OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY JAN 22 NOON-4PM (rescheduled from Sat Jan 21)

This open house was originally scheduled for Sat Jan 21, but is being rescheduled due to the snowy conditions.

Stop by and see this spacious Heather model in Leisure Knoll in Manchester this Sunday, Jan 22 from noon – 4pm.  Directions will be at the front gate right off of Rt 70.

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I’ve Had Several Agents, Yet My House Won’t Sell

I see this all of the time.  A house is listed on the market with one agent for 6 months, then another agent for 6 months, then yet another agent for 6 months, then it finally sells for much less than it was originally listed for.  Why does this happen?

Many times I’ll see in the older listings wording like “bring all offers”, “all offers will be considered”, or “make an offer”.  It’s clear that the seller wanted to sell the house, at least that’s what he was saying, so why didn’t it sell?

More often than not the buyer who wants to put in an offer doesn’t know the house even exists!

When buyers are looking for houses online, they’ll often search in a price range, depending on how much they are approved for or how much they want to spend.  If they are approved for, say, $260,000 they may search up to $275,000 thinking they can probably get the seller to come down at least $15,000.  If they can’t find what they want within their price range, reality will set in and they’ll usually adjust their wants and needs down to what they can afford (that’s a whole ‘nother post).  Very rarely will a buyer increase the range they are looking in because they figure the sellers won’t accept an offer that they can afford to pay.

When selling your house it’s important to know not only what your house is worth, but how the buyer for your house thinks!  Sellers want the most for their house, and will be tempted to list it high so they don’t give it away.  It makes sense since houses in this market rarely sell for full list price.  But beware, listing a house too high can prevent buyers from seeing your house when they search online, and if they do see it, they may think you’re unrealistic, won’t budge on the price, or just aren’t very motivated to sell.  And with the amount of houses on the market, they’ve got plenty of other houses that are priced reasonably with sellers who appear motivated and willing to negotiate.  Why would they bother looking at your house?

Pricing a house correctly is the key to selling in this market.  The house doesn’t have to be listed below market value by any means, it just has to be listed at or slightly above market value, like $10,000 over market value at most.  This will give the house the exposure to the correct buyers and the greatest chance of selling now, with this agent, instead of 6 months from now, at a lower price and with a different agent.

First Night Ocean County 2012

Merry Christmas From Lanoka Harbor, NJ

For 34 years a local tradition in Lanoka Harbor is visiting The Sheppard’s House to see their Christmas lights display. It’s not one of those gazillion-lights-synched-to-Trans-Siberian-Orchestra kind of displays, but more of a hand-crafted wonderland full of memories for everyone.

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OK, so they have half a gazillion lights, but the real treasures of the display are the hand cut and painted cartoon characters that the owner, Bill Sheppard, works on each and every year. Every year the collection of wooden cutouts grows as new cartoons come out and new childhood memories are created. He has the old standards like Charlie Brown and The Grinch (my favorites!) Rudolph, and, of course, Santa on the roof, along with non-Christmas themed characters that have been popular over the years like The Care Bears, 1001 Dalmatians, The Wizard of Oz, Alladin and Cars. And, of course, there is a manger!

The house is located on Bay Way in Lanoka Harbor. Just turn at the little white church on Rt 9 (you know, the little white church right before Bayville) and look for the glow of Christmas lights on the right. Feel free to walk down the driveway to Santa’s Workshop (you may even see Santa on a break taking pictures with the children) and into the back yard. And if you feel yourself saying, “Wow! This guy’s electric bill must be CRAZY this time of year”, feel free to drop a donation into the donation box by the Guest Book.

Before You Dive Into a USDA Mortgage…

I’m starting to see more and more people purchasing their new homes with USDA mortgages. USDA’s are a great way to buy a new home with little to no money down, but they do come with some restrictions.

Only certain areas, deemed rural areas, are eligible for USDA funding. Rural Development is very specific about what areas qualify for USDA funding, so if you’re thinking about going with a USDA mortgage, you’ll want your real estate agent to only show you houses that are USDA eligible. There are many areas of Ocean County that are USDA eligible; your real estate agent can check the addresses prior to showing houses to you.

Swimming pools are also another restriction that Rural Development puts on USDA mortgages. Homes with in ground swimming pools were once excluded from eligibility, but the restrictions have since been relaxed. In most cases you can use a USDA mortgage to purchase a home with an in ground swimming pool, but the value of the pool can not be financed. In essence, if you want an in ground pool, you have to pay cash for the pool at the closing. The value of the pool is usually determined when the home appraisal is done, so the amount that you’ll have to pay at closing is an unknown until shortly before the closing. Kind of defeats the whole “no money down” appeal of a USDA mortgage.

