From HousingWire:
Home prices expected to remain positive in 2013
Home prices nationwide are going into the second quarter on solid ground and are expected to remain positive throughout the year, according to data from Clear Capital.
For the nation, the three-quarter forecast is 1.7%, which would bring home price growth for the entire total year to 2.6%.
Compared to January’s one-year forecast, growth is anticipated to be even stronger, due partly to the solid winter season in which home prices stayed positive over the winter for the first time since 2006.
“It has been seven years since home price growth continued throughout winter. This is very strong evidence of the start to a new leg of the recovery, one that should give further confidence to consumers and lenders alike that the recovery is real,” said Alex Villacorta, director of research and analytics at Clear Capital.
Villacorta notes that as buyers become more confident the recovery is sustainable, this sentiment should grow to create a positive feedback loop.
Broken down, the Northeast is expected to see the largest gain in home prices over the next three quarters with a 2.1% jump. The Midwest, South and West are expected to see gains of 1.9%, 1.8% and 0.7%, respectively.
According to Clear Capital, this year should experience a balance in growth across the regions, with the hardest-hit markets seeing buyer interest cool due to price appreciation. Conversely, more fair market sellers may help boost supply.
From the NYT:
Real Estate Brokers Predict a Tough Time for Buyers
With inventory at near-record lows and prices inching up, all signs are pointing toward a seller’s market for Manhattan real estate this spring.
The number of apartments for sale dropped 34.4 percent to 4,960 listings in the first three months of the year — the largest year-over-year decline in 12 years, according to a report by the Douglas Elliman brokerage firm. At the same time, the number of sales went up 6.3 percent to 2,457 and prices increased across all categories, with the median sales price at $820,555, up 5.9 percent, according to the report.
With the exception of the second and third quarter of 2010, when prices were buoyed by the homeowners’ tax credit, “that is the largest year-over-year increase since Lehman fell” in 2008, said Jonathan J. Miller, the president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel and the author of Douglas Elliman’s report. “If you choke supply by the throat,” he added, the inevitable outcome is that “prices rise.”
All of this means a tough time for those looking to buy. “The demand is across the board from studios to $50 million apartments, and there is not enough supply,” said Pamela Liebman, the chief executive of the Corcoran Group, which reported the median price was stable for the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2012. “There are more bidding wars. There’s more frustration.”
I remember arguing this topic with Jamil.Pharma will not abandon the US because they get better patent protection here than in the rest of the world.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-21992237
“It is a landmark judgement,” Sakhtivel Selvaraj, a leading Delhi-based health economist, tells me, hours after the Indian Supreme Court’s decision to reject a plea by Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis to patent an updated version of its cancer drug, Glivec.
Monday’s decision means generic drugmakers can continue to sell copies of the drug at a lower price in India, one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical markets in the world.
For one, Dr Selvaraj says, the judgement upholds India’s “progressive” patent laws that throw out frivolous patents and clearly distinguish between what is new and what already exists.
Nice opinion piece in the WSJ that is worth a read. Didn’t think I’d ever say that.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324000704578390340064578654.html?mod=hp_opinion
To (All) the Colleges That Rejected Me
If only I had a tiger mom or started a fake charity. .
By SUZY LEE WEISS
Like me, millions of high-school seniors with sour grapes are asking themselves this week how they failed to get into the colleges of their dreams. It’s simple: For years, they—we—were lied to.
Colleges tell you, “Just be yourself.” That is great advice, as long as yourself has nine extracurriculars, six leadership positions, three varsity sports, killer SAT scores and two moms. Then by all means, be yourself! If you work at a local pizza shop and are the slowest person on the cross-country team, consider taking your business elsewhere.
What could I have done differently over the past years?
For starters, had I known two years ago what I know now, I would have gladly worn a headdress to school. Show me to any closet, and I would’ve happily come out of it. “Diversity!” I offer about as much diversity as a saltine cracker. If it were up to me, I would’ve been any of the diversities: Navajo, Pacific Islander, anything. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, I salute you and your 1/32 Cherokee heritage.
I also probably should have started a fake charity. Providing veterinary services for homeless people’s pets. Collecting donations for the underprivileged chimpanzees of the Congo. Raising awareness for Chapped-Lips-in-the-Winter Syndrome. Fun-runs, dance-a-thons, bake sales—as long as you’re using someone else’s misfortunes to try to propel yourself into the Ivy League, you’re golden.
Having a tiger mom helps, too. As the youngest of four daughters, I noticed long ago that my parents gave up on parenting me. It has been great in certain ways: Instead of “Be home by 11,” it’s “Don’t wake us up when you come through the door, we’re trying to sleep.” But my parents also left me with a dearth of hobbies that make admissions committees salivate. I’ve never sat down at a piano, never plucked a violin. Karate lasted about a week and the swim team didn’t last past the first lap. Why couldn’t Amy Chua have adopted me as one of her cubs?
Then there was summer camp. I should’ve done what I knew was best—go to Africa, scoop up some suffering child, take a few pictures, and write my essays about how spending that afternoon with Kinto changed my life. Because everyone knows that if you don’t have anything difficult going on in your own life, you should just hop on a plane so you’re able to talk about what other people have to deal with.
Or at least hop to an internship. Get a precocious-sounding title to put on your resume. “Assistant Director of Mail Services.” “Chairwoman of Coffee Logistics.” I could have been a gopher in the office of someone I was related to. Work experience!
To those kids who by age 14 got their doctorate, cured a disease, or discovered a guilt-free brownie recipe: My parents make me watch your “60 Minutes” segments, and they’ve clipped your newspaper articles for me to read before bed. You make us mere mortals look bad. (Also, I am desperately jealous and willing to pay a lot to learn your secrets.)
To those claiming that I am bitter—you bet I am! An underachieving selfish teenager making excuses for her own failures? That too! To those of you disgusted by this, shocked that I take for granted the wonderful gifts I have been afforded, I say shhhh—”The Real Housewives” is on.
Ms. Weiss is a senior at Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh.
A version of this article appeared March 30, 2013, on page A11 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: To (All) the Colleges That Rejected Me.
