We hear that a lot and our answer generally is…

You and everyone else!

You’re no cheaper or stingier or pickier than any other of our clients. In fact we have a name for those of you that are super stingy and picky. We call you …buyers.

In truth you’re probably normal. In our experience people that make decisions emotionally and overpay for a home are generally unhappy With the result. People that make decisions solely intellectually are also unhappy with the results.

The fact is that buying a home is both a rational and an emotional decision. How can it not be? It’s where you’re going to live and raise your family. People that think they’re purely logical OR overly emotional are just not seeing all there is to see.

I’m not suggesting any of our clients are doing that at all. Just suggesting that there is a healthy balance between rational market choices and the emotional component that comes into making a lifestyle decision.

Let’s say you overpay $40K for a house you really want and you’ll stay in for 20 years,  to be extreme. You’ve overpaid $500 a year for the sake of quality of life. Who cares! On the other hand let’s say you wait and pay an extra 1/4% interest rate. That can cost you well over $40K! Off course the thought of overpaying for a house a penny in this economy is insane to many yet they’ll blindly ignore minor fluctuations in interest rates which amount to so much more. Ironically, people look at you as if you’re selling snake oil rather than understand compound interest!

Some folk like to wait for the fall winter to snatch that great deal even while there are fewer homes that come on the market making their choices more limited. Can you find the perfect home with a well tenderized seller? Sure it can happen, but it’s not likely.

A bargain is only a bargain if it’s something you were just about to buy at a higher price.

Should you sell your home without an agent?

One of my RSS feeds is wikihow. It’s generally a fun lighthearted breezy read that covers all kinds of fun things I’m somewhat interested in reading about but would never actually do, like how to make a kimono girl origami, how to make a cup cake in your microwave oven, or How to Build a Homebrew Kegerator.

Today’s entry is how to sell you home without an agent.

Since I’ve never really tried to escape from a sinking car or tried to make healthy cooky dough bites, I never really knew how good or bad this information was.

The steps outlined in Wikihow are:

• Speak to an agent because most For Sale By Owner endeavors waste a lot of time and money they won’t recoup. Gee, that’s a good first step. Hmm..No mention of the NAR (National Association of Realtors) survey that For Sale By Owner sales generally yield double digits less than listing with an agent.
• Sell right after the super bowl and consider the weather. Interesting advice. I’m sure no one sells real easter the other 11 months of the year. Yesterday, we had an amazingly successful open house in the pouring rain yesterday. It was disgusting out and 20+ groups came to see our open house. No football to be found.
• Declutter your house. Excellent advice. Don’t forget to eat healthy meals either.
• Depersonalize your house. Also good advice. I’m betting the author read our blog on home staging. Please exercise.
• Consider curb appeal. Also good advice. Definitely don’t want the objective eye of a successful agent who understands what buyers are looking for, though.
• Put safety first. Can’t agree more.
• Handle all the paperwork  you will need. You will magically know what that is, so don’t worry about it. Since commissions are paid for by the seller, and nearly all buyers work with agents (since it’s free to them) so be prepared to meet the professional bar set by an agent protecting his or her buyer’s interests. Don’t worry if they over-reach what they demand. I’m sure you”ll be fine. You don’t need an agent on your behalf knowing what to push back on. No, don’t worry about the 90% of For Sale By Owner negotiations that fall apart. Definitely won’t happen to you.
• Advertise your open house. Why didn’t we think about that. Make sure you clean behind your ears. Hmm..are the costs starting to worry you? Nah, don’t worry about it.

Although 90% of For Sale by Owners go on to list with an agent after their unsuccessful and painful attempt, you’ll be the lucky one and now the time will come to negotiate the contract with generally a seasoned negotiator that specializes in real estate. Again, don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine.

Know which offer to accept, contingent, financed, qualified, relo, etc. It will all work out, no worries.

Deal with inspection issues and negotiate those. Off course your home is perfect, so what could be wrong with it? Probably nothing, you’re fine. Most municipalities are very helpful in getting the needed paperwork before closing. Your attorney can probably guide you. Oh, you’re not using an attorney either? Smart.

Handle the appraisal. I’m sure you’ll get a local appraiser that will take your word for it that the house down the road sold for so and so two years ago. Should your home not appraise, you’ll know what to do.

Pack and go! Hollywood ending.

It would be humorous if this friendly and trivial article wasn’t so dangerous in it’s omissions and gross oversimplification of the process. It doesn’t mention the 100+ steps that are involved, or that on average For Sale By Owners get 14% less for their home than working with an agent. Although well meaning, this misguided ditty is so superficial that it doesn’t even hint that on a $500K home, working with an agent would yield them 8% more or $40K more and that their chances of selling a home without an agent is under 10%.

As committed Realtors we help people maximize their return well above and beyond our fees.

Read the article at your own peril here

Jane Seymour will be appearing at the Wentworth Gallery in Short Hills to promote her art work tomorrow (March 4th) from 7-9 pm and Saturday, (March 5th) from 4-7 pm.

