Monmouth County Real Estate

Ok, we are 1 step closer to it being extended, but we are not there yet, and it is NOT official, regardless of what people may have heard and/or seen through media last night/early this am..

Here is the deal/timeline:
Vote is “slated” for the Senate today – if approved, ( PASSED THIS AM)

Vote is “slated” for the House early next week

· If passed (feels like 90+% chance it will), won’t be official/law until 1st/2nd week of Nov (this is estimated – obviously it must be signed by the President)

What they have done is cram this into the Unemployment Benefits Bill, which is a RUSH Bill to extend unemployment benefits.

Note:, assuming it passes and gets extended, the timeline is estimated and there could be changes to structure.

Nothing is official yet.

Some talking points on the table for extending the tax credit:

· Income eligibility for first-time home buyers stays at $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples.

· For move-up buyers, income eligibility is $125,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples.

· There is a minimum 5 year residency requirement – in their current home – for move-up home buyers.

· The tax credit is the lesser of $7,290 or 10% of the purchase price.

· The credit runs from Dec. 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010, with an additional 60 day period to close escrow. (So end of April to sign contract, end of June to close escrow)

· Expect bill to be signed by Friday, packaged with the unemployment benefit extension.

As a listing agent, I hear the same line over and over again, especially in the market like the current one… “My house has been on the market for 6 months and we have had no offers. What is wrong?” I try to explain to my clients that there are only 3 reasons that cause a home to NOT sell. #1 – the price, #2 – the price, #3 – the price. With a high inventory in Monmouth County, sellers who want to enter the market and list their home have to know they need to be competitive with their pricing. The time for bidding wars causing the price to go up are not happening right now. If a house has an offer on it, buyers will just move onto another house because there is always another house. I want to share some tips that I hope sellers consider before listing their home. These are points that I like to share during a listing appointment so that I can list a home with the right price tag attached to it and these are points I like clients to remember when they ask me why their house is not selling.

Pricing your Home #1 Pull Comparable Listings and Sales (or ask a listing agent to send these to you)
• Look at every similar home that was or is listed in the same neighborhood over the past six months.
• The list should contain homes within 0.5 miles and no further, unless there are only a handful of comps in the general vicinity or the property is rural.
• Pay attention to neighborhood dividing lines and physical barriers such as major streets, freeways or railroads, and do not compare inventory from the “other side of the tracks.”
• Compare similar square footage, within 10% up or down from the subject property, if possible.
• Similar ages. One neighborhood might consist of homes built in the 1950s next door to another ring of construction from the 1980s. Values between the two will differ. Compare apples to apples.
Once you go through the “Comps”, you are ready to review the “Sold” inventory in your neighborhood… to be continued.

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On Monday, October 26^th, developer, Sackman Enterprises went before the Asbury Park Planning Board for site plan consideration.  What site plan consideration you ask?  If you read the triCityNews you would know because they are the only paper fully reporting this story on a current basis.  Design plans and a site plan application have been filed with Asbury Park, New Jersey.  These plans are calling for a $9.1 million, 50,000 square foot project that will rehabilitate 3 vacant buildings that front about 200 feet on Cookman Avenue.  This project will bring to life the 550 Cookman Avenue office building and clock tower as well as rehabilitate the two smaller buildings adjacent to 550.  The look and feel of this project will bring Cookman Avenue back to the original days of downtown Asbury Park.  Further details of the Cookman Avenue Project include ground level commercial space in the 3 revitalized buildings, allowing for the 2^nd floors to become residential.  The plan include a 3^rd level as well for residential spaces, however, this level will not be visible from the street.  There will be a total of 31 duplex apartments with the floor plan as follows – living rooms, kitchens, and storage on the 2^nd level, and bedrooms on the 3^rd.  All the duplexes will include an outdoor terrace overlooking Cookman and/or Wesley Lake. 

