Bloomberg news is reporting that congress is about to not only extend the first time home buyers tax credit, but also will expand it to include trade up buyers!!! Trade up buyers can see $6500 coming to them. The program, if approved (which the article said was very likely), would include homes that go under contract by April 30, 2010 and close within 60 days of that!   Article can be found here:   http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aoI9KTlHpwzI 10/29/2009

Unless you’ve been under a real estate rock, you’ve heard about the first time home buyers credit that’s about to expire. Unless that rock is under a larger rock, you’ve also heard about the $700 Billion dollar bank bailout (TARP). What gets much less press is the Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility (TALF) which will cost the Fed $1.3 TRILLION. Does that affect real estate? You could bet what you can afford it does! Tax Credit & Tarp? How about $1.3 Trillion? What does it mean to you? 10/28/2009

Regardless of market conditions, no buyer in the history of buyers has wanted to pay a dime more for a home than absolutely necessary**. In the equal history of sellers, no seller has wanted to sell their home for a nickel less than they possibly could get.* Buyers and sellers each has had to face the emotional and intellectual comfort zone of what he or she is willing to pay or trade even though they don’t know what the other party’s comfort zone is. When the conditions are relatively moderate great negotiating skills aren’t needed as the area of compromise can be wide. Many people have the tools and skills to negotiate in this scenario. In strong buyer or seller’s market the area of possible compromise is much tighter. The negotiating skills required to make a deal happen need to be ... 10/21/2009

How Buyers Can Find Their Money SoonerOctober 2009 - Category: Business | BuyersOne of the scariest financial mysteries to many home buyers surrounds the tax advantages of mortgage interest and property taxes. Although most buyers conceptually get that there are advantages to home ownership, the actual numbers don’t generally make their way into most people’s financial planning and typically come as news at tax time.Buyers that so understand these tax advantages can lower their monthly withholdings and get the advantage when they need it most: when paying their monthly bills.The Basics:If a buyer earns $100,000 per year and pays 20% taxes, they must have withheld $20,000 throughout the year to not owe anything. If our buyer has $25,000 in deductions (reductions to their gross income), ... 10/19/2009

Many elements of real estate are counter intuitive and even sophisticated buyers can get caught making poor choices because they can't manage the media overload around them.I love Google as much as anyone, but two major problems constantly crop up on the web when it's your main source of information:Number one, and most obvious is that there is so much of it out there, that it can be near impossible to distinguish usable information from the flotsam.  For ha has, I did a Google search on real estate this morning, and Mr. Google returned 433,000,000 pages. That’s four hundred thirty three million pages. We all know that 90% of everything is dreck, so even if we discounted the noise, we’d have to sift through 43,000,000 pages. Better get a cup of coffee. This leads to the second, and les... 10/15/2009

  You can't do a real estate search today without getting inundated with the $8000 tax credit for first time home owners. There is a frenzy as the credit is set to expire on November 30th. Should buyers that qualify rush to the closing table or is the value of the credit overblown? As the deadline nears, many buyers will feel pressured into acting on a purchase decision and not negotiate as well as they should. Is it possible that a buyer may be able to get a better price if there weren't a time crunch? As an experience negotiator, I can say that when time was not on my side I generally couldn't get the best deal. Now, let's compare the tax credit to a quarter of one percent difference in a mortgage rate that can change daily.As an example, let's look at a $480,000 home with a $400,000... 10/15/2009

Stabilization and recovery, what does this mean for buyers?Most buyers and sellers see the massive media onslaught and walk away with an incorrect perception of what is going on their local market. There is an old saying that you can't tell time by staring at the second hand. Much of the daily news is just that.Most experts agree that we've emerged from the great recession, and that we ought to see a modest recovery over the next year or two. The reality is that market trends happen before the public is aware of them and we can only tell the market has bottomed once it's going back up. What does this really mean to a buyer or a seller? Rule of thumb is that six months of inventory is the boundary between a seller's market and a buyer's market. In other words, if ten homes sell a month, ... 10/15/2009