You can have her art work dedicated to you and have your picture taken with her. You’ll need to RSVP at 973-569-9776.

And you thought the only exciting thing at the mall was the new Ipad2!

You can say anything, right?

If you’re reading this, you are part of the publishing revolution. you are either participating as a reader of mostly free content or are an active blogger yourself. The blogosphere has likely revolutionized publishing forever. It has officially toppled governments and there is no putting that Genie back in the bottle.

Just ten years ago anyone with something to say would need to submit their work to a publisher, who was strictly in control of distribution. Unless we’ve been living in a cave, we know today the web has allowed a meritocracy in publishing. Anyone can post anything and it’s instantly available to everyone. What is most interesting can go viral and what is not gets relegated to the forever archives of Google.

The good news is that most of the dross is easily filtered out and what’s left is the golden age of expression.

What is the responsibility of a blogger, though? Is a blogger a writer? Is a blogger a journalist? Does a blogger deserve protection of the press because he or she ‘published something’?  Are a blogger’s sources protected if he or she behaves like a journalist, whatever that means?

What is the bar we must set for ourselves as active bloggers? Can we puff ourselves to attract business as marketers and still call ourselves objective interpreters? Can we subtly trash the competition as politicians and still say we’re market leaders? Can we say anything then deny any responsibility because we merely repeated sources which we cannot reveal? Are we just feeding the never looked at archives of Google?

Any first year law student will tell you that liberty is not doing whatever you want, but is closest to doing what you ought. Off course most of us will disagree on what that pesky ought means much of the time, and therein lies the rub. We all know the first amendment doesn’t allow us to scream fire in a crowded movie theater if there isn’t a fire, but things get murky pretty quickly beyond that.

What is the bar for bloggers?

What is the bar for Realtor bloggers? That one almost feels like a double edged sword. Off course we want you to buy or sell a home with us, so where is that line drawn? Do we need a disclaimer at the bottom of every site warning readers as we would a consumer information statement?

Many questions, not so many answers.

My take is that most readers are not gullible and self aggrandizing stunts reek from a good distance. Write well by trying to beat the good writing of others, and that ups all our game. Come from a place of genuine service and value add and the goodies will come if the service and value add are truly meaningful. That is meritocracy at it’s best.

Our Goal is excellent customer service, continuos improvement and we strive for perfection!

Whenever I hear people or companies’ goals for excellent customer service or striving for perfection, I can’t help but feel how those statements are lip service that let people off the hook.

Someone can offer terrible service while striving for perfection. Companies can stink but as long as they stink a little less than they stunk yesterday, they are true to their continuos improvement mission.

Getting a knife stuck into me and then having it pulled out halfway probably isn’t going to make me very grateful. How many times do we feel that way in our everyday life while surrounded by ‘striving’ to be the best euphemisms?

Our typical semi-annual foray into Nordstroms coincides with their two sales. On a recent visit, a salesmen showed us a pair of slacks, which were similar to the kind we’d already bought and thought didn’t wear very well. The salesman chided us for not having brought the slacks back. We smiled and said we had bought them years ago. No matter, he said. Bring ‘em back. We exchanged them a few weeks later (feeling a bit silly). This is not a commercial for that one retailer, but it is noteworthy because:

1. We’ve been trained to accept that if something is just OK, it’s good enough.
2. We felt silly for somehow expecting that they would take them back years later even after being told to bring them back.
3. We only shop when there are sales,  so it’s not any costlier than other retailers who would simply shrug their shoulders.
4. we got a new pair of pants for free.

Would I pay a little more for that? Hmm….Would I write about it? Hmm…

This is the difference between a guarantee (remember those?) and a warranty.  We’ve conceded guaranteed satisfaction with accepting a warranty against manufacturing defects. I know as well as anyone that paying a premium for great customer service upfront is hard to justify sometimes. it’s not all that hard  to justify after the fact when the proverbial fan splats, or even when there are minor issues like this one.

What is our ultimate responsibility to great customer service? Is it a strive, or is it a do? 

How Buyers Can Find Their Money Sooner is a reprint of our blog from 2009.

This topic is still one of the least understood concepts by so many buyers that we decided to update and re-post it.

One 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 pleasant news at tax time. The news turns less pleasant when buyers who weren’t aware of the tax advantage realize they might have made other decisions (specifically affording more house) than they really did.

Buyers that do 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), their taxable income would be reduced to $75,000.

If we can assume the same tax bracket, their tax liability would then be $15,000, which is 20% of $75,000.

Can that $5,000 provide a nice refund? You bet it does, however it can also serve another even more important purpose many people don’t consider. Our buyer can decrease his withholding by $400 a month ($4,800 to make the math easy), and essentially have an extra $400 in hard cash to pay for their mortgage or other living expenses.

This is not Enron monopoly money. This is simply figuring out your taxes for the coming year and adjusting your withholdings so they match your taxes prospectively.

