Perfect Metuchen Family Home

How would you like to live in Metuchen, a wonderful town located in Central New Jersey? It's a small town with a great community spirit, good schools and an appealing town center. You can walk to town from most of the homes and enjoy the shopping, a variety of restaurants and coffee bars. There's also a train station with the Northern line straight into Manhattan without having to change. If you're in a hurry, the jitney to Metuchen station stops on the corner, two blocks away.

This home is located in Beacon Hills which is a very desirable area of Metuchen. It's set on a nice sized, landscaped lot. It offers 4 bedrooms, a separate sitting room and 2.5 bathrooms. There's a large, sunny living room with a fireplace and a separate dining room. The eat-in kitchen has been updated with maple, corian counters and stainless steel appliances. Just off the dining room is a wonderful, updated 3-season room with large windows all around - a great place to enjoy the warmer weather . Downstairs there's a cozy den with new hardwood floors and on the same level is a laundry room with a half bathroom and the entrance to the garage. One floor further down, there's a partially finished basement with lots of storage. Upstairs, there are 3 bedrooms and the 2 updated bathrooms. Up one more level and you'll find an expanded 4th bedroom with a private sitting room. It's bright and sunny and there's lot of storage.

Walk around and you'll see that this home has been lovingly maintained. There's a newer roof, siding and windows. The kitchen and bathrooms have been updated. The furnace, central air conditioning, hot water heater and electrical box have all been replaced in the last 3 to 4 years. It's really in move-in condition.

If you'd like to see more pictures of the house, or the virtual tour, please visit my website at www.jackiesafran.com and go to Featured Homes. All the information is there. Contact me if you'd like a private showing.

When Did You Buy Your Home?

Many sellers are still making substantial profits on selling their homes in this softening market. The secret is when you purchased your home. If you bought your home more than 5 years ago, you'll see a good return on your investment. If you bought your home in the last 3 years (boom times), there's little or no profit. The winners are those who have owned their current homes for 20 or more years - these home owners will make a significant profit on their homes.
You need to refocus - it's not what you could have sold the home for 18 months to 2 years ago, but it's what you paid 30 years ago and what you can sell for today. You weren't ready to move 2 years ago, so it doesn't really matter what you could have sold it for - you are still going to make a very nice profit. Your house has been a great investment: not only have you had a place to call home and not paid rent, you also double, tripled or quadrapled your investment. Where else could you have invested your money and seen that kind of profit?
So it's all a matter of perspective but, for many in New Jersey, homes as investments are still making their owners money.

OPEN HOUSE IN EDISON NJ

Are you looking for a well priced home in Edison, New Jersey? If so, come and visit me at my Open House on Sunday, March 2 from 1 to 4 p.m. We're inviting you to take a look at this wonderful 3 bedroom home. It's a Single family, half duplex, 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom, 2-story home. This great home offers a foyer, eat-in kitchen with all appliances, formal dining room, large living room with wood burning fireplace and sliding doors to deck. There's a full basement, gas forced air heating, central air. There's plenty of updates with newer roof, replaced windows, vinyl siding, newer furnace, hot water heater, electrical service. The bathrooms have been updated and there's a new ceramic floor in the upstairs bathroom. Newer trexx (low maintenance) deck and fully fenced yard with shed. There's private parking on a long blacktop driveway. This lovely home is located in a prime location, opposite a park with a playground. The elementary school is just across the park. It is also conveniently located for shopping, major highways and the Edison train station with a direct line into Manhattan. The asking price for all of this is $295,000 and the address is 155 Jefferson Blvd, Edison, NJ 08817. I look forward to meeting you on Sunday.

NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY A HOME

The media cries that the sky is falling - not so. It all depends what you're looking to do. Here in Central New Jersey, our market has softened but it's still very much alive. For first-time home buyers, this is a great time to buy. Prices are lower, mortgage rates are good and there's an abundance of inventory - you may even find your dream home and be able to afford it!! For sellers, it's not quite so easy. Not only are they going to sell their home for less, but it will probably take much longer than in previous years. This is not the time to go it alone, you need some professional help. This is when a professional, experienced Realtor is well worth investing in. However, if you are looking to move from a smaller to a larger home, this is still the time to sell. While you may get a little less for your current home, you can buy more for less and that bigger home is going to cost you significantly less and you'll eventually be ahead of the game.

New Jersey Association of Realtors Offers Scholarships

The application deadline for NJAR Educational Foundation (NJAREF) scholarships has been extended to Monday, April 9, 2007. High school seniors and students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate college programs are eligible to apply. Applicants must reside in New Jersey and be a member of NJAR or a relative of a NJAR member. There are now 32 scholarships available, ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 each. Applications must be received at the NJAR office at P.O. Box 2098, Edison, NJ 08818 by 5:00 P.M. by MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2007 in order to be considered. The application is available at www.njar.com/edfoundapp2007.pdf.

Selling Your New Jersey Home In Winter

The prime time to sell New Jersey real estate is in the spring. Flowers are in bloom. The grass is green and everything seems new and shiny. There are generally more buyers in the market. However, winter buyers are serious buyers and there are things sellers can do to to attract the attention of these buyers.

1. Keep walks and driveways free of snow and ice. If buyers have to take their life in their hands trying to navigate through ice and snow, they just might not bother.

2. Make your home warm and comfortable. This is not the time to conserve on energy. If your home is cold, buyers will think your heating system doesn't work properly.

3. Set the mood. Play soft music in the background and bake a batch of cookies. There is nothing like the smell of warm baked goods. And leave a plate of cookies for the buyers.

4. Ask buyers to remove their shoes while touring your home. This conveys a pride of ownership and will and helps keeping your home in 'showing condition' for the next buyers.

2006 Third Best Year On Record

The National Association of Realtors reports existing-home sales eased but prices stabilized as inventories tightened in December, while 2006 was the third-highest sales year on record.

Total existing-home sales – Total existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – eased 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 6.22 million units in December from a level of 6.27 million in November. Sales were 7.9 percent lower than a 6.75 million-unit pace in December 2005. There were 6,480,000 existing-home sales in all of 2006, down 8.4 percent from a record 7,075,000 in 2005. The second highest total was 6,779,000 in 2004; NAR began tracking home sales in 1968. Full report...