Open Houses? On a Super Bowl Weekend...with the Giants Playing?! Yes. Many new friends and faces will be coming out to the suburbs to enjoy 7 layer Taco Dip and have fun at Super Bowl Parties all over our towns. Many of these people will be contemplating moves to the suburbs or already getting the itch for green grass, tall trees, more living space, and charming downtown villages.
This Sunday you will find the Northfield Team hard at work as usual. While we don't have any jerseys made (well, not yet anyway) I am happy to be the quarterback of such a Talented Team working on so many great plays this Spring.
Stop by and say "hi" to someone from our Team this weekend at one of our fabulous Open Houses this Sunday from 1-4 in Maplewood.
Debbie will be at 115 Oakland, a renovated Colonial with 5 BR, 2.1 BA's for $529,000. Stacie will be at 75 Jefferson, the kitchen alone is worth the visit to this 4BR, 3.1 BA stunner now offered at $777,000. Aline will be hosting 102 Oakland, a charming, light-filled Colonial with 3BR, 1 BA just listed at $367,5000. Amy will be at 44 Orchard, where renovated top to bottom turn key living is waiting for you! The home has 3BR, 2 BA's and is offered at just $369,000. A home that boasts a first floor bedroom and full bath and a flexible layout. Space, walking distance to town and train and all for just $399,900. Jessica will be at 519 Prospect. If you are looking for a lot of home, this might be the one for you! 6BR's, 3.1BA, well-maintained and updated, all for just $459,000. Joanne will be hosting 629 Ridgewood, a charming Victorian with modern updates and original details, listed at $525,000.
See you then! Go Team!
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Repeat after me: It's not your homeWhen you list your house for sale, it goes from being your home to being a product.
"Any time you are marketing a product, you want to dress it up pretty," says Brandon Green, a Washington, D.C., real-estate agent. "But people don't see their homes as products."
If you were selling your car, you would toss out the fast-food wrappers, wash it, wax it and vacuum it, he says. And you'd get a lot more buyer interest — and money — than if you didn't take those steps.
The same is true when you are selling your home. You want to present it as a beautiful, desirable product. And you want it to stand out from all the other homes on the market.
How to save on stagingYou may assume that you'll save if you stage your home yourself. That's not always the case, Green says. "Almost everybody who stages on their own comes to me at the end of the process exhausted, saying they completely underestimated the time it took to stage," he says. "You're literally furnishing an entire house, and that takes time."
That brings us to our first tips to save on staging:
1. Consider hiring a professional. Do a little math and make a few calls to see what it would cost to hire someone to handle the staging for you. Professional stagers have an arsenal of furnishings at the ready and can hammer out a neutral, professional design much quicker than you can. If you're determined to do the work yourself, see about getting a consultation from a professional stager.
Slide show: 10 neighborhood homebuyer magnets
"Even if the homeowner chooses to do the work themselves, they'll get an objective opinion about what needs to be done," says Jill M. Banks, who runs Happily Better After Room Design & Home Staging in southern New Jersey and says most consultations cost about $200.
2. You don't need to stage the whole house. Whether you hire a pro or decide to go the DIY route, you don't need to stage every single room, Green says. Stage the main living areas — living room, dining room, kitchen — and at least one bedroom, preferably the master, he says. You should also stage any room that has a confusing purpose to show how it can be used. So if there's an awkwardly sized bedroom, stage it to show that it will fit a bed and dresser comfortably, for instance.
"But you can leave several rooms empty, and you can leave the basement empty, as well," Green says. "That can be a big saver."
If you decide to go it aloneHomeowners can do many things to stage their home at little or no cost. The most important thing to keep in mind is that buyers must be able to envision themselves living in your home.
"No one will buy your home until they can mentally move into it," Schwarz says.
3. Clean, get rid of clutter and depersonalize. Staging is about making your home look nice, but remember that buyers have other senses and that a bad smell can be a deal-breaker. Nothing smells better than clean.
"Check that all rooms are spotlessly clean, have washed windows, smell good and have been aired before showings," says Lauri Ward, president of Use What You Have Interiors, which focuses on using a client's belongings to redecorate or stage the home.
Read: Can't sell your home? Trade it
"By packing up your clutter, you create more space for the buyers to mentally move into," Schwarz says. And, she adds, "If you keep out all your collections and family photos, the buyers will spend their time looking at them and not your house."
Don't forget that buyers will be looking in your closets, too.
"You want the buyer to have the perception that, 'Oh, there's so much storage in here,'" Green says. "If it's chock-full of stuff, it automatically gives the perception that there's not enough storage."
You don't have to empty the closets and other storage areas, but Green advises paring them down to about 20% of what you normally store there.
It's nothing personalWhen it comes to furnishings, Green warns that you may not want to use only what you have.
"Most people have a design aesthetic that matches them as a person," he says. "Usually, the stuff you have isn't fantastic for staging. Staging is going to need a fairly neutral design." He advises DIY stagers to be selective when finding furniture. "Take the time to hunt for pieces that really are effective with the concept," he says.
