Monmouth County Real Estate

No, you are not going to be thinking about short sales, foreclosures, and listing contracts tomorrow night. Real Estate will not be on your mind so I am going to write about something relative to New Year’s Eve that I never knew…

The Designated Driver campaign is marking a milestone birthday. It has been 21 years since Harvard School of Public Health professor Jay Winsten teamed with Hollywood writers and producers to embed the message in prime-time television shows.

I never knew there was a history about the term “designated driver”, nor did I fully know it was a campaign. In 1985, the Center for Health Communication was established. The founders were at a stage where they had not selected priority issues when a tragic event occurred in Boston, and that was the death of Dennis Kauff. He was an extremely popular reporter at WBZ-TV. He was the victim of a drunk-driving crash. There were some 500 people at the funeral. John Henning, the anchor-reporter from WBZ, gave a eulogy saying, “There’s so much anger in this room, it could blow the ceiling off the place.’’

The concept of having a designated driver was not knew but marking a campaign in the USA, using Hollywood to launch it was. The designated driver concept was invented in the Nordic countries. It promoted a new social norm that the driver doesn’t drink.

The Center for Health Communication developed a communication strategy at the national level that had three components: The first was news, the second was advertising. The third, which was a departure from traditional public service campaigns, was to mobilize the Hollywood creative community. The person who deserves credit for pointing them in that direction is the late Frank Stanton, former CBS president. Besides promoting designated drivers on the news and in advertising campaigns he wanted to focus it on entertainment programming. Basically, Jay Winsten, one of the founders of the Center for Health Communication wanted television shows to incorporate a line or two of dialogue in their episodes to reflect the evolution of a new social norm about drinking.

Starting in late November 1988 at the end of the writers’ strike, over the next four television seasons, more than 160 prime-time episodes addressed drinking and driving with frequent use of the term designated driver. “Cheers’’ did it nine times. They had our poster as a permanent part of their set with the slogan, “The designated driver is the life of the party.’’

When the designated driver campaign started, the US had about 25,000 alcohol-related fatalities annually. It’s currently at about 13,000.

Enjoy the holiday tomorrow evening and please be safe. Let’s make the new year a great and successful one for all!!!

Home prices are stabling somewhat and even in some areas rising a bit. Interest rates have gone over 5% for the first time in awhile, and the tax credit has been extended and expanded till April 30th. All the arrows are pointing towards BUY, BUY BUY right now.

One problems buyers are running into is that their dream house is a short sale or a foreclosure and they are not sure how or if the process will work for them and their agent. Buying a short sale or foreclosure requires a lot more paperwork, middlemen, and time that scares buyers away. BUT, the deals are out there. Some buyers are getting foreclosure properties for $100k or more less than event current market value. Buying a foreclosure or even short sale guarantees you equity the day you close.

Here are a few tips for buying a Foreclosure:
1. Don’t get caught up in a feeding frenzy
There is always another house out there so do not get caught up in a bidding war over that 4 bedroom colonial on the cul-de-sac. Before you start looking into buying a home, meet with a mortgage rep and go over your budget. What can you afford, what sale price will fit into your budget, etc. When you have that price set, stick to it, no matter how much you love that house.

2. Contact lenders directly
Smart buyers establish relations with asset managers at banks. This may reward them with inside information or first crack at new foreclosures hitting the market. Also, if, for example, a short sale falls through and the home is put into foreclosure, the asset mananger will know you are interested and let you know about the status change.

3. Get pre-approved from the lender you want to buy from
If you’re trying to buy a property from, say Bank of America, it can help to get a pre-approved mortgage from Bank of America. Doing so may cause lenders to look more favorably on your bid if it’s similar to others. Note, you are not locked into that lender. When the time comes to finalize a mortgage and a better offer from another bank is presented to you, you can switch, but being approved by the same lender as the home you are going after just gives you an advantage over other bidders.

4. Consider fix-ups
“In 25% of cases, homebuyers persuade lenders to fix some of the problems before the sale closes. Most of the time, banks would rather sell the house to the next available bidder — one who doesn’t ask the bank to pay for repairs. So be willing to consider a home that needs some work — but budget accordingly.”

5. Hire a real estate attorney
Once banks agree to sales, they often want to move fast and load contracts up with legal mumbo jumbo. As a result, buyers often do not have the time or expertise to figure all the angles. The solution is to hire a real estate attorney.

6. Wait to make an offer
Homebuyers may be well served to wait before making an offer. Let the house sit on the market for a few days, giving others a chance to set the bidding tone. Then jump in.

7. Tour properties with contractors
You can find problems with a home in an inspection but before you get emotionally involved in the home, view the home with a contractor or inspector so you know exactly what would need to be done. Knowing this gives you a construction budget and then will determine the offer price for the home so you do not get in over your head. In many foreclosure homes, the owners were behind on bills and upkeep of the home so there may be a need for a lot of repairs.

