HobokenRealEstateBlog

Hoboken Singles – Want a Better Love Life? Buy a Home!

EddiePerez — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:49:13 +0000

Hoboken has long been touted as having the highest percentage of singles of any city in the United States.

Want to increase your chances of finding love? Buy a home! In a new survey by Harris Interactive for the real estate site Trulia has shown that there is an overwhelming preference to date a single that own their own home as opposed to one that is renting. Don’t believe me? You can read the article here: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/14/real_estate/dating_homeownership/index.htm

The fact is, I’ve seen this first hand, having sold many condos to single buyers … who later trade up to larger homes once they’ve found love in our mile square city … only to later trade up again once the family has outgrown that home once again.

I guess there’s a case that can be made that not only are we REALTORS, but we can also add Love Dr to the business card

Make it a great day!

About Eddie: Eddie Perez is a resident of Hoboken and works as a New Jersey licensed Broker - REALTOR . His goal is to educate both buyers and sellers so that they can make the most of their bottom line while saving time and having fun during the process of buying or selling condominiums and brownstones in Hoboken and the surrounding metro communities including Jersey City and Weehawken, New Jersey. He has personally sold over 135 homes and is among the top producing agents in Hudson County.You can email questions to eddie@InvestHoboken.com. To schedule an appointment to meet with Eddie, call him direct at 201.344.2886.

Will Your Hoboken Home be Waiting in Line to Sell?

EddiePerez — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:58:31 +0000

Don’t you hate it when people cut in line? Not only is it very annoying, it makes you have to wait longer to take care of your business or to get to where you’re going next. Hoboken homes for sale are in a competitive line, with the home offering the best value in its category selling first. A price to value position, so to speak.

In theory, a home further back in the line (third or fourth position) would eventually sell once the better-valued homes (first and second place) have sold. Unfortunately, this is not the case. New listings are continuously entering the market and cutting in line. This causes the inferiorly priced homes (third or fourth place) to stay behind in line, never actually selling –unless they improve their price to value position.

Therefore, in order to price a home so that it will sell, it’s very important to consider your position relative to other homes on the market. I call it strategic pricing.

Want to know how to get out of line in a reasonable amount of time? Shoot me an email or just call.

Happy Selling

Condo Sellers: Prepare for Spring in Hoboken

EddiePerez — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:33:17 +0000

Okay, folks. I know it’s the middle of winter, and it’s been a mild one so far (fingers crossed!).
But if you are buying or selling a Hoboken property you really do need to start getting ready for spring. Use these next few weeks wisely, and you’ll save yourself headaches when the time comes to put your place on the market. This week we’ll concentrate on a few seller strategies for getting your condo ready. Next week we’ll talk to buyers.

Sellers:

Don’t wait till the last minute to de-clutter; do those little repairs and start the deep cleaning.You never know when people will start looking at properties! And if you read the Buyer section next week, you’ll understand.

First off, go out and rent a unit at the nearest self-storage facility, and start going through the house (and garage if you’re lucky enough to have one!) one room at a time. I promise you’ll be glad you did. You’re going to have to go through stuff before you move anyway, right? Why not start now when you can take your time about it. Buyers have a lot easier time imagining their stuff in the condo if they don’t have all your stuff to visualize through! Your rooms will look larger with less stuff in them anyway.

You know those bothersome little household repairs on your “Honey Do” list? Now is the time to get on them. You’re stuck inside for the next two months anyway. Put the time to good use.While those little imperfections irritate you, they’ll have buyers seeing potential repair dollar signs … and wondering what else needs to be taken care of that they aren’t seeing. Like the commercial says, “Just do it!” Remember, everything you can see and don’t repair is potentially a negotiating point for buyers looking to get you to lower your price.

Don’t forget the exterior!Start speaking with your condo association about any common area repairs or upgrades that may be needed as it could take a few months to get board approval and get the work completed. Remember the importance of those first impressions! Take a look at your buildings front façade and landscaping. Could it use new plantings, paint or brick re-pointing? Updates to these can add value to everyone’s homes and make it a more enjoyable place to live.

Take a look at your building’s hallways, mailbox, laundry and storage areas. What can be done to give the best impression to potential buyers? Sometimes simply enforcing the current building rules and regulations, such as limiting items left in hallways, can help with how your building will show.

Now let’s talk about your roommates. Not the buddies from college but

the furry ones we call pets. You may not smell them, but if you have carpets, upholstered furniture and even one little dog … or a litter box and one little kitten … newcomers to the house will smell them. And if the buyer has pet allergies, watch out! No amount of sprays or powders will cover the smell. If you are serious about selling, you need to have the carpets, drapes and upholstered furniture steam cleaned. Try to decide on an area (preferably uncarpeted) that the pets can be restricted to, and determine what to do with them when the house is going to be shown. Doggy day care? Pet carrier? Mom’s house? If possible, have the pets removed from the condo during showings.

