Good morning --- You may want to read my recent post on Trulia entitleds, "For Sale By Owner". It does give you some tips to help you market your home AND it does caution you as well. You may be short changing yourself financially by not using a LOCAL realtor that really knows the market --- and can price your home not only aggressively to sell in a short amount of time --- they are well versed in the legal aspects of residential sales. Why put yourself at risk. Contact a few realtors, interview them --- and go from there! Or contact me and I will refer someone to you that knows your market well. All the best....

Dear Keith,

The Oaks at Edison is very different from Burbank CA. The Oaks at Edison http://theoaksatedison.blogspot.com/ is currrently SOLD OUT as you can see below from a local realtor.

I think it may be because Edison NJ is ranked #35 of Top 100 Best Places to Live in America by CNN Money Magazine. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2008/snapshot…

Also, I believe S has been either sold his/her unit at The Oaks or changed mine to keep it for investment.

Cheng
-----------------------------------
Subject The Oaks and The Maples, Edison
From "Sank-Davis, Anne"
Date Wednesday, February 4, 2009 7:50 am

Good morning Mr. Cheng.
There has been nothing available in either The Oaks or The Maples since my ranch unit went under contract. ....

.... Since there is nothing currently in those areas would you consider the Westgate complex http://westgatesquare.blogspot.com/ located within a mile of The Oaks and Maples? They are usually priced higher but are larger units with garage. ....

Anne

Anne Sank-Davis,SRES
Sales Associate
Sr. Real Estate Specialist
Accredited Staging Professional

Burgdorff Realtors / ERA
600 North Avenue West
Westfield, NJ 07090
(908)233-6313 Direct
(908)310-6690 Cell
(908)360-0309 MyFax

S
My question is this.
If you have to ask us what the comps are...what will happen when you have another question. Post it again?

S, you might be able to sell on your own. 10% of sellers do. However 87% (NAR Survey) list with a professional.

So, my suggestion is to interview a few REaltors, try it on your own. If it does not work, then you can move to plan B.

Good luck.

2408 Timber Oaks Rd, Edison, NJ 08820 2br 2ba condo at The Oaks just sold under attorney review at $309,000 ... 1-25-09

1603 Timber Oaks Rd Edison NJ 08820 2br 1hba Townhouse at The Oaks near Metropark Train Station is now sold and closed. just fyi.

Yeh! we are going to have celebration party at PNC Bank on Stelton Road Piscataway, NJ 08854 as you can click to see http://maps.google.com/maps?client=opera&q=1068+Stelton+… It was YNB Bank before, now PNC (Google Map is outdated!)

Come join us on 9-13-08 11am to 3pm with wonderful lunch, chat with business people, Rotary Club members, BBB, owners, top realtors, mortgage VP's ...etc. Open an account get $100 gas card. Say hello to Branch Manager Karen, and she will also share with you how she sold her house at 19 Kent St and build a brand new mension taking advantage of great mortgage rate!!!

Trulia Realtors, buyers, sellers, mortgage bankers ...etc all welcome! We are gonig to have a great time, great food, drink, gifts ...etc and we going to have many more homes sold and bought after that ...

1603 Timber Oaks Rd 2br 1hba Townhouse just sold under attorney review at $309,000 8-27-08 http://theoaksatedison.blogspot.com/2008/08/oaks-at-edison-n…

2105 Timber Oaks Rd 2br 2hba Townhouse just Sold under attorney review at $309,000 8-14-08 http://theoaksatedison.blogspot.com/2008/07/oaks-at-edison_14.html

interested in buying.I am looking a town home in north Edison.It has all the req which i want. So if you like to provide the details please email. manil12332@yahoo.com

Cheng, email me at condoking@marivicrealty.com I have some news that may be of interest to you. Sorry but there is no email address available in your profile so I had to place this post here.

I am planning to buy a Townhome in Edison. I would be interested to look at your Townhome, if you are planning to sell. Call me on 201-830-1595.

Sethi

Let me repeat, one reason that Trulia is much better than realtor.com is because Trulia has nice forum like this one, and USA Today agrees with me that realtor.com lost 10% of visitors, whereas Trulia increase 168% in 2007, and you shall see more in 2008.

I almost send email to each and every listing agents in realtor.com "if there is an email address", but as you can verify for yourself, many listing agents do NOT want to be contacted by email, and no email address provided, many has a bogus email address, and some has always respond by an automated generated response.

