Lowball! 3/11 – 3/17

Lowball! takes a look at home sales over the past week from a very different perspective. For those new to Lowball!, a lowball offer is when a buyer offers a significantly lower bid than asking in hopes that the seller accepts the offer. We take a list of home sales over the past week and pick out the sales that have the highest percentage difference between asking price and selling price.

The purpose of Lowball! is to show buyers that the market has changed and buyers now have considerably more leverage than sellers. Just a short time ago, Lowball! offers would have been laughed at and discarded, however, not any more. The fact that so many under-asking offers are being accepted is clear proof that the market is changing.The list does not contain all sales, I hand-pick the most interesting sales from the list. These listings might be the highest dollar drops, biggest percentage reductions, or sales in towns that are thought to still be ‘hot’. Please note, even with double digit percentage reductions, these homes are still incredibly overpriced.

I’m going to try to pick some different towns this week, I seem to keep gravitating towards the same places.

On to the list!

MLS# 2095322 – Fairfield, NJ
Original Price $479,900
Reduced Price $444,900
Sales Price $335,000 (24.7% Lowball, 30.2% off Original Price)

MLS# 2248762 – Belleville, NJ
List Price $240,000
Sales Price $195,000 (18.8% Lowball)

MLS# 2095090 – Washington Twp, NJ
Original Price $385,000
Reduced Price $375,000
Sales Price $306,000 (18.4% Lowball, 20.5% off Original Price)

MLS# 2042574 – Newark, NJ
Original Price $169,000
Reduced Price $154,000
Sales Price $129,000 (16.2% Lowball, 23.7% off Original Price)

MLS# 2202768 – Bernardsville, NJ
List Price $4,485,000
Sales Price $3,825,000 (14.7% Lowball)

MLS# 2200327 – Irvington, NJ
List Price $275,000
Sales Price $235,000 (14.5% Lowball)

MLS# 2100692 – Elizabeth, NJ
List Price $219,000
Sales Price $190,000 (13.6% Lowball)

MLS# 2105480 – Ridgewood, NJ
List Price $2,495,000
Sales Price $2,175,000 (12.8% Lowball)

MLS# 2091793 – Cranford, NJ
Original Price $649,900
Reduced Price $624,900
Sales Price $545,000 (12.8% Lowball, 16.1% off Original Price)

MLS# 2238683 – Plainfield, NJ
List Price $399,900
Sales Price $350,000 (12.5% Lowball)

MLS# 2235423 – Florham Park, NJ
Original Price $620,000
Reduced Price $569,900
Sales Price $500,000 (12.4% Lowball, 19.4% off Original Price)

MLS# 2207586 – Wharton, NJ
Original Price $354,900
Reduced Price $344,900
Sales Price $305,500 (11.4% Lowball, 13.9% off Original Price)

MLS# 2229072 – Clifton, NJ
List Price $449,999
Sales Price $465,000 (10.4% Lowball!)

MLS# 1600411 – Watchung, NJ
Original Price $1,990,990
Reduced Price $1,599,900
Sales Price $1,440,000 (10% Lowball, 27.7% off Original Price)

MLS# 2228369 – Byram, NJ
Original Price $319,997
Reduced Price $298,990
Sales Price $270,000 (9.7% Lowball, 15.6% off Original Price)

MLS# 2217651 – South Orange, NJ
Original Price $1,181,525
Reduced Price $1,100,000
Sales Price $993,790 (9.7% Lowball, 15.9% off Original Price)

MLS# 2111824 – Hanover, NJ
Original Price $434,000
Reduced Price $422,000
Sales Price $385,000 (8.8% Lowball, 11.3% off Original Price)

The Short List will cover homes from Hunterdon and Middlesex this week
Town/List Price/Sales Price
East Amwell/$540,000/$495,000
Hampton/$256,600/$236,000
South Plainfield/$420,000/$395,000
North Brunswick/$255,000/$240,000
Alexandria/$519,900/$490,000
Clinton/$649,900/$615,000
Woodbridge/$355,000/$320,000
Middlesex/$399,900/$382,000
Lebanon/$325,000/$312,000
Old Bridge/$529,000/$519,000

Middlesex and Hunterdon sales look extremely ‘thin’ with a total of only 42 over this period. In comparison the 9 County North Jersey sales list is over 440.

And lastly, the home on the corner of Van Houten and Athenia Ave in Clifton finally sold for 26% off, at $335,000. It was originally listed at $449,900 and sat on market for over 250 days. In case your wondering why I’m telling you, this home was featured in “You can relist, but you can’t hide” which illustrated the MLS relist trick to reset the Days on Market and Original Price.

Caveat Emptor!
Grim

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14 Responses to Lowball! 3/11 – 3/17

  1. Richard says:

    a good article on the new market and how sellers should determine list price found on ben’s blog.

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/fhg/20060315-084909-3839r.htm

  2. those newark houses seem to be dropping like rocks. I think they are going to be hit the hardest by this bibble bursting

  3. Plainfield selling in the mid 300’s & Irvington for over 200K???

    Stunning, truely stunning… what the F are people thinking???

    a happy ending to these fairy-tales is highly unlikely.

  4. Anonymous says:

    grim,

    I was wondering if you could check the selling price on following houses: MLS#: 2249981 and 2248702. Thanks a lot.

  5. Bingolabs says:

    Great blog. 2 questions…

    1) is there an online place to check past sales?

    2) On average over the whole state what percent below list price is the asking price? I wonder specifically what it is in Mercer county, where i live.

  6. Bingolabs says:

    off the previous request…I see your tool n searching sales.

    thanks

  7. pesche22 says:

    you aint seen nothing yet wait till
    the adjustables kick in

  8. Anonymous says:

    does anyone have any info on sparta (lake mohawk)? thinking of relocating there and im wondering if i should rent or buy. my gut tells me rent. but im worried interest rates might get crazy. also if it doesnt work out im leaving nj. had enough. last stop.

  9. grim says:

    MLS# 2249981 – Temporarily Withdrawn

    MLS# 2248702 – Under Contract

    Remind me again in about a month on the UC property.

    grim

  10. Roadtripboy says:

    I’ve been living in the same building in Jersey City since 1992. In 2002 I learned from that a 1 bedroom condo in my building sold for 69K in 2001. In 2002, the one bedrooms were already going for 100K (in just one year). There was an open house just today for a 1 bedroom that has been completely “renovated” and they were asking $369K! It’s unbelieveable what some of these sellers are asking. About a month and half ago, there was a penthouse unit in my building going for $650K! If any of you saw my neighborhood you would laugh your @ss off! These units aren’t worth half of what these sellers are asking. I’ve been tempted to attend these open houses and loudly, complain how POS condos are priced off the charts.

  11. Anonymous says:

    MLS# 2229072 – Clifton, NJ
    List Price $449,999
    Sales Price $465,000 (10.4% Lowball!)

    uhmmm… not quite.

  12. Anonymous says:

    MLS# 2229072 – Clifton, NJ

    Sold for 399,000.

    Grim can make a typo now and then.

    -J

Comments are closed.