Great Realtor or Blogger: How do you tell the difference?
I’ve been told, “show your personality on your Blog posts.” So I’ve been reading several blogs focused in the Hoboken, NJ real estate market written by so called…”Real Estate Experts”?
What is the definition of a real estate expert in the Blogosphere anyway…?
The reality is that whether you’re buying or selling great information is important. One of the tricks in today’s changing real estate market is knowing if the so called “expert” giving you the information and analysis actually has the credentials and or the practical experience to help you interpret the information accurately.
Some other questions that come to mind when determining if the person or blog writer is actually an expert:
- How do I know this person’s background and area of expertise?
- What should I look for?
- What should I be asking before committing to working with the so called expert?
Here is a simple analogy:
Your child gets sick and you go to the doctor and he says, “This is very serious. We need to operate immediately. It’s a matter of life and death..” You say to yourself, “Oh my god…It’s critical we find a “surgeon” or ”expert in the field” ASAP!
All the questions start to run through your head such as:
- How many times a month does he do this operation?
- Is he a specialist or a general surgeon?
- What is his or her success rate?
- How long is the recovery time?
Then your so called “expert/blogger” says..”Well…to be honest….”
Median Gross Personal Income of REALTORS®
Market Jumps in July 7.2%: Are you ready?
Purchases of existing homes increased 5% compared with a year earlier. The median price dropped to $178,400 from $210,100 in July 2008.
From CNBC:
Existing Home Sales Rise at Fastest Pace in Two Years
Sales of previously owned U.S. homes jumped 7.2 percent in July to mark the fastest sales pace in nearly two years, an industry survey showed Friday, in a strong sign that housing is pulling out of a three-year slump.
Sales in July rose for the fourth straight month to hit an annual rate of 5.24 million units, the highest rate since August 2007, the National Association of Realtors said, beating market expectations for a 5 million unit pace. Sales in June had been at a 4.89 million pace.
July’s increase was the largest monthly gain since the series started in 1999. The last time sales rose for four consecutive months was in June 2004, the NAR said.
…
“Overall, these figures may suggest that the recovery in housing activity is gathering pace, but there is a long way to go yet,” said Paul Dales, U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto.
From the Star Ledger:
N.J., Northeast real estate sales rise, signaling a bottom
For the first time in two-and-a-half years, home sales are higher in the Northeast than they were the year before, a real estate association said today.
Home sales were up 3.3 percent over July 2008 and went up 13.4 percent from the previous month, the National Association of Realtors said. A third of sales were considered distressed transactions, such as foreclosures or short sales.
“This is the number that we have been waiting for – an actual year-over-year increase for the nation as a whole,” said Joseph Seneca, an economics and policy professor at Rutgers University. “There is an enormously long road back, but this, finally, is a vigorous first step.”
The median price of homes sold in the Northeast was 15 percent below last year. Half of homes sold for more than $236,700, and half for less. In July 2008, the median price was at $278,600.
…
“This is evidence of a market bottoming,” said Susan Wachter, professor of real estate at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
This does not mean that sales will keep rising on a straight path, analysts say. More likely the market will, as they say, bump along the bottom.
“While it’s turning, we’re at lows, and we’re likely to remain at lows,” Wachter said. “The fundamentals are still negative. The fundamentals of growing unemployment – that’s the major issue out there.”
Unemployment in New Jersey rose from 9.2 percent in June to 9.3 percent in July.
The state has seen signs of a bottom of the market, and perhaps a turnaround, for a few months, according to data from the Otteau Valuation Group, an appraisal and analysis company that studies New Jersey real estate.
The number of signed contracts in New Jersey appeared to hit a bottom in May, which saw the numbers stay flat compared with May 2008. Signed contracts rose 12 percent in June over the previous year and 8 percent in July, according to the company.
“It’s very exciting,” company president Jeffrey Otteau said. “These are very positive signs for the housing market, and we’re beginning to see some isolated towns where home prices have started to rise.”
Tiger Woods Will Play the Barclays at Liberty National
It’s official! The PGA Tour confirms Tiger Woods will play the Barclays at Liberty National going on August 26-30, 2009.