As a licensed realtor, Mary, you have no obligation to defend for realtor.com Basically, they are outdated, and need to improve to provide the necessary services that millions of buyers needed to be able to buy their dream home. From my expert experience, I feel, current real estate situation partyly caused by realtor.com and many realtors playing phone tags and hide and seek, so anxious first time buyers could not buy their dream home at the first place, and move up buyers could not sell their condo/townhouse to move up to buy bigger home.

For most of your questions about how I am so knowledgable on current market, you can just go to realtor.com to send email to each and every listing agent, and you will get the first hand info. Every listing agent, if willing to help buyers, they will tell you if their listing is sold or available.

This is another reason I said realtor.com is hard to use. Why can't you just post a status at realtor.com such as A,AR,U or C, rather you want buyers to send email to ask or call to play hide and seek? Many buyers see lots of listing in realtor.com, but there are many duplicates, some I even found the same home listing as many as 4 times!!! So when new users of realtors, they saw the count, they saw an inflated number of listing.

Besides, many listing have been sold and unavailable. In your mind, sold and under attorney review is not sold, but in buyers' mind, it is gone and not want to waste time on it. Why dating with someone already plan to marry? Sure, legally, it is not yet marry, but why bother?

I am not here to argue with you, but I got first hand statistics to show you how hard to use realtor.com On the other hand, now they start to show the address off listing, and that's good move, so that buyers can find driving directions to train, to mall, to school ...etc. But, they far from good, not to mention compare with Trulia.

For example, can realtor.com answer question like "which townhouse go to JP Steves High?" or "which condo community can walk to train" ...etc. If all these basic questions can not be answered by realtor.com I believe it will keep losing visitors ... and they will come to ask at Trulia.com ...

And, that's why more and more licensed realtors come to answer questions on Trulia.com ...

OK,
First of all, all I meant was that I have no problem with you promoting another realtor's abilities. However, I do think just as Realtors are REQUIRED to say in ANY advertising of other agents listings "offered by Prudential" or "Offered by Mary Petti", you should at least give credit to the LISTING agent even if you promote another agent to try to help sell it. ANY agent who lists a house has as their primary goal... getting it SOLD. That's why when we list it in the MLS and cooperate with other agencies. we get EXPOSURE and a larger buyer base/ selling agent pool to get the house sold.

You also said in one of your posts (I am going to follow Victors lead on this):
CHENG:
Can buyer ask question on MLS? or Realtor.com? or Craigslist? ... no! Even if some buyers asked questions on city-data, they would not get as detailed info about Edison and Piscataway and Metuchen ...etc. Why? Because I do not post on city-data. Moderators there are less professional like Trulia, and they are very bias and ethnics discriminate as many told me.

MARY
While you may not be able to ask questions in a forum like Trulia on Craigs list or Realtor.com, anyone can email an agent from those sites (as long as the agent provides their email address) and ask a question. I know I get many emails from potential clients and am always happy to provide information on the market, etc. the same as I do on Trulia.

CHENG:
Dear Mary, the word "sold" buyers use is very different from the word "sold" licensed realtor used. e.g. a pretty girl already sleep with another man, in Chinese we think the girl is to be married with that man, but Americans may think, no, it is not leagally married. In computer science, it is called "overloading", meaning a word mean differently in different context. Somehow, all buyers I asked, they have absolutely NO problem understand the English, e.g.

MARY:
YES a word has different meanings in different contexts. In this case and once and for all, in the REAL ESTATE CONTEXT, nothing is "sold" until it closes. As a matter of fact, you routinely post listing statistics from the MLS. When whom ever is sending them to you looks them up, the actual listing reflects the "C" or closed status, even though they search for "sold" listings.

I have seen MANY homes be in attorney review and/or under contract, only for the transaction to fall apart somewhere down the line. I have my own analogy: Just because you look at a car and like, it doesn't mean it is "sold" to you by just making a deposit on it. It is sold when you own it and pay the full price to the seller. In Real Estate, "Attorney review" means just that...."Under Contract" means just that..."SOLD" means the transaction has been finalized.
Mary

Dear Mary, to make you feel better, I removed the phrase "if you are interested in this community, please give Ching a call at 908 385-1698 (cell) as you can click to see ... http://theoaksatedison.blogspot.com/2008/07/oaks-at-edison.html

If you would like to help hundreds of first time buyers to buy The Oaks, please post your cell phone number, so that I can say "if you are interested in this community, please feel free to give Mary a call at ..."

Frankly Speaking, Ching won Gold Medal of MLS in both 2006 and 2007 and will be on 2008 as well; that is to say, real estate is booming in Greater Edison Area, otherwise, how could a realtor do over $10 millions of sales in a year. Hey! that's over $600,000 commission!!!

