Hi Ellen,

I would say that if your home is priced right, in this market it takes about 90 days to sell. You don't want to price your home too low or you will be selling yourself short. You don't want to price it too high or it will not sell. Because many buyers are making offers much lower than asking price you will need to have a negotiating cushion. Price your home right, have a little patience and be willing to negotiate. I hope this information is helpful to you. Good Luck!

Sun Feb 10 2008, 20:26

I do not claim to have intimate knowledge of East Brunswick or Edison regarding inventory & which communities are facing more demand than supply.

But in West Windsor Plainsboro, there are buyers who ARE waiting for listings.........we haven't had new listings for more than a month...month & a half now....at least in the $500-$600K range

I rest my case regarding the importance of knowing an area intimately & working with a local realtor.

And regarding the personal attacks ,use of unprofessional language & obvious anger management issues, good luck to buyers & sellers dealing with such an agent.

Thu Dec 27 2007, 12:09

Tell me why Edison Manor townhouse community has been SOLD OUT? In fact, I got more than 4 buyers living at Edison Hollow South waiting to buy townhouses at Edison Manor. If you do not believe, try to do your MLS homework, and hopefully you can get some townhouses at Edison Manors listing. Who knows, may be some move up buyers want to buy nice house from you at East Brunswick or WWP...

Thu Dec 27 2007, 00:52

Lets go back to the beginning here for a moment.. ANY realtor that says they have 4 buyers waiting for homes to come available.. is living in fairlyland. That is one of the worst lines in the busines and is typically used by agents that are in the maligned grouping that you talk about. What nonsense.

Any listing that comes on the market, if it is a nice house, updated, in a good area and priced right will sell.

Take it for what it is folks.

Oh, by the way.. I may was well try it too.. I have 9 buyers waiting to buy houses.. all willing to pay over asking price! Sound like a crock? It is.

Wed Dec 26 2007, 20:47

One or two weeks, if you follow what I posted earlier. The key is that you get out the neighborhood SOLD info, i.e. A, AR, U and C info and price and address, then your property would be sold very quickly. If you are selling your condo/townhouse at WWP area, be warned that after you sold your condo/townhouse in one or two weeks, the buyer may want to close in 4 or 5 weeks, so you would be pushed to your condo/townhouse and get NOHING to move to as rental is so hot in the area, and you better have a bigger home you want ready to move up. Why is that?

Since at current first time buyer market, ever move up buyer seem to want to sell their $300k to $400k condo/townhouse BEFORE looking for bigger house to move in, say, $600k to $900k, but in the mean time, move up buyer of $600 to $900k, may also waiting to sell their house in order to move to their dream million dollar house. So, you got a "domino effect" to push.

The first time buyer buying condo/townhouse due to the fact their rent hike, and they need to move to your condo/townhouse in 4 or 5 weeks before their 60 day rental renew notice expired. So, be warned.

Wed Dec 26 2007, 19:22

Actually knowledge of financing is relevant in being able to protect seller interests in terms of the offer being presented.
Financing is the number 1 reason for transactions failing to close & that can cost the seller lost time & money.
Also, I worked with 9-10 buyers this year .......in West Windsor Plainsboro & the Greater princeton area.........none of them began their search or finalized on a home because of print advertising or brochures.

These are tools that listing agents use to impress sellers to obtain listings.

And the goal is for the BUYER to contact the listing agent regarding the property in question.......that SHOULD be the impact of ANY & all advertising.

It is important for sellers to know that real estate is changing & different from the traditional model of passivity.

The reality is that today's buyer is proactive & smart & educated and empowered with the knowledge regarding schools & demographics, areas etc. ........They also realize the importance of working with a good LOCAL agent

After all Real estate is LOCAL !

Lastly, this forum is educational in it's purpose & I hope my posts have helped the original poster in some way.
As a successful realtor confident in her abilities, I am not here to oust anyone, trying to obtain business.

The image of Realotrs among the general public is so maligned that I sought from the start of my career to distinguish myself from the bad apples and also fnd a way to educate buyers & sellers of the many practices that are not always in their best favor.

Trulia is a great forum to do so & I hope it continues to grow awareness.

There ARE Realtors who might actaully prefer it that way ;-)

Tue Dec 25 2007, 21:11

Sorry, although you like to make long winded statements irrelavent to questions asked, smoke and mirrors will not sell a home. Indepth knowledge of financing will not sell a home, strong negotiating skills, although valuable at the time of any offer are useless unless you can bring a buyer to the home.

That is why an agent like me can attract buyers with advertising and various marketing techniques are successful. You can talk until you are blue in the face about financing, but, unless you have attracted someone to listen.. what is the difference? Financing is not even a discussion until someone walks in the door and has interest in making an offer.

That is where I flourish. I contact people that are looking to buy homes. The silly statement of looking past the glossy brochures and advertising is just that, silly.

