Eddie Perez - Hoboken Metro Living

Don't you hate it when people cut in line? Not only is it very annoying, it makes you have to wait longer to take care of your business or to get to where you're going next. Hoboken homes for sale are in a competitive line, with the home offering the best value in its category selling first. A price to value position, so to speak.

In theory, a home further back in the line (third or fourth position) would eventually sell once the better-valued homes (first and second place) have sold. Unfortunately, this is not the case. New listings are continuously entering the market and cutting in line. This causes the inferiorly priced homes (third or fourth place) to stay behind in line, never actually selling --unless they improve their price to value position.

Therefore, in order to price a home so that it will sell, it's very important to consider your position relative to other homes on the market. I call it strategic pricing.

Want to know how to get out of line in a reasonable amount of time? Shoot me an email or just call.

Happy Selling :)

About Eddie: Eddie Perez is a resident of Hoboken and works as a New Jersey licensed Broker – REALTOR. His goal is to educate both buyers and sellers so that they can make the most of their bottom line while saving time and having fun during the process of buying or selling condominiums and brownstones in Hoboken and the surrounding metro communities including Jersey City and Weehawken, New Jersey. He has personally sold over 135 homes and is among the top-producing agents in Hudson County. You can email questions to eddie@InvestHoboken.com. To schedule an appointment to meet with Eddie, call him direct at 201-344-2886.

Okay, folks. I know it’s the middle of winter, and it’s been a mild one so far (fingers crossed!). But if you are buying or selling a Hoboken property, you really do need to start getting ready for spring. Use these next few weeks wisely, and you’ll save yourself headaches when the time comes to put your place on the market. This week we’ll concentrate on a few seller strategies for getting your condo ready. Next week we’ll talk to buyers.

Sellers:

Don’t wait till the last minute to de-clutter; do those little repairs and start the deep cleaning. You never know when people will start looking at properties! And if you read the Buyer section next week, you’ll understand.

First off, go out and rent a unit at the nearest self-storage facility, and start going through the house (and garage if you’re lucky enough to have one!) one room at a time. I promise you’ll be glad you did. You’re going to have to go through stuff before you move anyway, right? Why not start now when you can take your time about it. Buyers have a lot easier time imagining their stuff in the condo if they don’t have all your stuff to visualize through! Your rooms will look larger with less stuff in them anyway.

You know those bothersome little household repairs on your “Honey Do” list? Now is the time to get on them. You’re stuck inside for the next two months anyway. Put the time to good use. While those little imperfections irritate you, they’ll have buyers seeing potential repair dollar signs … and wondering what else needs to be taken care of that they aren’t seeing. Like the commercial says, “Just do it!” Remember, everything you can see and don’t repair is potentially a negotiating point for buyers looking to get you to lower your price.

Don’t forget the exterior! Start speaking with your condo association about any common area repairs or upgrades that may be needed as it could take a few months to get board approval and get the work completed. Remember the importance of those first impressions! Take a look at your buildings front façade and landscaping. Could it use new plantings, paint or brick re-pointing? Updates to these can add value to everyone’s homes and make it a more enjoyable place to live.

Take a look at your building's hallways, mailbox, laundry and storage areas. What can be done to give the best impression to potential buyers? Sometimes simply enforcing the current building rules and regulations, such as limiting items left in hallways, can help with how your building will show.

Now let’s talk about your roommates. Not the buddies from college but the furry ones we call pets. You may not smell them, but if you have carpets, upholstered furniture and even one little dog … or a litter box and one little kitten … newcomers to the house will smell them. And if the buyer has pet allergies, watch out! No amount of sprays or powders will cover the smell. If you are serious about selling, you need to have the carpets, drapes and upholstered furniture steam cleaned. Try to decide on an area (preferably uncarpeted) that the pets can be restricted to, and determine what to do with them when the house is going to be shown. Doggy day care? Pet carrier? Mom's house? If possible, have the pets removed from the condo during showings.

These are just a few suggestions to keep in mind and to get started on now so that you’ll be able to hit the ground running when your place goes onto the market!

Next week, buyer suggestions!

About Eddie: Eddie Perez is a resident of Hoboken and works as a New Jersey licensed Broker – REALTOR. His goal is to educate both buyers and sellers so that they can make the most of their bottom line while saving time and having fun during the process of buying or selling condominiums and brownstones in Hoboken and the surrounding metro communities including Jersey City and Weehawken, New Jersey. He has personally sold over 135 homes and is among the top producing agents in Hudson County. You can email questions to eddie@InvestHoboken.com. To schedule an appointment to meet with Eddie, call him direct at 201-344-2886.

A case could be made that this could begin to lead to price increases in the near future.

Additionally, recent news on the economy has been getting better lately and you know what this could lead to....... interest rates might start to go up!!

Hoboken is experiencing extremely low inventory of available condominiums. As of today, there are only a total of 215 units available for sale.

Six months ago, there were nearly 400 condos on the market!

If the current demand picks up just slightly, it just might ignite the lackluster activity of the past 3 months where we've averaged approximately 32 contracts per month.

Why wait? Let me know if you would like to start the home search in earnest.

Here are just a few of the headlines TODAY. I wanted to share this with you today as the LARGEST cost of home ownership is the interest. Remember the old adage, "you don't live in the purchase price, you live in the monthly payment" (i.e. interest rate).

Jobless Claims, Factory Data Suggest Recovery Picking Up

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45681589

Stocks Gain as Economy Shows Some Strength

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45680479

Have a great day!

