The official blog site for information about the Real Estate Market in South New Jersey and homes for sale.
I wanted to let everyone know of the great Christmas present I received this year. My grandson, Hayden.
He was born at 7PM tonight and weighed in at 6 lbs, 8 oz. He was born to my daughter and he is definitely a keeper. 
It’s that time of year when we all gather and celebrate the holidays. We and ours would like to wish you and yours a very Safe & Happy Holiday. And we hope that your New Year is as or more prosperous then the previous one.
Terry & Linda Iwaniw
Happy Holidays
The American dream can be yours and you CAN buy a home.
Owning your own home is more than just a matter of pride (but there is a lot of that), it’s also a great first step toward financial and personal security.
If you’ve never owned a home before (or if you haven’t owned one in three years), you can easily start the process of buying a home. There are many programs geared toward First Time Home Buyers.
We can help you with every step toward homeownership.
However, you might want to do some of your own research to begin the process.
1. Decide how much you can afford
The first step is to find out how much you can spend on a home. There are lots of calculators online that can help you. One great resource is ginniemae.gov. Here you can find calculators that will help you to decide whether you should buy or rent and, if you should buy, how much you can spend and how much you need to save.
For first time homeowners or people who have not owned a home in three years, there might be some public programs that will help you become of homeowner for the first time. Many states have home buying programs that help new homeowners with downpayments. We will help you determine if you qualify for a program.
2. Shop for a loan
Just as you shop for a bargain in a store, you should also shop for a good interest rate on a home loan.
Remember the higher your credit score, the lower your interest rate. Getting a high credit score is as simple as paying your bills on time, every time, for a number of months or years. You can see your credit report is once a year at annualcreditreport.com. You might have to pay extra to get your credit score, but the information can tell you a lot about what kind of home loan you qualify for. Scores of 700 or higher are considered the best.
You will have to have some sort of downpayment. The downpayment is usually 3 percent to 10 percent of the purchase price. But it is possible to make a deal without money down. We’ll discuss this with you.
3. Choose a real estate agent
We can help you find all the houses available in your price range and give you tips on how to buy and negotiate for a home. We’ll help you through all the paperwork and tell how to take each step in the process.
Remember YOU can buy a home and we can help you.
You’ve found a house you like, but want to offer a little less than the asking price. What is the best way to do it?
How an offer is made has a lot to do with the outcome:
* Sellers are more comfortable with an offer if they know the buyer is qualified and eager to close.
* A buyer’s agent can help. When the agent presents the offer in person, the seller can ask questions that could lead to a favorable decision.
* A real estate agent essentially does the same. Though a real estate agent is working for the seller, the sale is still a primary goal.
* Always present your offer to the seller in person. Don’t fax.
* Some sellers don’t want personal contact with buyers. If you use a buyer’s agent, be sure the offer is presented in person to the listing real estate agent.
* When a real estate agent requests that offers be presented in a sealed envelope, ask the real estate agent to prepare a summary to accompany the offer. The summary should tell something about you and highlight positive aspects of your offer, such as an early closing date.
* However your offer is presented, your chances of acceptance are improved by including a copy of a preapproval letter from a mortgage company.
* When multiple offers are involved, some buyers write a letter to the seller to personalize their offer. It won’t help if you aren’t qualified or if the offer is too low.
There is another news announcement that “Buyers Being Lured to 100% Loan Program” that was in the recent issues of The Wall Street Journal. The article states that more buyers in search of home loans are turning to an obscure program operated by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Well, we wrote about this program a few months back. The blog entry detailed this little know mortgage loan program. The program allows no-money-down purchases. For those that qualify, a borrower can seek up to 102 percent, including a mortgage insurance policy. To quality, buyers can’t have income that exceeds 115 percent of the median county income. Additionally, the loans are restricted to low-density areas (usually towns of no more than 25,000 residents). The loans are made by private lenders, which are then insured by the government.
For more information, contact your personal mortgage representative. Or, if you don’t have one, we can highly recommend a few that we have done business with and have been completely satisfied with their service, as have our clients. Just contact us by calling 609-417-1084.
Find your next home at our new and updated web site.
If you’re thinking about purchasing property (for either your own use or as an investment) at a sheriff’s sale or foreclosure auction, below is some advice given by some experienced auction buyers/investors.