3 – Is it too late to add “nationally published essayist” to her cv?
Good Morning New Jersey
yep, from the New York Times
“So the Main Street economy is failing while Washington is piling a soaring debt burden on our descendants, unable to rein in either the warfare state or the welfare state or raise the taxes needed to pay the nation’s bills. By default, the Fed has resorted to a radical, uncharted spree of money printing. But the flood of liquidity, instead of spurring banks to lend and corporations to spend, has stayed trapped in the canyons of Wall Street, where it is inflating yet another unsustainable bubble.
When it bursts, there will be no new round of bailouts like the ones the banks got in 2008. Instead, America will descend into an era of zero-sum austerity and virulent political conflict, extinguishing even today’s feeble remnants of economic growth.
THIS dyspeptic prospect results from the fact that we are now state-wrecked. With only brief interruptions, we’ve had eight decades of increasingly frenetic fiscal and monetary policy activism intended to counter the cyclical bumps and grinds of the free market and its purported tendency to underproduce jobs and economic output. The toll has been heavy.”
#3. What’s so “nice”about it?
unemployment is high, but there aren’t enough workers?
“Demand for skilled-worker visas soars. U.S. employers are about to reach a limit on the yearly allotment of applications for skilled-worker visas, meaning some will rely on a lottery to fill key positions, the WSJ’s Miriam Jordan reports. Tech companies have long been fighting to increase the cap. But other companies are joining the battle. Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman complains that “the number of H-1B visas is capped each year without regard to current market demand.” And he warns that “there are more than 100 Chinese companies looking to be the next Caterpillar.” But the other side of the argument is that the program displaces qualified Americans and that companies hire foreign workers because they can pay them lower salaries with fewer benefits than Americans.”
One question, spring has sprung – it is April – where is the inventory?
#8 anon
Why we need more H-1Bs
http://www.code.org/stats
Just got sellers report on a property we plan to pursue. Radon last tested in 1994; came in at 1.0 pCi in the basement. I’ll have it retested to make sure under 4.0 upper limit. Any idea how much an independent test should run?
3/25-4/1 BC SFH
235 New Listings
24 BOM
83 Price Change
221 into ARIP
170 into UC
123 Sold
Is there a new gadget going on sale today? There was a line around the corner at J&R this morning.
Sorry, info is to broad. And had a real estate agent, who was trying to convince us to relist our house with him, admit that agents are hoarding listings. They aren’t posting the new listing and selling them to their buyers before anyone else gets to see them. The house that I currently own never hit the market. The seller was a friend of my relatives and we never had real estate agents involved.
11 – Yes, you should test. Your inspector is also going to want to test. It should cost $100 give or take.
And had a real estate agent, who was trying to convince us to relist our house with him
Bottom feeder, cold calling the withdrawn list. I’m not above making cold calls to the withdrawn list, but when I do, I’ve got an offer in hand, and I’m not begging for a listing.
The house that I currently own never hit the market. The seller was a friend of my relatives and we never had real estate agents involved.
My parents bought lots of houses, never once used a real estate agent, all word of mouth. Lots of people do this. Nobody needs to use the Agency model, go ask around, knock on a door, check FSBO or Craigslist, write a letter. This isn’t some “shadow”, or “dark” market, this is just non-agency transactions taking place. Problem is, most people want the convenience of the agency model without having to pay the price associated with it.
I get that, but when numbers are posted of houses sold those are included in the numbers. And there must be an awful lot of bottom feeders because we are contacted on a daily basis from dozens of agents.
By the way, I’ve got a place in Wayne for sale, 5br/2.5ba center hall, completely done/updated, approx. 3k square feet, nice neighborhood, big in-ground pool, landscaping all done. $700k firm, no commissions, you’ll transact private party.
I get that, but when numbers are posted of houses sold those are included in the numbers.
No, they aren’t, private party don’t ever make it to the MLS. I’m not posting sales based on the tax records.
anon [8];
there aren’t enough workers
Anytime you hear that complaint,you always have to add the unsaid “… at the wages we’re willing to pay.” Increasing offering salary lets the employer be much more selective about who they hire, even among ‘qualified’ candidates. And raising salaries works each and every time its tried. Adam Smith is still right, 235 years later. Immigrant labor is popular with business because its cheap and compliant. Full stop.
House is too big. And Wayne is tough, maybe when someone graduates from high school. We will probably still be looking :)
Did not see this one coming.. From the Record:
Towns seek tax appeal refund
Municipalities slammed by a spike in tax appeals are calling on the state Legislature to require schools and counties — both of which receive a portion of taxes collected by the towns — to pay their share of the refunds.
North Jersey towns say their situation is dire: Saddle Brook, for example, may issue $2.5 million in bonds this year — on top of the $700,000 it issued in 2011 — to pay for its refunds. Teaneck currently owes $2.2 million in rebates to 1,800 taxpayers. Paterson issued $3.3 million in bonds last year.
While towns keep approximately one-third of every tax dollar collected, and sometimes less than that, they are required by law to reimburse the entire amount of the refund if a homeowner successfully challenges a property assessment, officials say.
As the director of the state League of Municipalities put it, the system that has hamstrung towns for years has now put them in a “straitjacket.”
Bergen County property owners filed 12,223 appeals last year, 2,550 more than in 2011 and significantly higher than the 8,986 filed in 2010, according to the County Board of Taxation. About 10,300 tax appeals were filed in Passaic County last year, an increase over about 7,200 appeals filed in 2011, said county spokesman Keith Furlong.
“This is probably one of the major dilemmas confronting municipal governments up and down the state,” the league’s director, William G. Dressel Jr., said. “This is not just a Bergen County issue. This is an issue that has been plaguing municipal governments ever since real estate values plummeted because of the national recession.”
8
Companies want skilled workers but don’t want to pay to train them either on their books or via taxes and public education? Everyone wants something for nothing.
I guess corporations are people.
The schools have no money to refund-they spend it all. They could get rid of all those superintendents that they really don’t need. It always irked me how the teachers always had to take the fall when the belt was tightened. Money in school systems is wasted in so many other places. Believe me when I say that one county superintendent is all you need.
