business, I’ve never seen anything like it.  I actually have clients who are now on a first name basis because they have spent so much time together on line to see the same homes.   And they will wait for weeks and weeks (sometimes much longer!) for just the right property to become available. 

Maybe it’s the beautiful homes.  Maybe it’s the award winning schools.  Maybe it’s the quaint downtown with wonderful restaurants and shopping.  Whatever the reasons are, for some buyers, it’s Chatham or nothing at all.

Robin Benjamin

Take a look at our town video of Chatham and then call me to see this unique town in person 973-202-7270

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  

“Matchmaker, Matchmaker, find me a home…. catch me a catch!”

The Sue Adler Team has a Home Matchmaking Section on our website.  We only add buyers who we are actively working with, and that are preapproved. If you’re a homeowner in Millburn, Short Hills, Summit, Maplewood, South Orange, Livingston, Chatham, Madison, Berkeley Heights or New Providence, and are thinking of selling your home in the next 6 months, please check out our team’s buyers and let me know if your home could possibly be a match.

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.

Prospective buyers, however, are motivated by the federal tax credit, which was extended and expanded last year to include homeowners as well as first-time buyers. To qualify, buyers must enter into a deal to purchase a home before May 1 and complete all the paperwork before July 1.

Buyers also are spurred by worries that interest rates, which have been hovering at about 5 percent for a 30-year fixed mortgage, will increase this Spring after the Federal Reserve halts its purchase of mortgage-backed securities.

As always the future is uncertain, and the market will continue to respond to certain pressures. Buyers and sellers have reason to make their plans now. Potential buyer’s interest could wane by summer, when the tax credit disappears and the threat of higher mortgage rates starts to loom larger. “We are going to have a flurry of activity in the Spring,’’ “What is going to happen after that is anybody’s guess.’’

Robin Benjamin  , Buyer Specialist, Sue Adler Team (973)202-7270   Robin@SueAdler.com

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.

Despite having a great shoreline, New Jersey is not a “sand state”(read: Texas, Florida, Arizona). We are located near THE CITY (as we locals call it around here). Manhattan  is not going anywhere and what are the three major selling points in New Jersey Real Estate …(everyone say it with me)… LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!  Not even 9/11 could stop people from wanting to live within commuting distance to Manhattan , and it’s no different today.  Mid-town direct trains get you to Penn Station  within an hour from Madison  and Chatham , within 4o minutes from Summit  and Millburn/Short Hills   and within a half hour from Maplewood  and South Orange .
The best stuff is coming on the market and it is moving fast. Our team just had a home in Chatham sell within days of being listed on the market and with 9 offers (ABOVE asking Price)! With a recent Maplewood buyer, I saw a home as soon as it came to market at the Realtor Open House, knew it was perfect for my clients and had them come out THAT NIGHT! They loved it,  made a strong offer and were under contract within a week! The listing agent said: “Can it be possible, the first people to see this home on the very first day to market will be the ones!” (Answer: Yes, if they are working with me )
 
Sound familiar? This is not 3 or 4 years ago. This is today – February 2010!!!!

BOTTOM LINE: if you want to buy at house at a great price, with low interest rates and you are ready to make a move. Get your pre-approval letter and call me. And, let’s get you a good deal on a great  home before it is gone!

Yours to count on,

Tracy Freeman, Buyer Specialist with the Sue Adler Team  917.604.5735  Tracy@SueAdler.com

Sue Adler Team Client Party Buzz from Sue Adler on Vimeo.

Four years ago,  I started throwing an annual client party for two reasons. The first is obvious – to show my clients appreciation for being so amazing to me.  After the first party I realized how many friendships were formed from my party because so many of our team’s buyers are new to Short Hills, Maplewood, Livingston, Summit, Chatham, etc..  So in many ways, I feel like its become more of a Newcomers Club party, where we have new relocation buyers coming each year, as well as our yearly regulars, who have made friends with each other. Its always alot of fun.

Needless to say, when I saw the client inverviews in the video, it made me smile. I’m really proud of my team.  Other agents always are trying to figure out our success but the truth of the matter is -  at the end of the day, aside from the skill it takes to do what we do, if you work from your heart and are truly an advocate for your client, and care, that’s what matters most and what the clients remember in the end.

Congress heard you on the need to both extend and expand the homebuyer tax credit to continue stimulating the housing sector of the economy. The Senate voted 98-0 on Wednesday and yesterday the House voted 403-12 on legislation that includes the extension and expansion of the credit. The President is expected to sign the legislation, perhaps as early as today.

The biggest change in the bill is that current homeowners who are within the income limits posted on the chart , can get a $6500 credit for a  home up to $800,000.  This will hopefully stir up the “move up buyer” market.

Dont hesitate to call if you have any questions.

Yours to count on,

Sue Adler

(973)464-9129

Go GREEN, Go paperless!

Things have been hopping around here in New Jersey, lots of contracts being written. And, with every Real Estate transaction there is a lot of paperwork but, I’m learning, that doesn’t have to mean a lot of PAPER!

As part of our “GREEN-ing”, we have tried to implement paperless transactions where ever possible. Emailing, Faxing and Online listing databases and transaction management calendars, as well as shared online files have certainly paved the way to reducing the amount of paper used. Before the online MLS, each agent had an MLS book, full of all of the active listing for a given area (currently there are 457 homes available in: Maplewood, South Orange, Summit and Millburn alone). What a waste of paper!

When I schedule Buyer Appointments, I print out as few (if any) copies of the MLS listing sheets as possible. Instead, my clients and I review online listing and narrow down our home selections online. And, I have noticed that my clients no longer want to take every piece of paper that the Listing Agents leave out. Savvy buyer’s think: “I can pull up everything on my phone…why carry around a bunch of papers and kill more trees.” Love That!

I have a client whose profession has caused him to transfer locations (and homes) 7 times in the past 15 years. He and his wife have actually purchased 2 of these homes completely online – not having stepped foot into them until they were the owners.

As a GREEN REALTOR there are two sites are the backbone of my GREEN paper (less) work trail: NJAR.com which provides Realtors with access to online copies of all forms needed for any Real Estate Transaction and Docusign.com which provides the ability to securely obtain digital signatures (considered legal). I am sure they are not the only game in town, but I am really happy with their product.

When all is said and done we have clear, legible documents that everyone can read, because they haven’t been copied/scanned/faxed a million time and you didn’t have to schlep around town (wasting gas) getting original signatures. Best of all you avoid the mounds of wasted paper copies along the way.

So next time you go out with me to look at a house, let’s bring our smartphones and view the listings online.

Paper copies are sooooo last year!

Tracy Freeman, REALTOR GREEN
Buyer Specialist

If you’re eligible for this $8,000 tax credit, please keep in mind that you need to be under contract for your new home realistically by October 15th. Feel free to call us for details. (973)464-9129

Yours to count on,

The Sue Adler Teaam