Southern New Jersey Overlook

Here are resources for access to New Jersey information and history...

NJ: American Local History Network Page
New Jersey History & You / Treasure Hunt (Shamong Township School District)
NJ Information
NJ Mirror Newspaper Online Index
NJ Pine Barrens Ecology
State Reports (Classbrain.com)
Morris Co. Library NJ History Sources
Introduction to New Jersey
Electronic NJ: A Digital Archive of NewJersey History


http://www.njchurchscape.com - New Jersey Churchscape - Early Chuch Architecture in NJ - Historical

New Jersey Churchscape is an online database and photographic inventory on more than half the 18th & 19th century churches in the state and is added to each month.

It is an authoritative source on early churches in New Jersey, with lists of pre-1900 churches by county and articles within topics categories such as:

Architects & architectural styles
Architectural details
Cities, counties & regions
Culture, history, economics & politics
Denominations
Individual churches
Photography
Religious history

Check out their links page for some interesting historical, archeological and art related sites:
http://www.njchurchscape.com/links.html
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://www.LawrenceYerkes.com

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

New Jersey and the surrounding area has a wide variety of things to do and see, especially if you like history, parks and battlefields.  Most of these are easily accessible by car and make great day or weekend trips.

Here are suggestions for day or weekend excursions to historical battlefields, forts and parks in and around New Jersey and the east coast:

NJ - Crossroads of the American Revolution
NJ National Parks [National Park Guide]
NJ State Historic Sites
East Coast: Forts, Battlefields, Ships and Lighthouses
Historic Battlefields - Philadelphia Area
Military.com - Museum & Memorial Guide
Revolutionairy War Battle Sites
Three Forts Ferry 




 
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://www.lawrenceyerkes.com/

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

HomeBuyerFunds.com is a free online funds database designed for people looking to buy a home (especially for the first time) or currently own a house in need of repair. This Web site serves as a one-stop clearinghouse of financial resources for both homebuyers and homeowners. Their members include non-profit housing organizations, financial institutions, and government agencies -- committed to partnership in an effort to help more individuals and families on their path to homeownership.

They offer an online homebuyer education course, have a basic "housing to income ratio" calculator, provide how-to-do home improvement repair tips and provide downloadable buyer worksheets. Their Funds Finder Tool will retrieve affordable housing programs that offer financial assistance on home ownership and/or home rehabilitation, ranging from free grants to zero-percent interest loans.


See also our Real Estate Resources Library for more about mortgages
 
 
  
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://www.lawrenceyerkes.com/

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Getting pre-qualified and/or pre-approved by a reputable mortgage company is the first major step in buying a property, and should be done before you actually start your property search, as it will tell (or confirm to) you what price range in which to be looking for property.

Click here for article discussing the differences in more detail or click here if you want to get Pre-Approved now.
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://www.LawrenceYerkes.com

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Here's How To Pay Off Your Mortgage Loan In One Half Time or Less And Save Thousands of Dollars

The process is extremely easy, and yet a revelation to most home buyers, particularly when they realize that they may be able to save more interest than 75% of the total loan amount. Simply, it is merely adding the next month's principal payment to this month's regular payment, which in effect does two things to your mortgage loan:

#1 - Reduces the term by one month each time you add an extra principal payment, and

#2 - Ultimately saves an amount equal to the interest that you would have had to pay with the next regular payment, which in the early years of the mortgage may be eight times greater than the principal amount each month.

Note: Even if you can't make that much of a payment, you will still save money if you even make partial extra payments or periodic extra payments.

If you would like a detailed explanation and gain a more thorough understanding of the process and how to properly implement it with your lending institution, click here for my corresponding article.
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://www.LawrenceYerkes.com

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) has been around since the 1950s. It is usually required by many mortgage lenders to minamize the risk of a default by the borrower when a conventional loan exceeds 80 percent of a home's market value, It is designed to partially compensate the lender for losses suffered if a borrower defaults on a loan.