You mean like this guy? His title is the equivalent of pissing all over NJ taxpayers.
Report: 80 N.J. police troopers return to state payroll after retiring, watchdog group says
According to the report, the biggest paychecks go to:
• Drew Lieb, currently Homeland Security division director, who receives $226,144 a year — $130,000 in salary plus another $96,144 from pension.
• Dennis Quinn, Homeland Security’s chief of staff, who banks $210,808 a year — $130,000 in salary while also drawing $80,808 from pension.
• Robert Cicchino, head of fiscal responsibility for the Department of Education, who gets $210,226 a year — $118,450 in salary and $91,776 from pension.
On average, re-employed State Police retirees earn $160,217 a year, according to New Jersey Watchdog.
Yeah, and many others.
And the really sad thing is I am not sure if anyone knows exactly what it is they do for their big, fat paychecks.
From Bloomberg:
Manhattan Apartment Prices Climb as Buyers Compete
Manhattan apartment prices climbed in the first quarter as buyers competed for properties amid the biggest inventory decline in more than a decade.
The median price of all co-ops and condominiums that changed hands in the three months through March 31 rose 5.9 percent from a year earlier to $820,555, appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate said in a report today. Purchases rose 6.3 percent to 2,457, even as the number of properties on the market plunged 34 percent, the most in more than 12 years of record keeping.
“The defining characteristic of the housing market is a lack of supply, and that’s why we’re seeing upward pressure on prices,” Jonathan Miller, president of New York-based Miller Samuel, said in an interview.
Prospective buyers, spurred by record-low interest rates and apartment rents that are poised to surpass their 2006 peak, are finding little to choose from. Owners are in no rush to list their homes in a market where prices have remained relatively flat for three years, according to Miller. Those who bought during Manhattan’s market peak and saw their values drop in the slump may not have built up enough equity to sell, he said. The supply of newly constructed units is also thin, after builders halted projects following the credit crisis.
In the first quarter, 17 percent of all deals were at or higher than the asking price, Miller said.
This “is the year of the frustrated buyer,” said Sofia Song, vice president of research for StreetEasy.com, a property- listings website, which also released a report on the Manhattan sales market today. “You have all this pent-up demand, people who have been holding back, watching the market, watching our site, ready to pounce.”
JJ’s one liners:
https://twitter.com/RU_Crushes
We would not need so many police , etc if we stopped recycling the criminals. Where is the first place a cop looks when someone is raped? Of course, the list of released rapists. Gotta love those PhD psychologists that can rehabilitate murderers, rapists, child molesters, etc. Arrests, trials, rehab,– everyone is making money. Crime is profitable for the right ones. Imagine what would happen if for just one day EVERYONE drove the speed limit.
Funny part about Radon I dont know how much money you can get off house. 99% of people dont test for it. So at some point sellers just sell to next person.
It is not like termite damage. Where everyone is going to look. Plus Radon under 2 has no effect on non-smokers. It also is expensive and time consuming to fix.
DL says:
April 2, 2013 at 7:52 am
Just got sellers report on a property we plan to pursue. Radon last tested in 1994; came in at 1.0 pCi in the basement. I’ll have it retested to make sure under 4.0 upper limit. Any idea how much an independent test should run?
Imagine what would happen if for just one day EVERYONE drove the speed limit.
How about if everyone just learned to drive and had some consideration for fellow drivers on the road. It is like a free for all out there. My 15 year old wants to drive, but admits that it looks really scary. Gee, I wonder why?
Realtor’s are hoarding listings just like the old days. Who wants to sell twice as many houses to earn a living, that is like an 80 hour work week to do that? Nothing ever changes they always wasn’t full commission. Who wants to sell twice as many houses? FU pay me…etc
I should have been a cop. Working for a wall street firm or bank is for suckers.
#34 Brian
You could have retired young with a full pension paid with tax payer money and worker another easy job making even more money.
Funny part about Radon I dont know how much money you can get off house. 99% of people dont test for it. So at some point sellers just sell to next person.
No money off, the seller simply remediates. The cost to remediate a standard slab basement isn’t significant at all. A little more complicated if you’ve got a French drain/sump system, but otherwise, it’s about 30 feet of PVC, a fan, and a gauge. Really only a PITA if you’ve got half the house over crawlspace that’s open to the rest of the basement, garage, etc. I put one in with a friend who lives up near Mountain Lakes, his radon came back >1 but <4, he didn't want to pay a mitigation company. We just ordered the parts and installed it in an afternoon, it's relatively simple.
If you see any house in a neighborhood with a radon mitigation system, pretty much every house in the neighborhood should have one, I don't care what the test says. There are a number of towns/neighborhoods in NJ where this is very common, expected even.
Walmart shelves are empty but boxes of stocks sitting in the back waiting for someone to re stock shelves.Hire at below bare minimum,good way to do business.
Radon is good for your house it keeps the mice and roaches away.
Thought this was funny in in light of a mention yesterday of the “Darjeeling Express”.
>Just outside Metuchen, I spot what I suspect is a big part of the reason for that: The New Jersey Transit commuter train is as tightly packed as the Black Hole of Calcutta.<
https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/342408/everyday-problem
Radon map: http://www.njradon.org/radonin.htm
Juice [38];
Radon is good for your house it keeps the mice and roaches away.
Yeah, the stupid animals who are smart enough to run… (full disclosure — my place came with a RadMit fan in the mechanical room.)
Blackberry 10 works hard at getting you fired.
Anyone out there who’s the proud owner of a new BlackBerry Z10, be warned. The BlackBerry Messenger integration will tell all your friends (and family members, if they’re in your BBM contacts) when you’re watching videos on the web.
BBM keeps tabs on the BlackBerry media player and it pushes updates when a new track or video gets played. That’s fine as long as you’re relaxing to a little Mumford and Sons or checking out your buddy’s BBM Music shares. In BlackBerry 10, however, videos that you come across while you browse the web also fire up a media player session. That’s where the hilarity — or horror, depending on who receives your BBM updates — begins.
