Are you still looking? This seems to have been posted back in Feb. I agree with the previous answer concerning the age of the property.
I've seen slightly older homes with new kitchens, baths, siding, windows. Do you have children in school? Is that why you prefer North Edison? When would you like to be in your new home? Do you have a property to sell? I would be happy to help you. You can reach me at karemoha@hotmail.com. Thank You.

Your criteria of 1990-present limits your choices dramatically. A large number of developments in North Edison were built between 1960 and 1988. I'm not sure why 1990 is a magic number, but it is not indicative of better construction. Older homes are frequently built better (cured lumber, skilled craftsmen...). Additionally, and more importantly, the most expensive maintenance items (roof, furnace, A/C) typically last about 20 years. Given a 1990-1992 home, these will need to be replaced now or soon (at a cost of $5-$10,000 each). On the other hand, a home built in 1980 may have been updated and be many years away from expensive maintenance.

As Mary suggested, you may want to look at some "older" homes that have been updated. Keep in mind that Middlesex county has homes that are 150+ years old and some communities (Highland Park and Metuchen included) have many homes that were built in the early 1900's.

Feel free to contact me for more information. I don't make money for referrals, just my inspections.

Rafi Footerman
Mid Jersey Inspections
732-906-4100
NJ Home Inspector Lic. #076900

Edison Homebuyer are you looking for single family home which is a Fee Simple type of ownership and typically a detached home style or are you looking for something like Vijay suggests, a town home style construction which tend to be Condominium type ownership requiring membership in an association and paying of dues?

Hi, We are thinking of selling our town home with 2 bedroom/2.5 bath and loft. Please contact me at nrvj@yahoo.com for more details.

Mary,
I read the article and I found it funny.
His main argument for higher home prices is inflation.
Inflation is the worst thing that can happen to housing considering the affect it is going to have on interest rates.

your own NAR economist David Lereah wrote whole books on why home prices will raise for ever and now he says that he did it under pressure from his employers.
I stopped taking any published news article for granted long back.
If you are really betting on inflation, you are better of investing in gold or oil but not homes which suck money out of your year in and year out.

i thought you were responding to Karens post, which was right before yours. If i assumed incorrectly mea culpa and I apologize.
:)

UMMM did YOU notice that my response was to a different post?

UMMM did you notice that the house is a foreclosure and the agent didn't post WHERE the house is located?

Yeah, agreed. I think even $450's are a little too high for North Edison. The market is still correcting itself and we are yet to hit the realistic levels there.

My agency, ERA Statewide Realty, deals with bank-owned foreclosures in all of New Jersey. We have a split level with 4 bedrooms and 2 and 1/2 baths available for $299,900. If you would like more information on this property, please feel free to contact me.

Also here's an interesting article. Long but worth reading;

http://rismedia.com/2009-02-19/commentary-house-prices-will-…

To answer the question yes and no. The MLS gives me access to tax records for individual homes (addresses), so if there was a previous sale within the last 5 years, the info would be available to me. However there are a few sites, that, given a specific address, can tell you what it sold for if it's longer than 5 years.

This site gives some detail about Edison. Notice that if you bought a home in 2000, the 2007 value was +101%.
http://www.starledger.com/str/indexpage/homesales/salestown.asp

Here is another interesting web site with more stats for Edison in total

http://www.city-data.com/city/Edison-New-Jersey.html

And here is the info for 08820 specifically. There is TONS of info about the town on this page.

http://www.city-data.com/real-estate/EDISON-NJ-08820.html
(notice that the median price for Quarter I in 2003 was about $375K and the median price for Quarter IV in 2008 was about $475K)

More info from this page,Edison compared to New Jersey state average:

Median household income above state average.
Median house value significantly above state average

Just as a side note, I do know from county tax records that the house I bought in 1996 was purchased at 4.5X MORE than the previous owners paid in 1976, and that my house 12 years later is worth almost double what I paid for it.

Mary,
WOW you really have all the stats at your finger tips.
Is it possible for you to provide case-shiller type of price stats?
That is compare the home price to previous sale of the same home?

Your most recent post says:
"(I found) a few homes listed around $450K that were 1980 or newer in North Edison. So I guess the prices have already started falling?"

