Enough is Enough

Thanks to the media pundits and agendicized politicians, fear seems to be the theme. Weather or not you believe we will experience a double dip, the numbers tell a different story. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, Case-Shiller's 20-city index was up three tenths of a percent -- the seventh consecutive monthly improvement in pricing. US Housing Starts have reached record lows, why is this bullish?

With less new development on the horizon the market will start to absorb what we call the resale. Inventory has creeped up recently, with housing start numbers lagging it will take a few months to factor in this level of improvement. All in all weather your in Hoboken, Jersey City or the tri state area, the numbers show a different story and as educated consumers we should recognize we are NOT heading into a great depression.

Prices Rising in Hoboken

Prices have stabilized in the last few months in Hoboken, NJ. We have seen an uptick in prices for the month of October. Mostly the homes consist of renovated condos or need to be renovated multi families especially in the uptown section from garden to clinton.

The value to risk ratio is in investors and first time home buyers favor. Supply and demand hasn't changed here and the land isn't growing, we are still one square mile. The point being if there is a time to buy its now, appreciation rates might start within one year from now. No one has a crystal ball, but we do have eyes and can see a trend coming.

#14 in Top 50 of Coldwell Banker

Out of all New Jersey and Rockland County, NY, I hit number 14 overall for the end of 2008. Not bad for a tough and exhausting year. Im proud of myself and my accomplishments and wanted to share the amazing news with everyone who reads my blog. Thank you for your continued support.

Also the Hoboken office in the volume of sales generated has reached #1 for entire hudson county, im proud of not just myself but everyone who keeps on making coldwell banker #1 on the charts! :) $93,000,000! GO CB!

(201) 533-3070

$8,000 Tax Credit is to YOUR advantage

The “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” which was signed into law last week by President Obama provides an $8000 tax credit for first-time Passaic County home buyers.

Important Facts To Know:

-It is a tax credit to home buyers, not a loan as in last year's program;

-It is only for first time home buyers, defined as someone who has not had an ownership interest in a principle residence in the 3 year period prior to the date of the 2009 purchase;

-The buyer must remain in the home for a minimum of 3 years;

-It is applicable to purchases between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009; and

-Full credit is available to those with adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less ($150,000 for married filing jointly). The credit is phased out entirely for those with adjusted gross income over $95,000 ($170,000 for married filing jointly).

If you bought a home last year under the old $7,500 tax credit rules, those rules still apply to your 2008 home purchase.

W Marks the Spot

The internationally and locally famous descended on the W hoboken hotel last night for its grand opening bash. This brings alot of much needed attention to hoboken, which im very excited about.

The hotel is owned and operated by Starwood, and sits on the block Hoboken-based Applied Development sub leases from the port authority of ny and nj. the port authority actually leases the land from the city of hoboken.

One of our agents, Laura Knecht, has a listings there. Love that girl.

Housing project looking for new director

The Hoboken housing authority board of commissinoers voted thursday to begin a search for a new executive director, after years of rumors that they would like to move the agency's politically connected deputy director to the top spot.

The HHA - which oversees Hobokens 1,353 units of subsidized public housing on the west side of town is currently run by interim robert divincent, adding more validity to the town

Politicians need to be accountable and it seems like they have done a good job here in Hoboken.

Here are the facts

Real Estate Market Facts

Despite the national trends and statistics you might have heard, the old adage that all real estate is local has never been truer. Market facts in New Jersey, combined with national incentives, make now a good time to get active in New Jersey’s real estate market. Here's why:

- First-time buyers can get up to an $8,000 tax credit.

- Seven-year real estate appreciation in the Garden State at 80% is double the national average.

-Mortgage rates are near historic lows, (last mortgage I did for a client we locked in 4.7%!) giving buyers a better chance to secure low payments for years to come.

-Housing affordability, determined by home prices, income data and other factors, is high in New Jersey.

-Increased Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan limits means more money is available, expanding your purchasing power.

Buyer incentives help sellers. The more buyers able to enter the market, the larger your potential pool of purchasers will be. Plus, sellers can utilize those buyer benefits if they decide to trade up.

Here are the facts of the real estate market today. Lets go people, get your property on :)

Tips on refinancing your mortgage

If you are thinking of refinancing your mortgage, remember to shop around, compare loan terms and negotiate with lenders. Refinancing allows you to switch to a different mortgage with terms that you think are more beneficial. If your credit score has improved, you may be able to get a loan at a lower rate. Or you may want to refinance for a longer term to lower your monthly payments. (suggestion from a seasoned real estate professional like myself, at least 3 or 4 opinions are necessary).

Be prepared however to pay closing or settlement costs to refinance. Lenders are required by federal law to provide a "good faith estimate" of your closing costs within three days of receiving your loan application.

A refinancing calculator that I use for my clients is located at www.federalreserve.gov

You can cut your property taxes by 47% in hoboken?

Apparently here in hoboken and jersey city one developer had a sign saying they could cut your Hoboken property taxes by 47%. Actually offended hobokens mayor Dave Roberts. If its the truth why get so offended? typical politics. The sign actually referenced Hobokens state takeover and subsequent massive tax hike. The overall property tax rate for hoboken property owners increased 47 percent for the fiscal year that ends june 30.

They claimed to be nice guys although legally not binded to take it down.

So if you live in Hoboken you CAN cut your property taxes down. so DO IT!

Where can we go from here?

According to Cnn analysts "The National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales rose last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million million units, up 5.1% from a rate of 4.49 million in January. February sales were down nearly 5% from year ago levels"

All in all I think people are more educated about opportunity and willing to take risks. This being the case condo and co-op sales have increased by 4.5% in hudson county. If you buy now at these ridiculous levels you will make out in the end.

The point is very simple, will we continue to go down throughout the year? I think so and so do the top economists, however real estate in the right areas will boom like nobodies business and the reason is simple, people that leave the city and go into Urban/Suburbs like in towns such as Hoboken, Jersey City have the attraction of lower rent, mortgages and taxes.

Wouldnt you rather look at the beautiful New York City landscape from a far anyway?