The Bergen County Homes Blog

There’s a relatively new website that is all about Bergen County and what’s happening here.  Go to www.MyBergen.com and you’ll be amazed at all the information you’ll find there.

Today you’ll find a video on last month’s special Chamber of Commerce event in Westwood at their public library.  Called “A Taste of Westwood” this was a community event to raise funds for the Westwood Public Library and to support hospice.  If you take the time to watch it, you’ll get a real view of what it’s like to live in Bergen County.

I have to admit that as a mother I loved the Kid’s Corner where you’ll find all sorts of activities for children from Robots in Upper Saddle River this August to the New Jersey Children’s Museum in Paramus where they are again having their Summer Fun Workshops.

MyBergen.com also has a great calendar of what’s happening and also tips on where to shop, where to eat and a wonderful section just for people who’ve moved here recently titled New Movers.

Whether you’re a new resident or have been here for years, I’m sure you’ll find www.MyBergen.com a neat website to visit.

Bookmark It

What could be better than buying a home in Tenafly NJ and taking a walk downtown on a Sunday only to find an amazing assortment of fresh produce at the Tenafly Farmer’s Market?

Every Sunday from May through October, Tenafly NJ residents as well as people from neighboring towns come to the local post office parking lot on Tenafly Road where from 10 am to 2 pm there is a wealth of fresh fruit, vegetables and organic items for sale.  You’ll also find wonderful fresh baked bread, pies, muffins and scones as well as bottled jams and honey.  There’s even farm fresh milk.  Many Sundays local artisans have their crafts on display along with local artists.

The Tenafly Farmer’s Market has become so popular that if you’re coming, it’s best to get there early so you don’t miss out on anything.  Without a doubt, one of the special advantages of owning a Tenafly home is the Sunday farmer’s market.  You can check it out online at http://www.tenaflyfarmersmarket.com

Bookmark It

Qualifying for a mortgage loan requires a good credit history.  Banks want a proven record of responsible financial behavior and lines of credit answer this requirement.  It’s not enough to use a mortgage loan calculator to figure your mortgage payment amount, you need to demonstrate that you can handle credit successfully. 

What is a line of credit?  A line of credit (aka credit line) is when a bank grants an unsecured loan amount.  Unlike a regular loan, interest is only charged on how much of the credit line you use.  For example, a department store credit card has a limit of $500.  That’s your line of credit.  You spend $50 which leaves $450 left on your line of credit to use.  When the bill comes, if you pay it off in full, there’s no interest charged.  If you don’t pay it in full, the amount you owe incurs a credit charge. 

Harry Vanezis, Vice President and Senior Loan Officer at Bank of America, said that for mortgage loans, banks consider a car loan/lease and rent/mortgage payments as lines of credit too.  Harry advises that you get a bank and department store card.  “Charge your gas every other month on the bank card and use the other for gift purchases but pay off the bill in full when it arrives so you don’t incur interest expenses” said Harry.  “If you do this and pay your other bills in full and on time, you’ll have an excellent credit history.”  While 4 lines of credit are best, 3 will work if your other credentials are strong.

Amazing as it is, paying cash for everything makes getting a mortgage difficult because you have no verifiable record of good financial behavior.  Prudent and regular use of lines of credit creates an excellent credit history.

Bookmark It

June began a new requirement from Fannie Mae.  Mortgage applicants must now have their credit checked 3 days before closing.  If there are any significant changes, the terms may be adjusted or the mortgage may actually be cancelled.  While this may sound harsh, it also makes sense.

When you apply for a mortgage, your credit, debt and assets are checked.  The bank wants to verify that your credit history shows that you are a responsible person and your income, debt and assets are enough to allow you to comfortably carry the expenses.

Once you get your mortgage commitment, nothing should change.  You should be just as credit worthy on the day you close as you were when you first applied for your mortgage.  Fannie Mae is just checking to make sure.

