How to Protect Your Assets

Why do you need personal liability insurance? Though it’s a policy included with your homeowners insurance, you should make sure that all of your assets are always fully protected.

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One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to protect your assets. One of the best ways to protect your assets is to get personal liability insurance. Where can you get personal liability insurance?

I’d recommend connecting with Michael Hompesch, who is a senior insurance advisor at the John Morgan McLachlan Agency.

Michael shared with me the value of personal liability insurance and the fact that it’s embedded in most homeowners insurance policies.

Personal liability insurance is embedded in most homeowners insurance policies.

What does personal liability insurance do? If you or any family members living under the same roof damage any property or hurt anyone significantly, personal liability insurance will cover any legal expenses and claims up to $500,000.

We take homeowners insurance for granted because it’s required by mortgage companies and because it’s relatively affordable; however, if you’re renting or you’ve paid off your mortgage and let the policy lapse, you may not be covered under a liability insurance policy and should be sure to get it immediately.

Keep in mind that liability insurance typically covers about $500,000, and with some accidents this may not cover all of the damage. For this reason, you should also consider getting supplemental liability insurance, which is also called “umbrella insurance.” This will typically cover you above and beyond what your auto and homeowners policy covers you for.

We work hard to attain our assets, so we need to be smart about protecting them. I’d recommend that you contact Michael and ask him to review your policy. If you mention my name to him, he’ll do so for free and with no obligation. Give him a call at 908-526-4600 X221 if you have any specific questions for him.

If you have any other questions about homeowners insurance or anything else related to real estate in New Jersey, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you!

An Overview of How Real Estate Taxes in New Jersey Work

Real estate taxes are complicated. However, I would like to use my experience to help you get a better grasp of how they work.

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After 14 years as a professional Realtor in New Jersey, I’ve picked up quite a bit of information about real estate taxes in this state. I’d like to share some of this wisdom with you today.

The first thing to keep in mind is that real estate taxes are complicated. A Rutgers professor recently stated that a big portion of New Jersey’s budget goes to schools and public services, and there are no real savings in combining town services. This is a great thing, because New Jersey is known for its good schools.

Commerce is also a big driver for taxes. A friend of mine recently told me that once a Costco was completed near her house, her taxes went down.

Commerce is a big driver for taxes.

If you are buying a home and it was cleaned up or improved in any meaningful way, you should call the tax assessor's office to see if the taxes on your home will go up. If you’re selling and thinking of making repairs, you should also give the tax assessor’s office a call before you make your decision.

Homeowners who fix up their home and don’t tell their town need to disclose that information with the buyers up front. Buyers all want to know if homes will go up in taxed value after the close. Most towns in New Jersey do not release the value after close, but there are some towns that do tax you based on the market value of the home after the sale is closed.

Lastly, your taxes and property values work together. If you have low taxes, it’s likely that your property values are sky high. If you have high taxes, like in West Orange, you typically have lower-priced homes.

If you have any questions about real estate taxes in New Jersey or anything else relating to real estate, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

How Short Sales Work

Short sales are an option for sellers who want to protect their credit by putting their house on the market before it goes into foreclosure.

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I deal with short sales both as a listing agent and a buyer’s agent, so today I want to cover this topic in full.

A short sale is when the seller attempts to sell the house for less than what they owe on that house. The seller puts the house on the market before it goes into foreclosure because they want to protect their credit.

A short sale has to be approved by the bank. In order for the bank to improve the short sale, they have to take several considerations into account. Can the seller prove hardship? How much do they owe? How many liens do they have? What type of liens? What are the assets?

A successful short sale happens when the seller fully cooperates.

A successful short sale happens when the seller is fully cooperating and can prove hardship. It can get messy when they or their spouses aren’t cooperating, they can’t prove hardship, or there are multiple liens or types of liens. For those reasons, a short sale can take at least six months or more. Buyers need to be patient and flexible on the closing date, then, because it’s really a roll of the dice as to whether they get that house.

The most important thing the buyer’s agent can do in this transaction is ask the seller’s agent the right kinds of questions. Is the seller cooperating? Have they filled out the short sale package and sent it to the bank? Do they have a good case? What to they owe in total? Has the bank done a BPO (broker’s price opinion) yet?

The general rule of thumb is that sellers are usually willing to lose 30% on their investment, but you always put an offer in anyway because you never know if they’re willing to lose more. The key is to have a buyer’s agent that’s on top of the seller’s agent because, quite frankly, they don’t always have all the answers.

