This article is courtesy of my colleague, Matthew Northup from Arlington Capital

The “new” limits are in effect for case numbers issued from November 18^th of this year through September 30, 2012.

However, any borrowers that got a FHA case number between October 1, 2011 and November 17, 2011 must either abide by the lower limits available during that period of time, or wait 6 months from the case number issuance, and reapply for a loan under the “new rules.”

We had begged clients to get into a FHA deals pre-October 1, 2011, and are happy to let all know going forward through next September, 2012…the limits are once again higher!

This is really great news for people buying  (or refinancing) a home with a sliver of equity, lower credit scores, and higher ratios of debt-to-income.  It also permits up to a 6% seller contribution from a seller to a buyer for actual closing costs and escrows.

So, with no further ado, here are the “new” limits for FHA loan amounts in New Jersey, listed alphabetically by County;

Atlantic $453,750
Bergen $729,750
Burlington $420,000
Camden $420,000
Cape May $487,500
Cumberland $405,000
Essex $729,750
Gloucester $420,000
Hudson $729,750
Hunterdon $729,750
Mercer $440,000
Middlesex $729,750
Monmouth $729,750
Morris $729,750
Ocean $729,750
Passaic $729,750
Salem $420,000
Somerset $729,750
Sussex $729,750
Union 729,750
Warren $402,500

If you are a math whiz you can divide any of these limits above by 96.5% and know what the maximum purchase price is in each county with just 3.5% down.  So, say in Somerset County, NJ, the maximum loan amount is $729,750.  If you divide this number by .965%, you find that a home could be purchased for $756,217 in Somerset County with just 3.5% down ($26,467.)

Matthew Northup
Private Mortgage Banker
Arlington Capital
33 Witherspoon St,
Princeton, NJ 08542

O-(609) 921-3131 ext 1334
C-(908) 507-1642
Efax-(866) 331-2067
mnorthup@arlingtoncapital.com

The excitement of the holidays is here. And there are some fun event in Warren right now and coming up soon. Here is a snip it of the activities available for you and your family.

• The Wagner Farm Arboretum is having their holiday boutique. The boutique offers a wide variety of jewelry, artwork, fresh local honey, breads and baked goods. Or enjoy the other vendor merchandise like candles, stationary, clothing, pocketbooks. Stop in this weekend or over the next two weekends in December. Check out their website at http://www.wfafnj.org/events.html for more information on dates and times.

• Warren Township Seniors Holiday Party on December 7th, 2011 at 11:30 am at Forest Lodge. All Warren Seniors are welcome and encourage to come! Cost is $15 for all Warren Seniors and Friends from out of town $30 For more information about this event, check out the Warren Twp page at http://www.warrennj.org/

• Letters to Santa….Now thru December 16th. Warren Township Recreation Commission has been approved by Santa to gather mail from the Township children and deliver it to the North Pole. They will be accepting mail from Nov 22nd to December 16th. Letters should be dropped off at the red mailbox in front of the Municipal Building or sent to “Santa” Warren Twp. Recreation Commission at 46 Mountain Blvd, Warren, NJ 07059. Every child will receive a personalized letter from Santa, but after December 16th, Santa will be busy getting ready for the holiday and will not be able to answer any more letters. They ask that Mom and Dad, please be sure to include a return address.

• Mark your calendar for January…Yuletide Bonfire. 4th Annual Yuletide Bonfire Winter Festival is back! January 21st 2012 6-9pm behind the Municipal complex off Bardy Rd. under the pavilion. More to come….

I personally love Zillow for its marketing genius! They have created data that no other site has given directly to buyers and thus have become a valuable, “go to” site for buyer prospects. In turn, it has become a powerhouse with a huge audience. That is why advertise on this site quite heavily. My buyers from NYC to Warren Twp, or Basking Ridge and Bridgewater, are all looking at listings for sale here…they are looking at the taxes of a property over the past 5 years…they are looking at the price the seller of their dream house paid in 2005.

I asked a question today on my facebook page, www.facebook.com/judyweiniger, how many of my friends and subscribers actually believe and rely on the “zestimate” when looking at homes to buy or examining what your home may be worth in this market? I can tell you…most of my buyers look at it and believe in it. Many make offers based on what they see on Zillow.

