Bev and Bob Meaux’s Blog

This morning Barbara Corcoran was interviewed on the Today Show about how many homeowners are walking away from their mortgage. Here’s what they reported: 1 in 4 homeowners in this country today is under water on their mortgage, they owe more to the bank then their home is actually worth. A million people last year simply got up and walked away from their mortgages. They left their home behind to take the pressure off their shoulders. What does this mean, the moral dilemma not the legal implications to the bank, goes to what the homeowner values.

Yes, big corporations and banks do this every day on paper, but do you stick to your commitment and pay your mortgage until you can get a workout with the bank to keep the home or to do a short sale or do you just walk away and ruin your credit and help to ruin your neighborhood by helping bank-owned foreclosure properties increase, which decreases value on the block? It’s a hard question for many to answer. What would you do?

As you think about this, read this overview provided by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) that gives some useful tips. If a short sale becomes an option contact us, Bev and Bob Meaux. We have earned the nationally recognized Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource (SFR) certification, which simply means we are not afraid of short sales and have taken steps to understand the process for you and are here ready, willing and able to help you through the short sale process. The National Association of REALTORS® offers the SFR certification to REALTORS® who want to help both buyers and sellers navigate these complicated transactions, as demand for professional expertise with distressed sales grows.  We have also teamed up with a local certified public accountant and attorneys that have short sale experience to provide free consultations to our clients.
 
According to a recent NAR survey, nearly one-third of all existing homes sold recently were either short sales or foreclosures.  For many real estate professionals, short sales and foreclosures are the new “traditional” transaction.  New Jersey REALTORS® who have earned the SFR certification know how to help sellers maneuver the complexities of short sales as well as help buyers pursue short sale and foreclosure opportunities.

“As leading advocates for homeownership, REALTORS® believe that any family that loses its home to foreclosure is one family too many, but unfortunately, there are situations in which people just cannot afford to keep their homes, and a foreclosure or a short sale results,” said 2009 NAR President Charles McMillan, from Dallas-Fort Worth area. “Foreclosures and short sales can offer opportunities for home buyers and benefit the larger community, as well, but it’s extremely important to have the help of a real estate professional like a REALTOR® who has earned the SFR certification for these kinds of purchases.”

The certification program includes training on how to qualify sellers for short sales, negotiate with lenders, protect buyers, and limit risk, and provides resources to help REALTORS® stay current on national and state-specific information as the market for these distressed properties evolves. We took one course and three webinars in order to become certified and constantly stay abreast of what’s happening to be a resource through the short sale process for our homeowners.

Maplewood, New Jersey has so much to offer residents and those who come to visit. From its ’star’ roots to its soccer-mom atmosphere Maplewood may have something just for you. There are 4 sites to check out when trying to learn more about the town happenings:

1. Maplewood Online, run by two locals and focuses mostly on gossipy type news.
2. The Local, a mostly blog site by the New York Times run by a town resident.
   
3. Patch.com, an AOL-owned site reporting various news stories.
4. Maplewoodian, a one-man operation by Maplewood resident and veteran reporter Joe Strupp delivers his taken on town happenings.

To read more about all the hyper-local news surrounding Maplewood, NJ check out this article from New Jersey Monthly Magazine.

Remember, there’s always something to do, something to see, in good old Maplewood, New Jersey. Contact us, Bev and Bob Meaux to take you on a town tour and to get you started with your home search. You won’t be disappointed.

There’s always something artsy and fun happening in West Orange, New Jersey. From creating new ways to have fun to celebrating the old feelings of days gone by. Take a self-guided tour of the recently opened Thomas Edison Laboratory Complex, the place where Edison invented the motion picture camera in 1892. Drift over to the prestigious Llewellyn Park — the first planned community in America –  and visit Glenmont, the grand estate Thomas and Mina Edison called home.

Experience more history through the West Orange Film Society as it launches its fifth annual West Orange Classic Film Festival on January 31 with A Hard Days Night playing at 2pm at the AMC Theater, Essex Green Shopping Center, West Orange. They promote this as a film directed by Richard Lester about a typical day in the life of the Beatles. There will be a post film chat led by Star Ledger film critic Stephen Whitty. Tickets are $7 per person, $6 for West Orange Arts Council members. Stay on top of what the West Orange Film Society is planning for the Film Festival by joining their Facebook page.

The Society has already announced future events to be held at the AMC Theater at 2pm on Sundays:

• February 7 - Black Maria Film Festival
• February 14 - Rebel Without a Cause
• February 21 - The Burmese Harp
• February 28 - The Red Shoes
• March 7 - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
• March 14 - The 400 Blows
• March 21 - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

After all of this, go back to the future and stay abreast of the new development happening at the South Mountain Codey Arena area. There’s already ice skating, the Turtle Back Zoo and the new large merry-go-round. Now the county is planning even more fun in this area adding a mini-golf course and restaurant with trolley service.