First of all, I never said there were NO homes built after 1990 around $450K, that was not your question. I said that MOST homes built after 1990 were not in the $375K range, THAT was your initial question. And I gave you information based on homes built after 1990 as proof of that.

Actually there are 24 homes built between 1980-1990 in 08820 with list prices from $350K (an attached, 3 BR, 2 bath,1 car garage, no basement ranch in Woodbrook) to $699K (a 4 bedroom 2 bath 2 car garage, finished basement colonial).
Of the 24, three ARE under $400K. All are ranches, all have 2 baths, all have no basement, and listed at $350,000 $379,900 and $384,900 respectively. The next house is listed at $425K. Clearly proof of my previous statement that few homes built after 1990 are under $375K.

There are now 44 listings (1 more than my previous post) in 08820 built AFTER 1990, with list prices from $539K to $1.8 million. Clearly proof of my previous statment that MOST homes built after 1990 are not in the $375K range.

There were 5 closings since December of homes built AFTER 1990 in North Edison. SALE prices were between $555K and $720K. Two had price reductions and even with those reductions the average days on the market was 48 days. Clearly proof of my previous statement that there are few homes buit after 1990 in the $375K range.

There were 6 closings since December of homes built between 1980-1990 in North Edison. SALE prices were $308, $335, $339, (all three were ranch homes) $480, $530, $625 K respectively (all were 2 stoy homes). One sold AT list (no price changes and was not previously listed) and one sold OVER list (also no price changes nor was it previously listed). The rest were at about 96% of list.

AVG sale price ALL of Edison:
January 2009 $453K
December 2008 $426K
November 2008 $439K
October 2008 $416K
September 2008 $463K
August 2008 $442K
July 2008 $437K

So your statement that prices are falling based on a few listings which don't meet the "norm" is incorrect.

yah. falling. but still too high if you ask me. my best guess is, they need to and they will fall further. currently you can bargain about 10% less than whatever is listed price.

OK, I understand there aren't too many 1990 or newer houses. I started looking a little further and found a few homes listed around $450K that were 1980 or newer in North Edison. So I guess the prices have already started falling?

home shopper,

being minority is not so bad considering that in market majority always loses and minority profits else there wouldn't be so few rich people :)

also math degree is not prerequisite to feel the pinch of mortgage and tax bills coming in the mail for vacant house :)

Sak,
I agree with most of what you say, but I think we are in a minority. Nothing wrong with that though.
But, I do not agree that sellers will run out of patience. That is because most of the sellers don't understand the math. So, they will hold on for ever hoping to make slight profit in nominal terms, while in fact they are loosing big time in real terms. Most of the real estate brokers don't understand the math, so, I am not surprised, that home owners don't understand it. So, I might rent for ever, particularly, when I am at an advantage.

I work in IT in Financial services. 95% of my friends/family work in IT and 80% of them work in Financial services. Guess what, the 15% that do not work in Financial Services make 30 to 40% less money and can't afford to buy a place anyway. some of them got sucked into buying at the top feeling peer pressure. I feel sorry for them, but life is not fair.

home shopper,

you are right. none of the fundamentals such as rent/price ratio, price/income ratio, inflation adjustment ect. justify current prices. north edison houses which were selling in the range of 250K in 2000 are selling for 500K now which doesn't make much sense.

but prices are not fixed by fundamentals. all brokers, assessors etc. are trained/mandated to determine prices based on recent comparable sales. so initially they are fixed that way. then when house doesn't sell they reduce it in steps. nothing wrong in this. i will do the same if i was seller. this process almost guarantees that the market will come down only very slowly. and they are coming down. buyers need to have lot of patience.

buyers need to hold conviction and wait. as you already know buying at current prices makes no financial sense. we are putting whole family's financial security at risk by buying at these prices. risking to lose home at slightest trouble such as job loss for few months, is not how american dream is supposed to work.

there is good chance that prices will attain sane levels. as mary pointed out most of the buyers are from IT. and as you might know most of the IT jobs in this area are offered by financial sector. so there is going to be heavy job loss in IT. also new jobs are coming at 30% lower salaries. in some cases they are cutting salaries of existing employees by 20-30% as well.

following are few more useful thoughts...