An appraiser friend of mine, Paul Sobol from Sobol & Associates, Inc, explained “that as an appraiser I have serious concerns about sites like Zillow. I have found them to be misleading and inaccurate. As you know, there are so many variables that need to be taken into consideration when valuing real estate.”

He continues, “as marketing tool it is awesome. The problem that we have is that when people are refinancing their homes they rely on that data way too much.”

From my perspective as a real estate agent, Zillow is a fantastic lead generation machine for me. I  get numerous internet buyers as clients thru Zillow,  meaning, the buyers are on this site and using it. They like it. From the buyer perspective, this site gives valuable data that up until Zillow was introduced, the power of this data was solely in the real estate professionals hands.

But beware buyers…After really testing some of these numbers out with my listings and what they actually sold for, I think it would be a fabulous study, for Zillow or an independent, to show the internet community a report card on Zillow’s success or failure to predict the value. After a home is sold, how close was that “Zestimate”? After a home is appraised by a professional appraiser, how close was that “Zestimate” to the appraisers’ reality?

My personal opinion is that the “Zestimates” seem to be based more on the township’s assessed value and it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to value these homes consistently. And furthermore, the computer calculating that value, has never been inside my home to know what condition, upgrades and updates this homeowner has done compared to my neighbor.

Stay tuned…I think I am going to do that analysis and report back.

Reprinted from NJAR – www.njar.com

On September 14, 2011, Governor Chris Christie signed into law A-2748, the bulk sales legislation initiated and strongly supported by NJAR^®. This law, which took effect immediately upon being signed, exempts individuals, estates and trusts involved in purchasing one- and two-family residential and certain seasonal rental properties from bulk sales notification requirements.  LLC’s involved in real estate transactions pertaining to one- and two-family residential and seasonal rental properties are still subject to bulk sales requirements.

In addition, the law is retroactive to August 1, 2007, meaning that any transactions taking place between that date and September 14, 2011 were in essence, never subject to bulk sales requirements.

This new law, which was approved unanimously by both houses of the state Legislature, immediately protects one- and two-family residential real estate transactions from being unnecessarily delayed by the bulk sales notification requirements imposed by the New Jersey Division of Taxation. In many cases, the previous requirements led to unnecessary closing delays or sellers being asked to place potentially thousands of dollars in escrow until the Division of Taxation cleared a property sale to proceed.

If a previous owner of a one- or two-family home or seasonal rental property owed state taxes on revenue earned from the property (i.e. if the seller ever rented the property), the purchaser will not be considered liable for any taxes owed by the seller. NJAR^® sought this provision in the legislation and was successful in its inclusion and implementation.

For additional information on A-2748 and the bulk sales requirements previously in place on one- and two-family homes and seasonal rental properties, visit NJAR^®’s bulk sales webpage, or the NJAR^® Government Affairs Facebook page.  If you have any questions on this issue, contact the NJAR^® Government Affairs Department at (732) 494-5616.

11 Softwood Way, Warren, NJ 07059 is now for sale!

Open house on 9/11/2011, from 1-4pm.
CLIENTFULL

Beautiful brick front Colonial set on a level lot in highly desirable community called Greenwood Meadows.

3 car garage, Conservatory, 5 BR, 3.1 baths, circular driveway, 2 story family room, very spacious upgraded kitchen, hardwood floors in the living room, dining room, family room. Huge master bedroom suite and master bath with skylight and jacuzzi tub. Fantastic basement ready to finish, pre-plumbed and stairway to the garage.

Stop by and visit me.

You heard it hear first……………….
The famous Froh Heim Mansion in Far Hills is now for sale at the very aggressive price of $2,799,000. It adorns over 11 acres, a 7Br, 6.1 bath historical updated and renovated masterpiece plus barn with 2 apartments.