The first leg of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs kicks-off at Liberty National Golf Course. Barclays Executive Director Peter Mele said, “The Barclays has been an exciting kick-off to the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup each of the first two years. Having Tiger in the field this year will, no doubt, bring even more excitement to the tournament.” Mele also goes on to say, “With our first-rate title sponsor Barclays welcoming the PGA Tour’s best to New Jersey coupled with a challenging layout and breathtaking views supplied by Liberty National, fans should get their tickets now to experience the very best the PGA Tour has to offer.”
The Hoboken Shelter is partnering with The Barclays through Tickets Fore Charity. Through this program, 75% of the net proceeds from every $45 daily grounds pass ticket purchased on behalf of The Hoboken Shelter goes directly to the organization.
This is a fantastic way to support The Hoboken Shelter while also watching Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and the rest of the top 125 players on the PGA TOUR compete for the FedEx Cup! Please visit The Barclays to purchase tickets and be sure to enter the promotional code HS when making the purchase. You may never get another opportunity to see Tiger Woods right in your own backyard!
New York Tax Credit for First-Time Home Buyers
In an effort to stimulate home sales in New York, the state will offer a federal income tax credit to first-time home buyers.
This new tax incentive called the New York State Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) allows first-time home buyers to get a tax credit equal to 20% of their annual mortgage interest costs. A first-time home buyer could see an average savings of about $1,500. The New York State tax credit comes as an extension to the federal government’s First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of $8,000, which is a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and is effective until November 30, 2009. For a limited time, some home buyers will qualify for both.
New York Governor David Paterson said, “The New York State Mortgage Credit Certificate will make it easier for first-time home buyers to buy their first home and will help stimulate the State’s economy. It also means some form of federal tax credit will be available for home buyers even after the federal government’s tax credit program expires in November.”
Who administers MCC?
The State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) will act only as the administrator of the Mortgage Credit Certificate. They are a State agency that provides affordable home ownership opportunities to low and moderate income residents. It is important to note that home buyers who receive a SONYMA mortgage are not eligible for the Mortgage Credit Certificate.
How do I apply?
Applications at participating lenders should be available as early as September. First-time home buyers may apply for the Mortgage Credit Certificate at the same time they apply for a fixed-interest rate mortgage at a participating lender. In order to qualify for the Mortgage Credit Certificate, applicants must meet SONYMA’s income limit and home purchase price requirements. For more information on qualifications and participating lenders, please visit nyhomes.org.
Between existing and new tax incentives, low mortgage rates and home prices, this could become a buyer’s paradise and finding the right real estate help is essential. Please contact Sean T Shallis at The Shallis Group for a personal consultation on your buying or selling needs at 201-427-1032.
(source: ny.gov)
Home Buyer Wish List
Buying a home can be both exhilarating and exhausting. What can start out as an exciting adventure can quickly turn into a stressful roller coaster packed with so many decisions and compromises you lose track of what you were looking for in the first place. Therefore, before you start your journey just as you would if you were embarking on a trip, it is important to write out a list of what you need or are looking for. This will become a working list that will change as you move through the home buying processes such as adding features you didn’t think about when you started and deleting ones that exceed your budget.
Some of the information you should collect can become vital such as what school district a property falls in or if there is a home owner’s association fee, which could make a big difference in your monthly payment. For example, if a mortgage payment with principle, interest, tax and insurance is $1500, it can become $1800 with a $300 a month association fee attached. If there is an association fee involved, it is also important to find out what is included such a gated community, community pool, snow removal, community maintenance and even your water or sewage usage.
With all there is to remember, hopefully the wish list form below will help keep your sanity in tact.
Download the home buyer wishlist (PDF) document. Meanwhile here’s a sneak preview of part of the wishlist:
Please contact Sean T Shallis at The Shallis Group for a personal consultation on your buying or selling needs at 201-427-1032.
Mortgage Companies Impede Foreclosure Program
With a $75 billion dollar government bail out program in place, why are mortgage companies reluctant to help troubled homeowners?
