4 open houses over 4 weeks, I know it’s not a scientific study, but I already know the answer to the question of “Do open houses work?” 
Back in the day when I was a newbie, I did about 40 open houses a year and it was a good prospecting tool and to help build my database of potential buyers and even some sellers. Selling the house was Read more »
Let’s say that you own a home but want to move to a better home. Most people start the process by looking for the new home first… and then it hits them…. how am i going to pay for this thing?! For the sake of brevity, let’s say you don’t want to rent your current home and that you have some cash/savings for a down payment but not enough to buy the new house outright with no mortgage. 
So, if you want to buy the new home FIRST, you must qualify for the new mortgage while you still have a mortgage on your current home… that’s tough for most people. Also, you run the risk of making two mortgage payments while waiting for your old house to sell… that can be a little scary because the potential for loss is almost unlimited. The advantage of buying first is that you know exactly where your moving to, when your moving, the cost of the new house and best of all, you can move right away. Read more »
If you never knew (or never really cared) how real estate agents get paid, you might be surprised that we actually work for Free ! Yes it’s true…. kind of.
When selling your South Jersey home, we enter into a listing agreement which explains that my brokerage fee is contingent upon successfully selling your home. No sale, no brokerage fee. It’s like a built-in money back guarantee because you don’t pay anything unless we’re successful !
So if you made a short list of things that REALTORS do to sell your home in South Jersey…. Sign in the yard- Free. Pictures of the house- Free. Virtual Tours- Free. Open House- Free. Showings- Free. Advertising- Free. Selling Your Home, going to Settlement, paying your REALTOR’s commission and having a cold beer to celebrate….. PRICELESS.
Thanks for Reading!
Joe Montenigro
joemonte@hometeamNJ.com
Points are the closest thing to legalized bribery! When applying for a mortgage to buy a house, you can pay the lender a fee to get a better interest rate. The fee is called a point and is 1% of the amount you borrow. You could pay one or many points. The point costs you money upfront but the lower interest rate saves you money each month on your payment. So, the trick is to calculate the breakeven point. In other words, how long will it take you to recoup the upfront fee in monthly savings on your payment because of the lower interest rate. Simply calculate the payment for two interest rates and find the difference, that’s your monthly savings. Then divide the amount of the points by the monthly savings and the answer will be the number of months to breakeven. Your decision on whether or not to pay points will depend primarily on how long you plan on living in the house. Also, if you think you’re likely to refi in the near future, you might not want to pay the points. Points are usually tax deductible on a home purchase but on a refi they may need to be deducted over several years.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
It’s a question that I get all the time…. but what’s the REAL question? Maybe some people are just making small talk because they know I’m a broker but many, I believe, want to know if it’s OK to buy a home. Watching the news is scarey and there’s no 
shortage of uncertainty in the real estate markets, so what’s the right thing to do… buy now or wait til the market hits bottom?
Well…. How will you know when the market hits bottom? Will you rely on the nightly news? When will THEY know? Home sale statistics don’t come out for a few months AFTER the fact… so you won’t know we hit the “bottom” until AFTER it’s past…. then you’ll be buying on the way UP! That’s not good either.
Here’s the short answer. Buy now for the long term. That’s it. It’s that simple so let’s not overcomplicate it. If you’re not ready to own the property for the next 3 to 8 years, don’t buy it. If you are ready, then it’s an absolutely GREAT time to buy a property. Prices are down, there are fewer competing buyers in the marketplace, interest rates are very very good, and there’s a bigger selection of homes by double.
The truth is, most people buy or sell when it’s the right time for them and their family, not based on the market conditions. It would be silly to move and rearrange your life every time the market moved one way or the other. Buying and selling a home takes a lot of time, costs a lot of money and by it’s very nature, should be a long term decision.
The Conclusion? If the time is right for your family, 2009 is the right time to buy a home in the south jersey real estate market. It’s OK… and tell ’em I said so 🙂
Thanks for Reading,
Joe Montenigro
REMAX Home Team
