Westfield, NJ

As an agent with David Realty Group, I recently listed a house in Westfield NJ. The activity on this home has been phenomenal. As of today, I have 5 realtors that have contacted me within the last three days that have clients with serious interest. We have had over 30 showings. The home is priced right. Why so much activity? Simple, we've managed to make it to February without a real winter snow storm. But what we are having as a result of this is a real estate storm. With the warmest winter I can ever remember having, the lowest interest rates I have ever seen and some of the lowest home prices Westfield homes have seen in decades, we have a Perfect Storm! This is a tremedous opportunity! So many people know folks who were severly harmed in the run up of the market that it has caused them to become paralyzed and they fear buying a home. So even during this perfect storm, many will choose to continue to rent. If you have clients or friends in "analysis paralysis", have them call me and I will show them how smart they were for waiting!

If you are searching for Westfield homes but are looking for more information on Westfield,NJ perhaps the information below will be helpful or you can contact us at David Realty Group:

Full Service Westfield Specialist At Your Service!

When You Need Your Realtor To Truly Understand What Your Looking For

Allow me to find the perfect property for you.

lorena@davidrealtygroup.com - 201-638-6528

Send me your wish list!

Population in July 2009: 29,678. Population change since 2000: +0.1%

Males: 14,225	(47.9%)
Females: 15,453	(52.1%)

Median resident age:	38.6 years
New Jersey median age:	36.7 years

Zip codes: 07090, 07091.

Westfield Zip Code Map


Estimated median household income in 2009: $126,131 (it was $98,390 in 2000)

Estimated per capita income in 2009: $60,896

Westfield town income, earnings, and wages data

Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $630,004 (it was $338,300 in 2000)

Mean prices in 2009: All housing units: $728,147; Detached houses: $747,805; Townhouses or other attached units: $585,938; In 2-unit structures: $443,933; In 3-to-4-unit structures: $327,162; In 5-or-more-unit structures: $359,411; Mobile homes: $660,538

Median gross rent in 2009: $1,376
.

For population 25 years and over in Westfield:

• High school or higher: 95.4%
• Bachelor's degree or higher: 62.5%
• Graduate or professional degree: 29.8%
• Unemployed: 2.2%
• Mean travel time to work (commute): 33.0 minutes

For population 15 years and over in Westfield town:

• Never married: 20.5%
• Now married: 67.5%
• Separated: 0.7%
• Widowed: 6.5%
• Divorced: 4.8%

2,704 residents are foreign born (4.3% Europe, 3.0% Asia, 1.3% Latin America).

This town:	9.1%
New Jersey:	17.5%

According to our research there were 2 registered sex offenders living in Westfield, New Jersey in July 2011
The ratio of number of residents in Westfield to the number of sex offenders is 14839 to 1.

The number of registered sex offenders compared to the number of residents in this town is a lot smaller than the state average.

Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with mortgages in 2009: $10,001 (1.5%)
Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with no mortgage in 2009: $10,001 (1.7%)

Nearest city with pop. 50,000+: Union, NJ (5.0 miles , pop. 54,405).

Nearest city with pop. 200,000+: Newark, NJ (10.2 miles , pop. 273,546).

Nearest city with pop. 1,000,000+: Brooklyn, NY (20.5 miles , pop. 2,465,326).

Nearest cities: Garwood borough, NJ (1.0 miles ), Scotch Plains, NJ (1.3 miles ), Cranford, NJ (1.5 miles ), Mountainside borough, NJ (1.5 miles ), Fanwood borough, NJ (1.5 miles ), Clark, NJ (1.6 miles ), Kenilworth borough, NJ (1.8 miles ), Springfield, NJ (1.9 miles ).

Westfield compared to New Jersey state average:

• Median household income significantly above state average.
• Median house value significantly above state average.
• Unemployed percentage below state average.
• Black race population percentage above state average.
• Hispanic race population percentage significantly above state average.
• Foreign-born population percentage significantly above state average.
• Renting percentage below state average.
• Number of rooms per house above state average.
• Number of college students below state average.
• Percentage of population with a bachelor's degree or higher significantly above state average.