Before the sub prime mortgage market existed, this was a normal part of the process.  Fannie Mae found that a good number of people abused the system by being irresponsible or commiting outright fraud.  By requiring this verification just before closing, Fannie Mae is hoping to avoid such trouble.   

In the past, some people actually took out other loans just before closing because they knew they’d never qualify once the mortgage closed and was on their credit record.  So, they got a car on a loan, bought an appliance on credit etc. and sometimes even quit a job just before closing on a house.  This sort of irresponsible behavior often ended up in foreclosure.

I believe Fannie Mae is taking the right approach; this will go a long way to ensuring the integrity of the mortgage system.  It also protects buyers from over burdening themselves with debt.  It does no one good when a home ends up in foreclosure.  So is Fannie Mae making life impossible for buyers?  Not at all.

Bookmark It

Senior citizens get a lot of breaks in New Jersey; sometimes you don’t even have to be that senior.  Imagine my surprise when I went into the Englewood International House of Pancakes and learned that because I’d crossed the 50 year line I could get pancakes at a discount.  Frankly, being told I get a senior rate at the age of 50 was more than disconcerting!

Property taxes are a major reason why senior citizens sell their Bergen County homes.  The cost of ownership for people who are on a retirement income often becomes a burden they cannot handle.  When they bought their family home many years ago, they had a working income but without that now, it’s just too expensive even when the mortgage is paid off.

Property taxes are a big part of the problem because they often go up every year making it increasingly more dificult for senior homeowners to afford their home.  To help out, the State of New Jersey has a property tax freeze program for those seniors who qualify and the deadline to apply for this has been extended until August 2nd.

Just go to the State of New Jersey’s Property Tax Reimbursement website where you’ll find all the information.  This program, known as the Senior Freeze, stops property tax increases for those who qualify.  As in all things relating to your finances and taxes, I suggest that you contact your accountant for guidance.  You can also call your local Tax Assessor.  But one thing’s for sure – if you’re a senior citizen, you want to check this out before August!

Bookmark It

Proximity to NYC,  great schools and a wonderful suburban lifestyle make buying a home in Bergen County, to quote Martha Stewart, a “good thing.”  Because Bergen County homes offer these advantages, buyers come here no matter the economy or housing market.  The Bergen County real estate market regularly outperforms all other counties in New Jersey and this is true today.

Taking a look at the market through May, we are significantly ahead of where we were last year.  In 2009 there were 2,011 sales and this year 2,536 for a gain of 525 units and a 26% improvement.  The average sales price decreased by 3% because more of the homes sold this year were less expensive than in 2009 but they sold quicker (5% fewer days on the market) and that’s positive.

These figures are from the New Jersey Multiple Listing Service and I have their graph here for you.

When June numbers are in, I expect this trend to continue.  The question is how much of this is due to the tax credit and to the demanding terms of jumbo loans.  With formidable down payment requirements, the jumbo loan has really put a damper on the market for more expensive houses along with the negative economy.  Very recently these demands have been relaxed and so we’ve seen a real pick up in such places as Englewood Cliffs, Franklin Lakes, Saddle River and Tenafly.   Based on both the NJMLS data and the activity we’re seeing in all of our offices, there is a significant improvement in the demand for Bergen County real estate so far this year.  I’ll continue to keep you updated throughout the year.

Bookmark It

One of the wonderful things about owning a Bergen County home is how close you are to so many things.  Every season has it’s sports and activities and Bergen County is always within an easy 1-2 hour drive which makes for lots of fun family trips.  When people come here to buy a home in Bergen County they often ask “How easy is it to get to the city?”  They are concerned with transportation to New York City.  Once they live in a Bergen County home, however, they soon ask “How long does it take to get to the beach?”

With the summer season just begining, it’s time to think of going to the Jersey Shore.  Actually, you never say you’re going TO the shore, here in Bergen County we say we’re going DOWN the shore.  That’s because Bergen County homes are north of the shore so our famous beaches are south of where we live.