Notifying everyone that you’re checking out YouTube? Not a big deal. But when that… er… saucy video starts playing and BBM cheerfully tells your audience that you’re listening to “hotfurries.com?” That’s a lot more likely to have some unwanted repercussions.
As much as you want to fully utilize the great social features on your BlackBerry Z10, it might be a good idea to disable at least this one feature if you have any concerns about your BBM friends knowing where you watch videos on the mobile web.
Pay a quick visit to the BBM settings screen by swiping down while in the app, toggle “show what I’m listening to,” and press back. That’ll save your new settings, and potentially a lot of embarrassment.
natasha (17)-
Most residential RE agents are bottom-feeders. And, they came to RE after being bottom-feeders in other industries.
“And there must be an awful lot of bottom feeders because we are contacted on a daily basis from dozens of agents.”
I’m not posting sales based on the tax records.
What are they based on?
Only way to fix useless state pensioner maggots is with bullets. They aren’t jumping off the gravy train of their own free will and desire to help heal the gaping hole in the budget.
Unvarnished Truth? Sounds like something JJ would ghost write.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324020504578394791283850654.html
Advice for the young women of Princeton: the daughters I never had
Forget about having it all, or not having it all, leaning in or leaning out–here’s what you really need to know that nobody is telling you.
For years (decades, really) we have been bombarded with advice on professional advancement, breaking through that glass ceiling and achieving work-life balance. We can figure that out–we are Princeton women. If anyone can overcome professional obstacles, it will be our brilliant, resourceful, very well-educated selves.
A few weeks ago, I attended the Women and Leadership conference on campus that featured a conversation between President Shirley Tilghman and Wilson School professor Anne-Marie Slaughter, and I participated in the breakout session afterward that allowed current undergraduate women to speak informally with older and presumably wiser alumnae. I attended the event with my best friend since our freshman year in 1973. You girls glazed over at preliminary comments about our professional accomplishments and the importance of networking. Then the conversation shifted in tone and interest level when one of you asked how have Kendall and I sustained a friendship for 40 years. You asked if we were ever jealous of each other. You asked about the value of our friendship, about our husbands and children. Clearly, you don’t want any more career advice. At your core, you know that there are other things that you need that nobody is addressing. A lifelong friend is one of them. Finding the right man to marry is another.
When I was an undergraduate in the mid-seventies, the 200 pioneer women in my class would talk about navigating the virile plains of Princeton as a precursor to professional success. Never being one to shy away from expressing an unpopular opinion, I said that I wanted to get married and have children. It was seen as heresy.
For most of you, the cornerstone of your future and happiness will be inextricably linked to the man you marry, and you will never again have this concentration of men who are worthy of you.
Here’s what nobody is telling you: Find a husband on campus before you graduate. Yes, I went there.
I am the mother of two sons who are both Princetonians. My older son had the good judgment and great fortune to marry a classmate of his, but he could have married anyone. My younger son is a junior and the universe of women he can marry is limitless. Men regularly marry women who are younger, less intelligent, less educated. It’s amazing how forgiving men can be about a woman’s lack of erudition, if she is exceptionally pretty. Smart women can’t (shouldn’t) marry men who aren’t at least their intellectual equal. As Princeton women, we have almost priced ourselves out of the market. Simply put, there is a very limited population of men who are as smart or smarter than we are. And I say again–you will never again be surrounded by this concentration of men who are worthy of you.
Of course, once you graduate, you will meet men who are your intellectual equal–just not that many of them. And, you could choose to marry a man who has other things to recommend him besides a soaring intellect. But ultimately, it will frustrate you to be with a man who just isn’t as smart as you.
Here is another truth that you know, but nobody is talking about. As freshman women, you have four classes of men to choose from. Every year, you lose the men in the senior class, and you become older than the class of incoming freshman men. So, by the time you are a senior, you basically have only the men in your own class to choose from, and frankly, they now have four classes of women to choose from. Maybe you should have been a little nicer to these guys when you were freshmen?
If I had daughters, this is what I would be telling them.
In the good old days, we had world wars to help thin the herd.
Now? Even if we managed to get into it with a jerkwater like N. Korea, it’d be over by lunch, and we could watch the mushroom cloud on CNN.
Read enough of the WSJ and NYT these days, and you’ll start thinking Nostradamus had it about right.
It’s all turning to shit. Fast.
What are they based on?
MLS sales
Oil Bonanza
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-02/republican-born-roosevelt-digs-deep-for-texas-oil-found-with-co2.html
In the four years since President Barack Obama defeated John McCain and his drill-baby-drill backers and succeeded oilman George W. Bush in the White House, oil production has soared 29.4 percent.
Meantime, the Earth is hotter now than during three- quarters of the 11,300 years since the most recent ice age, according to researchers at Harvard and Oregon State universities. By 2020, U.S. oil output may surpass that of Saudi Arabia, the world’s top producer, the Paris-based International Energy Agency says.
Drillers say they can hasten America’s petroleum revival with CO2 EOR, a technique first used in the 1970s to refresh flagging wells.
Question for the board. Is it truly possible to do a completely “as-is” sale? My mom wants out of her two family, in Bergen County. Equity is not an issue, no mortgage. House needs upgrades, and price will reflect that. It cannot be a “tear-down” as it will then lose multi status. She, my brother and I are simply looking for the quickest way for her to get out, get a condo she wants and enjoy the rest of her life. Any suggestions?
Tiny [52];
The market’s not hot enough yet that you’re likely to get a buyer willing to waive inspections, etc. I’m confident it will get back there, just not now/yet. People who were stupid enough to do it once in the ’06 mania will surely do it again even though they got burned; others who did it but were luck to dodge the loaded chamber will think themselves gifted enough to do it again; still others will have no institutional memory or kindly friend/relative to warn them off their stupidity; finally there are those who will barge ahead despite any/all warnings.
Just instruct your agent to put in the listing that seller will make no repairs (seen it several times) — the price will speak for itself. In attorney review, have your side modify the standard form contract to make the inspection a take-it-or-leave-it proposition.
52 – You can say “as-is”, and tell the other parties that you have no intention of making any repairs, but the fact is that the buyer will want to do their own inspections, and if something comes up, there is nothing stopping them from either asking for concessions or repairs, or just walking away.
