The Bergen County Homes Blog

Come out this Tuesday for terrific Mexican food and fun at all 3 Blue Moon Mexican Cafe restaurants.  You’ll have a great time, enjoy wonderful Mexican food and support the Tenafly Nature Center.  What could be better?

The Blue Moon Mexican Cafe is one of the most popular local restaurant chains in Bergen County.  With 3 locations – Englewood, Woodcliff Lake and Wyckoff – no matter where you are in Bergen County, you’re near a Blue Moon restaurant.  This Tuesday 20% of all dinner bills is being donated to the Tenafly Nature Center for food ordered from 11 am through 9 pm.  You must bring a donation flyer with you and give it to your waiter.

So come out on Tuesday and have a 2nd Cinco De Mayo at a Blue Moon Mexican Cafe and support the Tenafly Nature Center.  Maybe I’ll see you there!

Bergen County homes began a fundamental shift toward recovery in 2011.  While most had to wait until the 4th quarter, Tenafly homes began their recovery during the early part of the year according to New Jersey MLS data.  By the time 2011 ended, Tenafly real estate had fully stabilized and even experienced price appreciation with 26% more sales and an average sales price that was 12% higher.

2011 saw tremendous growth in $600-650,000 home sales and also at $800-$1 million.  Mid-range Tenafly homes historically fuel the market because a good number are in town move up buyers who wait for the market to begin turning positive.  They know that’s their best opportunity to trade up to a larger Tenafly home.  This is why you have a corresponding surge at $800-1 million.  It is the strength of this intrinsic demand that always supports Tenafly real estate and cushions it from going too low.

At the upper end, highly affluent buyers flocked to the East Hill last year. Sales at over $2 million more than tripled (from 5 to 16). Luxury home sales in Tenafly are continuing to move at a very brisk pace – so far 6 homes at $2 million+ have accepted offers.  If you drive up the Tenafly East Hill you’ll also see many new construction projects.

The pace of sales has also accelerated in 2012 - 115  to 98 days on the market from start to closing.  No matter how you look at it, Tenafly home sales are on track for a very good year.

One word of caution though – while sales prices statistically rose 12% in 2011, this does not mean that we had 12% appreciation.  Average sales price figures also show the product mix – when more higher priced homes sell, it raises the average sales price.  Still, 12% is such a strong performance that there can be no doubt Tenafly homes sold for more in 2011 than they did in 2010 and this trend is continuing on in 2012.

I’ll bet you didnt know that you can go to the woods and get your own maple sugar from a tree right here in Tenafly!  Well, it is true – the Tenafly Nature Center will show you how to do this, right here at home, for the next two Sundays.  On March 4 and March 11, you and your children can learn how sap is gathered today, and check tapped trees.  Then, you’ll boil down the fresh maple syrup for a warm sweet treat!

Yes, you can do this in Tenafly.  So close to New York City, and yet the wonders of nature abound here.

The Tenafly Nature Center is a wonderful resource in our community.  Located at 313 Hudson Avenue, the center is close to everything, and yet seems far removed, its own nature world.  Its wonderful to have such a rich resource near us.  Maple sugaring isnt the only thing you can do there.  Take guided nature hikes for children and adults, attend children’s nature story times, or find out about opportunities to sail along the Palisade!  Whether you are an adult or a child, you will find there is something for you here.

Tenafly is a beautiful place to live and to play.  Not only do we have a great schools system, beautiful homes, and proximity to New York City, we live in a beautiful place with many natural wonders to appreciate and explore.

Check out maple sugaring at the Tenafly Nature Center, March 4 and 11, 12:30-1:30 and 2:00-3:00.  While you are there, find out about Spring Break Camp in April, and an Easter time “Eggs Bunnidict” celebration of rabbit trails and hidden candy eggs.

Every year residents of Tenafly NJ look forward to the town’s 4th of July festivities.  If you just bought a Tenafly home, you could miss it because Tenafly never has it’s 4th of July celebration on the 4th.  This year it’s going to be on Saturday, July 2nd, but don’t let that worry you.  It’s going to be a great Independence Day Celebration as it always is!

