http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Home_Buyer-New_Jersey-92734/The latest answers submitted by KGordon to questions asked on Trulia Voicesen-ushttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Is_it_NJ_law_to_have_a_seller_disclose_an_oil_tank-43579Answer by KGordon: Paul thanks for that very forthright answer...what a great suggestion the local construction office...since we are not ready to give up on this property yet we will try that thanks!Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:55:57 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Is_it_NJ_law_to_have_a_seller_disclose_an_oil_tank-43579Answer by KGordon: Thank you all for the advice. Jeanne that is very good to know and thank u for recognizing it as an issue especially in NJ....there are many Agents who we have spoken with who don't seem to care about this issue and how much it will cost and the fact that it has an environmental affect, etc....and the fact that it will prolong a move, date, requires another person to hire, etc, etc etc.....it is a "mess" that some are not willing to deal with....on some levels it may be a deal breaker for us...we have to sit with it and see... I am really not comprehending why these Seller's dont take care of this issue before placing their house on the market...I appreciate when they tell me upfront when I go to the open house but come on! Despite that it is a Buyer's Market, our search for a home seems to get so complicated with Seller's who are unwillingly to cooperate or don't have any info. on their home in the disclosure statement...it baffles me because myself and my wife are quite thorough and want to make sure what we are getting into before we buy any property. So we do whatever it takes to be educated and get more and more info. to protect ourselves and the property we want to invest in.....Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:06:08 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Is_it_NJ_law_to_have_a_seller_disclose_an_oil_tank-43579Answer by KGordon: Peter, thank you for the suggestions. We ofcourse don't want to move forward without knowing this information, but we were told we should hire someone to look for one because the sellers don't know. Again, I find this hard to believe since they bought the home in 2000 from someone else. One would think they would have answered this question with their Home Inspection. So is it possible to ask them to reveal their Home Inspection to us?Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:29:12 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Market_Conditions/What_is_the_median_VALUE_of_a_home_in_Bloomfield_-42757Answer by KGordon: Jeffrey, you are right about life plan/time frame issues...they come and go regardless of how the market is or if someone is calling it distressed or not...people do want to buy even in Markets that aren't ideal....you do have to hope you make the right decisions....and then go along for the ride....so Thank You for all your thoughts....it helps us to feel comfortable about Essex as a possibility.... As far as NonRealtor's suggestion...thank you for your opinion/suggestion, but Buying/Renting is not that simplistic ...everyone buys/rents for different reasons and personally we would rather buy...we have our own personal reasons and we will be smart and find the right home at the right price....Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:42:13 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Market_Conditions/What_is_the_median_VALUE_of_a_home_in_Bloomfield_-42757Answer by KGordon: Also, Jeffrey this link you posted is very helpful.... http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/markets/son200...Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:41:51 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Market_Conditions/What_is_the_median_VALUE_of_a_home_in_Bloomfield_-42757Answer by KGordon: First, thank you all for the advise/input....it is important to know that the biggest investment we will be making will be a wise one from the get-go....we thought we liked Bloomfield because of the proximity to things in NJ plus good transpo to NYC...and we can't afford the high prices of other areas...that being said....we are not sure now since our lender told us it is a "distressed" area.... Jeffrey, I pulled the original question because I thought I could be more succinct, therefore, posed this one....thanks for the suggestions of houses in the area but the Hawthorne house does not appeal to us and we feel it is priced too high for what it offers....we drove by the whittle house and it is on a very odd corner and didn't go in because of it...a yard is important to us... but getting back to the posed question...the lender told us there were only 4 counties that weren't distressed....and one is Bergen county...so we will be looking there now too... Jeffrey, we have children on the way and we have to make sure we are making a good investment....so any other thoughts you have for Bloomfield would be appreciated....like I said we thought we would buy there and now we are backing away because of our lender.... Lastly, as far as committing to a particular Realtor...we have interviewed/met with and discussed with several...we haven't signed on with one in particular...not only are we looking for a very good agent who will rep us as BUYERS but also we need to be sure which county we will be using before we commit to anyone....and not all Realtors are experts in all counties...Thanks Again....Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:21:17 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Market_Conditions/What_is_the_median_VALUE_of_a_home_in_Bloomfield_-42757Answer by KGordon: So does this mean if we buy there we are making a mistake and our property won't come up in value?Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:55:52 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Where_can_you_find_a_good_Home_Inspector_What_sh-42525Answer by KGordon: Thank you Gina and Joan for the referrals...Also, John you say they leave a can in the basement...what if there are people currently living in the home?Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:08:14 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Where_can_you_find_a_good_Home_Inspector_What_sh-42525Answer by KGordon: We are looking in northern NJ...Sun, 22 Jun 2008 09:49:27 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Can_someone_explain_the_difference_between_an_excl-41727Answer by KGordon: My what a spirited debate this question has turned into...I thank you all for your responses, but as you can see, as the consumer looking to buy, it can get very confusing with the differing opinions. Also, in my meeting and greetings with Agents....they are all not equal. We have met some good and some bad...some are quite motivated and some honestly seem to care less....and some could care less about the 'hand holding" that has been mentioned. Which by the way we do look for all these things in a Realtor. Furthermore, so far I was never told I don't have to hire an attorney. So thank you for that information...although if my investment is at minimum 400K, I certainly would want to be legally protected... At the end of the day I do believe most Realtors work very hard....for if they don't they cannot be successful. That being said any streamlining in the industry to make the process work better would be MUCH appreciated for the consumer. So again, thank you all for your responses all the information is much appreciated....we learn more everyday!Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:14:07 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Can_someone_explain_the_difference_between_an_excl-41727Answer by KGordon: Thank you Kenneth for the link you sent to the Consumer Info.....Wow, this is quite a confusing topic...I mean it seems the best thing is to get a Buyers Agent, but that doesn't always happen...it seems in NJ, many many people use dual agents.... Why is there a lack of Buyers Agents?...or maybe we haven't looked hard enough....Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:17:04 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Can_someone_explain_the_difference_between_an_excl-41727Answer by KGordon: Thank you for all the answers...it seems we will look for a Buyers Agent...but for sake of argument....despite the fact that I understand the legalalities and all....wouldn't one think that even if someone was a dual agent they would still want to do the right thing to make the sale go through as well as have a smooth and happy tranistion between Buyer and Seller....Furthermore, anyone can be a Buyer one day and a Seller the next...if you make enemies or play games, etc. as a dual you certainly ruin your business in the future...no one will refer or use you when they sell....you have to have good business sense....Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:03:32 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/removed-40094Answer by KGordon: Thanks for the suggestion we will have to take a look at the house on Whittle....Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:58:19 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/removed-40094Answer by KGordon: HI All...we did some research and also wanted to point out that "do-it-yourself-ers" on average can put a single car garage in for 4000K....(contractors.com) we are a young couple but not that skilled... so upon hiring someone it will be on average 8,400 to 10,800K and up again only for a single car... a 2 car can be 13,300 to 17,100 (askthebuilder.com)...so I guess as a young couple this "added" expense indicates to us that this house is priced too high...so unfortunately for us we cannot afford that expense....Sun, 8 Jun 2008 09:11:44 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/removed-40094Answer by KGordon: Thank you for all your answers...I understand your responses and do appreciate them...however on the East Coast I think we would like a garage....so we are going to look at other properties, but we will keep it on "our list' ....thanks again....Sun, 8 Jun 2008 08:50:40 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Do_you_think_essex_county_is_a_better_value_than_p-39949Answer by KGordon: Thank you for your answers I will check out your website.Fri, 6 Jun 2008 21:20:37 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Do_you_think_essex_county_is_a_better_value_than_p-39949Answer by KGordon: I understand about higher taxes, but shouldn't higher taxes mean a better area? I guess I should reword my question to say, what is a better investment? Where will I see top dollar on return if I have to resell in a few years?Fri, 6 Jun 2008 18:18:01 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/A_home_is_K_and_needs_work_what_is_a_good_offer_-32993Answer by KGordon: Thank you all for your input it really helps. We are just worried now because we are afraid if we go back to the seller's agent who won't put in our offer and ask her to cancel our obligation if we really even have one..that somehow she will have influence in rejecting our offer through another real estate agent? Could she sabotage our offer because she didn't like it or because she is angry? We definately need to find an agent ourselves but we feel as though we are in a "catch 22."Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:56:27 PDThttp://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/A_home_is_K_and_needs_work_what_is_a_good_offer_-32993Answer by KGordon: Gina, other comps in the area are 389K, 399K 415K...so they go up and down. The house btw is in northern NJ...the problem is the realtor thinks 379K is too low and won't submit on our behalf...she made us do all the paperwork, etc...then asked what we'd offer and then said she wouldn't put it through...we were hesitant to have her as the realtor because she is dual representing...so should we ask her to cancel any obligation we may have and get a realtor who will show the seller our offer?Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:38:59 PDT