What’s Happening So Far in the Spring Real Estate Market?

What should you expect from the 2018 spring real estate market? I have some good tips on what to keep an eye out for.

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What’s going on in the spring market of 2018?

One thing that I’ve been seeing quite a bit lately is that for multi-family owners, the numbers have changed significantly since last year.

Another thing is that if you’re looking to purchase a home and you need to sell your current home first in order to do so, keep in mind that it’s still a seller’s market, so you should be able to find a buyer easily.

On the buyer’s side of things, you’ll definitely need to be as aggressive as possible. You’ll probably need to have your current home under contract before you buy a new one. Fortunately, since it’s a seller’s market, you can dictate exactly what’s going on in that transaction. A lot of times, the buyers that are purchasing the homes you’re selling don’t need to be in there at a certain time; they’re usually month-to-month rentals, they might have a lease ending, or they’re staying at home.

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When it comes to putting offers on properties, I always say to come in strong.

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We can start with a contract and include a clause that says the purchase of the home is contingent on your finding your home in a certain period of time. You can also get a leaseback contingency, where you have 60 days to occupy the home post-closing.

When it comes to putting offers on properties, I always say to come in strong. If there are multiple offers on the home, you’ll need a strong number to be accepted by the seller. We hate to see a tough negotiation in which the price is driven down quite a bit, but then a second offer comes in and starts to look much better to the seller.

If you have any questions about the spring market or buying and selling a home, please feel free to reach out to me. I’d be glad to help.

5 Mistakes Investors Should Avoid When Renovating a Property

There are five things investors don’t count on when renovating a property that I want you to know today.

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There are five things that investors don’t plan on when it comes to renovating a property:

1. Having enough money. Doing a project like this certainly takes a lot of money. If you don’t have enough money on hand, you will have to take out a lot of loans, which will cost you more interest-wise and cut down on your profits.

2. Not planning enough time. Stripping everything out of the house, framing, installing electrical and plumbing—it takes a long time to get all of this done.

3. Not having enough skill. We have a number of contractors, plumbers, and electricians in the area. Some of them are great, and some of them are not so good. Some of these builders are doing their own work on their properties as well, so they can move things along and they know what’s happening in the process.

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It takes time to find a good deal on a property.

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4. Not enough knowledge of the local area. There are a lot of investors coming into the market who may not know the ins and outs of our area.

5. Not having enough patience. It takes time to find deals that make sense. People watch all these flipping shows on TV and then rush into a deal that doesn’t necessarily make sense just to get their first property.

Keep these things in mind when renovating your investment property. If you have any other questions about real estate, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Looking Back on 2017 and Forward to 2018

2017 was a great year for the world of real estate. Will 2018 be another great year, or will home values start to level off?

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What happened in the 2017 real estate market, and what can you expect from the 2018 market?

Overall, 2017 was a very good year in the world of real estate, especially in New Jersey. We had bidding wars out in Sussex County, and Weehawken in Hudson County broke the record for most appreciation. There were bidding wars in Monmouth County, and houses were flying off the shelves in Morris County.

2017 was a very strong year for appreciation, as we saw 7%, 10%, and 14% appreciation in just 12 months.

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There is still a ton of consumer confidence in the real estate market.

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So, what will happen in 2018? Is the market going to cool off? At some point, it needs to stop, right?

I don’t know exactly where prices will land in 2018, but there is still a ton of consumer confidence out there. Buyers are out looking at homes left and right, and the market is very busy. Even though we’re in the holiday season, people are still out and about.

I don’t see our market slowing down too much as we head into the spring market. Inventory is still low, and people are getting ready to list their homes this spring. We could see another climb in home values through the spring market with all of those buyers still out there.

If you have any other questions about our real estate market, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!