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Archive for the 'Selling a home in this market' Category

Help! I’m being held hostage by my listing agent!

Today is the third time in recent weeks that  a Seller who is listed with another local agency, has contacted me to say  that they are unhappy with their current agent and the Broker will NOT release them from the listing contract.  The one I heard from today has been  locked into a  contract with this agency for….sit down for this one….  FIFTEEN months (I believe it was renewed after a year and now runs several more months).  She said that she is so disgusted that she is going to make sure that anyone she knows looking to hire a Realtor does NOT use this company.  Now, why would this company want to risk ruining their reputation by holding an unhappy client hostage?  Where is the win-win here?

Moral of the story, if  you’re interviewing Realtors, do yourself a favor and make sure your contract has a clause stating that it is cancellable with a reasonable  amount of notice.  Agents who offer this obviously have the confidence in their ability to get your house sold , and agents who insist on locking you into a long contract because it’s their company policy, well… as far as I’m concerned, their company policy needs to be a win-win, or no deal.

Yours to count on,

Sue  (973)464-9129

Sue Adler Team Client “Mix and Mingle” Party Buzzzzz

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.

Analysis of our New Jersey Housing Market

    Last night I came across a  brilliant vlog post  by my good friend in Austin, Krisstina Wise from The Good Life Team. Before you read on, watch her video, especially if you’re looking for a house, but really want to be sure we’ve hit  bottom first.  Krisstina  beautifully explains “the buying zone”, the  the window of opportunity buyers currently have in this market while the prices and interest rates are this low at the same time.

On a local level,  NJ home sales have risen for 6 straight months compared to the national existing home sales rise of 3 consecutive months.

Jeffrey Otteau, New Jersey real estate market analyst, shows in his graph below, that in June contract sales in NJ were higher than June 2008’s pace, signaling a significant break through for our market. The last time NJ home sales have risen for 6 straight months was back in  2003 during the home buying frenzy fueled by the sub-prime lending boom. The monthly sales pace in NJ has increased 115% since the beginning of the year.

Clearly  many home buyers are taking advantage of these low prices, low interest rates and the first time buyer tax credit , which are all adding to  the housing   market recovery. The problem for buyers who really want to buy is the lack of inventory right now in our Midtown direct towns. Unsold inventory declined by 600 homes in June primarily due to the 7,500 home sales during the month, causing a rise in demand for good, well priced homes , especially in the entry level market.  

So why is inventory so low?  I hear many potential sellers say that they are “waiting until the market comes back” – how long will that take and what will the rates be then?  Certainly we cant expect the market to increase more than 3-5% a year once we do have a recovery.  Today many home owners are  in a catch-22  because they need to sell first, yet don’t want to sell without having found their dream home first,  which they ultimately miss out on because they aren’t in a position to buy.  There are many options that your Realtor can help you with to avoid the catch 22 ( which I will write a blog post on another time) 

What can we expect in the next few months? Read the rest of this entry »

Craigslist scammers hit Maplewood New Jersey listings and unsuspecting renters

The other day I got a call from the owner of my new listing at 101 Parker Rd in Maplewood NJ.  He couldnt understand why I would advertise his house for RENT on Craigslist for $1200 a month when we signed a listing contract to SELL his house, not rent it.  I had no idea what he was talking about so he read me the ad. It was an anonymous Craigs List poster, so I asked him to please respond to it and see who responds back,  since I know we didnt post that ad.

This is what came back:

Hello
     I can see you are interested in the ad I have pasted, I am currently in West Africa where I work as a volunteer with the RAFIKI FOUNDATION,here is the site for more detail about why I am here in Africa.( http://www.rafiki-foundation.org/). So I need a tenant to take care of it but since  I am out of the state now, I have received some proposals regarding the rent because it is located in a very good area of Maplewood, but I still have to make sure it is rented out to someone who can take good care of it. Read the rest of this entry »

Understanding The Home Valuation Code of Conduct

By Richard Hirsch, Mortgage Masters

 

 

What is the HVCC?

The HVCC is the Home Valuation Code of Conduct. The HVCC is the result of a joint agreement between Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and the New York State Attorney General. The agreement was formed in an effort to enhance the independence and accuracy of the appraisal process. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. This past year, the HVCC has quietly transitioned from a mere proposal into concrete national policy which has altered the core aspects of real estate appraisals.

