An overview of the current real estate market at the Jersey Shore by an active, long time real estate broker.
Friday, February 25, 2011
EACH WEEK WE TRY TO BRING YOU FUN, INFORMATIVE AND INTERESTING TID BITS ABOUT THE BEST KEPT SECRET AT THE JERSEY SHORE. . . SOUTHERN OCEAN COUNTY
In this episode: Market stats There are two fun things to do this week in Southern Ocean County This week’s anniversaries Tom’s shameless plug Tom’s comment of the week This week’s being a smart homeowner in 2011 tip
Brought to you by The Tom Smith Realty Group, Thomas J Smith and Amanda Nichols. For more information call/text 609 709-1429 visit: www.Sellertom.com
So tune in to each episode & let us know what you think!
Here Is This Week's Market Stats For Ocean County NJ
Okay: here's the skinny for the last week; We have 235 new listings; 77 homes are under contract; 52 sold; the average list price was $372,057 and the average sale price was $346,669. Now that's significant. it means that homes in Ocean county are selling at 93% of list price... not 60 or 70% as portrayed by the drama queens in the media.
This week the average 30 year mortgage rate is 4.95% down from lat week's 5.04%. UP - DOWN- UP- DOWN: It's a roller coaster!
For more information call/text me 609 709-1429 visit: www.Sellertom.com or email Tom@sellertom.com
Current Active listings in Ocean County 4095 New listings for Jan 779 Properties presently under contract 637 Current Sold properties for Jan 197 Average days on the market 132 that’s just short of 4 ½ months to sell a home; not bad since not long ago it was over 6 months.
30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.05 percent for the week ending February 10, 2011. That’s up from last week when it averaged 4.81 percent.
What THIS ALL MEANS is THAT THE MARKET IS BOUNCING AROUND LIKE A SUPERBALL ON STEROIDS… So, for all intents and purposes the market is flat ---- so go buy a house…
This is episode 6 of Life and Living at the Jersey shore.
EACH WEEK WE TRY TO BRING YOU FUN, INFORMATIVE AND INTERESTING TID BITS ABOUT THE BEST KEPT SECRET AT THE JERSEY SHORE. . . SOUTHERN OCEAN COUNTY
In this episode: Market stats There are two fun things to do this week in Southern Ocean County This week’s anniversaries Tom’s shameless plug Tom’s comment of the week This week’s being a smart homeowner in 2011 tip – organizing your closets
So tune in and let us know what you think!
Brought to you by The Tom Smith Realty Group, Thomas J Smith and Amanda Nichols. For more information call/text 609 709-1429 visit: www.Sellertom.com Tom@sellertom.com
Welcome To Episode 5 of LIFE AND LIVING AT THE JERSEY SHORE
EACH WEEK WE TRY TO BRING YOU FUN, INFORMATIVE AND INTERESTING TID BITS ABOUT THE BEST KEPT SECRET AT THE JERSEY SHORE. . . SOUTHERN OCEAN COUNTY
HERE’S THIS WEEK’S MARKET BREAKDOWN: When you are selling your home there are some national statistics that I find pretty valid here in southern ocean county: It usually takes about 12 showings of your house before you can expect an offer; if you get no showings in the first 45 days of listing your home you are priced way too high…it means no agents in the mls are showing the home. If you get showings and no offers you are likely priced a little too high…agents see the value but the buyers don’t. So talk frankly with your agent – unless it’s me, and then just nod at everything I say and we’ll get the job done
Fun Stuff In Ocean County This Week February 10th - 11th – 12th Our Gang Players presents, Hello, Dolly at OceanFirst Theater, Stafford Township Arts Center, 1000 McKinley Ave. Manahawkin 7 pm. For more information call 609-597-0553 or www.ourgang.org
FEBRUARY 12 - 20 IS CHOCOLATE WEEK ON LONG BEACH ISLAND. Chocolate Week On LBI includes dining deals, lodging specials and one of a kind events to make the Winter break a little sweeter. For more info call 609-494-7211 or visit www.VisitLBIRegion.com
Tom’s shameless plug: You know, for the last 15 or so years I’ve been taking my cars to Mike’s Automotive on the corner of Hilliard Blvd and Rt 9 – near Southern Regional High School. Now, I don’t plug someone I don’t trust and when it comes to auto repair it’s hard to find a good mechanic who charges a fair price and is stand up honest. Mike O’Malley is that guy. Tell him I sent you… that’s Mike’s Automotive on Rt 9 in Manahawkin (609) 978-7291
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR HAPPY HOME OWNERS
LUKE R. who purchased his home on 2/11/10 in Manahawkin
BRIAN AND LAURA who purchased their home on 2/11/08 in Egg Harbor