The beginning of 2012 has been very bullish, with sales almost as frequent as houses coming into market and keeping inventory lean. Click Pictures for More Images if Available

As an agent with David Realty Group in Westfield, NJ, I have ironically been working with 3 buyers this week who perpetually lowball every offer. Family #1 - are searching for Westfield homes - Upon walking into a house today that we were visiting for the first time at 670K, they said what should we bid - 600K? I told them I'd have to see it first and after seeing it, I would need to run the comparables. Regardless of how much time I've spent educating each buyer on how the real estate market "works", they continue to bid lowball offers. I would imagine that at some point, 2 of the 3 families will realize that we continually lose our bids and they are still without a home and that perhaps the method I am suggesting is the correct one. The 3rd family - are searching for Springfield homes - would like to move but they don't really need to. All three families have a common denominator - they are first time buyers being coached by their parents who bought real estate in the 80's before there were computers, when people would have to go down to the town and waste hours finding out what recent sales may have taken place in the area. Therefore, seller and buyer were essentially 'clueless' and lowball offers were entertained and sometimes accepted. Today, the buyers, the sellers and the realtors know exact values of homes b/c we all have every website imaginable to find out everything we need to know about a home. In the rare ocassion that a home is grossly mispriced in today's market, the lowball offers are expected and acceptable but when a home is priced to sell, lowball offers will get a buyer no where but the home they are currently in.

Original Price: $1.3 Million / Sold at $695,000

There's a great saying in the real estate business. To succeed in life, you want to be:
The First Child
The Second Spouse
The Third Realtor
And like with most sayings, there is some truth in that statement, as agents who pick up listings after sellers have made major mistakes will attest.

But We Want More Money

When the average seller sits down to interview real estate agents, it's easy to get caught up in the excitement over choosing a sales price. More money means more financial opportunities for the homeowner. Perhaps it means the seller can afford to buy a more expensive home, help pay for her child's college education or take that greatly overdue vacation. Unfortunately, uninformed sellers often choose the listing agent who suggests the highest list price, which is the worst mistake a seller can make.

Establishing Value

The truth is it doesn't really matter how much money you think your home is worth. Nor does it matter what your agent thinks or ten other agents just like her. The person whose opinion matters is the buyer who makes an offer. Pricing homes is part art and part science. It involves comparing similar properties, making adjustments for the differences among them, tracking market movements and taking stock of present inventory, all in an attempt to come up with a range of value, an educated opinion. This method is the same way an appraiser evaluates a home. And no two appraisals are ever exactly the same; however, they are generally close to each other. In other words, there is no hard and fast price tag to slap on your home. It's only an educated guess and the market will dictate the price.

Is it Too Low?

Homes sell at a price a buyer is willing to pay and a seller is willing to accept. If a home is priced too low, priced under the competition, the seller should receive multiple offers to drive up the price to market value. So there is little danger in pricing a home too low. The danger lies in pricing it too high and selecting your agent solely on opinion of value.

How It Starts To Go Wrong

The seller of the Spanish home pictured on this page didn't even interview her real estate agents. She plucked the first one off the Internet because, "He looked like such a nice guy." He priced her home at $1.3 million. This agent never heard the local agents chuckling behind his back because he worked in a different city. After 90 days, the listing expired.

Continues To Go Wrong

The next agent, also from another town, listed the home at $1.1 million. Months passed. Eventually the price dropped to just under $900,000. Still no takers. A few lookie-loos, but no serious buyers.

More Than a Year Later

By the time the last agent was hired to list this home, the seller had grown weary and exhausted. It was now 12 months later. Together, the seller and her agent priced the home at $695,000. It immediately sold for all cash. The sad part is the comparable sales in the neighborhood fully justified a price of $835,000, but the home had been on the market for too long at the wrong price, and now the market had softened.

Agents Specialize in Expired Listings

There is an agent in my office whose basic real estate practice is comprised of calling sellers of expired listings and relisting them at market value. He sits in a small room with a phone, desk and chair, dialing number after number. Last year he sold more than 34 homes valued at more than $13,600,000, and he has 18 active listings right now. He makes a pretty good living repackaging overpriced homes.

Protect Yourself

The question is how much money have those expired listings cost the sellers? The financial loss often exceeds the extra mortgage payments paid and goes beyond the uncompensated hassle factor of trying to keep a home spotless during showings. It affects the value that a buyer ultimately chooses to pay because it's not a fresh listing anymore. It's now stale, dated, a market-worn home that was overpriced for too long. Don't let it happen to you. Don't be that seller of an expired listing.

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By Elizabeth Weintraub