4. Be resourceful when hunting for furnishings. If you have friends and family with updated or neutral furniture, see if you can borrow a few pieces to stage your home. If you need to stage a room as a bedroom but you don't have a bed, get an inflatable air mattress that rises off the floor to regular bed height. Once you get the linens on, it will look just like a regular bed, and you can use it for guests in your new home.
Here are a few other quick tips from the experts:
5. Show off hardwood floors. "If you have hardwood floors in good shape that are covered by wall-to-wall carpeting, remove the carpet and clean the floor," Banks says. "Hardwood floors are a big selling point these days."
6. Remove heavy window treatments. Banks say buyers are looking for homes with lots of natural light and that lighter, less formal window panels give any room a lighter, airier feel.
7. Freshen the walls. "Paint is always the least expensive way to make a major change to a home," says Jessica Dolan, a home organizer and stager. Green says cleaning the wall may be enough to make it look freshly painted.
Read: 5 tips to ensure your home sells in the winter
8. Remember the rule of three. Green says the golden rule is three items per surface, whether it's a wall, tabletop or mantel. "Quantity is usually when people get a little too crazy," he says.
The rule of three applies to small rooms, as well, while larger rooms may get six pieces — four chairs, a table and a lamp in a dining room, for example.
9. Do your research. If you're not sure what a staged home should look like, spend a half-day going to open houses to see what works and what doesn't. Take notes.
If you work in NYC and need the direct train to Midtown New York Penn Station or Hoboken (where you can then take the PATH downtown to the financial district), here are the most convenient New Jersey neighborhoods where you can find the beautiful upscale homes:
www.NewJerseyUniqueHomes.com and www.NewJerseyUpscaleHomes.com have been launcched by Robert Northfield, Essex County #1 Realtor with most closings in 2011 to serve his clients of upscale and luxury homes.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Home sales rose in December to the highest pace in nearly a year. The gain coincides with other signs that show the troubled housing market improved at the end of last yearStill, sales remain depressed and ended 2011 well below healthy levels.The National Association of Realtors said Friday that sales increased 5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.61 million, the best level since January 2011 and the third straight monthly increase.For the year, sales totaled only 4.26 million. While that's up from 4.19 million the previous year, it's below the 6 million that economists equate with healthy housing markets.Sales are increasing at a time when the market is flashing other positive signs. Mortgage rates are at record-low levels. Homebuilders have grown slightly less pessimistic because more people are saying they might be open to buying a home this year. And home construction picked up in the final quarter of last year.The median sales price rose 2.3 percent to $164,500 in December.Hiring has also improved, which is critical to a housing rebound. Applications for unemployment benefits are near a four-year low. The unemployment rate fell in December to its lowest level in nearly three years. And companies are coming off their best six-month stretch for hiring since 2006.Still the housing market has a long way to go before it is fully recovered from the housing bust four years ago. In the last four years, home sales have slumped under the weight of foreclosures, tighter credit and falling price.Fewer first-time buyers, who are critical to a housing recovery, are in the market for a home. Purchases by that group fell last month to make up only 31 percent of sales. That's down from 35 percent in November. In healthy markets, first-time buyers make up at least 40 percent.At the same time, homes at risk of foreclosure made up a third of all sales last month. In healthy markets, they comprise 10 percent of sales. Investors are increasingly buying homes priced under $100,000.Still, Sales rose across the country in December. They increased on a seasonal basis by more than 10 percent in the Northeast, 8.3 percent in the Midwest, 2.9 percent in the South and 2.6 percent in the West.The glut of unsold homes declined to 2.38 million homes. At last month's sales pace, it would take a nearly 7 months to clear those homes. Analysts say a healthy supply can be cleared in about six months.
Please visit my other website at www.NewJerseyUniqueHomes.com
The New Year is off to the right start for the Northfield Team! With over 11 Listings, and more to come, we are busy and on track to break more real estate records.
If you are in the area house-hunting this weekend stop by and say hi and visit one of our wonderful homes. This Sunday from 1-4pm you can find Jill Sockwell at 11 Suffolk in Maplewood. It's a light and bright wow-you-with-curb appeal Tudor! At 75 Jefferson, Maplewood you will either have the pleasure of bumping into Robert or Miriam Mitchell. This Colonial home is sure to impress with a designer kitchen that will blow you away! Stacie Levy will be hosting 115 Oakland Rd, Maplewood-an exceptional value and a beautiful Center Hall Colonial style that is so popular these days. Regula will be at 44 Orchard Street, Maplewood. This home has been remodeled top to bottom featuring a new roof, new driveway, new kitchen and baths all at an amazing price. Debbie will be hosting 35 Burrough Way, Maplewood. This Tuscan inspired Tudor will charm and delight you with every turn.
PFRE's Top Real Estate Photographer of 2011 also offers this advice for those who are looking to break into the trade:
Maplewood, Short Hills, South Orange, Summit, and Millburn real estate and homes for sale in New Jersey - Robert Northfield, Realtor
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