Matawan Special Election
There was a tie in the Mayoral election in Matawan. They will have a new vote tomorrow. So, if you are a Matawan resident, like I am, don’t forget to get out and vote.
Matawan Santa Runs
A great Matawan tradition. The Matawan First Aid Squad and Fire Department volunteers, drive the streets of Matawan, pulling Santa’s Sleigh.
Here are the routes for the two remaining days:
December 13 – Thursday (tonight) - Route 4 – Start –Rt 34, to Edgewater, to Beech Wood, to Crest Wood, to Beech Wood, to North Field, to Over Hill, to 34, to Over Hill, to Belleview, to Maple, to Middlesex, to Christine, to Middlesex, to Matawan Green, to Middlesex, to Ravine, to Morristown, to Rustic, to Morristown, to Ravine, to Union, to Fredwood, to Ravine, to Indian, to Fawn, to Mohawk, to Indian, to Union, to Mohawk, to Indian, to Union, to Ravine, to Roberts, to Harding, to Liberty, to Sonia, to Oakland, to Liberty, to Harding, to Grant, to Ravine, to Washington, to Union, to Ravine , to Matawan Ave. FINISHED.December 14 – Friday - Route 5 – Start – Little to Ravine, to Jackson, to Fountain, to Ravine, to Jackson, to Church, to Wyckoff, to Spring, to Main, to 34, to Jackson, to Washington, to Monroe, to 34, to Franklin, to Washington, to Main, to South, to Broad, to Park, to Orchard, to Church, to Broad, to Main, main up to Little, left to Johnson, to Atlantic, to Little. FINISHED.
If you missed it this year, check the Matawan Borought website next year for details at http://www.matawanborough.com/
Client Appreciation Day
Today is Client Appreciation Day at Keller Williams West Monmouth from 12 - 4pm. The office address is 176 Route 9 North, Englishtown. We are in Northpoint Professional Plaza next to Damon’s restuarant. Come on by and bring the kids free food, face painting, and I am twisting balloon animals (didn’t know I had such a skill).
We are also collecting non-perishable food items.
Hope to see you there, ask for Tracy or just look for the balloon animals.
Make Your Monmouth County Home Greener
The focus on energy efficiency in our homes is growing again. Green Homes are in. If you think you will be selling your home within the next few years, it is a good idea to start now to make your home more energy efficient. Mortgage companies are even starting to make the energy efficiency of the home a factor in figuring the mortgage payment amount for home buyers. If the energy efficiency of a home translates into money savings, this amount is added to the amount a buyer can pay for a home.
To do a do-it-yourself home energy audit visit this link at the Energy Star website:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=home_energy_yardstick.showStep2
Here is another evaluation your can do:
http://www.njcleanenergy.com/residential/tools-and-resources/home-energy-analysis/home-energy-analysis-0
Home energy audits are becoming part of the buyer’s standard home inspections. Act now to prepare your home for this important inspection. If your home has a good energy score you can use this as a benefit of buying your home over the competition.
Apologies to Jim Kramer (Opps, I mean Cramer)
In my post formerly titled Kramer vs. Keller, I stupidly spelled Jim Cramer’s name with a K. I apologize Jim, I really love you and your TV show. I have corrected my error.
Cramer vs Keller
Last week CNBC’s Jim Cramer said, “now is the absolute worst time to buy!” and he was talking about real estate. He said you will loose money.
Why do people buy a house? Unless they are buying investment property, they are buying a place to live. Yes, a house will make you money from future appreciation, but that is not the primary reason to buy a home. Can you loose money? Well yes, if you are forced to sell in a declining market that declined below what you paid for the house. But most people will just stay put until the next up cycle.
Here’s what Gary Keller, co-founder and chairman of Keller Williams Realty has to say about waiting out the current market (from This Week @ KW):
“First, residential real estate is not a national market product — it is a local one. To say from a national position that this is either a good time or a bad time to buy real estate is like saying the national forecast for the U.S. today is 92 degrees — it is a useless and irrelevant perspective. What is happening in your local market is all that matters.Second, trying to predict when it is a good time to buy, or not, means you’re trying to time the market. Staying on the sidelines is the surest way for most people to never time anything correctly.
Last, and maybe most important — there are always two markets in every market. There is the market of properties that are good buys and there is the market of properties that are not a good buys. Interestingly enough, this is true in either buyer or seller markets. To categorically say that this is the time to buy or not is absolutely ignoring the fact that every market really has two markets inside it.”
Cramer’s remarks might cause buyers to think they should wait to buy a house as Gary is saying. In our area, there are lots of good buys and a lot of houses that are still over priced. Buyers should find a great real estate agent and work with them to help them distinguish the deals from the duds and guide them through making offers and getting them accepted.
Matawan Day
Tomorrow is Matawan Day. Please come by and visit me at the Keller Williams Realty booth. I would love to say high and give you a magnetic notepad for your fridge or file cabinet.
Aberdeen Day - Don’t miss it!!
I will be at the Keller Williams booth at Aberdeen Day on Sat, Sept 15th from 12 noon to 9pm. I would love to see you there, come by and say hello and get a free gift from me. There will be a laser light show at night.
Read more about it here: Aberdeen Day
Stop New Jersey Home Sales Tax
Monmouth Market Stagnant
The Asbury Park Press reported today that in Monmouth and other counties in New Jersey the housing market is stagnant. You can read the whole article here:
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/NEWS/708160386
Some highlights:
The median sale price for an existing single-family home in Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex and Somerset counties was $385,100, down 0.1 percent, or $200, from $385,300 in the same quarter last year, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. The median means that half of the homes sold for more, the other half for less.”At best we are stagnant in the market,” said economist James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. “The market is really a weak one, and it is likely to remain weak for an extended period of time.”
Looks like we are in for the long haul. Sellers, if you need to sell you need to get an accurate comparative market analysis (CMA), your house needs to put on its Sunday Best (declutter, remove personal articles: photos, non-neutral art), paint in neutral colors, get a stager (I know a great), and then price below the competition.