The most important thing the listing agent can do in this transaction is move that process forward and keep close communication with buyers who have expressed interest.

If you or anyone you know is looking to do a possible short sale, please let me know and I’d be happy to offer a free consultation. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

How I Help Buyers Find a Home

How do I work with buyers? It all starts with a face-to-face meeting to find out what you need. Then the process can truly begin.

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Today I wanted to discuss how I work with buyers.

When I first get a buyer referred to me, I like to set up a meeting in person. We go over their needs, their wants, any questions or concerns they have, and then, we go over the home buying process from offer to closing. During this meeting, I always remind them that buying a home is a team effort. They will typically drive the online home search and I'll do the following:

• Send them homes that might be of interest to them
• Create an auto-email search that sends them listings
• Make the home viewing process smooth
• Point out the pluses and minuses when we see homes together

We'll go over your needs, wants, and everything in between.

I'll also invite buyers to let me know when they go to open houses so that I can send them a list by email or text. When a buyer expresses interest in a home, I'll also call the listing agent and get the inside scoop and find out what the disclosure items are.

People are surprised to learn that on average, it takes about a year to buy a house. That's why it's important to be able to ride the emotional roller coaster together. Sometimes people start out really strong, then they get discouraged, take a break, and then resume their search. I've instituted a 90-day policy to make sure the home search criteria is accurate and do a gut-check to make sure they're happy with the process and the service.

So if you or anyone you know is looking for a home in the next year, give me a call or send me an email. I'd love to walk you through the process and show you what I can do for you.

Why Fall Is a Great Time to Sell Your Home

Selling your home in the fall actually comes with a lot of benefits.

Sometimes, it really pays to go against the crowd. As you probably know, spring is the season when most people around the New Jersey commuter towns put their homes on the market.

Summer is the high season, and it’s when most homes get sold. However, there are a few powerful reasons why fall might actually be a better time than either spring or summer to sell your home.

Home buyers in the fall are more serious. They have been looking at listings for months, and they are eager to conclude their search and move in comfortably before the holidays. Additionally, many spring and summer listings have come off the market, giving you less competition, and making the newness of your listing very attractive.

Home buyers in the fall are more serious.

Now, if you are thinking of selling your home this fall, there are a few things you have to do differently. First, you have to prepare your home to account for the particular fall conditions.

For example, you need to check the HVAC system and replace your furnace filter so your home will be warm and smell fresh. Also, make sure to turn on all the lights; you've got to compensate for the shorter, cloudier days. Make sure your gutters are free of leaves and the landscaping is tidy.

It’s a slightly different season, but I can assure you that it’s a great time to sell your house. If you’re thinking about selling this fall, or you have any questions at all about our market, give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to help you out in any way that I can.

Why Overpricing Your Home Can Net You Less Money

If you're selling your home and you overprice it, it can be costly.

When you list, you can either choose to price it right or overprice it. Pricing the house right assumes that the Realtor proved that they pulled up the proper comparable homes and weighed the features and benefits of the house correctly and are in tune with market conditions. If the seller doesn't agree with this list price, they should openly question the Realtor to prove otherwise.

Sometimes, sellers want to bump up the asking price for their home to either test the market or to leave room for negotiation. However, sellers need to be aware of the cost of overpricing their home:

1. Overpricing can scare buyers right away. Sellers tend to think there is a handful of buyers who will want to buy their home at any given time, but the truth is, there are usually one or two buyers who want to buy the home. Overpricing can scare one or both of them away, leaving nothing.
Overpricing can cause buyer’s remorse and headaches throughout the transaction.
2. Overpricing the home can cause buyer's remorse. Buyers know when they're getting a fair price. If they feel they're getting an unfair price, they might be unfair during the home inspection period and it will cause unnecessary stress and complications throughout the deal.
3. Overpricing can actually net the seller less money. If a house sits on the market, they may have to overcompensate later and underprice the home below market value to generate interest. Secondly, the seller's carrying costs like mortgage, taxes, and utility costs need to be accounted for. Since New Jersey homes can have issues with things like the sump pump or pipes freezing, the sooner the house sells, the better.

Overpricing can cause appraisal issues. When you have issues with the appraisal, it can not only cause a lot of stress, it can kill a deal. If you'd like to discuss home prices and the importance of pricing correctly when it comes time to sell, I'd love to speak with you. You can always give me a call or send me an email and I'd be happy to help.