Before looking for a house with the intention of financing the purchase with a USDA mortgage, talk to your agent. Let her know that you only want to see houses that are USDA eligible and, if you don’t have the cash on hand to pay for a swimming pool, ask not to see houses with pools.

Are Well-Meaning Real Estate Agents Giving You Wrong Advice?

The internet is a great tool for, well, just about everything. Need to repair something? Search online for a repairman, with reviews, or find a video that shows you how to fix it yourself. Think you have a situation that no one has ever dealt with? Search online and find others just like you. See a strange bird in your yard? Search “black bird long beak red chest no tail” and find out what it is and how to attract more.

Same holds true when you’re looking to buy or sell a house. There are company sites like Weichert.com (plug!), individual agent sites like LisaDArnold.com (blantant plug!), and sites that let you search anywhere in the US like Realtor.com, among other sites. Some of the larger sites have great features such as forums where you can ask all kinds of real estate questions.

While sites that give you an opportunity to gather lots of advice from lots of agents sounds like a great tool, sometimes it isn’t. Real estate is a very complicated transaction and can have a lot of legal implications. Each individual state has it’s own set of laws concerning real estate transactions, and different areas in each state tend to do things a little different within those laws. Would a million-dollar penthouse in Manhattan to handled the same as a $200K ranch on Long Island? Probably not!

Many well-meaning real estate agents like to spend time searching real estate forums and giving advice. Nothing wrong with that, I do it myself from time to time. But as the saying goes, buyer (or seller) beware. A lot of agents like to give advice to everyone and anyone who asks for it, even when they are in a different state! The advice they give may be sound, in their market, but may be horribly, and worse yet, legally wrong for the person asking the question. Unfortunately, there’s no way to limit the responses to local agents who are familiar with the market in question.

If you seek advice on any of the large real estate websites, please take a moment and check the profiles of the people who answer you. Take the advice of people who are not local with a grain of salt and rely more on the answers of the people who are from your area.

Better yet, pick up the phone and call a local agent! They’re bound to give you the most accurate advice for you.

OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY, SEPT 17, NOON-4PM

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This beautiful 4 bedroom colonial sits right on tranquil Cedar Creek, and is only a short boat ride to The Barnegat Bay.  It features a formal dining room, living room, family room with fire place, laundry room, baseboard heat and a spacious 2 car garage.

 

I’ll be holding an open house here on Saturday, Sept 17 from noon – 4pm.  Come see it, you won’t be disappointed!   

 

Open House Saturday, Sept 3 2-4pm

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You are sure to appreciate this spacious colonial situated on Cedar Creek with it’s 84 feet of fresh water lagoon and short ride to the beautiful Barnegat Bay. Relax and enjoy the tranquil setting that is rare to find. Features 4 spacious bedrooms, formal living and dining rooms, plus a family room overlooking the water. Did I mention the fireplace? Baseboard heat, oversized heated 2 car garage and many more amenties!!!

Double Trouble State Park: Not as scary as it sounds!

It took me 27 years, but I finally decided to venture in to Double Trouble State Park in Bayville.  I guess I figured it was just a picnic site, and it just SOUNDS a little scary, but it turns out there’s a little village back there, along with lots of trails and some amazing nature.  Apparently, in mid-October, you can even see local farmers harvest the cranberries.

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So…why is it called Double Trouble???

There are conflicting stories behind the origin of “Double Trouble.”  Thomas Potter is often credited with giving this area the name in the 1770s when heavy rains damaged the earthen dam on the mill pond twice in one season, causing first trouble and then double trouble.  A late 19th century newspaper article attributed the name to the washing out of the dam, followed by the destruction of the saw mill.  A more colorful legend involves local beaver or muskrats that persisted in gnawing at the dam, which caused frequent leaks.  Such leaks gave rise to the alarm “Here’s trouble,” upon which workmen would rush to repair the leak.  One day two breaks were discovered and one worker overheard the shout “Here’s double trouble.”  The name was already in use by the early 1800s.  In 1909, Edward Crabbe formed the Double Trouble Company to market lumber, blueberries and cranberries.

Mortgage companies aren’t approving mortgages? No one told Weichert that!

Now is a great time to buy a new home.   Houses are the most affordable they’ve been in years, and mortgage rates are at their lowest rates in eons!  Weichert understands that and is in the position to lend money to qualified buyers.

If you’re interested in buying a home but don’t think you can because you hear that lenders aren’t lending give me a call at 732-278-5377 and I’ll introduce you to my Gold Service Manager so he can discuss what we have available for you.