 

As a result of the HVCC, many appraisals are now being outsourced to 3rd parties, many of whom do not have a working knowledge of the geographical areas they are appraising. As a result, buyers are being subjected to higher appraisal costs, inaccurate valuations, and the elimination of the longstanding benefits of one-on-one business relationships with local Realtors, mortgage originators, and appraisers. Because of the formation of the HVCC, local market value decisions have now been shifted to unfettered and often uninformed appraisal management companies located hundreds, if not thousands of miles away. Read the rest of this entry »

Do Open Houses work? I say – YES! For creating urgency in new listings!

I just came across an article in the Wall Street Journal on Why Open Houses Still Work.  After reading the article and the comments that followed, I needed to add my two cents on this subject.

My experience has been that Sunday Open Houses along the New Jersey midtown direct trainlines DO work with a big BUT. 

When a new listing comes on the market… let’s say on a Tuesday. Then we have the Realtor Open House on Thursday, the blast email goes out to all of the realtors and then the data base of potential interested buyers on Friday, and of course its advertised on all of the sites that a consumer would think to search ( our local www.gsmls.com , www.realtor.com , www.trulia.com , www.zillow.com , www.nytimesonline.com and www.craigslist.com , plus www.sueadler.com of course .  

Its the FIRST weekend of this HOT new listing and buyers ( yes, neighbors too, but who cares?)  are excited to see it whether or not their realtor is available to take them.  For this reason, the  listing agent should send out a blast email to the other realtors asking them to forward this open house invitation to their buyers and tell them to just mention their name at the door.  Busy realtors who dont have teams may not be available to show their buyers this great new listing on Sunday. Its the listing agents’ job to make it EASY for  buyers to see that new listing when it first comes out,  becuase that is how the sense of urgency is created, which gets the best price possible for the seller, yes, even in this market!  Read the rest of this entry »

In the NJ Midtown Direct Trainline Towns, 95 Homes Have Gone Under Contract In Past Two Weeks!

Over the past two weeks,  did you notice how many homes in our NJ Midtown Direct Trainline Towns are selling????  

 

I just went into GSMLS and searched all homes in  Millburn, Short Hills, Summit, Chatham, Madison, Maplewood, South Orange and Livingston, and found that 95 homes have gone under contract in the past two weeks. This does not include all of the ones that are in attorney review! 

Compare This To the last 2 weeks of  March, where only 45 homes went under contract in these towns, and the last 2 weeks of February where there were only 18 homes to go under contract.

Why now??

Move up Buyers finally are selling their existiing homes and there is finally enough inventory for them to want to make the upward move.

MORE  NJ Sellers are pricing right, staging their homes and listing with Realtors who are creating a sense of urgency for them  ( yes, shameless plug) , so those 95 homes are selling, while others remain sitting. 

The RATES-  I just refinanced at 4.625%.  How long do you think they’ll stay below 5%?

Its Spring!  The clock is ticking to get in for the school year – beats the 30k per year private school tuition.  The 3rd baby has been born and the 1 bedroom apartment won’t work anymore, etc… life goes on.. you get the picture.

 

April 1 Deadline for Essex County Property Tax Appeal is Fast Approaching! If you’re thinking of selling in the next year and your taxes are too high, NOW is the time to act!

Its quite common to see  homeowners and especially home sellers appealing their assessments these days since prices have come down. It can really have an impact on your sale if your taxes are too high. If you’re thinking of selling your home in the next year, and your assessment is higher than you think it should be, then now is the time to apply for a tax appeal. If you miss the April 1st deadline you have to wait a whole year and that could affect your sale if your taxes are out of line.

The instructions below were just forwarded to me however, you should get advice from an attorney experienced in Essex County property tax appeals, and have him/her file the appeal for you so that its done properly.  Read the rest of this entry »

RESA Study shows that professionally staged homes DO sell faster!

This Month in Real Estate ( January 2009)

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Bryon Ellington and Jay Papasan give a great overview of the current real estate market and are right on as far as their advice to buyers and sellers.  The rates are even lower at this moment ( Feb 16th) than when this video was done- today they are 4.75% 

To find out about each micro market, visit www.sueadler.com and check out the home sale stats pages for each of our midtown direct trainline towns. Or,  just call me! (973)464-9129

Yours to count on,

Sue