These are just a few suggestions to keep in mind and to get started on now so that you’ll be able to hit the ground running when your place goes onto the market!

Next week, buyer suggestions!

Low Inventory + Higher Rents = ?

EddiePerez — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 03:11:50 +0000

A case could be made that this could begin to lead to price increases in the near future.

Additionally, recent news on the economy has been getting better lately and you know what this could lead to……. interest rates might start to go up!!

Hoboken is experiencing extremely low inventory of available condominiums. As of today, there are only a total of 215 units available for sale.

Six months ago, there were nearly 400 condos on the market!

If the current demand picks up just slightly, it just might ignite the lackluster activity of the past 3 months where we’ve averaged approximately 32 contracts per month.

Why wait? Let me know if you would like to start the home search in earnest.

Here are just a few of the headlines TODAY. I wanted to share this with you today as the LARGEST cost of home ownership is the interest. Remember the old adage, “you don’t live in the purchase price, you live in the monthly payment” (i.e. interest rate).

Jobless Claims, Factory Data Suggest Recovery Picking Up

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45681589
Stocks Gain as Economy Shows Some Strength

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45680479

Have a great day!

Eddie

Hoboken Condo Living in Winter

EddiePerez — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:58:28 +0000

As snow and ice sneak up on us, those living in downtown condos have a great advantage. You have the peace and quiet of your personal oasis. At the same time, you have easy, quick access to everything you could need … and you don’t need a personal vehicle to get to any of it! How great is that?!

One of the great things about living in a Hoboken downtown condo is the access you have to an incredibly wide variety of activities, restaurants and clubs. This being winter, I’ve selected two very different recreational outlets to tell you about that may surprise you.

First off, would you believe a ski club in the inner city?! The Hoboken Ski Club meets every Tuesday night at 8:30pm in the Back Room at Willie McBride’s Pub at 616 Grand St., Hoboken, NJ 07030. Their club motto is “Think snow!” and they say that’s what they do … all the time. Their foundation is built around snow sports and the winter, but the club is active all year round.

It’s not just about Hoboken, and it’s not just about skiing. The majority of their members are in their 20′s & 30′s. But they have no age limits, other than that you do have to be 21 to join. Whether you’re a skier, snowboarder, or just like social activities, this club has something for you!

Not everyone is quite so athletically inclined, and that’s fine. Stroll on over to Symposia Community Bookstore and see what tweaks your interest. They’re located at 510 Washington Street.

For starters, they are the only used bookstore in Hoboken. But they aren’t “just” a used book store. They are actually more along the lines of a community center. In fact, Symposia is actually a Public Benefit nonprofit corporation that was organized, and is operated, exclusively for educational and charitable purposes. They operate a book thrift shop and offer their shop locations to be used as a community center.

What exactly does that mean? Well, you can buy books at discounted prices. You can donate books, DVDs, CDs, tapes and office equipment rather than chucking them in the dumpster and wasting them.

According to their website, their specific objectives and purposes are:

to help make books and reading as inviting and accessible to as broad an audience as possible;
to offer a venue to serve as a community center and a place for educational and community activities;
to support other charities through the use of the thrift store’s space to raise funds and run programs;
to offer support for emerging local artists through exhibitions and other projects;
to develop new community projects;
to engage in other activities related to the development of the social capital of our community.

It is definitely a place where you will always be able to find something interesting going on! Stop by and visit for awhile!

Benjamin Franklin Can Help You Buy a Hoboken-Area Home

EddiePerez — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:07:17 +0000

That title may seem a little silly, but the way shoppers evaluate a prospective home never ceases to amaze me. There is nothing wrong with having a vision of your ideal home. In fact, having such a vision is a necessity. You need to know what kind of home you will be happy in. A workaholic with no family and a busy life would probably do best to buy a condominium with amenities like a building concierge that can receive packages and let the cable guy in, a pool or health club onsite to get daily exercise and an easy commute to work. This may make more sense than purchasing a large Hoboken home with a yard in the suburbs.

In fact, if you are not sure what you want, you should probably make what a friend of mine calls a “Ben Franklin List”. Benjamin Franklin, whom I think we’d all agree is no slouch, came up with a really useful decision-making tool. Basically, you divide a sheet of paper into relevant columns. In this case it could be “Wants, Needs and Undesirables”. Now you populate those columns with your choices. Maybe you want an open concept floor-plan and some type of outdoor space. What you need might be parking, elevator or three bedrooms. Undesirables might be location too far from NYC transportation or 4^th floor walk-up buildings. You get the idea.