And, if you try to say her excellience performance because of Cheng's help, I am sure Victor here would definitely disagree with you. He has been tried to devalue my information, how could he agree with you? And, of course, if you call Ching, she would have absolutely NO idea what you are talking about. I know she got Gold Medal from Chinese Newspaper ads she placed, not that she told me.

But, I believe, every one got brain washed by TV news about real estate market, should give Ching a call to get the first hand fact about the real estate market in Greater Edison Area ...

Dear Mary, By the way, when I say a community is good, I do NOT promote that community; I am telling the truth based on my knowledge on that community, for the same token, when I say call a realtor for more info, I do not promote that realtor either. It could be that I just got the info from that realtor, and it is easy to trace back. The realtor may not even know that I refer my friends and colleagues buyers to them. On the other hand, my friends or colleagues may have their own realtors, so do not just go ahead to assume anything.

If you would like me to introduce your listing or any property you think is good, as long as you post here or any where I can see, and if I agree, I will place it. But, as you know, it is NOT easy to sell something not a matched. If your listing, you can not sell it, you do not count on me.

However, as real estate expert, I can tell you where your buyers could be, and if you would do some marketing there, it is very likely to find the Mr. Right.

My point is very simple, there are hundreds of thousands of buyers out there, and if you, as a listing agent, could not find the Mr. Right, then you should not blame others who could help you. In that case, you still get 50% of commission, the person helped you got nothing. Why so greedy to want 100% commission for otherwise could not sell? How do you think?

Dear Mary, the word "sold" buyers use is very different from the word "sold" licensed realtor used. e.g. a pretty girl already sleep with another man, in Chinese we think the girl is to be married with that man, but Americans may think, no, it is not leagally married. In computer science, it is called "overloading", meaning a word mean differently in different context.

Somehow, all buyers I asked, they have absolutely NO problem understand the English, e.g.

1802 Timber Oaks Rd is sold under attorney review ...

where as, licensed realtors seemed to have problem understand it.

Also, the "listing agent" has NOTHING to do with if I refer buyers to them; it has NOTHING to do with their credit or not. In fact, if I were listing agent, I would be very glad to pay no market cost, where as someone introduce my listing to his friends and colleagues.

If you or any listing agent would have issue on my introducing their listing to my colleagues and their friends, I simply do not introduce them. It happened once or twice. Think about it, if someone say you good, and you say "shut up! none of your business if I am good". I am sure that person will not say you good any more. why should?

So, don't use your real estate rules to govern the whole world. People not realtors do not understand those "internal rules". e.g. If you are working at JP Morgan Chase, you can not use Yahoo at office, but that does not mean others can not use it at their company.

Also, if you are licensed realtor, you do not need to read my blog, it is my personal blog for easy communication and helping my friends and colleagues rather than typing every time...

Yes, Trulia did sell the unit because many of my friends and colleagues I referred them to Trulia to see the info they want that I posted. Without Trulia, how can we communicate so powerfully and so effectively?

Can buyer ask question on MLS? or Realtor.com? or Craigslist? ... no! Even if some buyers asked questions on city-data, they would not get as detailed info about Edison and Piscataway and Metuchen ...etc. Why? Because I do not post on city-data. Moderators there are less professional like Trulia, and they are very bias and ethnics discriminate as many told me.

1802 Timber Oaks Rd just sold under attorney review ...

By the way, I clicked on your "blogspot" from your previous post, to check it out. The blog is only one listing (1501 Timber Oaks) and the pictures are from the MLS listing. You also mention calling Ching in that blog. I happen to know there is another realtor in the area by that name, and it is not her listing. While it is wonderful for you to promote any agent of your choice, I am not so sure the listing agent of this particular property would appreciate you using her pictures on your blog to promote another agent. The MLS has strict rules for their members which does not allow other agents to "copy and paste" pictures from another agents listing. Also, if the broker that listed the house subscribes to IDX, AGENTS are allowed to advertise another brokers listings on their websites as long as credit is given to the listing agent/agency!!! Since you are not an agent, (and I am still wondering how you get all this imformation) I am not sure how it applies to you, but I do think the listing agent should get credit for the home rather than have your blog imply it was another agents listing altogether.

Cheng, again you are almost right. This house was NOT sold by Trulia. It was listed in the Middlesex County MLS. After an open house this past Sunday, there were multiple ofers on it, and the seller took one of those offers. We will not know what is "sold" for until it closes. I really wish you would refrain from posting "sold" properties when they are merely in attorney review or under contract. And again I ask you, where are you getting this information from???