If you are talking about inserting a provision prohibiting inspection or removing the inspection contingencies, their lawyer is going to kill that immediately. Besides, most buyers will view this as the seller attempting to hide significant/structural problems, and their price will reflect it.
In NY a home inspection is not in most contracts. My purchase there is no mention of it. It states as is.
Trick is in NY they take a small deposit, a binder. Buyers has like 7 days to come up with the 10% and in that time frame they can conduct a home inspection at their own cost. Buyer can request things be fixed or a price adjustment prior to the final contract.
After that it is “as is” This is not a true “as is”, meaning a bank auction. But it means once you get to contract you dont get nonsense of buyer trying to knock down price.
Also in NY folks ofter pay buyers $500 cash to waive their rights and take house as is with no recourse. No after the fact, lead paint, asbestos, radon, sink holes cracked foundations etc. Once buyer takes cash and signs the contract you are off the hook.
I sold my last two places as is, no mortgage contingency 10% down, you don’t close in 60 days I keep 10%.
Tiny Violin says:
April 2, 2013 at 11:44 am
Question for the board. Is it truly possible to do a completely “as-is” sale? My mom wants out of her two family, in Bergen County. Equity is not an issue, no mortgage. House needs upgrades, and price will reflect that. It cannot be a “tear-down” as it will then lose multi status. She, my brother and I are simply looking for the quickest way for her to get out, get a condo she wants and enjoy the rest of her life. Any suggestions?
you can marry more money in a minute than you can make in a lifetime.
I agree 100% with this article. However, it states Men have no ticking clock and can pursue a career and then in his 30’s find a great wife still.
So why do these rich Princeton Men want to get married at 23? When they can bang every broad in sight till 33 and still get a nice wife.
Brian says:
April 2, 2013 at 11:06 am
Unvarnished Truth? Sounds like something JJ would ghost write.
It does sound easy. But why does seller care? If he never did it obviously he does not think it is important. Also why does he care about buyer?
I could see maybe it as a ploy to knock bucks off and that is it. I mean the guy I am buying my place from is 81. Asking him this radon nonsense is silly. So I am saying an invisible gas that never had any effect on you and is not scientifically proven to hurt anyone unless there it is greater than 4 and you are smoker and you have long term exposure is in your house so I want you to fix it.
I got asbestos, lead, oil, rusty metal, sewerage, mold and cans of cleaners, bug killers, paint cans etc that broke open all over my house, front and back lawn. Sure I tried to clean it but I am sure it is all over. Then some idiot is doing a radon test. I would thrown him out. Plus radon test is easy to fix. Just get a fan, air it out right before guy comes and does test.
Plus how much money we talking off? I would say PVC piping, Fan, DYI tops $500 bucks. There you have it, $500 bucks off.
Condo I bought, whole lower level was underwater, not one recipt. My house not one receipt or permit. WIZIWIG, What you see is what you get!!! Dont like it dont buy it.
grim says:
April 2, 2013 at 9:56 am
Funny part about Radon I dont know how much money you can get off house. 99% of people dont test for it. So at some point sellers just sell to next person.
No money off, the seller simply remediates. The cost to remediate a standard slab basement isn’t significant at all. A little more complicated if you’ve got a French drain/sump system, but otherwise, it’s about 30 feet of PVC, a fan, and a gauge. Really only a PITA if you’ve got half the house over crawlspace that’s open to the rest of the basement, garage, etc. I put one in with a friend who lives up near Mountain Lakes, his radon came back >1 but <4, he didn’t want to pay a mitigation company. We just ordered the parts and installed it in an afternoon, it’s relatively simple.
If you see any house in a neighborhood with a radon mitigation system, pretty much every house in the neighborhood should have one, I don’t care what the test says. There are a number of towns/neighborhoods in NJ where this is very common, expected even.
I remember years back, JJ talking about how some people go to college just to marry into money. I never really bought into the idea until I read this Princeton woman’s op ed. She openly encourages it behind the guise of “marrying someone of equal intelligence”.
Re 53 Anon. I get what you are saying, however the price at $250k will reflect it. Our goal is to prevent any agent, or buyer for that matter saying you have to do x or y just to get near your price. The “dirt” alone is worth the price. Give that it has an inncome producing apt, with parking might make it attractive to someone in a mother/daughter situation, gen xer at home, or just to off set costs with rent.
It’s a good opportunity, I just don’t know the best way to move forward. Agent, FSBO, etc.
About J&R: New Kids on the Block will be signing autographs there at 6pm – buy their CD and you get in. Must be the last generation to actually buy CDs.
If they’re not your thing, Anthrax is there April 20.
http://www.jr.com/information/liveEvents.jsp
#46: My mother fed that “You gotta find a guy in college” nonsense in 1973 when I started college. Thirty years later and it’s the same message? Ridiculous. No one should get married before 30. Marry before 30, be divorced by 40.
#23: That is my favorite post ever put on this board.
I cumed into money a few times in college but never married it.
Ben says:
April 2, 2013 at 12:27 pm
I remember years back, JJ talking about how some people go to college just to marry into money. I never really bought into the idea until I read this Princeton woman’s op ed. She openly encourages it behind the guise of “marrying someone of equal intelligence”.
OK, all you mavens…I need a mat to put under my new Weber grill (sorry, guys, I bought the Spirit. The deck is only 9′ x 16′ and we are only 2 people) on the cellular PVC deck. Anyone know what won’t leave a stain on the deck?
My wife asked a few times why I did not marry for money.
Both times I dated rich girls who actually wanted to marry me I felt like the help.
One girl I dated for a few months when I was only 26 was a dream girl for someone. She was an only child, good looking, catholic, college educated. Her Dad owned this huge office supply company that sold all the furniture and supplies to major companies, Citibank, Chase etc. He also had a big wholesale/retail store he owned and a fleet of trucks. He also owned paid off rental properties. Girl lived in a two family house Dad owned near work.
None of this matter to me. I met her on beach and I thought she had a hot body. End of story for me.
Anyhow at the time my apt was only like three miles from her, so we saw each other maybe at most once or twice a week. So after three months of this she invites me to a family wedding.