Help Us Bring Awareness to a Cause That's Close to Us

Today I wanted to talk about a community service project that helps kids and their families. It's a project I'm working on and I'm asking for your help.

My team and I are looking for service organizations that help children with mental or emotional health issues and can benefit from our project.

We want to bring mental and emotional health awareness to the community.

Our project is called Rise Up Kids.

We want to bring organizations into the community and make families aware of their services. Currently, organizations that help families are one of the best-kept secrets. As a rotary member, I got to meet some of these service organizations at our weekly meeting, but once they left the meeting, it was the last we heard of them.

They're not marketing experts and they work with skeleton crews, so it's understandable that you may not have heard of them. You might find a pamphlet at a library or hear a commercial every once in awhile, but that's usually it.

We want to bring them into the community and make families aware of what they actually do. Would you know where to refer a friend with a child suffering from a lost parent, a mental illness, or a substance abuse issue?

I can tell you that my own family has benefited from these organizations recently - in particular, the New Jersey Center of Mental Health and Bridgeway. They helped our family cope, gave us hope, and they helped us stay united in trying times.

With Rise Up Kids, we'll invite about 10 organizations into a local community park, draw kids and families out by offering a free RE/MAX tethered hot air balloon ride, and we'll ask these families to visit each organization's informational booth for a ticket. Once they've collected all 10 tickets, they've earned the free balloon ride.

Thank you so much for reading today in regard to a topic that's very important to me. If you have any questions about the event or you know of an organization that can benefit from the event, please give me a call or send me an email. We appreciate your help!

Finding Newer Ways to Get Your Home Sold Right

These days, sellers want to know what else we’re doing to sell homes. They yawn when we brag about using the best photography or packaging the listing in a dynamic way. What they really want to know is how we’re going to sell their house for top dollar. Here’s what we’re doing to step up our game:

1. Bringing in complimentary professional stagers before we list the house.
2. Targeting Hoboken and Jersey City Realtors with an exclusive email list we have.
3. Targeting Hudson County, Bergen County, and New York City buyers. We’re accomplishing this by advertising through two important websites: Facebook and NJMLS.com.
4. Creating story-like videos, complete with 3-D virtual tours and interviews from the seller’s perspective to get a unique sense of the house’s history and location.
We’re getting more hands-on with our listings.
5. Getting more hands-on with our listings.
6. Emphasizing the benefits of the neighborhood and location both online and in the brochures.

Of course, this is all in addition to RE/MAX continuing to advertise in the real world on billboards all throughout the state of New Jersey. Whether it’s the Shore, the turnpike, or the whole stretch of Highway 78, you’ll probably see one of our signs. What this means is that we’re bringing more buyers into our listings. If you have any questions for us, don't hesitate to reach out. Give us a call or send us an email anytime.

What You Don’t Know About Realtors

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Some of the most common assumptions that buyers and sellers make about Realtors like me are that I’m too busy to help them, that I only deal in certain kinds of properties, and that I only buy and sell in specific areas.

The truth is, it doesn’t matter where you want to buy or sell your property, what kind of property it is, or what I’m doing; Realtors like myself just want to be of service to you. If I can’t be of service, I’ll refer you to someone who can. I’ve sold properties for as little as $40,000, including middle-of-the-road homes, duplexes, fixer-uppers, commercial properties and even a church, so my sales range is broad and diverse. If you’d like to get an idea about how wide my sales area is, you can take a look at Zillow right now and see all of the homes I’ve sold, their prices, and locations.

What I look for in my clients is that they have a need or a goal, that they’re willing to trust me, and that they’re willing to partner with me to get things done.

The best way to gauge a Realtor’s interest or expertise is to simply call them and see what kinds of questions they ask you. You’ll know right away whether they’re a good fit. Another step you can take is to ask a qualified Realtor to refer you to someone who can help you in the event that they cannot meet your needs. It’s always a good idea to do your research and use tools like Zillow to get background information on Realtors before you make a final decision.

“

I am never too busy to talk to 
you about your goals.

”

Just remember: I am never too busy to meet with you or talk to you about your goals.

If you have any questions on this or any other real estate topics, please give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to helping you meet your goals!

Importance of the Right Real Estate Attorney

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I wanted to talk today about how important it is to hire the right real estate attorney.

Too often, people hire a friend, discount corporate attorney, or an attorney who doesn't specialize in real estate. Hiring the wrong attorney almost always means slower response time, added stress and confusion, and it can ultimately cost you the deal.

