Bob Clarke

Journal Square is without a doubt one of the up and coming neighborhoods in Jersey City. And with the general market conditions right now, it is definitely a great time to buy! What you need to do is take a close look at the numbers on any property you are looking at, and make 100% sure it makes sense as an investment.

I work with a ton of investors, and I'll be happy to give you specific advice if you want.

--Bob - Fri Jun 27 2008, 08:59

The advantage for owning a multi-family home is that you can collect rent on the apartments you are not living in and apply that toward your mortgage and other expenses for the home. There are a few disadvantages right now that have dampened sales of multifamily homes -- especially two and three-family homes. First of all, the rooms in multi-family homes tend to be a bit smaller than in single family homes. The average two family home is not twice as big as a comparable single family home, so you have more squeezed into a smaller package. The price for multi-family homes is generally higher but not twice as high as a single family home, so the rental income may very well offset the higher price. Most banks, however, will not factor in any of the rental income when qualifying you for a mortgage, and that has made it quite difficult to buy multi-family homes for many people.

If you want more info, or you want to see some properties in Hoboken or any other area for that matter, just shoot me an email at Bob@SellitWithBob.com, and I'll be happy to help.

--Bob Clarke - Mon Mar 31 2008, 09:51

Hi Deborah,

In Bergen County, I find it really doesn't make sense to compare prices in one town to another. When I help a client price a home, I only look at comparable homes in the same town.

Home prices in Cresskill have dropped a bit if you compare the past 12 months with the 12 month period prior to that (I never think it is a good idea to look at shorter time periods when trying to gague the real estate market).

The median price is down about 5%, and the average price is down 6.6% in the period described, but even more dramatic is the drop in the number of sales from 114 in 2005-06 to 82 in 2006-07 (that's a 28% drop).

However, there is one indicator that shows that the market has probably gotten through the worst of it is that the number of homes for sale has dropped off from 77 this time a year ago to 62 today (that's a 19.5% decrease in "inventory").

Certainly we are past the crazy market we had for a few years, but prices are still strong (the average price in Cresskill over the past 12 months was $930,388), and homes are still selling. You just have to price them for today's market -- not the market of a year or two ago.

If you have any questions, you can reach me by email at: Bob@SellitWithBob.com

Good luck,

--Bob Clarke - Fri May 25 2007, 14:13

Linda,
I think you are putting the cart before the horse. You will be in a much better position to buy a home if you first have your own on the market, and ideally you should have a contract on it before you make an offer on another home.
In the situation you described, you are getting yourself into a bidding war, and it is one that you really can't win. Even if you get your offer accepted, which is a real longshot if you make the offer with a contingency, you still have to sell your home before you can buy the new one. Only now, you'll be selling your home under pressure.

If you're serious about moving, put your home on the market now. You can go ahead and start looking at homes with your Realtor in the meantime, but wait until you have a contract until you actually make an offer on a home.

I've seen too many people do it the other way, and it goes a whole lot smoother when you sell first and then buy.

Good luck, and if you have any questions, you can email me at: Bob@SellitWithBob.com

--Bob - Fri May 25 2007, 13:55