There are so many ways to easily find an opportunity to have fun in West Orange, New Jersey.

There are so many dining options in Maplewood and South Orange, New Jersey you’ll never go hungry. From the Park Wood Diner where you can go and get so much food on a plate you will definitely need to eat only once in a day to Verjus Restaurant where you can enjoy elegant dining in an relaxing atmosphere. Stop in South Orange and get a good beer and some deep fried onion rings at the Gaslight Brewery & Restaurant or stop by Village Trattoria on any day in either town and eat to your heart’s desire. If it’s not on the menu, ask.

Now if you’d rather whip up a dish all on your own, sign up for the Heart and Soul class at the South Orange-Maplewood Adult School and learn how to cook some serious Carolina Cuisine from local Chef Jesse Jones. He’s been all over, worked in top four-star restaurants in New Jersey and now has his own catering business. This cooking demonstration in April will show off delicious ways to cook dishes like shrimp etouffee. You won’t leave hungry.  Maplewood and South Orange have great, relaxing village atmospheres. Take a leisure walk downtown and enjoy the sights, scenery, and places to shop. There are over 50 places to eat between Maplewood and South Orange.

If you’ve been to either town tell me where you ate and how you liked the food. I hope to see you around.

There are many real estate agents and Realtors® around trying to get your business. Look to us when you want a Realtor® that can show you what’s happening in the market, how it affects your area, what it can mean to you and then show you a concrete plan on how to get you successfully to the closing table. Look for the Realtor® that can take the promotion of your house to a whole new level by taking the best of staging, online and offline marketing, and create a successful, strong platform for you to showcase your house the best way to win…that will be us, too.

When you read through the many blogs we have about what’s happening in the towns, you’ll see that we give you the facts. We don’t sugar coat it because you have to know the mindset of the buyers and the realities of what you’re facing. Only when you are armed with this information can you make a plan to win the best way possible. The facts are generalities and when we sit with you we hone in on how these facts relate to you.

For example in Maplewood, did you know there were a substantial amount of single-family homes that sold last year for asking price or better? This means if you price it right, market it well, they will come.

MAPLEWOOD PRICE POINT VIEW FOR 2009

Less than $400,000  -  22 houses out of 72 sold at asking price or better; that’s 31% in a changing market.

Between $400,001 - $600,000 -  38 houses out of 95 sold at asking price or better; that’s 40% in a changing market.

Between $600,001-$800,000 -  9   houses out of 43 sold at asking price or better; that’s 21% in a changing market.

Above $800,001 - 4   houses out of 13 sold at asking price or better; that’s 31% in a changing market.

Let’s go a little further in Maplewood and look at the Clinton section of town as an example. Maplewood ended the year with 234 residential homes sold, 61 of these were in the Clinton section. Maplewood overall, and Clinton in particular, sold at 97% of list price, on average. In the Clinton section, 11 homes sold for over 100% of list price, 5 for 100% of list, and 8 for 99%. The average sales price for the Clinton section in 2009 was $395,814. In addition, the average days on market for homes sold in the Clinton section was 74 days. This means it took on average, for example, 74 days after a home was listed before a contract was accepted and attorney review completed.

Remember, when you work with Bev and Bob we make 3 promises to you:

1. We will tell you the truth about pricing.

2. We will show you the facts about Maplewood real estate.

3. We will steer you straight to success.

We are town experts, professional Realtors® and Short Sales & Foreclosure Resource certified by the National Association of Realtors®. Towne Realty Group is a member of the Maplewood Chamber of Commerce.

Team with us and we’ll get you there. Let’s cross the finish line together.

An educated consumer is our best client and partner.

Another 38 residential homes successfully made it under contract between December 13 - December 19 across 7 of the 8 Northern New Jersey towns we follow for you. This marked a total of 99 homes so far this month. For the first time in almost the entire year Livingston didn’t have any homes go under contract.Here’s how many single-family homes went under contract during the third week of December in the other towns:

*Maplewood = 3
*Millburn/Short Hills = 7
*Montclair = 13
*Nutley = 3
*South Orange = 4
*Verona = 4
*West Orange = 4

The full list shows when a real estate agent has listed a home as under contract in the Garden State Multiple Listing Service (GSMLS). There could be a home or two that is under contract but the agent has not listed it in the system. Sometimes this happens when it has been decided that an owner will accept an offer that’s contingent on a home sale and proceed through the sales process, but still keep the house on the market just in case something falls through with the house their buyer is selling.

Being under contract signifies that the homeowner is on track for the house to be sold in the near future. However, things can go awry and cause the house to not be sold like the buyer not able to obtain a mortgage commitment. These weekly lists also show the current activity in the market and what price point is moving within each town.

To learn about the market you’re looking to buy or sell in, contact Bev and Bob for a personal consultation.