TIME believes now is the time to buy Bergen County NJ real estate. Read their article, Ignore The Headlines, which is a case against waiting to buy.
Then, take a deep breath and give us a call at 201-930-3070 and get ready to make money.
To search Bergen County homes for sale, visit my website, PaulaClarkRealtor.com.
On the lighter side this week, I’ve dug up some fun and random facts & figures about the Bergen County NJ area. Whether you’re a Bergen County homeowner, or just interested in learning more about the area, I think you’ll find these tidbits interesting:
• Dutch Colonial architecture once dominated Bergen County
• Washington’s retreat from the US Revolutionary War began in Bergen County
• When the Cloisters museum was built in New York City, John D. Rockefeller also purchased land on the NJ side of the Hudson River to keep the wooded view from the medieval museum undisturbed
• Fort Lee was the first center of movie making in the United States
• Mary Higgins Clark is from Bergen County and enjoys setting some or all of her mysteries in and around the area
• John Travolta grew up in Englewood
• Alan Alda commuted between his home in Leonia and Hollywood while he was starring in M*A*S*H
To learn more about Bergen County NJ or Bergen County real estate, please call me at 201-930-30704 or visit PaulaClarkRealtor.com. You may also begin searching listings here.
A continuation of soft market conditions is forecast for existing-home sales in the months ahead, with improvement expected by the second half of this year if loan limits are increased, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said sales activity is expected to remain soft through the first half of the year despite a generational low in mortgage interest rates. “Existing home sales have moved narrowly since last September, but when the full impact of higher loan limits for conventional mortgages begins to impact the market there is likely to be a notable rise in home sales and prices,” he said.
This would seem to indicate that now would be a great time to be a home-buyer in the national marketplace. Let’s take a look at the sales statistics for Bergen County in January to see how the year started off:
January 2008 home sales in Bergen County decreased 25% compared to January 2007, with market times increasing 3%, 104.89 days vs. 101.46 days.
The median selling price increased by $10,000 to $490,000 and the average sales price increased 17% to $721,362.
If you are planning to buy or sell a house in 2008 or want to learn more about Bergen County real estate, please contact me at 201-930-3070 or visit PaulaClarkRealtor.com.
Now that we are a month into 2008, experts have begun to speculate on how the real estate market will fare for the year ahead. A continuation of soft market conditions is forecast for existing-home sales in the months ahead, with improvement expected by the second half of this year if loan limits are increased, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said sales activity is expected to remain soft through the first half of the year despite a generational low in mortgage interest rates. “Existing home sales have moved narrowly since last September, but when the full impact of higher loan limits for conventional mortgages begins to impact the market there is likely to be a notable rise in home sales and prices,” he said.
It is still a great time to consider buying or selling a home in Bergen County NJ. To begin searching for Bergen County NJ real estate, please use my complimentary MLS search. Or, if you are considering selling your home, request a complimentary market value analysis of your home. For more personalized service, please call me at 201-930-3070.
It’s officially tax season! If you are like many Americans, just the thought of getting organized enough to start the paperwork can be overwhelming.
This article from BankRate.com details 7 steps to help get you ready to file your 2007 taxes. I’ve listed the steps below, but please check out the article for more helpful hints!
• Prepare for the arrival of your records (designate an envelope or folder to store all of the records you’ll receive in the mail)
• Track down social security numbers (make sure you have the correct SSN’s for everyone in your family)
• Find your forms (if you are not filing electronically, download the necessary forms or pick them up at a post office)
• Decide how you want to do your taxes (Do-it-yourself or hire a pro? Paper and pen or computer software?)
• Consider electronic filing (find out if you qualify for Free File!)
• Use direct deposit (it may not be as exciting as receiving that refund check in the mail, but it’ll save you a trip to the bank!)
• Don’t panic!
I’d like to add my own advice: if you bought or sold a home in 2007, pull out those closing documents and start making copies! You will need to provide proof of your purchase or sale (usually a closing statement will suffice), along with any loans that were taken out or paid off in 2007. If you have lost any of these important documents, contact your Realtor who can help you track them down.
If 2008 is going to be the year for you to invest in a home of your own, please visit PaulaClarkRealtor.com and begin searching Bergen County NJ real estate here. You may also call me at 201-930-3070.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is scheduled to meet again Tuesday and Wednesday of this week and it’s predicted that rates will be cut again. It’s commonly thought that a cut in interest rates by the FOMC brings with it a decline in home mortgage rates. This is not always true.
If you or your clients are considering obtaining or refinancing a new loan, the time to pick up the phone is now.
Historically, the time to make an application to capture the best rate may be before an FOMC meeting, not after. While it’s true that mortgage rates may improve immediately following a rate cut, they can just as quickly get worse. I don’t want you to lose out by playing the waiting game. Why do home loan rates often rise following rate cuts by the FOMC? The reason is that Fed rate cuts can be seen as inflationary and bond traders hate inflation. And it is the bond market that sets long-term interest rates.After two recent FOMC meetings, interest rates rose significantly after a rate cut. First when rates were cut in September of 2007 and then again following the inter-session emergency meeting in January 2008. In each case the price of bonds deteriorated quickly and in the span of two days, interest rates increased up to .75% off of their low points.
If you would like to know how you could benefit from refinancing or are in the process of buying a new home, make sure you have your application in process. This way, you can capture the best interest rate when it is available. If you wait, you may cost yourself the best chance to have the lowest rate
