ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2012
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When I was young, I thought it was cool that I was a "Baby Boomer." Now that I'm not as young, it just makes me feel old. One rite of passage for Baby Boomers seems to be the transition from a home to a condo or townhouse. I always swore I'd never live in a townhouses community. After all, I ...
02/29/2012
My client lives in a beautiful 6,000 sf stucco home, in Franklin Lakes. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that the exterior is masonary stucco. My client is very proactive, so I was instructed to get a professional to inspect the stucco, along with the septic and the pool. Everything was in g...
02/28/2012
When I moved from Asbury Park to Franklin Lakes, in 1972, I experienced a form of culture shock I wasn't at all ready for. Although AP had been devastated by the '68 riots, it was still an exciting city. It was where, for less than a dollar, I saw Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, at Conventi...
02/26/2012
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I have a beautiful home listed, in Franklin Lakes, that was built in 1974 during the gas crisis. As an aside, you'd never know this home was built in that era (not my favorite period for architecture). The builder was also an architect who built the home for his own family. Nine foot ceilings w...
02/24/2012
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It's funny how Radon seems to have lost its ability to scare Buyers out of their contracts. Maybe the Real Estate Community has been doing its job, and educating Buyers about Radon and the ease with which it's brought under control. For those of you who know that Radon isn't a good thing, but h...
02/23/2012
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My clients always ask me the same question when we're deciding where to price their homes: "Why can't we start the price higher? Buyers can always make an offer." Sounds logical. After all, a buyer made an offer of $1.2 mil. on one of my listings, in Franklin Lakes. The price, at the time, was ...
02/22/2012
Many Realtors are familiar with a fabricated stucco called EIFS: Exterior Insulation & Finish System. Builders were using EIFS, in NW Bergen County, starting in the late '80s. It was thought to be a better choice than masonary stucco for two reasons: it was cheaper, and actually insulated a ho...
02/21/2012
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Over the years, I've gotten used to certain Buyers asking for all the light fixtures, all the window treatments, all the appliances, pool equipment and even pool toys, and the occasional decorative plant pots. It usually happens when the market is slow, and Buyers are feeling a sense of entitlem...
02/18/2012
Several years ago, when a listing had an offer, some Realtors would post a "Courtesy Alert" so other Realtors would know there was an offer being negotiated, or it had been accepted. However, most Realtors would keep that nugget to themselves, allowing them to continue showing the home either ho...
02/18/2012
A friend just sent me a book, Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier, by Edward Glaeser. Glaeser's thesis is that living in cities like New York can do all of the above for us, contrary to what we might think when we consider livi...
02/17/2012