Not on the list, but always a good idea – ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS TO WHOMEVER YOU CAN ASK. Whether it is the listing agent, the home owner, your agent, a lawyer, contractor, or even a neighbor by the prospective house. Knowing what you are getting into before you even put an offer in, will give you an advantage.

I have reported in the past couple of months about the tides changing. The market is starting to take a turn upwards and with that interest rates will be climbing too.

According to Freddie Mac, mortgage rates rose for a third straight week as the 30-year loan climbed back above the 5% level for the first time since Oct. 29.

Freddie Mac’s weekly rate survey showed the national average on the 30-year mortgage at 5.05%, up from 4.94% a week ago. The 15-year loan, a popular refinancing choice, also jumped, to 4.45% from 4.38%.

Freddie Mac chief economist, Frank Nothaft, pointed out that “the low rates have helped the housing market continue to show improvement. ‘Total existing home sales jumped 7.4% in November to an annualized pace of 6.54 million units, which was the most since February 2007. Moreover, the number of unsold existing homes was the lowest since December 2006 and the number of unsold new homes was the least since April 1971, which may leave future room for new construction’.”

See Economic Report for more on the existing-home sales numbers:  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-bu…

Since no one has work on their minds today till basically New Years, I thought it would be fun to show you some sites that can be lots of fun for kids this Christmas. These are all free and interactive.

Portable North Pole
 http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html

You can track Santa as he takes flight and even call the headquarters to see what time he will arrive at your house! This site is courtesy of hundreds of volunteers and business donations. This is great to keep going all Christmas Eve!!

The North Pole
 http://www.northpole.com/

Tons of interactive games and activities. You can personalize a Christmas story or get some of Mrs. Claus’s recipes!

Hope you have a great holiday!!! Enjoy every moment of it!!

We may have seen the worst economic times since the Great Depression, but with the Federal goverment support, the housing market has been pulled out of it’s slump. Home resales surged last month to the highest level in nearly three years.

Buyers rushed to close before the expiration of the First Time Buyer Tax Credit on November 30 of this year. just as the expiration date approached, Congress decided to extend and expand the credit to ensure the housing market could sustain its recovery.

It is estimated that aprroximately 2 million homebuyers have taken advantage of the credit up to this point and forecasts show that another 2.4 million will do the same before the new expiration date of April 30, 2010. First-time buyers made up about half of all transactions last month, driving sales up 44 percent above last year’s levels, a record jump. The new Tax Credit now provides current homeowners the opportunity to receive a credit as well.

Statistics show that sales are now up 46 percent from January’s low, but down 10 percent from the peak more than four years ago.

The median sales price is $172,600, down 4.3 percent from a year earlier, and up 0.2 percent from October. “Things are stabilizing,” said Pete Flint, chief executive of real estate Web site Trulia.com. There is a significant amount of buyer interest out there.”

“The numbers are also showing that in November, sales rose 7.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million, from a downwardly revised pace of 6.09 million in October.”

The inventory of unsold homes on the market fell about 1 percent to 3.5 million. That’s a healthy 6.5 month supply at the current sales pace, the lowest level in three years.

Sales may slow right now during the winter months because there is no sense of urgency of a tax credit expiration but come the beginning of the spring, we should see even better numbers than above.

Short Sales were up 22 percent from the previous 3-month quarter, and from this time last year, they are up 127 percent!

“In a report tracking about 65 percent of outstanding U.S. mortgages, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) said lenders under their jurisdiction completed 30,766 short sales and 118,603 foreclosure sales during the third quarter.” When breaking those numbers down, that is 3.85 foreclosures for every short sale. Last year this time, it was 9.43 foreclosures for every short sale. What does this mean? It simply means more home owners are choosing short sales as an alternative to foreclosing on their home.

As the real estate market seems to be stabilizing nationally and the number of foreclosed homes across the country fell for the fourth straight month, according to Realty Trac, closer examination of local markets shows that New Jersey is not following that trend.

New Jersey’s statewide foreclosure rate is 0.03 percent, a third of the national rate. Realty Trac, a national company that tracks real estate statistics indicates that the number of people behind on their mortgage payments is not falling every month. In fact, New Jersey figures for July through October are significantly higher than numbers for fourth-quarter 2008 and first-quarter 2009.

December Newsletter
 http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs082…

Normally this is the quiet time for agents where we are not rushing out just as we take one bite of dinner to show a house (not that we mind one bit!), but economists are showing that the market is picking up right now despite the normal averages for December.

Applications for home purchase loans soared 42 percent last week on a non-seasonally-adjusted basis compared with the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Could this be due to an early reaction of the extension of the $8,000 tax credit or the start-up of the new $6,500 credit? There is one theory that this shot in applications is from the fact that with the market showing some positive turns, interest rates have raised slightly. Maybe the rush to nail down financing by home buyers is a smart move … compared with paying half a point higher rates by early spring.