Mortgage companies met with the Obama administration in Washington recently to answer questions as to why delinquent homeowners are not getting the relief they need as soon as possible. The companies are being asked to hire more staff and train them immediately to help speed up the application process for mortgage relief. Although adequate staffing maybe one cause for the delay in approved applications for loan modifications, another could be the extremely profitable fees that are collected when a loan becomes delinquent.
Delinquent Fees
Financial insiders and attorneys say that it is more advantageous for a mortgage company to delay or turn down homeowners seeking foreclosure relief due to the large delinquency fees that can be collected even if the home goes into foreclosure. Mortgage companies can still collect delinquency fees even though a homeowner is no longer making payments from the foreclosure proceeds once the property is sold. The longer these troubled loans stay delinquent, the more money in tacked on fees the lender gets to collect.
“I don’t think they’re motivated to do modifications at all. They keep hitting the loan all the way through for junk fees. It’s a license to do whatever they want,” says MargeryGolant a Florida attorney who represents homeowners in foreclosure and a former industry insider for Ocwen Financial. Recently the Federal Reserve Bank out of Boston came out with a similar claim stating, “The rules by which servicers are reimbursed for expenses may provide a perverse incentive to foreclose rather than modify.”
Late Fees Add Up
If a loan payment is due on the 1st of every month, a borrower usually has until the 16th before the loan starts to accrue past due fees. These fees could be as high as 6% of the monthly mortgage payment. So if a borrower’s monthly payment is $2000, a late fee of $120 could be tacked on in addition to the $2000. If a $2000 a month mortgage is four months past due, delinquency fees could add up to $480, which becomes a great hardship to those that can’t make the basic monthly payment.
It has been estimated that the number of mortgages 90 days or more past due hit 3 million by June of 2009. Mortgage lenders can see double digit profits coming from late fees tacked onto loans giving them little incentive to rescue troubled homeowners.
In this economy, the right real estate help is essential. Please contact Sean T Shallis at The Shallis Group for a personal consultation on your buying or selling needs at 201-427-1032.
(source: Yahoo Finance)
Real Estate Got You Down? Think of Carlos Justo!
So when your having a challenging day and you think “it can’t get any worse”, it’s easy for the rock stars to say, “Have a positive attitude…Don’t be attached to the outcome!” What do you do when your $20 million in the hole?
The following is a very true story of a personal friend of mine, Carlos Justo the rock star of real estate. Carlos Justo’s empire reached 200 Million in volume in a year.. oh on about 50 transactions! Though Carlos may not be very good at managing money, there is a tremendous amount to learn from him in regard to his mindset, positive attitude and giving heart!
One of my most vivid experiences with Carlos was about 6 years ago. The market was flying and Carlos and I were accountability partners. We’d speak daily to say I did or didn’t do my job today. During this relationship my grandmother passed in Florida. She lived about 30 minutes south of Miami.
I’ll never forget that morning talking to Carlos from her house several hours after her passing. He realized instantly something was wrong. After I explained what had just happened he said (in typical flamboyant Carlos fashion), “Baby, baby…I’m so sorry to hear about your grandmother.” To make a long story short, it was going to be several days before the services.
Carlos sent his Bentley limo to pick me up and drive me to his penthouse on the strip in South Beach, FL. He said, “I’ll be in St. John for a month. Stay as long as you like. My butler and driver will take care of your every need. If you need anything you call them or me!” Funny, it’s a lot easier to relax in a multi-million dollar penthouse over looking South Beach with fresh squeezed juice and breakfast prepared for you…
The moral of my story: physical and or financial defeat is temporary….We are only defeated when we mentally quit! Knowing Carlos, the next article we’ll read will be something along the lines of, “Flamboyant Real Estate Agent Buys Yacht ….! “
Read the story of a personal friend of mine Carlos Justo on Yahoo.com.
Plane and Helicopter Collide Over Hudson River, Killing 9
According to the Associate Press
NEW YORK – A small plane and a tour helicopter carrying five Italian tourists collided and fell into the Hudson River and onto the New Jersey waterfront Saturday. Authorities believed all nine people on board the two aircraft were killed.