1. buyers can wait forever while sellers patience is limited because he is losing mortgage payments, taxes, maintenance each month it doesn't sell
2. I ignore the usual line given that "you are losing all the rent you are paying while when you buy house you pay that money to yourself." that doesn't make any sense. large part of rent pays for taxes, maintenance etc. and large part of mortgage pays for interest on the loan.
3. I don't worry about interest rate going up. when it does go up, price adjust downward to compensate. so no worries here.
4. I don't worry that houses will be sold out. there is turnover of more than 10% and north edison has thousands of houses. do your math. so many houses have to come to market every year. so no need to worry about being sold out.
5. statistics can be deceiving. I observe market myself and draw my own conclusions. For example average price going up doesn’t mean market improving. It just means higher range houses got sold. For all you know those houses had most price reductions hence market actually went down but average price will deceptively go up.
6. I don’t take time pressure or peer pressure. There is no need to buy now or ever. Nothing wrong in renting. I will buy only if I can buy at right and safe price. IMO There is much more intelligence in living stress free life than trying to make money with home appreciation.

good luck with getting good house at safe price one day.

No i agree with you that if the market continues to perform poorly it will delay home purchases, and probably will cause, at a minimum, a stalling of property prices.
I dont agree that the financial sector makes up a majority of the residents . I have friends who are everything from attorneys to commercial painters, people owing their own beverage distributorship, scrap metal reclamation, electricians, carpenters, etc. and they all live in the area.
As a Realtor I can tell you that a majority of my buyers are in IT, in all sectors, not just in banking/finance. Their "wealth" may be tied into the stock market, (options/personal investment) but their jobs often are not. We have a lot of science people in Edison as well. Great mix of demographics.

Glad to have a reasonable conversation with someone who can agree to disagree :)

Mary,
I think you got my point and thanks for digging up all the numbers. I don't disagree with them.
I am a strong believer that, Stock market may get irrational from time to time, but when you take a 10 year chart it is a best representation of how economy is doing.
In this case the XLF chart with represents the financial sector is telling you that employment and general economic activity in this region is very bad and going to get worse.
Do you really for one moment believe that Stock market can keep going into dumpster and home prices will keep appreciating?
I guess that's where we have our biggest and only major disagreement.
Also, there could be lawyers, doctors etc.. (we all know what percentage of population they really are.)
but, when one industry provides most of the employment in a region, all the other fields also become dependent on that industry, because the bulk of their customers come from that industry.
Are you really saying that people dependent on the banking industry do not make up bulk of the home owners in this region?
I agree that it is a major transportation hub. That is the only reason I live here. But transport to where? To Wallstreet. All the other areas pale in comparison. You just need to go to any train station on a week day to see if 95% of people are going to NYC or some other region.

Maybe I missed your point.

The chart you referred to for my listing shows that since September the "Zestimate" actually went UP 8%. The 5 year shows an increase of a little more than 10%, and the 10 year shows an increase of over 100% DESPITE the boom years of 2005-2006 and the sharp decline afterwards. Locally, the average sales price in all of Edison is up from about $426K in December 2008 to $453K in January 2009.

The reason it IS a great time to buy,at least in Edison, is because of those (even slight) increases in price, (they have been steadily creeping up) combined with the interest rates still being low (and they WILL go up as soon as the stimulus package starts having an effect on our economy), and the numerous first time buyer aid plans available from both the federal and local government.

We all know that the stock market is in the dumpster compared to the high flying days of the DOW being over 10,000. I am assuming you are correlating the drop in the market (your other referenced link) with the (in)ability of people in this area to purchase homes, because somehow EVERYONE in this area works in that sector. Not so. Although there are many who do, there are an equal amount of people who work in other industries, own their own businesses, are professionals like attorneys and doctors, or are the "average" Joe making a steady paycheck. Edison has homes in price ranges to accomodate them all and they have still been buying.

If the point you were trying to make is that there aren't sufficient buyers with sufficient funds, (true loans are harder to get) , that somehow the stock market trends have a direct correlation to a majority of buyers in this area, and/or that somehow the price of a house must follow the market trend, I don't agree. You are forgetting another factor. This area is a "commuter hub" with good school districts, and those factors also affect the LOCAL home price trends as much as any other. We are fortunate that our local market is fairing up quite well compared to even neighboring towns because of all the factors combined, not just one.