There is one key point to this project becoming a success…  Sackman Enterprises is obtaining the $9.1 million from Capital One which is contigent on several conditions.  The loan is actually coming from federal stimulus money.  Basically, the timeline for this project is very strict.  If there are any delays, the financing can be pulled and put onto a project somewhere else in the US that can start quicker. 

It does appear that Asbury Park is properly fast tracking this project and for good reason.  This project will benefit the small businesses struggling to make it through this recession.  “It is indeed remarkable that this project cold potentially go forward in this economy.  It’s a testimony to, above all, the emerging greatness of Asbury Park.”

This Cookman Avenue Project “will make a major impact economically by creating a greater quantum of people and businesses in the downtown by filling such a large vacant space.”  Do you have an opinion?  Do you think the city and the developer can work fast to secure the financing?  Do you think this is a smart move for Asbury Park.  I would love to hear your thoughts.  Buying and selling real estate in Asbury is a specialty locale of mine and hearing what potential clients think of such expansions is very beneficial to my business.

In a down market, buyers have an advantage but it does not mean they are guaranteed to turn a profit. The home sales are slow and there is a high inventory, buyers have the opportunity to pick up a house on the cheap. The key word here is “opportunity”. There are times when you should jump at the chance and times when you should show restraint and avoid an impulse buy. Knowing the difference could save you tons of money.
To begin “seizing your opportunity”, first things first, do your homework. Research online, ask realtors from the desired area, and read up on the locale’s newspaper(s). Do all this to determine what a low price for that area is. Once you have determined a low price for your desired area, prepare to jump into an offer quickly. Get pre-approved from a mortgage company and have a lawyer or title company on retainer, ready to handle closing paperwork.
While searching property listings, pay attention to the length on time the home has been on the market. Look to see if there have been price changes and if the home is vacant. These are tips pointing in the direction of a “motivated seller.” With motivated sellers, you may even be able to ask the seller to pay for closing costs or include furniture and fixtures you may like. When buyers get wind of a motivated seller, there may be multiple offers on the table. Do not get into a bidding war. Bidding wars almost are always ego-driven and end up wasting money. Remember, there is plenty of inventory out there and other deals to be had.

It was a great day for sports today, especially NJ/NY sports! Not only did the NY Jets break their losing streak, the NY Yankees are heading to the World Series! The Yankees beat the Angels, 5-2, winning their 40th American League Pennant.
 http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/arti…

Back to the Jets, just for a moment since we have a World Series to prepare for. The Jets have been on a bit of a losing streak till today when rookie QB, Mark Sanchez, took the lead and brought home a win for his team!
 http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/33473957/n…

I did promise that after the Yankees won the AL title, I would get back to real estate so here it is – the current mortgage rates in NJ ;o)
 http://www.lendingtree.com/mortgage-loan…

Let’s take a moment to “not” talk about real estate today and instead, rally together and get ready for the New York Yankees to take the series on Saturday night, making them the American League Champs. Tonight’s game seemed to be a wash till the top of the 7th. If you missed the game, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com writes, “held quiet for most of the night by Angels ace John Lackey, the Yankees erupted to take a 6-4 lead in the top of the seventh, sending 10 men to the plate in a rally highlighted by Mark Teixeira’s three-run double, Hideki Matsui’s game-tying single and Robinson Cano’s go-ahead two-run triple.”

Despite the seventh-inning rally and ninth-inning threat, Joe Girardi lamented his club’s Game 5 loss. “Any time you have a chance to close out a series and you don’t win, no matter what the score is, it’s a missed opportunity,” Girardi said. “But we get a chance to go to our ballpark, where we’ve played extremely well. “You know, we’ve had a lot of come-from-behind wins there, so, yeah, it’s a missed opportunity, but we still have another game on Saturday.”
AL Championship Series
Gm. 1 NYY 4, LAA 1
Gm. 2 NYY 4, LAA 3
Gm. 3 LAA 5, NYY 4
Gm. 4 NY 10, LAA 1
Gm. 5 LAA 7, NYY 6
Gm. 6 LAA@NYY Sat., Oct. 24 8:07 ET
Gm. 7 LAA@NYY Sun., Oct. 25 8:20 ET

So, while you are chanting “Let’s Go Yankees” on Saturday night, enjoy the game, and then when you wake up Sunday morning, look me up so we can discuss real estate again!

