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If you are driving through the Amherst Mews townhome community lately you will see a lot of “construction” work going on.  The EFIS or “fake stucco” litigation has ended and the repairs are nearing completion.  All the buildings are getting the exteriors remediated.  This is a good thing.  Also all the mail boxes will be getting replaced soon.

I have a great listing at 47 Dickinson Road in Amherst mews.  Thankfully this unit did not have any damage but the exterior is being remediated on all buildings anyway.  If you visit one of my open houses there you will be able to read the remediation letter from the President of the Board explaining this situation in more detail.

Click here to see information about all Basking Ridge Townhouse communities

Basking Ridge has open houses for townhouses available every Sunday and in some cases on Saturdays.  I hold my townhouse listings open every Sunday (or Saturday) that the homeowner allows.  Open houses are usually in the afternoons from 1:00 to 4:00 or 5:00pm.  I like to spend as much time as an open house guest wants giving a tour of the property and answeringany questions.  We ask that people that attend open houses sign in a “register” before touring the townhome.  An open house guest should not be intimidated by this request.  I do NOT  hound you later vying for your business.  Almost all my business is from personal referral or via the comprehensive internet marketing that I do.  It is simply a courtesy to sign in at the open house.  Weichert tracks open house traffic to see where the guests are coming from — the signs — the Internet — or an ad.  The Jim Weichert can decide where to put his marketing dollars to work  for the Realtors and the company.  If you ask that I provide you further information or follow up, then I will. I do try to get the open house guests candid feedback about my townhouse listing and some of them are too funny for words!  If however, you are working with another realtor and intend to continue to work with another realtor if you decide to purchase the townhome you are visiting, please put that Realtors name next to yours or in the comments area.  Then I can give your realtor a call to let him/her know that their client visited my townhouse listing. The homeowner also likes to know how many people were in attendance and their feedback.  Even if you are a neighbor in the same townhouse community I welcome your visit.  Who knows maybe you will know of someone who may be interested!

In my 25 + years of selling Real Estate single family homes, townhomes and condominiums perhaps the one thing I dread most is the seller or buyers decision on what to do with their washer, dryer or refrigerator.  If the seller wants to keep them, the buyer wants them; if the seller doesn’t want to keep them, the buyers don’t want them.  It is Murphy’s Law!  Then it is up to me to convince the seller or buyer to accept the situation.

I for one have never taken my refrigerator or washer dryer with me whenever I have moved.  Why?  Because it pretty much costs more to move them than to replace them.  Plus some older refrigerators need to be moved upright or you risk compromising the refrigerant and it won’t work anyway.  I had one buyer client who did not want the beautiful Maytag Washer and Dryer the seller wanted to leave.  The seller was moving out of state.  Luckily and for some unknown reason I drove by the Townhome the night before the closing — in the dark!  There on the front lawn of the townhouse was a huge pile of debris, garbage AND the Maytag washer and dryer!  The sellers Realtor and or the seller were nowhere to be found. Fortunately my attorney was.  She was able to recommend someone who would come out that night and remove everything.  That washer and dryer couldn’t have been more than 3 years old.  I wish I needed one or had more time to give it to someone who needed one.  Away it went.

Bottom line is that refrigerators and washers and dryers out date themselves with time and who wouldn’t want to treat themselves to a nice new washer and dryer and refrigerator when you move to your new house.  They are delivered and installed for you free in most cases. Now you can get that stainless steel refrigerator you only saw in pictures or front loading high efficiency washer and dryer! Leave the old ones behind for the buyer.  In the lower price ranges for condominiums and townhomes this may be a first time home buyer purchase and they are scraping every last penny to buy.  What a nice treat!  And, if the buyer does not want them? Donate them for a tax write off or sell them on EBay!  There is also a great yahoo site called somersetfreecycle.  Google it.  You can list anything that you want to GIVE away.  Within minutes you’ll have dozens of emails from needy people (or not) who are willing to come pick them up and take them away! It’s a good thing!

And if you are the buyer and you find that the seller left the appliances behind anyway?  Don’t hold off the closing wanting them removed.  The buyer can also “freecycle” them or in my case I gave the washer and dryer to my painter!  How happy was he!!!!!  I moved the refrigerator to the garage. And, Murphy’s Law again — it broke down within a month and spoiled all the frozen food I had in it.  I should have given that away as well!

So don’t stress out over your used appliance — embrace the idea you can have new ones and do whatever the buyer or seller  wants.

To see all townhome and condominum active and solds and all community information click here.

We’ve done it again.  Another client has listed their townhome with me and  came from this web site.  Interviewed me and 3 other Realtors and chose my innovative marketing plan.  I offered to show my client the other townhomes in The Barons as well as Maple Run as that would also be her competition.  We saw all the townhomes in both those communities.  This greatly helps price a listing.  We looked at six townhomes.  Not one of them had the marketing material I had in this listing. 

We are aggressively priced at $509,000.