  When I was an Urban Pioneer...I remember my first New York City apartment. It was 1981 and the lower east side was a very different place. There was no Gap. there certainly was no Whole Foods. Those were the most glorious three hundred square feet with a kitchenette complete with a bathtub smack in the middle of it. Today we call them walk in closets. Back then they were called living rooms. All we ate came from the corner bodega and the only people selling anything organic disappeared when the police came near.We all had a love hate relationship with the city that lives to this day. We loved knowing that we could get a pizza at three in the morning, although no one we knew ever did it. We loved that we could find anything on the street, even though ‘real’ New Yorkers never bought on... 10/15/2009

You’ve been renting, and through market highs and market lows have wondered whether the advantages of homeownership outweigh the risk, and have finally determined that they do!How does the process of buying a house work? How is it different for first time buyers, and how are you protected?You’ve come to the right place, and together we’ll step through buying your dream home! The following is a basic summary, and once we get together and discuss your details, you’ll have the information you need to begin your search in earnest. You should also consult with your lender so you can understand the various options for financing as well as the different ways people think about numbers (lowest monthly payment, ways to build equity, how long you plan to be in the home, and many more).As you’ll ... 10/15/2009

  Understanding how much you can afford is one of the most important rules of home buying. Depending on your individual situation, your budget can affect everything from the neighborhoods where you look, to the size of the house, and even what type of financing you choose.Bear in mind, however, that lenders will look at more than just your income to determine the size of the loan. Likewise, you may find that there are some creative financing options that can help boost your purchasing power.Loan prequalification vs. preapproval One of the best ways to determine your budget is to have your real estate agent or lender prequalify you for a loan. Prequalification is different from preapproval, because it is only an estimate of what you'll be able to afford. On the other hand, preapproval i... 10/15/2009

Many people (especially first time buyers) don't consider closing costs when they are assessing their finances. Closing costs are the bundle of fees associated with the buying or selling of a home. Certain fees are automatically assigned to either the buyer or the seller; other costs are either negotiable or dictated by local custom.Buyer closing costs When a buyer applies for a loan, lenders are required to provide them with a good-faith estimate of their closing costs. The fees vary according to several factors, including the type of loan they applied for and the terms of the purchase agreement. Likewise, some of the closing costs, especially those associated with the loan application, are actually paid in advance. Some typical buyer closing costs include: The down payment Loan fees (... 10/15/2009

99.4 percent of the approximately 330 Millburn High School 2009 Graduating Seniors are going on to college, with 95 percent of those going on to four-year institutions. One is returning to her native country, one to the US Army and one to the US Air Force Academy. There are 34 graduates of the 2009 Millburn High School class going to Ivy League Universities next year. Millburn High School Graduation 2009   11 Cornell 6 University of Pennsylvania 4 Princeton University 4 Yale University 3 Dartmouth College 2 Brown University 2 Columbia University 2 Harvard University Full University List of 2009 Millburn High School Graduates For more information about education in Millburn and Short Hills please contact Perri K. Feldman at 973.650.4727 or Perri@MidtownDirectHomes.com 07/24/2009

Houses in Millburn/Short Hills New Jersey are Selling. In fact, over the past month, 35 homes have gone under contract at all different price points 5   Under $500,0006   $501,000 to $750,0004   $751,000 to $999,99911 $1,000,000 to $1,499,9995   $1,500,000-$1,999,9994   $2,000,000+ Short Hills Median List Prices are falling whereas Millburn Median List Prices are holding pretty steady. For the full story visit NJRealEstateWire. To learn more about real estate in Millburn and Short Hills New Jersey contact Perri@MidtownDirectHomes.com. 06/19/2009