So Dad is all excited to see a good looking, college educated catholic kid slightly older than his daughter on his arm. Way too much so.
So it is a fancy wedding drinks are flowing towards end Dad corners me. Turns out he wants to retire business is too big for daughter to handle alone. He tells me point blank if you marry my daughter, he will give us the house right by his company immediately. I can take over company immediately. (His company made crazy money). All I had to do was to pay him a pension out of salary. He then said he had a mansion over by Bayside/Douglasto right on water. Said when he goes he can have the whole house, even the god damm Jaguar and Caddie in driveway if they are still there.
Said he is 59 wants to retire and enjoy his cash. Quite frankly it freaked me out. I would sit at his desk in his office for next 30 years, live in the house he gave me, then take over his house and then I guess produce at least a bunch of kids to take over his business.
I pretty much ran at this point. I am sure next guy or so grabbed it.
I got plenty rich on my own. No worries, but if I did not rich on my own I would be mad.
I dated another girl whose parents were insanely wealthy. She paid three million for her house in 1991. She owned like hundreds of businesses and homes. Many Many millions and that was in 1991. I would have got 1/4 of that estate. Thank God that did not work out. That lady and husband are still alive and healthy as oxes. I would be in my 70s before I got a nickle. Then I would expect her for estate planning to bypass me and give it to my kids.
Tiny [59];
The best you can do is make your position clear and be firm about it. If you receive an offer stipulates repairs, simply reject or counter without repairs. If that doesn’t fly, bidder can keep walking.
My standard form contract included an inspection provision that called for an inspection, followed by the buyer option to request repairs — seller could repair, or refuse (or something in between, like a $$$ concession for repairs); buyer has the option to accept the offer of repair/$$$ including if the seller offers nothing, or to spike the deal and walk away. In your situation, have your attorney re-write the inspection clause in AR to take the option to request repairs off the table — they get their inspection, after which they have the option to take the house or leave it.
Keep in mind that even such a clause may not stop the buyer from asking for repairs/$$$ under the guise of “If you don’t do X, I’m going to invoke the inspection contingency.” It may be a real concern they have raised by the inspector’s report, the inspector may be blowing smoke himself, or maybe the buyer is just testing the seller’s resolve — the buyer has nothing to lose at that point as they can always back down and go to closing ‘as is’.
The long and the short of it is as seller your attorney should insist on “as is” language in the contract anyway. Your point is that you don’t want to invest time or money in repairs to get to an “as is” state the buyer is willing to accept. That’s bundled up in the below-market sale price.
Agent vs. FSBO is another question entirely. Do you want someone to MLS the house for you and act as an intermediary to field phone calls, manage showings, open houses, offers and negotiations? If so, pay for an agent to do it. If you are willing, able and competent to do these things yourself (except maybe an MLS listing – but there are brokerages that will insert an MLS for you for a few hundred), then save the 4-5% and do them yourself. The first thing you are going to get if you do go the FSBO route is hordes of agents fishing for the listing. C’est la vie.
Good luck, either way. My in-laws’ house in on the market right now, so I’m seeing it second hand from the seller’s side.
(56) If my nephew, Princeton ’15, is anywhere as prolific as his father was, he would be finding contractors right now to put in a revolving door to his dorm room. JJ, did you ever have woman fighting over you in a bar? I mean swinging fists and pulling hair. My brother had that happen to him in the 70’s. Caught enough of the pre-AIDS stuff, too, luckily it cleared up. He retired rich at age 53.
Funny, he didn’t go to Princeton. He was kicked out of college. Came back, though.
Now thinking about it, I’m the chump.
re# 47 – That old Yenta is just trying to find her son a wife, so she went public with that Opinion piece to help him meet women at Princeton.
Looks like she wrote this one too for her son.
http://www.ivygateblog.com/2013/03/meet-alex-jaffe-princetons-newest-most-eligible-bachelor/
I bet he turns out to be a cork soaker, since he already plays the right instrument.
Now, my wife’s cousin, much younger, is Harvard undergrad and Harvard Law School. He is in his early 30s, lives in NYC and is single. How do you think he passes the time?
The guy before me left a mat on the deck. The mat left a stain. All of the decking around it discolored differently than the rest of the deck. Just make sure to clean the grill regularly and empty the grease trap. My Weber hasn’t left any grease or stains on the deck.
63.Jill says:
April 2, 2013 at 1:13 pm
OK, all you mavens…I need a mat to put under my new Weber grill (sorry, guys, I bought the Spirit. The deck is only 9′ x 16′ and we are only 2 people) on the cellular PVC deck. Anyone know what won’t leave a stain on the deck?
X [68];
Harvard undergrad and Harvard Law School. He is in his early 30s, lives in NYC and is single. How do you think he passes the time?
At the office, billing 3,000 hours a year, just like all the other HSY drones.
How does an associate know the difference between home and the office? At the office there is someone vacuuming the carpet and taking out the trash.
Rich chicks are boring. End of story.
Depending on the sun, the mat could cause some difference in discoloration simply due to fading (yeah yeah, they all claim 1000 year UV fade-proof, but it’ll fade), but also due to mold/mildew growth as water will get under the mat and be perpetually moist.
I didn’t put anything under the gas grill, and I’ve been grilling all winter long. Anything I’ve ever spilled either I’ve just wiped up with a rag or the dogs just licked it up.
Now, the Charcoal grill is on the paver patio for obvious reasons..
Re Anon 65, thanks for your advice. We’re still in the planning stages with this one.
The guys who are truly good(read quality) don’t talk about it, they don’t need the reaffirmation. It’s a dead giveaway that JJ’s not among them.
Several police cars, EMS, FBI, the Mafia, the Pope, Restraining Orders, Legal Mediation, Death threats, Assault Charges all from one massive fight that resulted two girls who each wanted me in a all you can drink charity event once.
Why couldnt she just put sugar in my gas tank like a normal stalker?
xolepa says:
April 2, 2013 at 1:36 pm
(56) If my nephew, Princeton ’15, is anywhere as prolific as his father was, he would be finding contractors right now to put in a revolving door to his dorm room. JJ, did you ever have woman fighting over you in a bar? I mean swinging fists and pulling hair.