I certainly grew up thinking about tax refunds (a retroactive adjustment) as the only option but I learned this was not the only way to think about it. For me, it was not even the best way to think about it.

Taking a real world scenario where a buyer has a 30 year $400,000 mortgage at 5%, the interest the first year will be $19,866. Now let’s assume a realistic yearly property tax of $10,000. This creates a simple gross income deduction of $29,866.

Having this deduction can be thought of as a traditional refund or as having an extra $500 a month by withholding less! Plug your numbers into the live spreadsheet below to see how your interest and taxes can be used monthly.

Speak with your accountant to validate how this affects your particular situation as Uncle Sam doesn’t like people not withholding enough to cover their taxes. Do it well however, and you can use the money when you need it and break out even at tax time. Talk to your accountant, then talk to us!

We just got back from the best listing appointment that we never signed.

A single mom, who we’ve been talking to for months and who has already interviewed a few agents invited us to come in and finally ‘sell her house’.

From the moment we arrived, we found ourselves reframing all manner of misinformation she’d been given. After reviewing our market analysis, she concluded that the number at which her home should be priced to sell would not only not yield her enough equity to make her next move, but it might even be a short sale. This was not a happy thought for her and mentioned that two and a half years ago, her neighbor down the street…We know how that one ends. A galaxy far far away.

The final side spin on this tale is that not only does she not have enough money, credit, or equity to pay off the mortgage or make a move, but it’s her father’s reverse mortgage so she doesn’t make any payments.

We closed our laptop and put away our listing paperwork. We turned to her and simply told her that selling now was not in her interests, and she was far better off doing nothing. We encouraged her to save her pennies and enjoy her father’s good health, as not only was she enjoying her father, she had essentially free housing, and had a golden opportunity to save money so that one day she would have enough to make her next move. Who knows, when the time came, she might even have equity!

She told us she had been ready to sign the listing with us, and could not believe we were encouraging her to stay put. She told us our advice was the best she had ever gotten and that it made all the sense in the world. She thanked us for taking a huge burden off her and for giving her clarity. We’re pretty sure we made a friend for life.

We weren’t wedded to the outcome and came from a genuine place of service. This might be the best listing appointment we never signed.

Sorry for not getting the last two party recaps, but a terrible cold has befallen me. No doubt partying three nights in a row didn’t help.

New year’s eve was another standout night with two amazing parties. D and L threw the usual fare with music, old friends, and more types of fondues than anyone should have to reasonably have.

The obligatory chocolate fountain was there, and L is the culinary equivalent of a gadget  junkie. Who owns four fondue sets? Crazy but we were glad she does!

We had to run out at 11PM to hit our second party. D and D threw an amazing Spanish themed jazz fest complete with yellow shorts (everyone had to wear them), eating grapes one at a time, and an effigy bonfire burning all manner of thing from the ‘old year’.

In case you’re wondering, yes, the police came (sign of a great party), but all was well and the party continued just as loudly until the wee hours.

While this was one of the most memorable New Year’s marathons for us, my culinary fare for the next few days will be theraflu. Can’t wait until next year!

OMG, what did our resident Maplewood, New Jersey Gourmet make at last night’s Hap-pre New Year Party?

It went something like this: Salami deep fried in rendered lamb juices for three hours, Romano crusted lamb chops, bacon wrapped pork sliders, 20 different types of wines,  Blondies, cheesecake, sundaes, cookies, and a magic show This was not Gordon Ramsey’s latest venture. It was our pre-new year’s party last night in a dear friend’s home in Maplewood.

Thanks to A and L for hosting the gourmet bonanza. The Rioja was delightful, the conversation sparkled, and we’re sorry we couldn’t stay for the South African red Chris was saving for last.

I didn’t dare go on the scale today, and I can’t even imagine how I can eat at tonight’s soires!

We were lucky enough to be invited to a pre-pre New Year’s Eve party last night in the Wyoming section of MIllburn.

The host was proudly announcing that his son’t jazz band (freshmen and sophomores in college) would be entertaining. A ton of musicians, neighbors and old friends attended. Also a ton of college kids (friends of the band also home from school, no doubt) also were at the party. Every possible combination of conversation was going on, teens hanging with teen, teens hanging with parents, parents hanging with parents, all in a fluid and happy free for all. Yes, an inter-generational party, imagine that.

The band was quite good (and I don’t mean college kid good, I mean really swingin’ good). Our across the street neighbor’s son started to scat quite soulfully by the food table and his mother proudly beamed that he goes to Berkeley.

As is so often, both Deirdre and I got lost in conversation with different people and at one point looked at each other across the room with that OMG, it’s really late we better get home look. As we were driving the three blocks home we chatted about how quickly it got so late. The mark of a good party in my book. Thank you J and D for the invite!

I can’t wait to see what tonight’s pre-new year’s eve party in Maplewood is all about. Stay tuned.