 Held each year at the Roosevelt Commons, Tenafly has a townwide Independence Day Celebration featuring all sorts of booths sponsored by local groups and businesses, rides for the children, food and prizes.  From 10 am to 3 pm bring your family to Roosevelt Commons for a day of fun where you’ll meet neighbors and friends alike.  Even if you don’t own a Tenafly home and are just in the area, feel free to drop in.

Later that night there will be fireworks.  Come behind the high school to watch – it starts about 9 pm give or take.  There’s a rain date too on the 3rd.  So if you own a Tenafly home and want to celebrate the 4th in town, you better come on the 2nd!

Tenafly NJ has a very dedicated Mayor in Peter Rustin.  In spite of the 2 party system, Peter Rustin ran and won as an independent.  Whether you like him or not, one thing everyone can say about Mayor Rustin is that he is dedicated to his job and the people of Tenafly. 

You can also say he’s dedicated to his 2 dogs who go everywhere with him.  Riding along in his lime green Porsche, Mayor Rustin’s dogs go everywhere he goes and even up the Tenafly Borough Hall steps into his office when he goes to work at his desk.  It’s no wonder that under Mayor Rustin’s stewardship that Tenafly is exploring the posibility of a dog park.   If you own a Tenafly home and have always wanted a local dog park in town, this is good news indeed. 

The Tenafly Borough Council has approved the formation of a committee to create a plan for a dog park in town which they will present to the Borough Council.  Stay tuned – it sure looks like a dog park is coming to town!  If you want to participate, you can email the Mayor at prustin@tenafly.net  Having a dog park in town is certainly going to be another positive for Tenafly homes and their 4 legged friends.

Isn’t the internet great?  When you are buying a home nothing seems to beat it for all the information it has.  But when it comes to knowing a town and the neighborhood, nothing replaces being there.  Still there is one place where you can get to know a community and that’s the town website. 

Town websites give you a special look into the character and services of a community.  Although not all towns have a website, most do and they are filled with information and community news.

Are you shopping for a Tenafly home?  The Tenafly Borough site has the Tenafly Memorial Day Parade schedule telling you that everyone is invited to the Tenafly Elk’s Club for refreshments after the ceremony. 

Looking for a Ridgewood home?  If you go to the Village of Ridgewood website you’ll learn that the Ridgewood flood rating is unchanged which gives it’s residents a 15% discount on insurance. 

Looking for an Englewood home?  The City of Englewood website tells you that all Englewood residents are eligible for a 20% discount card for prescriptions.  

If you’re thinking of buying a home in Cresskill the Cresskill Borough website announces that the town is having it’s Spring Festival on June 11th.

I have all the town websites for you on my site.  Click Here and choose the town you want!

One of the agents in my office had an interesting experience in Englewood today.  She was inspecting an Englewood home with her customer and nearly came eye to eye with a raccoon in the attic.  Needless to say this presented a problem when trying to show the house to her buyer and I have no doubt that both real estate agent and home buyer left that Englewood home pretty quickly.

Attics seem to be favorite hiding places for raccoons and squirrels too.  One way to protect your home from a squirrel or raccoon invasion is to make sure you have a chimney cap on your chimney.  A quick Google search came up with this Draft King Chimney Cap picture:

As you can see, this is a really pretty simple item but it sure does the job.  It’s also important to periodically check where your roof meets the house structure itself.  Sometimes a squirrel will bite through the facia board just under the roof and get inside the attic.  When you’re having your gutters cleaned out it’s a good idea to check around for any signs of a raccoon or squirrel trying to bite their way into your home.

Towns like Englewood, Tenafly and Ridgewood have so many beautiful, mature trees that tower over the homes there but these gorgeous trees also have branches that make it so easy for a raccoon or squirrel to scamper up on your roof and bite their way into your attic.  It’s best to do a regular inspection of your house so you can keep on top of the raccoons and squirrels who have decided they like your house as much as you do!