MY WISE ASS COMMENT OF THE WEEK: What is a FORECLOSURE: I get a lot of calls from folks looking to buy foreclosures and that term is a misnomer. Let me explain: in NJ a foreclosure is another word for lawsuit. Now I’m not giving you legal advice here; I’m just giving you my take on how I understand the terminology. Basically, each state has their own rules on how a home can be taken back by a lender. There are “judicial states” and “non judicial states” the difference is also sometimes called “recourse” or “non recourse”. NJ is a judiciary or recourse state. That means in order for a lender to take possession of the collateral you put up for a loan (your house) they have to sue you for breaching the contract (that’s the note attached to the mortgage). If you don’t pay your mortgage the lender sues and asks the court to take over the collateral and sell it to pay off your debt. Once the court agrees (that’s when the lender wins the lawsuit) the court orders the collateral, your house, to be sold at auction to the highest bidder by the County Sheriff…that’s where you here the term Sheriff’s Sale. At the Sherriff’s sale the lender will send a representative who will bid the amount you owe. If there are not higher bidders the Sherriff will then give the deed to the house to the lenders’ representative (usually the bank you have the loan with or a servicing company working for the lender). At that point (roughly) the bank now owns the house. So for the sake of terminology at ‘foreclosure or pre-foreclosure” is any home that is in default (that’s if you haven’t paid the mortgage) or are in the middle of a foreclosure process (the lawsuit). Any home that has been deeded back to the back – after the lawsuit process – is called a “bank owed” or “REO”. REO stands for Real Estate Owned and is the term used by the banks to designate their inventory of homes. Just to complicated things a little more, gov’t owned properties go through the same process but since the gov’t agency involved (FHA, FanneMae, Freddie Mac, USDA, VA, etc.) backed the loan they take possession instead of the bank. For the most part they are still “lender owned”. So Foreclosure and pre foreclosure mean the house isn’t yet owned by the bank. Bank owned and REO are actually owed by the lender/bank or government agency. By the way, all of these properties are assigned and listed by local Realtors who then market the properties just like any other home…in the Multiple Listing Services, on realtor.com, youtube , facebook etc. Next week I’ll really screw up your thinking…I’ll be talking about short sales.
BEING A SMART HOMEseller IN 2011 MEANS: BANISH THE CLUTTER! TRIM THE BUSHES! HIDE YOUR STAR WARS COLLECTION! TAKE DOWN THE FAMILY PICTURES! WHAT THINGS CAN YOU DO TO PREPARE A HOUSE FOR SALE? HERE ARE TIPS, HINTS, THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FOR SPRUCING UP, CLEANING OUT, DECORATING, STAGING, CREATING A GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION AND MAKING A HOUSE APPEALING TO BUYERS.
WELL, THERE’S ANOTHER 5 MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE YOU NOT GETTING BACK. OUR SHOW IS WRITTEN BY TOM “he really doesn’t shut up” SMITH, AMANDA “I need a raise to put up this guy” NICHOLS AND DONNA “I can’t believe I said ‘I do’” SMITH. THANKS FOR VIEWING AND HAVE A GREAT WEEK!
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I'm a Broker/Associate at Remax At Barnegat Bay located at 31 North Main St. in Manahawkin, NJ (Exit 63 on the Garden State Parkway).
Consistently ranked in the top 25 all Remax agents in New Jersey, I am a full time professional real estate broker.
# member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame
# member of the Platinum club
# United States Navy veteran
# born and raised in Jersey City
# Now living in Stafford Twp.(Southern Ocean County, NJ
# former chairman of the Stafford Township Historic Commission
# former president of The Historic Manahawkin Village Association
# member of the Southern Ocean Rotary Club
# Southern Ocean Rotary Club President(1994-1995)
# 1994 Rotarian of the Year
# member of the Navy League and the Non-Commissioned Officers Association both groups dedicated to helping members and former members of the armed services
# member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, an aviators association
# lifetime member of the National Eagle Scout Association
# I am well versed in investment properties, year round primary and vacation homes
