Welcome to Episode 16 of Life And Living At The Jersey Shore. April 27, 2011



It is filled with Real estate tips, trends, statistics, fun things to do in southern ocean county. The web cast is funny, informative with lots of Tom’s wisecracks.

In this edition:

Here are this week’s market stats:
This week’s stats reflect what’s happening in Stafford Township (they include: Manahawkin, Ocean Acres, Beach Haven West, Mallard Island, Cedar Run, Beachview and Deer Lake Park.) There are currently 517 homes and condos for sale in Stafford. In the last year 312 have sold. That’s funny, last week the Barnegat/Waretown solds were 315. So there seems to be a steady stream of buyers. But we still have to get the numbers up from the 300’s to the 500’s. That’s when we’ll see a serious turnaround in the market.

Fun stuff in Southern Ocean:
With all this great weather I thought it would be fun to visit some of the local historic sites in Southern Ocean County. Most sites have scheduled hours during peak season and you can call for hours or check the Southern Ocean Chamber of Commerce web site at http://www.visitlbiregion.com/ for special events. The southern ocean county historical sites are:
• Barnegat Heritage Village, East Bay Avenue Barnegat
• Barnegat Lighthouse State Park, Barnegat Light
• Barnegat Light Museum & Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens 5th Street, Barnegat Light
• Giffordtown Schoolhouse Leitz Blvd & Wisteria Lane, West Tuckerton 609 296 2598
• Heritage Park, Old Stone Store and Historic Train Station on Hwy 72 & Rt 9 Manahawkin
• Lacey Schoolhouse Museum, Rt 9 Forked River,
• Long Beach Island Historical Museum, Engleside & Beach Aves Beach Haven
• Museum of NJ Maritime History, 528 Dock Road Beach Haven
• Stafford Township Museum in the old Baptist Church Rt 9, Manahawkin
• Tuckerton Seaport Rt 9, Tuckerton

Our real estate glossary:
Adjustable Rate Mortgage or ARM:
Is a mortgage in which the interest changes periodically, according to corresponding fluctuations in an index. All ARMs are tied to indexes.

Fixed Rate Mortgage:
Is a mortgage in which the interest rate does not change during the entire term of the loan.
ARM’s are Bad Fixed are Good!

A Smart Home Seller:
Being a smart home owner means knowing what kind of paperwork will be involved in your sale. Here are just some of the forms you’ll be dealing with:
Property disclosure form.
Purchasers access to premises agreement.
Sales contract.
Sales contract contingency clauses
Pre- and post-occupancy agreements.
Lead-based paint disclosure pamphlet.
Consumer Information Statement
Bulk transfer form.

So to find out more about these and other forms you’ll need call us or go to our web site at: www.SellerTom.com

My 2 Cents:
I generally don’t read newspapers. I think they are silly and mostly filled with bad information. But, this Sunday I happened to catch a glimpse of page E5 in the Asbury Park Press and it had me R.O.T.F.L. (rolling on the floor laughing). Taking up most of the top half of the page is a graphic silhouette of a bunny and a head line: “ Please Don’t Eat The Easter Bunny”. Below that was a photo of a young girl kissing her cute, white, fluffy rabbit. The caption said it was of a 4-H club member kissing her pet rabbit.
The column immediately to the right of that article was a recipe (I’m not kidding) titled “Old Fashioned Rabbit Stew”!!!!
To quote Larry the Cable Guy, “Now that’s funny!)

Home of the week:
Our home of the week is 124 Reel Ave. in the Ocean Acres section of Manahawkin. It’s a 3 bedroom 2 bath ranch featuring beautiful hardwood floors under a vaulted ceiling with an open kitchen and great room with a wood burning fireplace. The great room leads to a gorgeous deck overlooking a very private and beautifully landscaped yard. This home also features tiled baths and a 2 car garage. This home would be perfect for the first time home buyer OR the downsizer. An extremely well kept home you would have to do nothing to do but move right in! And – it’s priced below assessed value.
Just for fun we had one of our mortgage bankers work up a payment scenario: This home qualifies for a USDA mortgage – that means NO MONEY DOWN. Based on the asking price of $229,900.00 the total monthly payment for this property (including principal, interest, taxes and insurance) would be only $1,706.85
Now that example of course is for qualified buyers. The payment is based on 4.75% interest rate on a 30 year fixed rate 0 points. Interest rates subject to change.
I doubt we would find a rental in that location in that good of condition for that price. And no money down!

Happy Homeowner Anniversaries:
Here are a few more families we’ve had the pleasure of helping find the home of their dreams.
Charles – 4/11/02 Little Egg Harbor
Chuck and Yvette – 4/13/06 Manahawkin
Peter – 4/14/05 Manahawkin
Carol – 4/15/10 Whiting
Linda & Mark – 4/19/02 Haven Beach
Sandy & Jim - 4/23/01 Manahawkin
Blaire – 4/25/08 Manahawkin
Josh and Kara – 4/30/10 Tuckerton
Contrats!

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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