If you are currently paying for PMI as part of your mortgage payment, 1990 and later rules changes may allow you to save thousands of dollars! It's important to understand and know the rules. Click here for details.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has a consumer information page explaining PMI and your rights under The Homeowner's Protection Act (HPA) of 1998.  They also have a brocure (PDF) that you can download.  Click on the image at right or here to access their page and the link to download their brochure.
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://www.LawrenceYerkes.com

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Questions & Answers for Reservists, Guardsmen and Other Military Personnel

Here is a link to HUD's questions and answers for reservists, guardsmen and other military personnel regarding mortgage payment relief and protection from foreclosure provided by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA, formerly known as The Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940):

http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/nsc/qasscra1.cfm


The Q&A covers:
Who Is Eligible?
Am I Entitled To Debt Payment Relief?
Is The Interest Rate Limitation Automatic?
Am I Eligible Even if I Can Afford To Pay My Mortgage At A Higher Interest Rate?
What If I Can't Afford to Pay My Mortgage Even At the Lower Rate?
Am I Protected against Foreclosure?
What Information Do I Need To Provide To My Lender?
Will My Payments Change Later?
Will I Need To Pay Back The Interest Rate "Subsidy" At A Later Date?
How Long Does The Benefit Last? Does The Period Begin And End With My Tour Of Duty? |
How Can I Learn More About Relief Available To Active Duty Military Personnel?

For more details about the SCRA, read this article describing the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

Servicemembers who have questions about the SCRA or the protections that they may be entitled to may contact their unit judge advocate or installation legal assistance officer. Dependents of servicemembers can also contact or visit local military legal assistance offices where they reside. A military legal assistance office locator for each branch of the armed forces is available at http://assistance.law.af.mil/
 

Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://www.LawrenceYerkes.com

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

POD (Portable On Demand) moving containers are trailor sized crates that are dropped off at your property and left there for you to load up your personal property.

Once loading is completed and you are ready to move, the POD will be picked up (or temporarily placed in storage until you are ready), then delivered to your new property for unloading.

The containers' doors are set level to the ground so you don't have to climb up or down to load. They come in lengths of 12' or 16', the larger holds approximately 1600 square feet of property items. If you have a larger building, then just use 2 or more PODS to hold the entire contents as needed.

This can be a very convenient and cost effective option for moving whether for your personal contents or for those of your business.
 
Click here for more information about PODS and special promotion discount through RE/MAX.
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://www.LawrenceYerkes.com

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

If you moved because of a change in your job location or because you started a new job, you may be able to deduct your moving expenses if your move is closely related to the start of work. To qualify for the moving expense deduction, you must meet both the distance and the time tests, unless you are a member of the armed forces and your move was due to a permanent change of station.

Your move will meet the distance test if your new main job location is at least 50 miles farther from your former home than your old main job location was. Use the shortest distance of the most commonly traveled routes between these points. To determine this, first figure the distance between your former residence and your new job and then subtract the distance between your former residence and your old job. If the result is 50 miles or more, you have met the distance test. For example, if the distance from your former residence to your new job is 70 miles and the distance from your former residence to your old job is 5 miles, you will meet the distance test.

The second test concerns time. If you are an employee, you must work full-time for at least 39 weeks during the 12 months right after you move. If you are self-employed, you must work full time for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months and for a total of at least 78 weeks during the first 24 months after you move. There are exceptions to the time test in case of death, disability and involuntary separation. For more information if you qualify to deduct moving expenses please refer to Publication 521.

If you meet the requirements, you can deduct the reasonable expenses of moving your household goods and personal effects to your new home. You can also deduct the expenses of traveling to your new home, including your lodging expenses. You cannot, however, deduct meals.

Moving expenses are figured on Form 3903 (PDF) and deducted as an adjustment to income on Form 1040 (PDF). You cannot deduct any moving expenses that were reimbursed by your employer.

For additional information, refer to the and Publication 521, Moving Expenses.

Source: IRS Topic 455 - Moving Expenses
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://www.LawrenceYerkes.com

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

You may be more vulnerable than you think.

At home or at your business, we rely heavily on computers for communications, news, information, applications and just for enjoyment.  For such a critical item in our lives, we need to make sure that our computers and their networks are as secure as possible, at all times.  Here are some basic areas for you to consider, along with some corresponding technology solution providers to save you time, that we are providing as part of our full service commitment to you. 

If you are in the process of buying or selling property and/or moving to new locations, that is an especially good time to  take stock and evaluate the vulnerability of your computer systems -- so you can avoid surprises in your new surroundings.  (If your situation requires more extensive technical support, we can put you in touch with competent service providers local to you, just contact us.)