I am not really good. My fatal flaw is if I like a girl I keep going back. My one friend got to 200 girls pretty quick. But he would never do more than one date, push it on first date and even if girl was Kate Upton, he would do it and push her to street. I on other hand if I got a hot girl dated her a few months before moving on. Which is not what a real player does.
nwnj says:
April 2, 2013 at 2:16 pm
The guys who are truly good(read quality) don’t talk about it, they don’t need the reaffirmation. It’s a dead giveaway that JJ’s not among them.
JJ – most guys I have met that do that many women really want a man. Count yourself lucky you aren’t running out at night for a reondevous at the field 6 parking lot at Jones Beach while you wife is home crying in her pillow.
I dont want to know how you know about Field Six or if Juice Box is your field 6 nickname!!!
My friend who did like 300 women married am ex-stripper 11 years younger and has a bad heart. I dont think he is running around with anyone anymore. I think wife is trying to mount him till his heard finally gives out and she inherits everything. She has been married to him for six years so to keep a guy like that happy her box is around the size of a two car garage by now.
Juice Box says:
April 2, 2013 at 2:26 pm
JJ – most guys I have met that do that many women really want a man. Count yourself lucky you aren’t running out at night for a reondevous at the field 6 parking lot at Jones Beach while you wife is home crying in her pillow.
(66) For trivia’s sake, that incident occurred at the Old Straw Hat. Anyone old enough to remember that place? Lines to Rte 22 on Thursday nights. Sort of like Morristown’s Society Hill in the early 80s, but not as classy, for sure. Great memories there, too.
morpheus says:
March 30, 2013 at 8:59 am
“greetings all:
have not visited much: I have been dealing with the current anti-gun legislation in Trenton (up to 73 bills and climbing). Last batch of bills will be before NJ senate in April. Senate President is not too happy with these bills and seems to understand the needs of gun owners.”
Sweeney is # 15 on the NRAs Contributions to Candidates from 2003 to 2012 list. They will get their return on investment. Baa, Baa! But I’ve become unhinged.
Hey Grim…We are close to getting our deck built. In order to get a permit, we need a survey. In order to get a survey, we’ll need to spend a pretty penny as we don’t have one. Our lender didn’t require it (maybe that’s why it’s so cheap). My neighbors driveway on the right is already on my property so I’m not worried about the property lines here as the deck will end a good 6 yards away from his driveway. The question I have is what are the risks I take for building a deck sans permit. I know there is up to a $1,000 fine if I’m caught, but it’s completely behind my house and it will be difficult to see from the street. I have one neighbor who did it and no problems yet, but his deck is tiny. Mine is 27 x 16 (though not very high off the ground). In the meantime, I’ll be studying code to keep my contractor honest. What do you think?
Yankee Stadium Garage Operator Misses Interest Payment
by: Paul Burton
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
As baseball season opened, the operator of parking garages at New York’s Yankee Stadium fell into default, missing a $6.9 million bond interest payment.
re: # 79 JJ – it was on the news, along with other places in Jersey more than once over the last few decades. You reminded me JJ because most of the men arrested for it outdoor activities with other men are very successful married men like you.
67:
“I bet he turns out to be a cork soaker, since he already plays the right instrument.”
Also says “likes theater”
664 Lincoln Blvd, Long Beach, NY 11561, I love this house. Its listing history reads like a novel
03/25/2013 Price change $400,000 -11.1% $258 Douglas Elliman
12/17/2012 Listed for sale $450,000 -15.1% $290 Prudential Douglas
09/24/2010 Listing removed $530,000 -1.9% $342 Boardwalk Property
05/05/2010 Price change $539,999 -1.6% $348 Boardwalk Property
12/20/2009 Listed for sale $549,000 — $354 Boardwalk Property
10/23/2009 Listing removed $549,000 — $354 Continental Real Estate
01/28/2009 Listed for sale $549,000 -12.9% $354 Continental Real
09/29/2008 Listing removed $630,000 — $406 Prudential Real Estate
09/23/2008 Price change $630,000 -6.7% $406 Prudential Real Estate
08/31/2008 Listed for sale $675,000 44.7% $436 Prudential Real Estate
01/18/2007 Sold $466,400 130% $301 Public Record
06/05/1995 Sold $203,000 7.4% $131 Public Record
12/16/1993 Sold $189,000 — $122 Public Record
81 – See if the town has a handout for deck permits, many towns do and they’ll indicate what the necessary distances need to be to your neighbors property on the sides and back.
It’s one thing to build without a permit, worst case they make you take out a permit and get inspections after the fact (fines are very unlikely). However, if you build a deck that’s too close to property lines, and you are caught, that’s where the problems come in, because they might make you tear it down, cut it down, move it, etc. Take a good guess at the property lines. If you don’t have a survey, they don’t either, a foot or two might not be a problem if you are caught. 6 feet though, problem. Piss off your neighbor and this could be a really big problem.
Likewise, you might want to do any calculations necessary for overall lot coverage for a deck that size. Many towns will try to limit the amount of semi or impermeable ground cover for runoff/water management reasons. It’ll be in the handout.
Is there a deck already that you are replacing? If so, can you save any of the substructure? If so, save what is good and claim you only made minor repairs to the deck that was existing when you purchased the home.
Really the only time anyone ever gets caught is when towns are anal about enforcing COs and do an in-person inspection when you sell, and are looking for things to rag on you for. Probably the worst situation is an open permit, but a completed deck, because they’ll know to look for it.
Thanks for the advice. There is no current deck so no substructure to replace. My contractor has already discussed the deck with the building guy without telling him where it will be built. He also drives an unidentified truck so we should be OK. Will check the town codes anonymously. I’ll send a buddy in to get info.
If he builds it to code and you don’t have any issues with setbacks, side yard, lot coverage, worst case is they make you pull a permit after the fact and get inspections.
GR though, don’t they make you build the railings out of unicorn tusk and have the deck painted in historically appropriate milk-based finishes in colors only appropriate for the year in which your house was built?
