Tressa "Teri" Malone Westfield NJ Area Properties

I went to a listing appointment recently where the seller said he was moving out of state. He owes $350k on his property. the current market supports only a $280k sale price. He said "Let's do a short sale, then." I probed for more info and discovered he has other assets and earns a pretty good income as a professional.

I asked on what basis did he think his lender would agree to a short sale, and he replied: "Well if I don't pay the mortgage, they'll have to sell it at whatever the market will pay for it now." I pointed out that I didn't think the lender would let him voluntarily abdicate his financial responsibility. I then got out of there fast, explaining he needed to find another agent.

When you sign the mortgage papers in NJ, you give the lender the property as collateral for the loan. But I believe you also sign a personal loan guarantee indicating you will be responsible for the loan.

QUESTION: Won't the lender attach the borrowers income, or his assets, to get back the balance of the loan? I don't think agreeing to a short sale automatically waives the lenders' right to recover the balance due on the loan ... or am I wrong?

Is NOW The Time to Buy a Home in the Westfield NJ Area?

July 17th, 2009

So, you've found the home you want to buy ... and you're waiting for the price to come down. But is that really a smart strategy? Consider that if you wait

· Interest rates may rise, reducing your buying power

· Someone else may buy the house while you're waiting

· You may miss the Fed's $8,000 tax credit.

So, should you wait? If you DON'T wait, how can you get the best value?

Answer: Buying a home isn't about waiting for the best price; it's about negotiating the best price

The Westfield NJ Area real estate market has been really hot lately - so much so, that in Westfield NJ and a lot of the surrounding towns, the inventory is shrinking. We're even seeing multiple bids on properties that are updated and priced right. [Incidentally, the only people who like a bidding war are sellers.]

So, how do you get a great home at a great price?

First, don't wait! If you see a home that has everything you want - or even most of what you want - make an offer. Don't wait for a price reduction. Make the price reduction yourself!

HUH?

Ignore the list price and offer what you think the home is worth. I don't mean you should be foolish about this, just reasonable. And your Realtor is your best friend here.

For instance, suppose there's a Westfield NJ home for sale that you want to buy. First, have your Realtor run a list of all the Westfield NJ sold homes that are similar to the one you want to buy and that sold in the last 3 months. Ask me to do an accurate comparison - amenity for amenity - and adjust for the "trend." This will give you a fairly good idea of what the home is worth, as well as whether prices are trending up or down.

This gives you a benchmark. Then, you start with a relatively low bid - say 5% below what you are willing to pay for the house - and let your Realtor (me, I hope) do their magic, negotiating the best price and terms.

What if the Westfield NJ Area home you want is really overpriced? (This should be rare since Realtors want to SELL homes, not just list them!)

First, take a look at my Westfield Homes Sold, or Scotch Plains Homes Sold, or Mountainside Homes Sold pages. These pages list all the homes sold over the last 6 months or so, by address - and indicate what others have paid for similar homes in those areas.

Another way you can spot an over-priced home is the length of time the house has been on the market - shown as DAYS ON MARKET. When the DOM is significantly greater than normal ("normal" changes with the market), chances are everybody who's seen it thinks it's overpriced.

Maybe the seller is just hoping for "someone to make some kind of offer" and your low offer may come at a time when the seller is ready to move on.

So ... take a look at those overpriced homes. If you see one you like and think it's overpriced, don't be afraid to offer what you (and your Realtor) think it's worth. (If you look at my "solds" page for any town on www.Westfield-Area-Homes.com , you'll see a lot of properties that sold for a lot less than List Price - and generally were on the market for quite some time.)

So, don't wait for the price to come down. Decide the price you want to pay and have your Realtor excite the seller with YOUR offer.

For more information, visit www.Westfield-Area-Homes.com or email Teri at tmalone@weichert.com.

Is NOW The Time to Buy a Home in the Westfield NJ Area?

July 17th, 2009

So, you've found the home you want to buy ... and you're waiting for the price to come down. But is that really a smart strategy? Consider that if you wait

· Interest rates may rise, reducing your buying power

· Someone else may buy the house while you're waiting

· You may miss the Fed's $8,000 tax credit.

So, should you wait? If you DON'T wait, how can you get the best value?