Be realistic when it comes to choosing whether something falls into the “Wants” or “Needs” column. Stainless steel appliances are all the rage, but I’d call them a “want”. What you need is working, reliable appliances. Changing them out for stainless steel is something you can do down the line. If the current appliances are ancient (more than 10 years old) and/or non-functioning, the cost of replacing them is a negotiating point when it comes time to make an offer, isn’t it? In order to move in and be comfortable, functionality should trump esthetics.

Face it. Unless you have a home custom-built and decorated to your specifications, the odds of finding an absolutely perfect property are not likely. Once upon a time the property you are looking at was the embodiment of someone else’s dream. It has been personalized through their occupation and decorations. You can make it yours, but before you can do that, you have to be able to see the property’s potential to fulfill your vision.

Look past paint color. Look past light fixtures, drawer and door pulls, curtains, carpets, plants used to landscape the yard or balcony. All of these are easily changeable, customizable to fulfill your vision. What are not changeable are location and the basic bones. As long as those are good, you should consider the property. Buy it and make it your own.

I recently sold a single-family row house on Bloomfield Street that had the location and “good bones” but was in need of renovations. The eventual buyers saw the home’s fantastic potential and their opportunity to customize it to their liking. They are now well on their way to having the customized home that they envisioned and within the budget that they set.

The Ben Franklin list proved to work great for them! Give it a try, and see if you too will soon be on your way to having YOUR perfect home!

Happy shopping!

Hoboken Condo Sales Statistics…Sales Prices are up How Much?

EddiePerez — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:45:22 +0000

I know most people feel that the Hoboken condo market is down, especially the “buyers” out there. Surprise…prices went up when compared to last year.

When compiling the final sales figures for October 2011 using the Hudson County Multiple Listing Service, the central theme I noticed was…..

Fewer condos are selling but they are selling for quite a bit more!

In the Hoboken condo market, closed sales prices showed big increases in October when compared to the October 2010 stats. Average prices rose 7.73 % ($473,393 vs $436,776) and median prices were up 7.11%, ($436,000 vs $405,000). Who knew?

Ok, it’s not all rosy data…

Total units sold were down by 30% (43 units in 2011 vs 56 units in 2010). Total contracts signed were also down as there were 54 contracts signed in October 2011, a 24% decline from the 67 contracts signed in October 2010.

What does this all mean?

The market is not as bad as most think, prices are holding steady and may have gone up for some category of homes, buildings and prime locations in Hoboken.

Now all we need to do is sell a few more condos….. which by the way, I’d be more than happy to help

Here are the sales statistics…..

	October 2010	October 2011	Comparison:
Units Sold:	56	43	- 30%
Avg. Price:	$436,776	$473,393	+ 7.73%
Median Price:	$405,000	$436,000	+ 7.11%
Contracts Signed (pending to close):	67	54	- 24%

October 2011 Sold Condominiums:

	High	Low	Average	Median	Total Dollar amount	Listing Count
List Price:	$1,275,000	$269,000	$486,355	$449,000	$20,913,294	43
Sold Price:	$1,215,000	$250,000	$473,393	$436,000	$20,355,900
Days on market	201	14	67	49

Studio: none sold

1 bedroom: 13 sold.

Average asking price: $372,861

Average selling price: $359,973 (-3.45% of asking price)

Average / Median days on market: 61 / 49

2 bedroom: 27 sold

Average asking price: $523,633

Average selling price: $510,175 (-2.57% of asking price)

Average / Median days on market: 70 / 50

3+ bedroom: 3 sold

Average asking price: $642,666

Average selling price: $633,833 (-1.3% of asking price)

Average / Median days on market: 58 / 40

October 2011 – Contracts signed. These are the deals that were consummated during the month and represent the current buying activity.

Total Contracts: 54

	High	Low	Average	Median	Total dollar amount	Listing Count
List Price:	$1,499,999	$198,500	$563,895	$488,000	$30,450,341	54
Sold Price:	pending	pending	pending	pending	pending
Days on market	199	8	62	40

Here’s the breakdown:

Studio: 0

1 bedroom: 15 contracts

Average asking price: $360,619

Median price: $339,000

Average days on market: 72

Median days on market: 33

2 bedroom: 33 contracts

Average asking price: $599,986

Median price: $505,000

Average days on market: 56

Median days on market: 42

3+ bedroom: 6 contracts

Average asking price: $873,583

Median price: $751,750

Average days on market: 67

Median days on market: 79

I hope you find this info useful. As always, don’t hesitate to contact me with any specific questions.