Another possibility that could be a trigger for the 42% increase in loan applications comes from ZIP Realty’s latest national study on price reductions on listed properties. They found that during November the number of price cuts dropped in 27 major markets, a welcome sign of more realistic asking prices, however, buyers may not want to take a chance on “getting a bargain”.

Most likely it is a combination of all these factors that we are seeing spikes in sales so let’s keep things positive and on the up-swing. Let’s keep up the good work!
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Citigroup Inc. will suspend foreclosures and evictions for 30 days in a temporary break for about 4,000 borrowers during the holiday season.
 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34460803/ns/…

Are you a home-based business owner? The American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance is lobbying on your behalf to get a tax credit.
 http://realestate.yahoo.com/info/news/wh…

If you want to see some quick but informative videos about the current real estate market, check out www.realtytimes.com.

There is nothing better than walking into new construction and smelling the fresh paint and sawdust. It is the same feeling you get when you smell new-car-scent. Such a fresh canvas, so many possibilities.

Since the downward spiral of the real estate market, new construction was hit the hardest. Completed new homes have just been sitting there waiting for a buyer and builders could not start new projects before they unloaded their current inventory.

New construction is starting to see life however. The Commerce Department said construction of new homes and apartments rose 8.9 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 574,000 units. The gain represented strength in all areas of the country although the increase was slightly lower than economists had expected.

Applications for new building permits were also up, rising 6 percent to an annual rate of 584,000 units, a stronger showing than economists predicted.

Even though there are signs of improvement, homebuilder outlook is down. The National Association of Home Builders said Tuesday its housing market index fell by one point to 16 this month, reflecting concern that job losses and a slow economic recovery will continue to stifle demand for new homes despite the extension of a federal tax credit for buyers. According to an article by the Associated Press, “In the latest survey of builder confidence, the reading for current sales conditions slipped one point to 16. Traffic by prospective buyers stood at 13. And builders’ outlook for sales over the next six months fell by two points to 26.

The index reflects a survey of 514 residential developers nationwide. Index readings below 50 indicate negative sentiment about the market. The last time it was above 50 was in April 2006.”

It seems that the outlook for new homes is still unclear and we are going to have to wait and see what happens in the new year.

This article came across my desk and it seemed like the perfect time to post it. What to get the person who has everything?? CASH!

Tis the Season of Giving
Tim McLaughlin

As the holidays approach, the old adage rings true: tis
the season of giving. But if you’re tired of giving the same
old boring, useless gifts, and have had it with mall traffic
and congestion, why not consider giving your children
something worthwhile, like the gift of a down payment to
buy a home, or even a home itself?
Uncle Sam encourages such generosity, at least within
limits (see the IRS site: Publication 950 – Introduction to
Estate and Gift Taxes). You and/or your spouse are each
allowed to give gifts of $13,000 of money or property to as
many people as you want, without triggering taxes for you
or the recipients. If you give more than this amount to any
one person, the excess counts, dollar for dollar, against
your $1 million lifetime gift tax exclusion ($2 million for
married couples).
So if, say, you and/or your spouse wanted to give
$50,000 to your son/daughter for a down payment on a
house, together you could gift them $26,000 this year
(there are 20 days remaining), and $24,000 next year (as
early as January 1st), tax-free.
This gift could help them qualify to buy a home before
the federal government’s tax credit stimulus expires early
next summer. And if the gift allows them to make a down
payment of 20% or more of the sales price, they would
also avoid having to pay private mortgage insurance.
Or, if you are interested in selling your home to your
child, you could gift some of the equity in the home rather
than cash. Alternatively, you could also finance your child’s
mortgage. Then you and your spouse could each give
$13,000 to your child, and an equivalent amount to the
child’s spouse, until the loan is paid off.
As always, if is recommended that you speak with your
tax advisor to understand all the rules and parameters of
donating such a gift, but certainly a worthwhile gesture,
and something that more and more families are taking
advantage of with historically low interest rates.

It is one of those days that I have decided to be a bit lazy again and had you some links instead of writing my own thoughts. With the holidays fast approaching and our days filled with shopping, prepping the egg nog, and showing houses, there just is not enough time in the day. Hope you came out to enjoy some of the holiday events in Asbury Park this past weekend! I will post this week’s events tomorrow. Enjoy the links and see you online again on Tuesday!!
2010 and Rebuilding or Protecting Your Credit Score
 http://realestate.yahoo.com/info/news/20…

What are your thoughts on the new FHA Condo Rules? Is it affecting you?  http://realestate.yahoo.com/info/news/wa…

Do you pay to keep track of your credit score? Instead follow suit with your lender…
 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/free-cr…

Here is an interesting fact I came across the other day that I would like to share with you -
Seven year real estate appreciation in the Garden state is at 37% and five times the national average.

Okay, so those are some interesting articles I wanted to share, but tell me, what would like to hear about when you take time to read a real estate blog? I just start posting the latest topic that comes across my desk, but if there is something you would like to know more about, just go ahead and send me a message. I am here to assist!