Wow! Trulia is really powerful!!!

1501 Timber Oaks Rd 2br 2hba Townhouse just sold under attorney review at $365,000 7-2-08 http://theoaksatedison.blogspot.com/2008/06/oaks-at-edison_27.html

How does the unit show?
I don't want to say presentation is everything but it makes a huge difference. I cannot tell you how many times I sold inferior model town homes and houses in comparison to others for much more money than their larger better positioned counter parts because of how well they showed / smell. Keep in mind all the senses should be taken into consideration when selling a home.

Ask yourself or better yet have a criticizing friend / impartial 3rd party come to your house as if they were a potential buyer and get their honest opinion on everything from the exterior to the interior to get feedback on everything from curb appeal & external maintenance to ringing the doorbell and walking through the house as if they were buying the home. Have them detail every little thing they find on paper and fix the obvious things that may put you off when shopping for a home.

TIP: PAINT... A Fresh Coat of Paint almost always makes a huge difference in presentation and makes the home smell newer as well. Carpeting should be steam cleaned or replaced if stained or badly worn.

http://www.realrep.com

Victor, No problem. I understand you had no ill-will. thanks for your advises -- I'm gonna try on my own for a bit and if that doesn't work then I'll hire a realtor.

As for the attached Oaks model link below.. that model seems to be an identical unit to mine except for the following:
1. Mine has 900 sq feet basement - half finished and I know that one does not - it's near me. I believe very few Oaks end unit actually has this
2. I have a 15X10 wooden Deck, that one has concrete patio.
3. That model is located in high traffic lot. Mine is in a premium lot surrounded by woods both front and back
I'll factor these in and see how it goes. Thank you

How about Comapring with Per sq price? How many sq ft the one on http://theoaksatedison.blogspot.com/ have?

There is a unit just sold under attorney review at The Oaks http://theoaksatedison.blogspot.com/ that you can calculate the P/T ratio@; i.e. the Listing Price vs the Property Tax of this unit; that's called Current Market P/T Ratio@.

After you got this ratio, you can multiply it with your own "property tax" on your tax bill, then you shall obtain a relatively objective Listing Price to be used.

Why P/T ratio@ works? It is because it is based on Property Tax which is then based on the township appraisal relative to all other properties in town, and the Sold P/T Ratio@ tells you how current market value of the town.

There was nothing meant by it to be negative, basically I wanted to see if you were in a short sale situation having trouble making your mortgage payments. Many people who find themselves in this situation are quick to shy from using an agent because they "think" they cannot afford to and at the same time settle their debt with the lender.

I understand running your comps to estimate value, I've done it for hundreds of times for banks and home sellers like yourself. You should take into consideration the market as whole and other factors that will impact pricing in this type of market. Looking to see what the neighbor sold for and noting your unit as being better for whatever reason and adding to the price because of it may not get the message out to the general public to convince THEM why THEY should pay $xxx more for your home in comparison to the others. Homes are sitting on the market, the short sale properties being sold first because they tend to offer the best prices. Like it or not that may be your competition, just be sure you factor in ALL things that affect pricing which may include, price, location, condition, amenities, updates, economy, mortgage rates, supply & demand, etc...

How may I ask do you plan to reach out to a larger buyer pool than your local realtor?

FACT: Most people who purchase from a FSBO do so knowing they can get a better deal ie: paying a lot less for the home (bargain hunters)

FACT: Realtors historically sell homes for at least 8-12% higher prices than home owners on their own.

If you would like I can supply you with help and assistance to sell on your own if that is what you wish to do. I have home seller videos that can teach you a lot, just come to my office and you can view them without being asked to list or any pressure whatsoever!

By the way are you in any hurry to sell your home due to relocation for work, purchasing another home, etc.? This is yet another factor that should play into determining your asking price.

By the way you never answered, what do you think the value of your unit is in comparison to the others and why?

This is a question; YOU should be prepared to answer to any ready, willing and able buyer.

Even an experienced appraiser’s valuation can be way off when it comes to the price you may actually get for a home. It is not an exact science, keep that in mind. The value of your home is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay coupled with what a bank estimates its value at, as long as that value is BELOW the current market value.

