South Jersey Real Estate Blog

How many days on the market?

photo credit: CraftyGoat

Days on Market (DOM) has been a statistic in much debate lately in the real estate world.  Potential buyers almost always ask "how long has this home been on the market?"  The assumption (real or perceived) is that if a home is on the market longer, the seller may be more eager to sell and willing to negotiate more. 

The Problem

The problem has been that Days on Market was not always an accurate statistic.  DOM is calculated how long the home has been in the MLS under the current MLS number.  So if the home was taken off the market and then relisted, the count started all over again at 1 day.  Even if the home was relisted with the same agent, the count started over.  This would force a buyers agent to manually look up the history of a property to determine how long the home was really on the market. 

The Solution

As a result, TrendMLS has introduced a new statistic to end the confusion.   Property Marketing Period(PMP) is now available on all reports printed out of the MLS.  This statistic tells you exactly how long a home has been marketed, regardless if it's been relisted or not.  As described by Trend - "PMP is calculated differently than DOM. For example, MLS #1234567 is listed for 10 days, withdrawn for 5 days then put back on the market as MLS #7654321 for 10 days before selling. The PMP is 20 days, while the DOM is 10 days for each MLS number. The difference is that the PMP counts the days from both MLS numbers."   So as long as the home is relisted within 30 days of coming off the market, this statistic will kick in!

So next time you ask "how long has this home been on the market" - make sure your agent provides the Property Marketing Period

Moorestown Homes Spotlight: Brandywine Glen

Brandywine Glen is located off of Hartford Road in Moorestown and is full of distinctive homes.  Most were built in the mid '90s and no two are the same.  The homes here very beautiful and when I was driving by today I stopped off and take a few pictures.  With large yards and private settings, this is a wonderful to place to call home.  In fact, Randall Cunningham lived here when he was the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles.  If you're ever in the area, I recommend taking a quick drive though! 

Visit my photo set on Flickr to view more pictures of Moorestown

Moorestown Hunt: Moorestown Neighborhood Overview

Welcome to the subdivision of Moorestown Hunt, located in Moorestown, NJ - Burlington County.  Moorestown Hunt is situated between Westfield Rd. & Hartford Rd. right near Lockheed Martin.  It is just minutes from Rt. 38 and I-295 making it very accessible.  The NJ Turnpike is about 10 minutes away.  Centerton Square is located nearby with new retail shopping including Wegmans, Target, Costco and many more.  You can scroll through the map below to get a feel of it's location. 

View Larger Map

Moorestown Hunt is a fairly new development for Moorestown as most of the construction was done in the late 1990's.  The development is made up of single family homes.  Over the past year, homes have sold between $650k to $835k.  Moorestown Hunt has several style homes, so you see a broad price range because of size, style, finished basements, etc.  On average, I would say that most of the homes sit on .25 to .30 acres of ground.  Of the homes that sold last year, the taxes were about $11k - $13k.  Moorestown Hunt has that typical suburban neighborhood feel to it.  By that I mean it is fairly easy to get out and talk to your neighbors and meet new friends.  There are many cul-de-sacs also which minimizes the amount of traffic moving through.  If you have children in school, Moorestown School District is one of the top ranked in Southern New Jersey.  The new intermediate school is even walking distance.

 

If you have any questions about real estate in Moorestown Hunt, Moorestown, or any of the surrounding areas, please don't hesitate to contact me. 

House Fire on Google Maps

Ok - this has nothing to do with South Jersey Real Estate, but it's the weekend and wanted to pass along some interesting pictures...

Zillow (a real estate listings search site) shows the following home as a foreclosure.  You may notice the stream of smoke in the air over the house.  Zillow uses Google Maps in it's listings so you have the ability to drag the map around. 

If you do that to this picture, you'll notice the house down the street is on fire...

Going directly to Google maps shows a close up of the fire as captured by Google...

Carefull out there...Google is watching!

What's Missing From This Picture

If you're trying to sell your home, please don't let this happen to you...

(I've blanked out the agent info)

I drive past this home about every other day and I can tell you that this sign has been like this for awhile now.  So it's not like it happened overnight.

So what does this tell a prospective buyer driving by?

1. The house is probably vacant
2. The listing agent hasn't been anywhere near this house in awhile
3. Must really not be that nice of a house
4. Not even sure what brokerage has the listing so can't call office to get more info
5. Hmmm...that other house down the street looks much better

By the way - I checked the MLS and there are no pictures shown for this home either!
If you're going to hire an agent to help sell your house, I hope you have better luck then this family

 

National vs. Local Market Stats: It's not all gloom and doom

Yesterday the National Association of Realtors released second quarter market statistics and of course the media jumped all over it touting more gloom and doom.  But is it really that bad? 