The last thing you need to be sure you have is a professional real estate agent working on your side. You’ll need someone who knows the ins and outs of the housing market and the specific areas that the property is located in. An appraiser can give you the current value of the property, but a professional real estate agent can give you insight into the neighborhood market, trends in the area, and issues that they are aware of. After all, the professional real estate agent works with those factors on a day-to-day basis.
You are receiving this short message because you are one of our valued customers and we wanted to share the exciting news with you. Linda Kerr-Iwaniw and Terry Iwaniw, formerly of RE/MAX Home Team, have moved our business to a new real estate company. Please take a moment to note our new office name, address, and phone number.
15 Potter St., Suite 7
Haddonfield, NJ 08033
Office: 856-795-3111
Linda’s and Terry’s direct contact information will remain the same. As will their superior customer service. The only thing to change is the brokerage company that they work out of. You will still be able to access either http://www.sjerseyhomes.com or http://www.snewjerseyhomes.com to search for your next home.
While Others Make Promises…We Deliver Results!
And don’t forget that we are here to help you with your real estate needs and to answer any real estate questions you may have.
Linda & Terry Iwaniw
REALTOR Associates
First Time Home Buyer Specialists
Fixer Upper Specialists
HUD Owned Homes
ReSale & Investment Realty, LLC
There a quite a few changes here at I Team. One change is that we now have access to the Jersey Shore MLS (Ocean County). So, if you want to know any information about any property being marketed in Ocean County, just let us know the MLS# or other information and we’ll be more then happy to send you the details on it.
Linda & Terry Iwaniw
REALTOR Associates
Resales & Investment Realty
Linda’s Cell: (609) 417-1084
Linda’s Email: lindaki@comcast.net
Linda’s Website: www.sjerseyhomes.com
Terry’s Cell: (609) 417-1086
Terry’s Email: realtorinsnj@comcast.net
Terry’s Website: www.snewjerseyhomes.com
Our E-Fax: (856) 494-1619
Are gold jackets, big balloons and the big corporate logos going the way of the dinosaurs? I think so, but they won’t go down without a fight.
The economy is in dire straights, real estate sales are way down, agents are leaving the business by the score and what do big corporate real estate offices do to hold on to their remaining agents; they impose extra fees with each closing in order to shore-up the corporate dam. To the corporate big-wigs $50-$100 doesn’t sound like much, but to a real estate agent who has seen their incomes slashed by 50% or more, that money represents another big hit in their already light wallets. In addition to being gouged by their local real estate boards with increases in dues and fees required to stay in the real estate business, agents in many big box real estate companies are watching as their companies cut back on services that once were the recruiting carrots that promised to “free up” the agent to be more productive and earn more money. So now these agents have less money and less time to make money; it’s like moving around the deck chairs on the Titanic.
While big box real estate is cutting services, cutting hours and picking their agents pockets with bogus fees and charges, many small Mom & Pop real estate companies are beginning to thrive. These companies have lower overhead and can offer a better commission split in order to draw in good agents. Agents can make more money per transaction with the smaller company than with the big box companies. The smaller Mom & Pop agencies understand that most real estate is local and they don’t really need that big name logo and super bowl advertising to bring buyers and sellers through the door.
In order to keep costs down and agent commissions high, most smaller agencies don’t offer an agent a personal desk in the office. However, they do offer a virtual connection to the office with all the support necessary to see transactions to closing. With the advent of the internet, e-mail, fax machines, cell phones and blackberry’s, real estate agents no longer need the big desk in the agency. As long as the agency has a conference room for the agent to meet with clients and they have access to the office voicemail system, any agent who can operate a computer, can work from their home and car with little need to drive to the office every day. I think the day of the big desk and small commission checks is quickly coming to and end. So if you are an agent with one of the big box companies whose commission checks are being raided by franchise fees, transaction fees and management fees, take a step back from the hype and look into your local Mom & Pop agency, you’ll be glad you did.
Linda Kerr-Iwaniw
REALTOR Associate
ReSales & Investment Realty, LLC
http://www.sjerseyhomes.com/
Speaking of Real EstateReSales & Investment Realty LLC, 15 Potter St Suite 7, Haddonfield, NJ 08033 - (856) 795-3111 x263
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