Ask any mortgage rep, in the current declining market appraisers will automatically reduce your estimated value by 5-20%

With all of this "NEW" knowledge none of which I've seen anyone else say, do you think the difference in structure and price of your unit compared to the highest comparable unit which has RECENTLY sold will be substantial enough to make up for the difference you may lose by over pricing it and having it sitting unsold in a declining market? If so... I wish you luck my friend and would be happy to supply you with any tips and pointers to sell your home on your own.

No harm, no fowl.... I'm far from a negative person, sorry if I came off that way. Maybe a little sarcastic at times but hey, my family, friends and past clients all love me so I gotta be doing something right. ;-)

Victor,
Yes, I'm trying to cut selling cost by selling it on my own first - wasn't that obvious from my question and you shouldn't put it so negatively as if I'm trying to strech last dime. As far as I remember, I'm not the only one who's trying to do FSBO and my unit is in fact rare so I was trying to get a fair assessment from everyone's perspectives so I don't risk misprice my unit. Isn't that the due diligence I need to do before I price my unit? I appreciate very much the comments from other realtors who helped answering my question by giving me history of sales or recommending a professional appraiser. thanks.

Realtor will take 5-6% as Commision and If you rightly Price your Property, one can sell Quickly too.

Sounds like your trying to stretch out every last dime out of this unit, is that true?
How much "More" do you think your "Rare" unit is valued in comparison?
You surely must have a figure in mind that your looking for confirmation about, True?

I guess the proper answer here would be to contact an appraiser or your friendly local realtor and get a cma done, just looking at comps won't give you the proper pricing, you also need the experience of an agent who has seen many of these properties and can also compare condition of the units.

You can have two exact same units sell for different prices due to the smallest things like smell, something the current home owner is already desensitized to or the musty smell in the basement, perhaps the condition of the hardwood flooring or carpeting, maybe the window sills have badly aged or the thermal pane windows are foggy, perhaps the paint looks dirty or just not new in comparison to other units. Experience does count, keep in mind many agents even ones that have been around for a while are not good at pricing homes. Pathetic but true, however marketing factors make the job even more difficult for an agent that does know what they are doing when it comes to pricing real estate.

Note there is no emotional description of real estate from me here, that is because an agent can make that separation which a home owner 99.8% of the time cannot... in addition a real estate agent "can" have access to a huge buyer pool which home sellers do not.

FACT: Homes sold by Realtors are sold faster and at higher prices than by FSBO's (For Sale By Owners)

Note: if you are not using an agent because you think you cannot afford one and thus trying to squeeze every last penny out of the sale, the price you save on not paying a realtor a commission will be more than made up for in the price difference a realtor can sell your house for vs. you can yourself. At least speaking based of statistics gathered and reported by NAR. I understanding trying to get all you can from the sale of your property however depending on your financial situation, need timeline and urgency to move are all factors that will play in the sale of your home, maybe in a sellers market that strategy "could" work, but probably not.

Note again, because you leave you home on the market longer does not mean it will sell for more just because you have time to wait it out. Nobody can tell you how much your home will be worth tomorrow!

If having financial difficulties an realtor experienced with short sales can be work with your bank to help sell your home for less than you owe the bank and you will not be taxed for the forgiven amount as income, at least if you did not do a cash out refi... You can thank President Bush for that little Gem!

Good luck in your home selling endeavor...

Send me layout and Asking price.
Thanks
aaron_desai@hotmail.com

What happens if appraiser gives you some vale and You don't find buyer at that time and i guess with market like this Appraiser will give you different home value after one more quarter.

Hi Home Seller,

Below are two sold units without basement at The Oaks in the last 6 months:

2606 Cricket Cr $419,000
2601 Cricket Cr $403,750

Since your home has a basement should sell for more than the two listed above. If I could assist you further, please contact me directly.

Eliza Jacome
ERA Absolute Realty
ElizaJacome@ElizaNJHomes.com
Cell: 732-690-4673

You should definitely contact a professional appraiser (they will charge you about $500-600 for this service). In the event you wanted to work with a professional real estate agent this would be included in the service plan and you would only pay if and when your home sells (you would pay the mutually agreed commission amount). Selling on your own can be a challenge but for some people who are home most of the day and have the time and budget to pay for the marketing this can be a good alternative to employing a professional.

In the event you did want to meet with a professional I would be happy to hear from you!

Joanne Strutzel
908-377-7942

What you need to do is contact an appraiser to determine the actual market value. With the unit being, as you put it, "very rare end unit" and hard to find comps, you would need the service of a professional appraiser. The research and any appropriate adjustments for differences in comparables and other data necessary for establishing the true market value, would in turn would provide you with the reliable information needed to make an informed decision.