Eddie

The Holidays are Coming…Should I Wait to Sell My Hoboken Condo?

EddiePerez — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 01:03:34 +0000

I’m often asked…. “Eddie, with the holidays quickly approaching, should I wait until January to put my Hoboken condo on the market?”

The short answer is Maybe…

To help answer the question properly, I typically assess your goals and timing. I then perform a “Real Estate Timing Analysis” and a “Financial Risk Analysis”. Both of these are important tools we use to help identify what may be best for you. Better yet, they can often help save you a lot of money.

On a purely strategic aspect, here are my thoughts on why not waiting may be a good decision for you:

1. While there may be fewer buyers out there, people who look for a home during the holidays are serious… they are ready to buy!

2. There are fewer homes for buyers to look at during the holidays, which means less competition for you… less competition equals more money!

3. After the holidays the supply of listings increases substantially, which lowers the demand for your home… more competition equals less money!

4. Your home shows better when decorated for the holidays!

5. Many buyers have more time to look for property during the holidays (as opposed to a normal work week).

6. We will restrict the showings on your home to the times you want it shown. You remain in control.

7. You can sell now for more money and not have to physically move until January or February…as opposed to just starting the whole process at that time.

I hope this helps shed some light on the subject. I’m always around to discuss your individual needs!

Eddie

Hoboken Rag-a-Muffin Parade & Costume Contest 2011

EddiePerez — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:58:58 +0000

Hoboken is full of fun family events, and one that’s definitely not to be missed is the Hoboken Rag-a-Muffin Parade & Costume Contest 2011! Part parade, part costume contest and 100% fun for everyone! All the families trick or treat afterwards with most of the stores along Washington St participating. Get into the spirit and have a great time.

The Hoboken Rag-a-Muffin Parade & Costume Contest is a popular annual event in our town. The children look forward to it not only for the fun and candy but as a way to “test drive” their Halloween costumes. For parents, it’s a cross between a community-wide play date and a chance to have a nice outing with the family while catching up with their friends. The local stores see it as a great way to contribute to the spirit of community Hoboken is so well-loved for.

The parade is scheduled for Monday October 31, and begins at 4pm.

To participate: Line of march setup begins at 3:30pm on Washington Street between 12th & 13th Streets. It will feature bands, floats, local live music, lots of great costumes and so much more.

The Costume Contest begins immediately after the Parade and will be held at The Little League Field, 5th Street & River Terrace. Prizes will be awarded in five age categories. Visit the city website for more info.

Renowned Hoboken House Tour Scheduled for October 23rd

EddiePerez — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:47:01 +0000

Have you ever wanted to see the inside of one of Hoboken’s beautiful Victorian homes? How about getting a closer look at one of our truly unique condominiums? Well, here is your chance! The Hoboken House Tour is scheduled for October 23^rd from 10:00 AM till 4:00 PM. It is justifiably known as one of the better home tours on the East Coast.

There are normally eight to ten homes opened to the public for this tour. Each year there is a different collection of homes, so just because you may have gone on the tour in the past, don’t think you’ve seen it all.

Working as a full-time real estate agent in Hoboken for the past 10 years has brought me into many of these fantastic homes. In fact, one of my homes was on the tour in 1998. However, there are usually 3-4 that I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing yet, and it’s a thrill for me to get in and see these true Hoboken gems. The owners show such great pride and care for these fantastic homes.

This would be a great way to spend a day, absorbing the historical architecture of Hoboken. This is a self-guided event so you can move at your own pace, visiting each home for as long or as short a time as you want. Many of Hoboken’s historical Victorian homes that illustrate our city’s glorious past are included in the tour. The tour offers you the opportunity to see new condominiums as well, so you can get a look at where our city is headed architecturally speaking.

The owners of the tour homes are also providing the means for those of us who take the tour to contribute to one of the great institutions of our community. All proceeds from the tourare donated to the Hoboken Historical Museum.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 the day of and for Museum members, and can be purchased at the Hoboken Historical Museum, Sparrow’s Wines & Liquors, Amanda’s, Fleet Feet Sports and Coldwell Banker Real Estate.You can get more info at the Hoboken House Tour site.

About Eddie: Eddie Perez is a resident of Hoboken and works as a New Jersey licensed Broker – REALTOR®. His goal is to educate both buyers and sellers so that they can make the most of their bottom line while saving time and having fun during the process of buying or selling condominiums and brownstones in Hoboken and the surrounding metro communities including Jersey City and Weehawken, New Jersey. He has personally sold over 135 homes and is among the top-producing agents in Hudson County. You can email questions to eddie @InvestHoboken .com . To schedule an appointment to meet with Eddie, call him direct at 201.344.2886.