Answer: Buying a home isn't about waiting for the best price; it's about negotiating the best price

The Westfield NJ Area real estate market has been really hot lately - so much so, that in Westfield NJ and a lot of the surrounding towns, the inventory is shrinking. We're even seeing multiple bids on properties that are updated and priced right. [Incidentally, the only people who like a bidding war are sellers.]

So, how do you get a great home at a great price?

First, don't wait! If you see a home that has everything you want - or even most of what you want - make an offer. Don't wait for a price reduction. Make the price reduction yourself!

HUH?

Ignore the list price and offer what you think the home is worth. I don't mean you should be foolish about this, just reasonable. And your Realtor is your best friend here.

For instance, suppose there's a Westfield NJ home for sale that you want to buy. First, have your Realtor run a list of all the Westfield NJ sold homes that are similar to the one you want to buy and that sold in the last 3 months. Ask me to do an accurate comparison - amenity for amenity - and adjust for the "trend." This will give you a fairly good idea of what the home is worth, as well as whether prices are trending up or down.

This gives you a benchmark. Then, you start with a relatively low bid - say 5% below what you are willing to pay for the house - and let your Realtor (me, I hope) do their magic, negotiating the best price and terms.

What if the Westfield NJ Area home you want is really overpriced? (This should be rare since Realtors want to SELL homes, not just list them!)

First, take a look at my Westfield Homes Sold, or Scotch Plains Homes Sold, or Mountainside Homes Sold pages. These pages list all the homes sold over the last 6 months or so, by address - and indicate what others have paid for similar homes in those areas.

Another way you can spot an over-priced home is the length of time the house has been on the market - shown as DAYS ON MARKET. When the DOM is significantly greater than normal ("normal" changes with the market), chances are everybody who's seen it thinks it's overpriced.

Maybe the seller is just hoping for "someone to make some kind of offer" and your low offer may come at a time when the seller is ready to move on.

So ... take a look at those overpriced homes. If you see one you like and think it's overpriced, don't be afraid to offer what you (and your Realtor) think it's worth. (If you look at my "solds" page for any town on www.Westfield-Area-Homes.com , you'll see a lot of properties that sold for a lot less than List Price - and generally were on the market for quite some time.)

So, don't wait for the price to come down. Decide the price you want to pay and have your Realtor excite the seller with YOUR offer.

For more information, visit www.Westfield-Area-Homes.com or email Teri at tmalone@weichert.com.

For me, at least, it is hard to tell a prospective client "I think we should hire a stager" before we list your home. I mean, the message that sends could be a real turn-off --like I don't like how they've decorated, or something. Hence, even when I thought staging would be a good idea, I hesitated.

FINALLY, I've found a way to get this done without insulting anyone. One of the best stagers I've found in our area is Phyllis Pafumi. She charges $175 for the initial consult and she does a wonderful job. Furthermore, she comes with her own team who can paint, swap out counters, re-do cabinets, floors, etc. -- all at really reasonable prices.

So, these days, for almost every lsting, I explain to the seller that I am going to bring in a professional to help me "showcase your beautiful home" so that we can ultimately get the best price in the shortest time. I tell them I am so confident, I am going to pay for the consult if they will agree to at least consider following through with the stager's recommendations.

I have a client who wants to sell the townhome I sold him 5 years ago. If he sells now, he'll recoup his purchase price, but not the cost of the extensive improvements he made to the property -- about $50k worth. I initially suggested he rent it out, but that's not his thing, and he DOES want to sell becasue he wants to move to a very upscale community while prices are depressed and interest rates are low. But he is lamenting all those upgrades that won't net him a dime!

One priority for me is that my clients be comfortable with their selling and buying decisions. I pointed out two things:

1. By purchasing now in the upscale community, he'll be saving about $200k to $400k.

2. He is not really "losing" any money -- in fact, he will realize a gain of nearly $90k! Because if he hadn't been living in his 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath townhome for 5 years, he would have been renting. In this area, a rental of those proportions in a nice area would have been around $2500 a month. So the cost of a rental for the past 60 months would have been around $150,000. During that time, the only extra expense he's had that he wouldn't have had in a rental is the $200 per month condo fee -- or about $12,000. So, even if he sells the condo for the price he paid, and subtracts the upgrades and the condo fee from what he would have paid for a rental (since you can't live ANYWHERE for nothing), he will be ahead about $88,000 -- very good in this market.