Millburn residents living in the Wyoming section were thrilled to hear about the new jitney service provided by Maplewood Township that would take them to and from the station. The Jitney costs only $1 each way and will help reduce the number of cars and greenhouse gase emissions. Two stops were added, each with six pick-ups to coordinate with the Midtown Direct Train Schedule: The stops are at Glen Avenue and Cypress Street and at Wyoming Avenue and Maple Street. For the full story visit NJ Real Estate Wire and to learn more about commuting to NYC via the Midtown Direct Train line and parking rates visit 2009 Midtown Direct Parking Rates Want to learn more about Millburn NJ? Call Perri at 973.650.4727 or Search for Homes in Millburn 01/16/2009

When looking for the hottest trends in Kitchens and Baths I always go to Kitchen Expressions in Millburn, NJ The owner, Steven Nephtali told me: "For the last year or so, the trend in kitchens has leaned further towards a clean, contemporary and/or transitional look. The vast array of cabinetry materials and finishes that are available today sharply distinguishes the present "contemporary" from the contemporary look of yesteryear. It is important that the selected materials are utilized properly and used appropriately."The Kitchen Expressions Team in Millburn carefully listens to their client's needs. They utilize their skills and products to create the perfect kitchen or bath for individual lifestyles. Existing spaces are transformed and are treasured by their clients for a lifetime. G... 01/16/2009

Thousands of New Jersey adults and children need a new, warm coat each winter. Many are forced to make a choice between buying a winter coat and putting food on the table, or meeting other basic survival needs. We can't ignore the headlines and wanted to create an event to teach our children the importance of sharing and lending a hand to those less fortunate than the residents of Millburn and Short Hills, NJ. Four local professional women, Perri K. Feldman of Keller Williams Realty, KC Maloney of Merrill Lynch, Short Hills, Beth Naphtali of Kitchen Expressions and Alyssa Sutton of All Media Consultants, LLC, have joined together to sponsor a Winter Sweater & Coat Drive to benefit local New Jersey families in need.  SHARE THE WARMTH...From Head to Toe   JOIN USFOR AN EVENING OF GIVING ... 11/26/2008

I have been doing yet another of my real estate reports for local Northern New Jersey towns.  I normally look at towns along the Midtown Direct Train line of New Jersey transit, otherwise known as the Morristown line. This time I was taking a look at the Millburn NJ Luxury Real Estate market.  I posted lots of great statistics about the last 2 years as a comparison over at the NJ Real Estate Blog. What I was able to come up with is that there are a number of home owners who are holding out for higher prices in Millburn New Jersey.  That is not surprising but the numbers seem higher in Millburn than in other local towns.  In my mind this sets Millburn up for a possible round of capitulation, meaning that if the spring market of 2009 is not better than the spring and summer market of 2008... 11/24/2008

The township was named "Millburn" in 1857, as a tribute to a local mill built on a stream, with "burn" being the Scottish name for "stream." Shortly after 1870, Stewart Hartshorn, inventor of the roller window shade, decided to make his home here and to enter the real estate business to establish an "ideal community." He purchased and resold much of the "short hills" area and adopted the Indians' name for his community. Today, Short Hills remains an area of Millburn Township.       MILLBURN-SHORT HILLSThe township was named "Millburn" in 1857, as a tribute to a local mill built on a stream, with "burn" being the Scottish name for "stream." Shortly after 1870, Stewart Hartshorn, inventor of the roller window shade, decided to make his home here and to enter the real estate business to es... 09/22/2008

Fifteen seniors from Millburn High School have been selected as semifinalists in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Competition.  In addition, 49 students qualified as recipients of Letters of Commendation in recognition of their outstanding academic promise.  The combined total number of honored students (64) represents 20% of the entire senior class...the highest total in the history of the school district. For the full story see NJ Real Estate Wire. 09/20/2008

New Jersey Monthly ranked Millburn High School FIRST in New Jersey. New Jersey Monthly ranks high schools every two years based upon school environment, student performance and student outcomes. Millburn High School moved up from eleventh in 2004, third in 2006 to #1 in 2008 based upon impressive test scores on SATs and state tests. For more information please visit NJ Real Estate Wire. 08/22/2008