Friday, October 06, 2006

Home Buying: Four Tips

Just finished a good article by Holden Lewis of Bankrate.com offering consumers four tips on buying a house. What I like about the article is Lewis encourages buyers to do their homework. Yes, using a buyers' agent is good, especially in this market; but having the ability to express the qualities of your dream home requires some thought. Being able to answer the questions of what neighorhood, style, must haves, wants, and price range means your agent will be able to look for houses that meet or closely match your criteria.
I encourage clients to look online for properties, even if it is not in the neighborhood they desire. It is true a picture is worth a thousand words so if a client has a dream house in an undesirable neighborhood it is likely I can find something similar in the desired neighborhood. I will not waste my client's time showing them houses that they will reject. My clients are happy and when my clients are happy, I am also.
Here are the four tips:
    • If you find the right house at the right price, buy it.
Waiting to see if prices go down could lose you the property.
    • Put technology and a good buyer's agent to good use.
I call this doing your homework. Check out houses online. Make a list of wants, must haves, and any other pertinent facts about your dream home. When the time comes to
do comparative market analysis(CMA) on a property a good buyer's agent will be invaluable. Now, I am not just saying that because it is what I love doing, I am saying it because even though there are other means to do CMA's the buyer's agent brings human experience and knowledge to the table that technology has not been able to surpass.
    • Negotiate effectively
A good buyer's agent will assist you in negotiating the best price, terms, and conditions for your home.
    • Avoid Gimmicks
There are all kind of gimmicks out there but the business at hand is to purchase a home. If a gimmick is offered turn that gimmick into cash toward the purchase of your home. Good advice.




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For more information on Real Estate in New Jersey visit here.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

NJ Affordable Homes Liquidated

On August 30th we ran a story by Greg Saitz about Wayne Puff and NJ Affordable Homes which the SEC shutdown as being a Ponzi scheme. Mr. Saitz reports that in an attempt to raise money, last weekend there was an auction to liquidate the company’s assets: some 205 properties. The trustee held the 3-day auction and raised $20 million dollars well short of the $40 million dollars 500 investors sank into the company. Once the bankruptcy judge approves the sale and the various fees and liens paid, the trustee wants to split the money equally among the investors.


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For more information on Real Estate in New Jersey visit here.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Alleged Housing Discrimation in Lakewood, NJ

Looks like the government (the Department of Justice) is suing Triple H. Realty LLC for discriminating against non-jewish black and Latina tenants. What they are alleged to have done just turns my stomache. It is not rocket science people. Discrimination is not just plain wrong, it is illegal. If this company is guilty then I guess they had some money they wanted to give away because the lawyer fees, fines, and monetary damages just might be enough to get them to obey the law if not get a moral conscience.
This story bares watching to see what happens.



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For more information on Real Estate in New Jersey visit here.

New Home Starts Down 16 Percent

Got a look at the Courier-Post online story that says new-home builder are aggressively controling their inventory because of the cooling of the resale housing market.
"The new home market is directly dependent on move-ups or move-overs (empty nesters). In order for those two dynamics to continue, the resale market must be robust," said Patrick O'Keefe, executive director of the New Jersey Builders Association.

In other words, until the resale market swings toward a healthy number of interchanges between buyer and seller or buyer confidence rises new home builders are going to have to be careful to sell their inventory to remain profitable.



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For more information on Real Estate in New Jersey visit here.