Call me or text me at 908-295-3913 cell for the inside scoop before it hits the market.

or email me at judy@weinigerhomes.com

Great news for our local Warren, NJ high school, Watchung Hills Regional High School! Recently Newsweek magazine collected data from the top high schools in America in order to determine the best of the best; the ones producing kids ready for college and life.
Watchung Hills Regional High School, serving students from Warren, Watchung, Long Hill and Green Brook Townships, ranked 154 in this review utilizing criteria of six components: graduation rate, college matriculation rate, AP test takers per graduate, average SAT/ACT score, average AP/IB score, and the number of AP courses offered per graduate. 1,100 high schools nationwide were reviewed.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/2011/americas-best-high-schools.html
Watchung Hills ranked as the top NJ Group 4 high school and ranked 12th in NJ overall. Last year Watchung Hills ranked #994 out of 2000 top school, as reported by Newsweek of the top 1100 schools) demonstrates a learning environment responsive to student needs.
School officials stress that they are continuously focused on developing 21st century skills using real time student and teacher data. Their goal is to provide students with experiences that will enable them to be prepared for college or other exciting career opportunities. Rankings are just one way to examine a school’s success rate, however, consumers do look at these when evaluating towns to live in. This should continue to boast Warren, Watchung, Green Brook and Long Hills home sales in the coming year.

Get the news here first!!

I have just listed a property in Greenwood Meadows development in Warren, NJ.

This brick front Colonial has so much to offer. The list price will be $1,129,000. Greenbriar Model, 5BR, 3.1 bath, 3 car garage. Front and back staircase, NEW garage doors in 2011, Hardwood floors in the LR, DR and FR. Gas Fireplace in teh 2 story family room. Conservatory! This area in Warren, NJ, Somerset County…has outperformed most of Warren Twp – as it is highly demanded.

Call me or email me for this listing BEFORE it gets listed on the MLS.

judy@weinigerhomes.com

Text me at 908-295-3913

As the weather changes, it is a perfect time to do a little reorganizing around the house. There is nothing better than having a place for everything and everything in its place. Sometimes the only way to achieve this is to sort through everything you own and start getting rid of the things that you don’t use.
If you are really serious about putting your house in order, consider having a garage sale. You get rid of all your clutter and make a little money in the process. Why not get your friends involved and make it neighborhood event. By pooling your resources with your neighbors, you will attract many more people to your garage sale.
The first step in organizing a neighborhood cleanup day or garage sale is getting your neighbors on board and setting a date and time. Get out your calendar and go door to door to find out which of your neighbors want to join in the fun. This is also the time to discuss splitting the cost of advertisement. Some of your neighbors might not want to participate because they feel they don’t have enough to sell. Offer to let them set up a table at your house. When it comes to neighborhood garage sales, the more people that are involved, the bigger your sales and attendance will be.
Once you have set the date, make sure you are allowed to have a garage sale on that day. Some cities or neighborhood associations require a permit to host a garage sale.
Start advertising your neighborhood garage sale the week before it is scheduled. Take out an ad in the paper. Post an ad on Craig’s List. Put up notices on community bulletin boards in grocery stores, libraries, and even churches. Make sure to stress that this is a multi-family garage sale. Buyers love to be able to shop five garage sales at one stop.
The night before your sale, put up poster around the neighborhood. Make sure that you take them all down when the garage sale is over. Organizing a neighborhood cleanup day or garage sale is a fun way to bring people together, get rid of clutter, and make a little money.

Many people are considering making their next home more environmentally friendly; building green is bigger than ever, with the positive impact on the environment as well as the tax breaks you can get when you make your home more energy efficient. It can be an expensive undertaking, but well worth it in the long run. Read on to learn more about the many ways you can reduce the costs related to building green.
Prior to selecting a building site, be sure to consider the different aspects that you will need to use to make your building green; a site with good solar exposure will help you to harness the sun’s powers as a source of energy. Avoid any site that has large billboards obstructing the exposure. A site that has a steady wind can assist in such energy-saving options as passive heating or cooling through ventilation. It can also open up the possibility of building a wind turbine, which is also a power source. A site on a stream or a river can become a future micro-hydro power generator as well as a potential source for drinking water.
Building green also means considering such things as the orientation of the building; you should be sure that the windows will face north or south. In southern climates, it’s important to put larger windows on the northern side, to maximize the cooler light, and minimize southern windows and also shade that window from direct sunlight. Residents of northern climates should maximize the windows on the southern side of the house to maximize the solar gain during the cold winter months.
When the time comes to choose fixtures and appliances, be sure that you’ve chosen the fixtures that will help you conserve water. It doesn’t cost any more, and it’s a great way to save money as well as remain environmentally friendly. An open design to the layout cannot only reduce the costs of construction, but it can also increase the daylight and natural ventilation as well as minimize the use of materials. Green building can be expensive, but it is rewarding.