Just FYI, in Edison there were 21 homes closed in January 2008 and 18 closed homes in January 2009 (fairly close numbers to be a negligible difference) so people are STILL buying at the same rate..

There are currently 17 single family homes which had signed contracts (sold) in January with varying closing dates. Only 8 were over listed over $500K, ranging from $539K to 1.299 million. The rest ranged from $199K and up.

Mary,
This is the zilow 10 year chart for the house you priced at $359K
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/charts/61834485_zpid,5year…

Now, this is the 10 year chart of the industry that provides employment to most of the people in this area directly or indirectly.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=XLF&t=my&l=on&z=…

Now you do the math. I can explain it only one way, a market disconnected with fundamentals.
It is only a matter of time before the charts sync up again.
It is called mean reversion. generally when charts revert to mean, they don't stop there.
Just some food for though for anybody that thinks that homes in this region are great bargains now.

Dear Edison homebuyer,

i am an expert in Edison, having lived here since 1983. Most homes in North Edison built after 1990 are, unfortunately, not under $375K. I just did a preliminary search. In 08820, with no parameters other than the age being 1990 or above, there are 43 houses (not including those that are still being built or age is unknown). Prices range from $539,000 to $1.7 million !! There are currently NO homes up to $375 built after 1990.

I have a WONDERFUL move in condition 3 Bedroom split in North Edison listed for $359,000. Here is the Trulia link : http://www.trulia.com/property/1074147534-205-Plainfield-Rd-…

HOWEVER, don't let the age of the house scare you. Older homes have often been upgraded (kitchens/baths/roofs/furnaces/AC units/water heaters/ etc), and even though the foundation may be older, the house affords you the amenities of a newer home.

If you want something in that price range, your best be may be a condo. Most of the complexes in North Edison were built from the mid-1980's and up and are more affordable and in your price range. Here is a link to the condos available: http://msx.mlxchange.com/Pub/EmailView.asp?r=35426531&s=…

Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any other questions

Mary

What is this, Gregory? Let's one up the agents on Trulia? Relax, man. I'm sure it wwas an honest mistake.

Anyhoo,


Edison, I would sit down with a local Realtor that can help you with your needs. There are several on here, so finding one should not be an issue.

I am a mortgage broker. If I can be of service, please let me know!

Martin Smith

Precision Funding
877-238-6324 Ext 704
513-536-7184
877-238-6324 FAX
MSmith@PrecisionFundingUSA.com
http://www.PrecisionFundingUSA.com

Yeah, he also wanted something built in 1990 or newer. How does that bungolow fit the critirea?

Hi,

My name is Hezal Patel. It's looks like you also have preference for North Edison like others. I have found homes in your prce range and also have atleast 3 br and 2bath so click on it. Let me know anything you like so i will send you more details. Below is my contact info.

http://msx.mlxchange.com/Pub/EmailView.asp?r=591137843&s…

Thank you,

Hezal Patel
Realtor Associate

Century 21 John Anthony Agency
1815 Oak Tree Road, Edison, NJ 08820
Cell: 732.692.0887
email: hezalp@gmail.com

Sak gave you good advice. You are either going to need to change your criteria or come up with more money.

getting new single family house in this area is very difficult. most of the houses are very old.

try this if you have stomach for short sales... http://www.trulia.com/property/1068085196-6-Summit-Ave-Ediso…

single family in your range is difficult at this time. you might have to wait for some more time for market to come down further.
there are some though. I found about 14 on trulia...http://www.trulia.com/for_sale/08820_zip/0-400000_price/2p_b…
all of them very old.

currently you can certainly get good townhouses in your range though. just search on trulia.

Edison, Try taking a look through these and see...http://www.nhmsi.com/ ...Hud properties for sale NJ

http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/wiki/REO_Database_List.asp ....Check the Bank property for sale sites (REO) to see what;s available. Also has links to Gov. property for sale sites...sites like theses..
http://www.countrywide.com/purchase/f_reo.asp
http://www.wamuproperties.com/
http://bankofamerica.reo.com/search/
http://www.homesteps.com/hm01_1featuresearch.htm
Good luck, Dunes