Why Do I See Old Listings On The Web?

March 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment
 

blog-banner.jpgYou are doing some serious house-hunting.

You’ve been Googling ‘newest Bridgewater listings’, but when you click on the most popular sites, somehow the ‘newest Bridgewater listings’ are the same ones you’ve seen before. Worse, some of them turn out to have been sold! Or the price was wrong! Or the agent isn’t even the agent anymore!

What is going on? Doesn’t Google (or Bing, or Yahoo!) promise to show you sites with the newest listings in Bridgewater?  How can the most popular sites (at the top of their results page: Zillow, Realty.com, Trulia) be showing ‘newest listings’ that were sold last month? Or contact numbers that take you to an answering machine that never calls back?

The answer is not mysterious, but it can take a while to catch on. The top of the search engine results pages show the biggest national real estate sites because they target the national audience (and pay huge amounts to the search engines!). Hundreds of thousands of house-hunters click on them all the time because everyone in the country sees them first.

The disappointment comes because of the near impossibility of their keeping current in every locality in the U.S. They can’t keep up with the avalanche of changes: changes in the asking price; changes in the listing agent; changes in availability. That becomes obvious when your contacts return a ‘home under contract,’ or ‘property sold,’ or – infuriatingly — silence.

The good news is that the solution is just a couple of lines lower on those Bing or Google search results. Serious Central New Jersey buyers do figure it out eventually, and look down the search engine listings to find a web address that looks more like it connects with a Central New Jersey real estate brokerage. That leads to listings overseen by local businesspeople who deal every day with the homes their pages show. When they change, local agents know it first.

Even better for you, you’re already here – a click away from what you are looking for – and just one click more from my invitation to visit the newest listings in all of Central New Jersey!

The DoorPath Team is the most comprehensive online source for Central New Jersey real estate information and services. Whether you are looking for the latest sales, trends or homes for sale in Somerset, Middlesex, Union or Hunterdon Counties in New Jersey, The DoorPath Team at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has it all at your fingertips. Browse information regarding short sales, foreclosures, new construction, investment property, land sales or commercial locations throughout Central New Jersey plus much more at  www.DoorPath.com or call Elizabeth “Liz” Brain at 848-448-3132 or Michael “Mike” Downer  at 732-302-1771.

 
Filed Under: Buyers Resources Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cheaper to Buy a Home Versus Rent One in Bridgewater

July 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
 

Buy a Home vs Renting One

It’s cheaper to buy a home than renting it. This stat holds true in most U.S. housing markets, according to the real estate site Trulia.

The reasons: Home prices are still falling and mortgage rates have remained at or near historic lows for months – while rents are on the rise.

Trulia looked at asking prices for rentals and homes for sale, while also factoring other costs such as taxes, insurance and maintenance.

Buying a home is much more affordable compared to renting in some areas with low vacancy rates where rents have increased in recent years.

Your income, savings, and monthly expenses play an important role in determining how large a mortgage you can afford.

In many cases, the amount of money a renter spends on rent can be about the same as or less than the amount a homeowner spends on a mortgage. With the tax benefit for homeowners, the savings can be significant.

Monthly Expenses When You Buy a Home

Your rental company takes part of your rent payment to cover certain housing expenses. When you decide to buy a home, you accept responsibility for paying for these expenses (listed below). They are additional costs to your monthly mortgage payment and should be included in your budget estimates:

Property Taxes and Special Assessments

Home/Hazard Insurance

Utilities

Maintenance

Home Owner Association (HOA) Fee: Doesn’t apply to all purchases. It pays for trash and snow removal and maintenance of common grounds if applicable.

Membership Fee: It may pay for recreational facilities and other services (cable TV).

 

Although there are many things to consider when deciding which is cheaper for you, to buy a home, or to rent one, we hope this article has helped you in the planning stages.

If you have any questions about the difference in buying a home versus renting one, please contact us for a free, no obligation consultation at mike@mikedowner.com or 732-302-1771

 
Filed Under: Buyers Resources, Finance Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Tips to Help Get More People to Your Open House

March 23, 2012 By 2 Comments
 

In central New Jersey, winter never quite got here. The weather has been unusually warm.  It hasn’t rained much here in Somerset County.  As they say, April Showers Bring May Flowers, it also means the beginning of the Spring Real Estate market. As a professional Realtor, I am seeing more and more people looking at houses due to the good weather. If you are considering having an open house, here are some tips for making it a success.

  1. Consider printing flyers. Distribute them to your neighbors, a few days before your open house, or even posting it at your local grocery store. You would be surprised how often your neighbors might know someone looking to move into your great neighborhood.
  2. You may want to run an ad in your local newspaper. The large Real Estate offices, such as Coldwell Banker, Century 21 and others, run their ads in the newspapers; yours could be next to theirs so you get added publicity.
  3. Put open house signs up, directing them to your home. You may find these signs in Home Depot or Lowes, or even a local hardware store.
  4. Another way to grab attention is to go to your local dollar store and pick up a bunch of balloons and attach them to your directional signs.
  5. Post your Open House on the internet sites, such as Craigslist, Trulia, and Zillow. Be sure to add the directions and the hours in your ads. These are free sites.

If you would like more tips on how to get people to your open house, give me a call at (908)-930-2408 or email me at dawn@dawnruete.com.

 
Filed Under: Sellers Resources Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,