the Resourceful Realtor

Local:  Monmouth County home sales experienced a staggering 120% increase in July, more than doubling the sales of the previous year (1678 vs 763).  Year-to-date Monmouth's sales are still down significantly ~ -36% ~ but the recent sales figures are certainly encouraging.  Condo sales also experienced a large increase, with an almost 65% increase over sales in July 2008.

Price-wise Monmouth's July figures show a median sales price increase of 7.3% from June but still 8.5% lower than July 2008.

National: In July new home sales across the nation jumped more than forecast, reinforcing signs the economy is rebounding from the the recession.  Nationally, home sales increased 9.6% in July, the most in four years, to a 433,000 annual pace, the Commerce Department said.  July's national home sales pace was the highest in 10 months and exceeded all estimates.

The median price of a new home decreased 12 percent to $210,100 from $237,300 in July 2008.

The jump in sales was led by a 32 percent surge in the Northeast. Purchases increased 16 percent in the South and 1 percent in the West. They dropped 7.6 percent in the Midwest.

Atlantic Highlands was the site for the beginning of the NYC to DC AIDS Ride and I was glad to be there to see the group of about 100 riders off. 

Although technically the start was in Manhattan, the riders took the Seastreak Ferry from Pier 11 and arrived in Atlantic Highlands at about 8:45am yesterday and gathered in front of the Blue Bay Inn on First Ave. 

After a brief intro, guidelines for the ride and basic "Rules of the Road" they were off on a 330 mile journey.

I was there to cheer on friends Chad Wolbrink and Toby Clark in what I think is an amazing feat (and, god bless them, their statue of libery hats clearly identified them from the pack). I can't even imagine making a ride of that length (let alone in green foam headgear) so I'm very impressed.

After their first day (85 miles!) they were scheduled to continue on today and arrive in Cape May this evening - but the weather made riding today pretty much impossible.  They are supposed to arrive in Washington D.C. on Sunday.

To keep up to date on their journey (and donate to the cause if you're so inclined) visit the ride websites of Chad or Toby.

All aboard!

The 2nd Annual Taste of Sea Bright is coming Saturday, October 3rd from11:30a-5:30pm. You can enjoy a day-long eating & drinking excursion and ride the trolley from one end of Sea Bright to the other all in an effort to increase awareness of Sea Bright's thriving business community. 

We did this last year and had a blast!

Sampling everything from sushi to fried seafood to pizza, as well as various beers, wines & spirits, you can say that those participating were having a great time.  (Don't forget to bring your I.D.!) We met some new friends and were even thankfully able to call cab to take us home!

For $40 you get: an admission bracelet, map/passport, all food, drinks, cocktails, unlimited trolley/bus rides throughout the event - and you'll even a complimentary SBBA backpack to carry all the goodies you'll receive from the stops on the map! 

This year's participating businesses include:

I've already got my tickets, my backpack and my passport!  I heard that half of the tickets sold the first day they were made available so don't delay!  Only 1000 tickets will be sold!

Visit the Sea Bright Business Alliance website for more information

If you've been kicking around the idea of buying your first home ~ or, if you've owned a home before but haven't owned one during the past 3 years ~ TIME IS RUNNING OUT on the federal goverment's offer of a Home Buyer's Tax Credit up to $8000 for the purchase of a primary residence to qualifying buyers.

IMPORTANT:  You must close on the purchase before December 1, 2009. 

That means you need to:

1. Find the house,
2. Negotiate an accepatable offer,
3. Perform your inspections, appraisals, title search, etc.,
4. Apply for your mortgage, and
5. Reach the settlement table to close escrow

Within the next 90 days.  Given that most mortgages these days require a minimum of 45 days that means you have about 6 weeks to identify your next home and successfully negotiate an acceptable contract.

In short, that means you better GET TO WORK!

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, qualifying taxpayers who purchase a home before December 1st receive up to $8,000, or $4,000 for married individuals filing separately. People can claim the credit on their 2009 tax returns next year. 

$8000! 

One would hope that if falling prices and historically low interest rates weren't attractive enough, the offer of FREE MONEY would sweeten the deal enough to get those procrastinators out there off the couch and into the car of their favorite real estate professional!  (If you need any recommendations, just let me know...)

Read the IRS press release about it here.  And you'll need IRS Form 5405 to claim the credit.

Six weeks... the clock is ticking!

Q:  Looking for at least a 2 bed, gas, central air, home or townhome in the $140,000 range. Was thinking about pre-foreclosures and foreclosures. Can we view these homes? What is a good resource to find these homes? Are sites like realtytrac and foreclosure.com worth paying for their services?

Rich, Home Buyer
Brick, NJ

A: Rich,

As a Monmouth County Realtor, I can certainly help you with homes in my market area. That said, most homes are selling for a good deal more (median single family sold price in June was $358,704; median condo sold price was $265,302). While there are some short sales and foreclosures in the market, many of those are trading for higher.

If you'd like a list of what's currently available in your price range let me know and I'll email it to you.

In terms of the sites you mentioned, it's important to understand that many of these types of sites are pulling information that may indicate that a homeowner is behind in payments but not necessarily indicating that the property is available for sale. If they're not for sale then you are unlikely to be able to view the home.

Keep in mind that if they foreclose on the property, most banks will list it with a realtor to ensure that it gets the maximum exposure which translates into a faster sale for the bank. Likewise, homeowners who are pursuing a short sale (wherein they're asking a bank to accept less than full repayment of the outstanding mortgage debt) must have their property listed for the same reason as listed above. So in either case, the vast majority of these homes will be listed in MLS.

While you may be able to identify properties owned by homeowners in some type of financial distress, there's no guarantee that they're interested in selling at this time or that they won't be able to work the problem out without a sale (e.g. loan modification, etc.) While you may be able to find a willing seller, chances are they'll be less likely to negotiate (for-sale-by-owners are notorious for having an inflated view of the value of their homes). In the interest of achieving your goal more quickly (and for you to have representation during the transaction), working with an experienced agent would be a wise choice. And the cost of the service is likely to be paid by the seller.

Hope that helps.