When the financial crisis exploded in 2008, new construction financing ended.  Actually, most credit was taken off the table then and for good reason.  On new homes being built, many banks pulled existing mortgage loans creating havoc for builders and individuals who were in the middle of new construction projects.

Since then, getting a bank to loan on new construction in Bergen County has been difficult if not impossible.  But there has been one bank that’s kept its new construction loan department open – TD Bank.  In addition to TD Bank, Wells Fargo and Provident Bank of New Jersey also do new home financing.

I called TD Bank this week to review financing for a new 3 lot subdivision in Ho-Ho-Kus that I’m working on with Beverly Mitchell in my office; the interest rate quoted was very attractive – only just over prevailing mortgage rates with no points.

Each Ho-Ho-Kus lot is around 1 acre and we have packages for buyers at $1.5-1.7 million with architect plans for gorgeous 5,800 sq ft houses and a master builder in place.

If you drive up the Tenafly East Hill, you’ll be amazed at all the new houses being built there.  Tenafly has always enjoyed a strong demand for luxury new construction on it’s East Hill acre lots.  Buying a new Tenafly home is no problem for qualified buyers today.

Whether you’re building a new home in Tenafly, Ho-Ho-Kus or anywhere in Bergen County, you can get a mortgage as long as you’re qualified.

  Trees and nature have always been important in Tenafly NJ.  When I bought my Tenafly home I was amazed to learn how important trees were to the Tenafly Planning Board.  The builder had to agree to plant fast growing maple trees along the building line in Walnut Manor, where I bought my Tenafly home, so that in only 7 years the area would have tall trees throughout.

Today Tenafly has over 400 acres of municipal parks and open space.  Preserving natural woodland is so important here that in 1972 a 4 year campaign was begun to save 194 acres on the East Hill from development.  Along with grant money were hundreds of donations from individual Tenafly residents. 

Today that 194 acre purchase is part of the total 330 acre Lost Brook Preserve that so many Tenafly residents enjoy bordering on the 52 acre Tenafly Nature Center for a spectacular nature preserve.

Following Tenafly’s tradition of preserving woodland and trees, the Tenafly Public Works Department is hosting a free tree planting this spring.  Every Tenafly homeowner can call 201-568-4134 to be put on the list of homes that will be checked out to see if there is enough room in the borough right of way to plant a tree. If there is, the Public Works Department will come back in the spring and plant a tree there for free.

When you buy a Tenafly home, you’re buying more than Tenafly real estate.  You’re buying the Tenafly lifestyle and a big part of that is respect for trees and nature.

Credit Suisse Bank has a really neat way of looking at the local housing market – they send out a monthly questionaire to top real estate agents on over 40 housing markets in the US.  As one of the agents surveyed by Credit Suisse, I get the these reports and find them to be very valuable.

The Credit Suisse  “Monthly Survey of Real Estate Agents”  for the New York – Northern New Jersey area is really quite accurate. It found that January had an inventory build up which put pressure on pricing.  No doubt the 7 major snow storms we had then caused many buyers to stay home.  However, concerns over jobs and year end bonuses that were less than in the past also had an effect.  The sum total was pressure on pricing and homes on the market longer. 

At the same time, agents were seeing signs of pent up demand, frustration with renting and fear of higher interest rates.  56% thought the activity level was more than expected, 31% saw it as what they expected and only 13% saw activity as less than expected.   

Near term prices will soften a bit more but as the weather changes, so will the mood of many buyers.  Halfway through February, I can report that activity has definitely increased.  If you look at the activity ratios of a few towns, you’ll see they’re under or just over 5 to 1 which is great:

Tenafly is 4.3 to 1, Cresskill is 4.2 to1, Teaneck is 6 to 1,  Dumont is 4.3 to 1, Englewood is 4.8 to 1 , River Edge is 2.9 to 1 and Oradell is 3 to 1.

Buyers are snapping up the bargains that are now out there and are locking in interest rates as soon as they can.  Without snow and ice to slow things down, the real estate market will be very active this spring.