Eddie

As snow and ice sneak up on us, those living in downtown condos have a great advantage. You have the peace and quiet of your personal oasis. At the same time, you have easy, quick access to everything you could need … and you don’t need a personal vehicle to get to any of it! How great is that?!

One of the great things about living in a Hoboken downtown condo is the access you have to an incredibly wide variety of activities, restaurants and clubs. This being winter, I’ve selected two very different recreational outlets to tell you about that may surprise you.

First off, would you believe a ski club in the inner city?! The Hoboken Ski Club meets every Tuesday night at 8:30pm in the Back Room at Willie McBride's Pub at 616 Grand St.,
Hoboken, NJ 07030. Their club motto is “Think snow!” and they say that’s what they do … all the time. Their foundation is built around snow sports and the winter, but the club is active all year round.

It's not just about Hoboken, and it's not just about skiing. The majority of their members are in their 20's & 30's. But they have no age limits, other than that you do have to be 21 to join. Whether you're a skier, snowboarder, or just like social activities, this club has something for you!

Not everyone is quite so athletically inclined, and that’s fine. Stroll on over to Symposia Community Bookstore and see what tweaks your interest. They’re located at 510 Washington Street.

For starters, they are the only used bookstore in Hoboken. But they aren’t “just” a used book store. They are actually more along the lines of a community center. In fact, Symposia is actually a Public Benefit nonprofit corporation that was organized, and is operated, exclusively for educational and charitable purposes. They operate a book thrift shop and offer their shop locations to be used as a community center.

What exactly does that mean? Well, you can buy books at discounted prices. You can donate books, DVDs, CDs, tapes and office equipment rather than chucking them in the dumpster and wasting them.

According to their website, their specific objectives and purposes are:

• to help make books and reading as inviting and accessible to as broad an audience as possible;

• to offer a venue to serve as a community center and a place for educational and community activities;

• to support other charities through the use of the thrift store’s space to raise funds and run programs;

• to offer support for emerging local artists through exhibitions and other projects;

• to develop new community projects;

• to engage in other activities related to the development of the social capital of our community.

It is definitely a place where you will always be able to find something interesting going on! Stop by and visit for awhile!

About Eddie: Eddie Perez is a resident of Hoboken and works as a New Jersey licensed Broker – REALTOR. His goal is to educate both buyers and sellers so that they can make the most of their bottom line while saving time and having fun during the process of buying or selling condominiums and brownstones in Hoboken and the surrounding metro communities including Jersey City and Weehawken, New Jersey. He has personally sold over 135 homes and is among the top producing agents in Hudson County. You can email questions to eddie@InvestHoboken.com. To schedule an appointment to meet with Eddie, call him direct at 201.344.2886.

That title may seem a little silly, but the way shoppers evaluate a prospective home never ceases to amaze me. There is nothing wrong with having a vision of your ideal home. In fact, having such a vision is a necessity. You need to know what kind of home you will be happy in. A workaholic with no family and a busy life would probably do best to buy a condominium with amenities like a building concierge that can receive packages and let the cable guy in, a pool or health club onsite to get daily exercise and an easy commute to work. This may make more sense than purchasing a large Hoboken –area home with a yard in the suburbs.

In fact, if you are not sure what you want, you should probably make what a friend of mine calls a “Ben Franklin List”. Benjamin Franklin, whom I think we’d all agree is no slouch, came up with a really useful decision-making tool. Basically, you divide a sheet of paper into relevant columns. In this case it could be “Wants, Needs and Undesirables”. Now you populate those columns with your choices. Maybe you want an open concept floor-plan and some type of outdoor space. What you need might be parking, elevator or three bedrooms. Undesirables might be location too far from NYC transportation or 4th floor walk-up buildings. You get the idea.

Be realistic when it comes to choosing whether something falls into the “Wants” or “Needs” column. Stainless steel appliances are all the rage, but I’d call them a “want”. What you need is working, reliable appliances. Changing them out for stainless steel is something you can do down the line. If the current appliances are ancient (more than 10 years old) and/or non-functioning, the cost of replacing them is a negotiating point when it comes time to make an offer, isn’t it? In order to move in and be comfortable, functionality should trump esthetics.

Face it. Unless you have a home custom-built and decorated to your specifications, the odds of finding an absolutely perfect property are not likely. Once upon a time the property you are looking at was the embodiment of someone else’s dream. It has been personalized through their occupation and decorations. You can make it yours, but before you can do that, you have to be able to see the property’s potential to fulfill your vision.

Look past paint color. Look past light fixtures, drawer and door pulls, curtains, carpets, plants used to landscape the yard or balcony. All of these are easily changeable, customizable to fulfill your vision. What are not changeable are location and the basic bones. As long as those are good, you should consider the property. Buy it and make it your own.

I recently sold a single-family row house on Bloomfield Street that had the location and “good bones” but was in need of renovations. The eventual buyers saw the home's fantastic potential and their opportunity to customize it to their liking. They are now well on their way to having the customized home that they envisioned and within the budget that they set.

The Ben Franklin list proved to work great for them! Give it a try, and see if you too will soon be on your way to having YOUR perfect home!

Happy shopping!

About Eddie: Eddie Perez is a resident of Hoboken and works as a New Jersey licensed Broker – REALTOR. His goal is to educate both buyers and sellers so that they can make the most of their bottom line while saving time and having fun during the process of buying or selling condominiums and brownstones in Hoboken and the surrounding metro communities including Jersey City and Weehawken, New Jersey. He has personally sold over 135 homes and is among the top-producing agents in Hudson County. You can email questions to eddie@InvestHoboken.com. To schedule an appointment to meet with Eddie, call him direct at 201.344.2886 .