The Famed theater in Red Bank, NJ – The Count Basie Theater, has once again been nominated for the New Jersey Hall of Fame for their dedication to the Arts and Entertainment. The Count Basie is a 1926 historic theater located in the heart of Red Bank and receives over 150,000 visitors each year.
Click on the link below to vote for The Count Basie Theater as NJ Hall of Fame Theater 2009.
 http://www.njhalloffame.org/

For a list of events at this historic theater - http://www.countbasietheatre.org/calenda…
A Little About Red Bank, NJ:
Battered for years by stiff competition from malls and mega-store shopping centers that have sprung up like dandelions, Red Bank hoped to use (its plan for a Special Improvement District) to foster a cleaner, more vital downtown with better recognition. Today, it’s not difficult to find proof that it’s worked. Besides four—count ‘em—coffeehouses, Red Bank is home to some 64 restaurants. Add to that mix the Count Basie Theatre, a performing arts center that attracts national and regional acts—everything from rock bands to dance companies; the area’s only art movie house, a bevy of antique shops; more than a dozen jewelry stores; several galleries; and a mix of new stores and others that date back several generations, and it becomes obvious that this town is doing something right. So much so that other towns are looking to it for clues to how to revive their own slumbering downtowns.

Where can you find a restaurant with the perfect blend of Parisian Brasserie and St. Tropaz waterfront? The Jersey Shore of course! More specifically, Ocean Avenue in Long Branch. The restaurant is Avenue, and it is located in the Pier Village. With a beach club outside, a nightclub upstairs and now a recently opened hotel within walking distance, you can actually experience an entire summer at the Avenue. Your first impression of this breathtaking restaurant is “Instant Summer… just add a cocktail.” This carries on throughout the winter as well. Being around the water is always peaceful, no matter the time of the year.

Check out the Avenue during the “Jersey Shore Restaurant Week” from November 6th – 15th, 2009.
 http://www.leclubavenue.com/jsrw_brunch….

 http://www.leclubavenue.com

Thinking of looking into the First Avenue Project in Asbury Park, New Jersey for your next address to call home? Besides the old SoHo styled units being designed in a massive redevelopment project, ready for urbanites looking for upscale shore living, the downtown Asbury Park area is also getting a face lift. The three partners who are undertaking the First Avenue Project have also leased one of the most sought after buildings in downtown Asbury Park. The Cookman Avenue location behind Moonstuck Restaurant is also on Kennedy Park. The plan is to open a 4,000 square foot casual steakhouse after the New Year. What could be better than sitting in this architecturally stunning building with its many windows and French doors, overlooking Kennedy Park while dining on a mouth-watering steak? And it has not been mentioned yet, that in order for the city to approve the use of the land the partners purchased from Asbury Park next to the building, they have to put $200,000 into revamping Kennedy Park. The view just got better!

Big and welcome news coming to Asbury Park, New Jersey. In a recession like ours, you do not typically see a large redevelopment of an old industrial building but in Asbury Park, on First Avenue and Langford, you can drive by and see such a project. It is quite a beautiful undertaking. One of the investors, Ivan Geldzahaler, said that the project is “truly like the old SoHo lofts with the exposed brick and high ceilings.” This is the sort of project that can define the Asbury Park community and has the ability to speed up the process in stabilizing sections of the city and make them much safer.
The building redevelopment will create 32 units, most are duplexes and some have interior stairs with a clearance of 34 feet from the top to bottom. Almost all of the units will have decks and all will have oversized windows. Expected to be completed and available for sale by February, move in date can be early as Spring. List prices will be determined by the market conditions at the opening of the new year, however, with the high quality design that The First Avenue Project is bringing to Asbury Park, the investment will definitely pay off no matter the price!