If you came to my house and said well I can get financing for a buyer and can "work with them to buy your home because I can arrange creative financing for them" and followed it up with "I can negotiate the best possible price for your home".. I would want to know HOW you can attract that buyer to seduce them with your magic financing and negotiating skills.

Then I would say thank you and call another realtor.

Tue Dec 25 2007, 19:45

I believe the question regarding avg time period to sell a home in WWP was answered in my post.

And sold comps in this shifting market have been an inconclusive way to address days on market .

The days on market are directly related to price, beyond other factors.

And my strength in selling properties as a buyer's agent have had a direct impact on my being able to price a home correctly for a seller.
Agents who primarily list homes have are not aware of current buyer mindset.

So yes, while a realtor CAN both list & sell homes, their experience & strength as one more than the other is very relevant for a seller in this market.

As a local realtor I know I have already addressed the question, but am not going to give away strategies on this board.
To the original poster- if you are thinking of selling your home. please interview 3 agents who have an indvidual internet presence & who have worked successfully with a majority of buyers in their recent transactoins. They should also be able to demonstrate an indepth knowledge of financing & very strong negotiating skills. This also means that they have an indepth knowledge of local inventory & homes ...........not just as comparables off the MLS.........
References a must & look past the glossy brochures & advertising.
Good luck.

Tue Dec 25 2007, 19:08

It seems that no one is paying attention to what this person asked.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think the question asked is related to market time. The answer below about the a, ar & closed status is off the mark. Any home seller can contact a realtor and have a CMA done which would included all of those items mentioned, and the key factor here is what is closed.. meaning what is sold, and how many days it is on the market. Now, an educated realtor can come and look at the house and accurately compare this possible listing and the others that are on the market, in attorney review and closed.

In NJ we are all listing and buyer agents. Let's pay attention to the questions.

Tue Dec 25 2007, 14:50

This is not a market for buyers to be working on their own & buyers, being smart & educated, know the benefits of working with a godd buyer's agent; as they have nothing to lose.

In West Windsor Plainsboro , buyers are mostly working with agents

And a smart agent is already showing them the current listings that are active, & available, under contract & those recently sold.
BTW, if a buyer is not motivated & ready to take action , showing them recent comparables is an ineffective way of trying to get them to do so.
Comparables are educative in purpose as they may reflect current market activity but beyond that it is upto the buyer to decide if the home they are considering is the one for them.

And the agent they are working with is key to helping them understand current & future trends in terms of inventory & pricing.

On another note, sellers need to pay special attention to the buyer's financing & in a for sale by owner / unrepresented buyer situation, this may become the biggest loophole of the transaction.

In the current mortgage crisis, the value of a buyer represented by a realtor who has trusted financing resources to take the transaction to closing successfully, should not be taken lightly.

Tue Dec 25 2007, 10:33

If you obtain a list of comparable homes with A,AR,U and C status, and post each sold units on to craigslist.org, your home would be sold within a week or two for sure. There are many buyers out there, but, for some reason, realtors not posting sold info timely, but just for sale info, and buyers are wasting lots of time doing "guess work". If they see your neighborhood and same price range, they will take quick buy action ... This is true for more than just WWP.

Tue Dec 25 2007, 01:53

My listing in September of an older home in a desirable neighborhood was received in 2 days !


I meant that an offer was received within 2 days of the property being listed, .........

Mon Dec 24 2007, 15:33

Hi Ellen,
You mentioned " new town center" ....if you meant Plainsboro Village Center, then your homes is pretty new.

The degree of saleability depends on a combination of factors - age, basement or not & a few others
Newer homes with basements are selling fairly quickly as are ones that have been updated.
Our absorbtion rate for such homes is NOT 4-6 months.
I keep saying this over & over but WWP is not like other areas .

It is a micro market in itself & I can say this with confidence having worked in this area as a specialist buying & selling homes.

My listing in September of an older home in a desirable neighborhood was received in 2 days !

So if you talk to an out of area realtor unfamiliar with inventory & what is selling & what is not, the answers you may get on days on market will be academic .

That being said, I have at least 4 buyers waiting for listings & you can review my wish-list on my blog at http://wwww.PrincetonRealEstateBlog.com
or gotohttp:// www.SoldByShalu.com & click on 'Real Estate Blog"

There are defenitely buyers out there right now.........the healthy Wall Street bonuses boosting their financial abilities to make a purchase decision possible.

For specific questions please email or call .
Have a wonderful Holiday Season. !

Mon Dec 24 2007, 15:30

The current absorption rate is 4-6 months.

I (or any other realtor) would need to seee your home to do a more indepth CMA for you.
Like anything else, if your home is in a desirable area, updated and has curb appeal and of course priced correctly the market time could be less.

Email me with soe particulars about your home so I can do a comparison of what is ont he market and I will be able to give you a better view.

JSacktig@orangekeyrealty.com

https://www.orangekleyrealty.com
Buyers are out there!

Mon Dec 24 2007, 14:49