Too some extent, you are correct, but they are only picky where it is visible from the street. We should be good with our backyard. I juct checked town codes and max lot coverage is 30%. Will double check where we are now, but our backyard is pretty damn deep so we should be fine.
Without a permit only downside is you have to be nice to neighbors.
My neighbor with the bushes that completely blocked my driveway I ratted out the SOB he tried to pay a very small fine for putting them in without a permit and only penalty was he could not sell his house until he cut them down to size or space them. The SOB won round one in October, but Sandy Salt killed the whole line of bushes they turned brown as crap there is a bigger fine for the second infraction so he took them out. Personally I am ok with the brown bushes as I now could see through them but he wasn’t. I won round two!!!! Sadly he won round three as I parked my Caddie in front of house that got rammed at 60 MPH and if it was not for my car it would have went straight through his fence and into his yard. I wonder if he sent that car to ram me.
BTW dont decks raise your taxes. Isnt that reason most people dont get a permit.
Libtard in the City says:
April 2, 2013 at 3:39 pm
Too some extent, you are correct, but they are only picky where it is visible from the street. We should be good with our backyard. I juct checked town codes and max lot coverage is 30%. Will double check where we are now, but our backyard is pretty damn deep so we should be fine.
Dow, S&P 500 close at record highs
Everyone open their 401K accounts in morning. We made need windshield wipers on the PC screens once folks see how rich they are!!
#12 Grim
3/25-4/1 BC SFH
235 New Listings
Just curious, do the numbers include the new listings for foreclosed and preforclosed properties? I was doing a quick search and I just don’t see anything much new listed for 500,000 through 700,000 range in the area we were looking in. What am I missing? I do notice many more foreclosures and preforeclosures though.
B/L 82 HOPPER AVE WSTWD 510000
COL 9 E OAK ST RMSY 529000 (ARIP)
COL 108 MAPLE ST RMSY 529900
COL 24 SOMERVILLE RD RDGWD 535000 (ARIP)
COL 651 WALL ST RDGWD 539000
COL 19 VETERANS WAY EGWTR 539900
COL 950 N MONROE ST MIDPK 549000
COL 799 PROSPECT ST GLNRK 549000
COL 366 N CENTRAL AVE RMSY 549000
COL 11 CHIMNEY RIDGE CT WSHTP 549900
COL 131 MILL ST WSTWD 552700
COL 154 HEGEMAN AVE WSTWD 559000
S/L 130 ARNOT PL PRMS 559900 (ARIP)
RANCH 170 N FARVIEW AVE PRMS 565000
S/L 16 DELMAR AVE CRSKL 568000
S/L 249 RAYMOND ST HASHT 569000
COL 38-08 VICTORIA RD FRLWN 569000
B/L 117 FOURNIER CRES ELMPK 569000
S/L 134 E MIDLAND AVE PRMS 569900
RANCH 324 MAPLEWOOD DR PRMS 570000
RANCH 542 GREEN VALLEY RD PRMS 574900
S/L 140 LAKEVIEW TER RMSY 588500
B/L 299 GLEN CT TEANK 589900
RANCH 389 N PLAZA RD FRLWN 589900
COL 111 OLD TAPPAN RD OTAPN 589999
RANCH 35 LEONARD DR OTAPN 595000
B/L 3 VILLA CT NORWD 595000
S/L 23 DRURY LN DMRST 599000
COL 147 CHRISTIE ST LEON 599000 (ARIP)
C/C 301 BEECHWOOD DR PRMS 599700
S/L 580 NORTHERN PKWY RDGWD 599900
COL 85 KNOLLTON RD ALNDL 619000
COL 380 N MONROE ST RDGWD 625000
COL 164 SCHARER AVE NTHVL 630000
COL 15 FRANKLIN AVE MNTVL 649000
COL 1236 W LAURELTON PKWY TEANK 649000
COL 310 CEDAR LN RIVVL 650000
COL 316 ACKERMAN AVE HOHKS 659000
C/C 714 BRUCE ST RDGFD 670000
S/L 6 HAZEL ST HARPK 675000
COL 631 RIDGEWOOD RD WSHTP 675000
COL 743 ROLLING HILL DR RIVVL 675000
COL 455 LINCOLN DR PRMS 675000 (ARIP)
COL 154 SUMMIT AVE NWMIL 695000
COL 45 BEDFORD RD WDCLK 699000
Ok, are any of these foreclosures or preforclosures?
COL 108 MAPLE ST RMSY 529900
Listed on Zillow for 186 days and on Trulia for 108 days-that is NOT new listing
can’t even find the E Oak or N Central listings in Ramsey. I will continue to search the list you gave me and get back to you :)
I’m sure there are some properties back on after expiring last month 3/31. 108 Maple expired.
East Oak is already in ARIP, 2 days on market.
366 N Central is 6 days on market, MLS 1310428
Westwood- 154 Hegeman is not a complete house-was abandoned new construction and I have seen it there for months.
Wasn”t looking in Glen Rock, Hasbrouck Heights, Fairlawn, Edgewater, Leonia, Elmwood Park, or Norwood, so take those off too.
366 N Central is 6 days on market, MLS 1310428
Main street and one full bath.
COL 45 BEDFORD RD WDCLK 699000
Looks nice, but 5 beds – 3 baths-too big – and it is sandwiched on two sides with parkway and some sort of industrial complex. Doesn’t fit our profile either.
Went on NJMLS and can’t find 11 Chimney Ridge Court, Washington Township.
Coming to a subdivision near you.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/01/us/arkansas-pipeline-spill/index.html?iref=allsearch
There a re a few things that really worry me about this. Leaving aside the real estate side of buying a house with a pipeline underneath, I do wish we still had Kettle around to discuss.
We have a pipeline built in the 40s to pipe oil north now re-purposed to pump the output of the tar sands with a higher viscosity(therefore higher pressure) south, reversing the pressures in parts of the pipeline.
With these buried pipelines and the new incidences of localized earthquakes associated with fracking, when the licenses are issued to the gas companies are they factoring in that buried pipelines may be hit with seismic shocks.
#103: Yeah, but….uh….freedom!