Point Pleasant NJ is a very popular destination and it’s only a short 90 minutes from your front door whether you live in Tenafly, Paramus or Ridgewood or anywhere else in our county.  Just hop on the Garden State Parkway or the New Jersey Turnpike and sooner than you’d think you’ll be on the beautiful sandy beaches of the New Jersey Shore.

Every year New Jersey Monthly Magazine publishes it’s annual shore guide.  This is one issue you do not want to miss.  From Atlantic City to Sea Girt and beyond you’ll find everything you need to know about what’s happening down the New Jersey shore this season.  Once you read it, you can plan your next trip down the shore from your Bergen County home!

Bookmark It

Does this look familiar? 

If it does, then you”re like many people who’ve bought an older, charming colonial home in Bergen County.  Along with the home (and especially if you bought it in towns with large inventories of charming colonial homes like Tenafly or Teaneck or Ridgewood) you got a red brick fireplace in the living room that you figured you’d fix in the future.  An article I read in Lowes “Creative Ideas” magazine recently showed how you can transform that old red brick quickly and affordably.   

Lowes has a special program for real estate agents which I’ve found to be a great help for my clients and myself.  Recently there was an article in “Creative Ideas” that solved this problem.  By resurfacing the existing red brick with a combination of tile and slate you create an amazing, beautiful effect immediately. 

This fireplace was an old, stained, red brick unit and then the Lowes team went to work  with a combination of tile and slate.  You can, of course, use other tile and stone materials but the change is certainly remarkable.  No structural renovations were needed to make this fireplace a modern showpiece.

If you’d like to get “Creative Ideas” you can go to http://www.Lowes.com or you can get in touch with me for the full real estate agent benefits program.  Lowes has many simple and affordable solutions to design problems for homeowners and they also have a lot of good tips for you too.

Bookmark It

You don’t have to own a home in Tenafly to know what’s happening there – all you have to do is to go to the Borough of Tenafly website where you’ll discover that Tenafly is doing a revaluation right now.

Let’s say you’re thinking of buying a home in Englewood.  You see that many of the homes there are from the early 20th century so you’d like to know about the city’s history.  Just go to the City of Englewood website where you’ll find the Our History page that takes you from Englewood’s earliest days to the present.

The River Vale website is the place to go for local events – it’s always on their home page.   Park Ridge and Westwood does this too along with many other local communities.  You may find important changes on a town’s home page – this year Westwood began registering it’s various Recreation Department activities online; the announcement is on it’s home page right now.

Town websites are also a great help when you need a form.  For example, if you want to put up a fence on your property and you live in Cresskill, the fence permit form can be downloaded from the Cresskill Boro website Some towns like Tenafly actually have a step by step guide for you when it comes to getting a permit

Many community sites have portions of their building codes right on their websites.  Old Tappan has their entire borough code on line.

You may be amazed at how much information can be found on a town website.  If you’re thinking of buying a home or if you’re a Bergen County resident now, check out the borough website.  You’ll be glad you did.

Bookmark It

While the real estate market in Bergen County has been recovering nicely since late last year, sales of high end homes had been one of the less robust parts of the market.  This was due in large part to mortgage financing which all but disappeared in 2008 and then was burdened with simply objectionable terms.

Jumbo loans and super jumbo loans were not only hard to get but their down payment requirements went through the roof.  If you wanted to purchase a $2 million house you had to come up with as much as a 50% down payment.  Requirements of 40-45% were standard for up to $2 million purchases.  This has now changed.

Today I can report to you that only a 20% down payment is required for $1-2 million homes and just a 25% down payment for a $2-3 million purchase.  Of course this assumes the buyer is qualified as to credit, assets, etc. 

This change bodes well for affluent buyers and the luxury home market.  With more liberal jumbo loan financing the market for high end luxury homes is now becoming more active.  According to the New Jersey MLS data, we have an 18% increase in the number of homes sold at $2 million or above for the first 4 months of this year.  Better mortgage loan terms for luxury home buyers is indeed positive for the Bergen County real estate market.

Bookmark It