CnnMoney.com had this to say (note the usage of the words steep and plunged):  "Real estate prices continued to post steep year-over-year declines during the three months ended June 30, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Nationwide, the median existing single family home price plunged 7.6% to $206,500 in the second quarter, down from $223,500 in the same period of 2007"

They then go on to focus on all the areas that had the biggest drops.  Where is the good news?  They didn't mention any. 

What they failed to mention was that existing-home sales rose from the first quarter in 13 states.  Also In the second quarter, 35 out of 150 metropolitan statistical areas showed gains in median existing single-family home prices from the second quarter of last year, while 115 had price declines.  No it's not great news, but it's not all gloom and doom out there!

How do we compare locally to the plunging 7.6% median price?  Like always, we do much better.  Again it's not great news, but it's not all bad either.  From the Prudential Fox & Roach, HomeEpert Market Report - in the five-county Southern New Jersey area we only saw a 2.2% decrease in median price to $225,000, down from $230,000.  Comparing to the first quarter of 2008, this is actually an increase from $212,700.

So remember, when you hear market information in the media, you need to get past the sensationalized headlines and get to the real data.  Traditionally, Southern New Jersey is ahead of the pack as this continues to be a desirable place to live along with thriving businesses like Lockheed Martin, PHH, Virtua and many more!     

Learning Made Fun at The Franklin Institute

Yes, I used learning and fun in the same phrase.  The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia is a hot spot for school field trips and visitors of all ages because they do exactly that.  They made learning fun. 

There are several permanent exhibits to explore.  You can take a walk through a model human heart in The Giant Heart exhibit.  Space Command lets you learn about space and space exploration.  Learn all about trains and take a ride in a Baldwin 6000 at The Train Factory.  Other exhibits teach about electricity, air flight and more!  Also be sure to check out the nations second oldest Planetarium, an IMAX theater and the many traveling exhibits. 

If you've never been, I highly recommend taking the trip over the bridge.  It's located right in Center City at the corner of 20th St and Ben Franklin Pkwy.  If you take the Ben Franklin Bridge - Take 676 West. Exit at the "Ben Franklin Parkway/Museum Area" exit. At the top of the exit ramp, all traffic must turn right onto 22nd Street. One block later, turn right onto the Ben Franklin Parkway. Stay in the far right hand lanes. One block later, turn right onto 21st Street. One block later, 21st Street intersects with Winter Street. Just past the intersection, the entrance to the parking garage is on your left hand side.

    

First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

As part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 a tax credit is available to first time homebuyers.  The table below summarizes the credit, eligibilty and other information.  In summary, for those that qualify, buyers can take a $7,500 tax credit upfront and pay it back over 15 years. 

FEATURE	H.R. 3221 Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
Amount of Credit	Ten percent of cost of home, not to exceed $7500
Eligible Property	Any single‐family residence (including condos, co‐ops) that will be used as a principal residence.
Refundable	Yes. Reduces income tax liability for the year of purchase. Claimed on tax return for that tax year.
Income Limit	Yes. Full amount of credit available for individuals with adjusted gross income of no more than $75,000 ($150,000 on a joint return). Phases out above those caps ($95,000 and $170,000, respectively).
First‐time Homebuyer Only	Yes. Purchaser (and purchaser’s spouse) may not have owned a principal residence in 3 years previous to purchase.
Recapture	Yes. Portion (6.67 % of credit) to be repaid each year for 15 years. If home sold before 15 years, then remainder of credit recaptured on sale.
Impact on District of Columbia Homebuyer Credit	DC credit not available if purchaser uses this credit.
Effective Date	Purchases on or after April 9, 2008
Termination	July 1, 2009
Interaction with Alternative Minimum Tax	Can be used against AMT, so credit will not throw individual into AMT

Have you been to the Zoo?

Have you been to the Philadelphia Zoo before? If not...why not?

Regardless of which bridge you prefer, the zoo is really easy to get to. Just make your way over to the Schuylkill Expressway and hop off at Exit 342. The Zoo is right there, and there is tons of parking along Girard. As long as you avoid rush hour, the Schuylkill really isn't that bad of a drive and isn't as scary as many make it out to be!

Did you know that the Zoo is the first in the United States? It's been around since 1874 - now there is some history for you! From Wikipedia -

"The Philadelphia Zoo is one of the premier zoos in the world for breeding animals that have been found difficult to breed in captivity. The zoo also works with many groups around the world to protect the natural habitats of the animals in their care.

The zoo comprises 42 acres and is home to more than 1,300 animals, many of which are rare and endangered. The zoo features a children’s zoo, a balloon ride, a paddleboat lake, and many interactive and educational exhibits."

I was there last week as part of a class field trip and the kids love it! It's a chance for them to explore, learn and just be a kid. So if you haven't been before, believe me, it's worth taking a day to visit!