4 Bradford Way in the Barons is an original owner townhouse end unit.  It is the Aristocrat model offering 2 bedrooms and loft overlooking the two story living room.  Eat in kitchen with customized pantry, formal dining room and first floor enlarged den/office.  This room could easily be made into a first floor bedroom if needed.  The basement is fully finished with a wet bar, pool table, media area, laundry and workshop.

There are several homes for sale in The Barons at the moment.  Few if any  offer the model name in the listing and rarely if ever will you see the floor plan on line and as part of marketing material.  A customized floor plan and professional photography is so important.  Especially in this case because the owner changed the floor plan from the original builder floor plan to enlarge the den and move the powder room to a new location on the first floor.

See the brochure here!

In the spring of 2008, we were aware of the increasingly difficult real estate market and anticipated that things would get worse so we listed our Basking Ridge home with Lin, after interviewing 3 realtors.

It was clear from the first moment that Lin was a knowledgeable and tested real estate professional. She partnered with us on anything and everything that had to do with selling our home – and more!  Her marketing, technology and Internet savvy, as well as her enthusiasm and good sense, ensured that our home was presented in the best way and with maximum exposure.  

The results?  Although the average DOM at the time was about 6-7 mos. , Lin sold our house from under us! – a third offer within a week and for full price! We were shocked (and homeless)  but happy to have sold the house so quickly and for a good price!

Diane M. Harris

There are oodles of “don’t do this” and “be sure to do that” lists available on the net for real estate advice but I thought I would rack my brain of 25+ years of real estate experience for a few ‘non-traditional’ experiences I have had. Everything you are about to read is true. You just can’t make this stuff up!

My very first real estate transaction was a single family home I sold on Christmas Eve to a woman police officer in my home town.  She also had a great sense of humor! After days of successful negotiations the contract was signed and she was going to drop it off to me — on New Year’s Eve.  We were at a New Years Eve Party at a friends house and she drove up in the Police car with lights flashing in full uniform. There were a lot of very surprised faces when she asked for me.  They said later I would do anything to sell a house.

How true.  When we got to the closing of my second real estate transaction my buyer just happened to work for his Dad’s home fuel oil company.  It is tradition that when you have your home fueled by oil and it is sold, the seller usually tops off the tank, brings the receipt to the closing and the buyer reimburses the seller for a full tank of oil. 250 gallons at whatever the rate was at that time can be significant.  We had completed all the paperwork and when the buyer saw the oil receipt he said he could get the oil at a cheaper price and refused to pay the bill. He wanted the seller to have the tank pumped out so he could fill it for less! After much haggling I finally asked the buyer to find out what the reasonable price that he would pay would be. I pulled out my check book and wrote a check for the difference: $49.00.

What is a bank check?  My Asian buyers took many months to find their perfect home and they were so excited! Because the learning curve can be steep and I consider myself to be pro active.  I walked them through every step of the way so they would be comfortable with the buying process and the closing process. I reminded them their attorney would require them to bring bank checks to the closing for all their closing costs.  We get to the closing, complete all the paperwork and they pull out their personal check book.  A surprised attorney turned to me and then said to them he needed BANK checks.  They said “These ARE bank checks — from my bank!” The closing was delayed while they went to the bank for bank checks which are Cashiers checks or certified checks.  Your personal checks are not bank checks!

Check back later for more experiences that shouldn’t have to happen to you!

Click here for information about all properties for sale and that have sold in your area!

January 29, 2010

Active

73 Dorchester Dr in Hamilton Crest    $529,999  3BR, 2 1/2 baths, 1 car garage

Under Deposit:

489 King George Road     $650,000

47 Addison Drive     $849,900

Closed:

17 Clark Ct , Hamilton Woods     $450,000

158 Morristown     $582,000

14 Cedar St    $620,000

249 Mt Prospect Rd  $1,500,000

Click here to visit my web site with all the latest on single family and townhomes in Basking Ridge

We’ve done it again!  I have a great new townhome listing in Basking Ridge in The Ridge Condominium complex.  There are currently no listings in that small 100 +/- community complex.  This home feels like a center hall colonial with three bedrooms upstairs, a first floor den, fireplaced living room and eat in kitchen.  It has a partially finished basement, 3 1/2 baths and an attached garage.   This townhome complex is very desirable and I will have the “B” Model unit available for showings next week as the long time owners are moving their things out over the weekend.  I have the floor plan so if you are interested, let me know!  It is listed at $449,000.  Great price since most other three bedroom townhomes in Basking Ridge are over $500,000.

I think it is very important to post a virtual tour to the internet for all listings.  I use a unique service and hire a professional photographer.  He takes the pictures, re-draws the floor plan and posts it on the internet.  I then can burn CD’s for clients who visit the property.  It is not like most tours that give you that fish eye view that makes you dizzy!  I just had one done for my new listing in Basking Ridge at Amherst Mews.  I’ll post it here when it is ready!  Meanwhile I do have all the floor plans for every  townhome community in Basking Ridge.  So if you need a copy of your floor plan let me know!