The accident, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg called “not survivable”, happened just after noon and was seen by hundreds and maybe even thousands of people out enjoying a crystal clear summer day.
As a resident of the Port Liberte Community in Jersey City, NJ and working in Hoboken both literally a stones throw from the Hudson, it’s not uncommon for us to see helicopters flying low and erratically in and around Lady Liberty! As I’ve said in many posts, “with our community as Lady Liberty’s neighbor…we are close enough to see up Lady Liberty’s skirt on a rainy day!
Here’s the question… Aren’t there certain parts of the river that are either no fly zones or require specific flight plans or directional traffic?
The Coast Guard made it abundantly clear to me several years ago that we were too close to the Statue of Liberty while sight seeing with friends on our boat.
Our sincerest prayers go out to all the people effected by this tragedy. God speed the rescue crew in their efforts…
Hoboken Condo Market: Market Summary and Forecast
Market Summary and Forecast for the Hudson County, Specifically Hoboken, Condo Market:
The following forecast is based upon evaluating the statistical data and traffic patterns of properties both in our inventory and throughout Hoboken and Hudson County Markets. In addition, we’ve informally surveyed and collected supporting data in our day to day course of business with cooperating agents, vendors, wholesalers and retail customers.
Influencing Factors in the Hoboken Market
In my professional opinion, I feel the Hoboken Condo market is going to continue to trend downward over the next two quarters between 3-5% over all. This number may increase as a result of the FHA policy changes on Oct 1st 2009, Truth and Lending Policy July 30th 2009, banks and financial institutions reluctance to accept ‘short sales and or a Deed-in-Lieu’ and the staggering 700,000 foreclosures being held off the market by banks and financial institutions. It should be noted that many of the larger financial institutions have been following the newly revised Truth and Lending Policy guidelines for over six months now. Though we are not exactly sure how the changes mentioned above will effect the market over-all, our informal research and the opinions of market professionals anticipate “growing pains” at best.
The Market’s Future
We realize the real estate market isn’t going to zero…In my professional opinion, we see the Hudson County and Hoboken real estate market stabilizing in Q1 and Q2 of 2010 and begin to show moderate signs of recovery in Q1 of 2011. One determining factor in making this analysis is the following: we estimate more than 40% of the condo buyers in Hoboken work in the financial markets. Contrary to other real estate markets, we typically see a moderate increase in buyer traffic beginning in Q3 and Q4, year after year. In short, these same buyers are basing their acquisitions less on emotions or the needs of a growing family and more on year-end and/or performance bonuses from their jobs. Our estimated recovery time lines are in direct correlation with the predictions of economic and Wall Street experts. As the stock and equities markets recover and trading activity increases so will the young professionals buying power with the renewal of year-end and/or compensation bonuses.
In closing, we truly honor and appreciate your confidence in Weichert Realtors and The Shallis Group. We are committed to continuing to out-perform both the market average and similar competing properties with higher execution prices. Please call Sean TShallis directly at 201-427-1032 for a personal consultation.
Mortgage Rates Continue to Drop for July
Mortgage rates fall for the third time in four weeks.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.39% last week, down from the previous week. This is the third time in the last month that rates have continued drop. With the unemployment rate reported at 9.5% for June and forecasted to be at 10.9% by the end of the year, combined with low quarterly earnings, investors are still unsure of the market and where it’s headed. The 15-year mortgage rate is holding at 4.78%. So far, the averages continue to lower even further according to bankrate.com. Compared to last year’s figures, 30-year fixed mortgage rates were at 6.48%, a difference of more than 1%.
Adjustable rates are also following suit with 5-year ARMs down to 4.82% from 4.88% and 1-year ARMs at 4.82% down from 4.94% according to Freddie Mac.
Between historically low mortgage rates and home prices, this could become a buyer’s paradise and finding the right real estate help is essential. Please contact Sean T Shallis at The Shallis Group for a personal consultation on your buying or selling needs at 201-427-1032.
(source: money.cnn.com)
![Regional Map [NJTransit]](http://www.njtransit.com/images/hb_final_1031.gif){kind=link}