I would go online and read reviews of attorneys, or better yet, ask your Realtor for three or four preferred real estate attorneys. That way, you could call and interview each one until you find the attorney that you're most comfortable with.

Once the Realtor has done their part and the home is under contract, the real estate attorney is crucial. They start and conclude attorney review, they negotiate inspection terms, they order the title and survey, deal with meeting or extending contingency dates and terms, and put the closing documents together. They do this for a small fee of anywhere between $1,200 and $2,000.

“

Hiring the wrong attorney can 
cost you thousands.

”

The question is - do they have the incentive, time, and human resources to get these major tasks done in a timely manner? Unnecessary delays can cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. So please, hire an attorney who is skilled, responsive and proactive in your real estate transaction.

If you have any questions or you'd like me to recommend a great real estate attorney, please let me know, and I'd be happy to help.

If you have any questions about real estate in the New Jersey commuter towns, give me a call or send me an email and we'll talk soon.

Let’s Talk About Composting

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Let’s talk about composting.

My wife and I got the idea of composting from a client of mine. We really loved the idea of recycling and also making our garden richer, and additionally, living a more eco-friendly life. My client used his compost to make his lawn greener. We wanted to use compost to replace our chemical lawn service, and also make our vegetables grow bigger and better.

We had things like coffee grinds and kitchen scraps, but no protein. We started by putting the kitchen scraps by the sink in a jar that has a special carbon fiber barrier to eliminate odors and keep it from smelling. Once the jar is filled, we bring it to the compost bin which has two sides - one for the old compost, and one for the new compost. We also add in grass clippings and greens from the garden, but no weeds.

“

We use it as a natural 
fertilizer for our garden.

”

Once the compost is ready, we use it as a natural fertilizer for our garden. Other than making our soil richer, it’s also supposed to help the soil retain water, ward off plant diseases, and deter weed growth. We recently spread it in the garden, and I’m excited to share the results at the end of the season. If you have any questions, tips or ideas for composting, please let me know!

As always, if you have any questions about buying or selling a home in the New Jersey Commuter Towns, feel free to reach out to me.

What Are the Biggest Challenges In Our Market?

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One of the biggest challenges facing buyers and sellers today in the New Jersey Commuter Towns market is bank appraisals. They’ve been coming in very conservatively lately. In fact, three homes we sold in the last week had appraisal issues. There are a few reasons this is happening.

For one, a lot of these appraisers are not local and don’t know the local market, so their appraisals are bound to be off. Appraisers are also ignoring some comparable sales while picking sales that aren’t as relevant. Appraisers don’t put a premium on certain features that a buyer or seller had.

Appraisals take into account what has sold, so they only take into account what has passed, not what’s currently selling and under contract. Getting a re-appraisal is almost impossible these days, so it’s making our job as Realtors difficult. We want to get the highest value possible for your home, but a bad appraisal leaves us with only a few options.

“

Hope for the best but plan for the worst.

”

The buyer can walk with their entire deposit, they can split the difference, or in rare instances, they can make up the entire difference themselves. It’s good to hope for the best but plan for the worst. Just make sure you give yourself a healthy buffer, in terms of cash, when moving forward.

If you have any questions for us or you’re looking to buy or sell yourself, give us a call or send us an email. We’d be happy to help!

June Market Snapshot of New Jersey

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On June 6th, 2016 I took a snapshot of the real estate stats in various areas of New Jersey that I serve. I intentionally excluded condos and townhomes just to make things even. If you take a look at the graphic in the above video, you can see some interesting stats by column. Here's what we found:

“

Most of the towns with train lines close 

to New York are strong.

”

• Most of the towns with train lines close to New York are strong.
• Fanwood and Cranford have the highest number of homes under contract compared to the number of homes for sale.
• New Providence has the highest original list price vs. sold price ratio and the shortest days on market.
• Summit and Westfield are not as hot as you would think, and towns like Bloomfield are doing much better than you would think.
• Towns without train lines are not faring so well.
• Watchung, Warren, and Basking Ridge are faring worse than you would think. Warren only has 28% of its homes under contract, which is quite dismal.
• Basking Ridge and Watchung are also not faring well at only 41% and 42% respectively.
• Great schools are not a guarantee to sell your home quickly or for top dollar.

Thanks for watching today. Please let me know if you'd like me to send you these stats for a closer look. If you or anybody you know is looking to sell and needs professional advice, give me a call!