According to most advisers that we have come across, and which so far has been verified by personal experience, there are at least 5 required measures or elements that need to be implemented in order to effectively minimize vulnerability for any of your computer(s) that access(es) the Internet or are part of a network:

1. Hardware Firewall, such as those offered by Linksys (a division of Cisco Systems), Belkin, D-Link, etc.

2. Software Firewall, the current best being Zonealarm (a free, but limited featured, version is available), Zonealarm Pro (full featured software firewall), Zonealarm Security Suite(firewall, antivirus and antispam filter all-in-one). [Zonealarm is owned by Check Point Software, with US headquarters in California and main headquarters in Ramat-Gan, Israel.]

3. AntiVirus Program, pick-one: Trend Micro's PC-cillin (headquartered in Tokyo), Symantec AntiVirus  (headquartered in California), McAfee VirusScan (headquartered in California), Panda Anti-Virus (headquartered in Bilboa, Spain), Kaspersky Anti-Virus (headquartered in Moscow), GriSoft AVG Anti-Virus (headquartered in the Czech Republic, with USA headquarters in NJ).

4. AntiSpam Program, depending on your email program (for example: Outlook, Outlook Express or Eudora): Cloudmark SafetyBar(headquartered in California) for use with Outlook and Outlook Express. If you use Eudora(by Qualcomm, headquartered in California) for your email program, it comes with a very effective built-in email spam program and which can also by used, for increased protection, with a free anti-spam add-in: SpamPal(additional plug-ins available, also works with Outlook and Outlook Express). SpamPal provides anti-spam protection, maintains whitelist and blacklist, etc.

5. AntiSpyware Program, pick one or more: Sunbelt Software CounterSpy (main headquarters in France), Microsoft Windows Defender (beta version, currently free). Also, Ad-Aware (free version available), SpyBot Search & Destroy (free, but donations appreciated) along with Spyware Blaster(free). [Suggest having several of these and running them frequently. Make sure that you have SpyBot S&D's Resident protection feature turned on (accessed via "Tools" option).]

 
Note: Before going out and paying for any of these that aren't free, make sure you check with your Internet service provider as many include security software as part of their basic service, for no additional cost.  For example, Comcast includes the McAfee Suite of AntiVirus, Personal Firewall Plus, Privacy Service and SpamKiller as part of it's basic broadband cable service.

 

Visit my web site for additional resources and services: LawrenceYerkes.com

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

I know several people, including a member of my family, who have a fear of flying.  The family member's fear existed before all the current secrutiy concerns about terrorist hijacking of planes.   Most of these people will be forced in the future to consider travel by plane for vacations, emergency family situations, to attend conventions or to conduct business.

Lacey Chance's web site, Fear of Flying Help, provides free online resources, including courses, for all those people who suffer from aviophobia -- a fear of flying on a plane.
 
This is also useful if you have kids that are facing the prospect of flying for the first time, such as during their first vacation trip or when moving to a new location. (By the way, if moving with kids, see my prior blog entry, Kids Survival Guide to Moving Video.)
 
Lacey, an airline captain, has been a pilot for over 25 years. He started the site several years ago as a public service to help people be more confident about flying. He developed his site by himself and has continually enhanced it based on feedback from users and personal observations of people nervous about flying.  Chance was recently awarded the Jefferson Award for his dedicated service to the general flying public.
 

See also Wikipedia - Fear of Flying

 
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://www.LawrenceYerkes.com

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The New Jersey State Libray's web site has many resources, including online versions of important New Jersey and American documents.

Click here to view the NJ Library's historical documents.
 
 
 
National Archives: Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept in the National Archives forever. Those valuable records are preserved and are available to you, whether you want to see if they contain clues about your family's history, need to prove a veteran's military service, or are researching an historical topic that interests you...

Click here to view the the National Archive's historical documents.
 
 
 
I believe these documents, especially the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Consitution and Bill of Rights are some of the most important documents ever devised by mankind.  It is important that all of us be thoroughly familiar with what they do (and do not) say and have them readily available for reference.

I've included the text of those 3 documents and links to other important historical documents on my personal web site. They can be accessed by clicking on their title below (also available from the main documents page):
Declaration of Independence
U.S. Constitution 
Bill of Rights
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://www.LawrenceYerkes.com

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Here are some sites to help you find fun things to do in and around the New Jersey area.   Our region has a lot of options to offer you...

FunNewJersey.com provides links to many new and different things to do in New Jersey. From romantic weekend getaways to the many exciting things to do with kids in New Jersey. 
 
 
NJ Tourism site provides a monthly list of upcoming event highlights and what's happening around the Garden State.
Click here for this month's schedule of events.


RoadsideAmerica.com has a list of offbeat tourist attractions in New Jersey:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/map/nj.html

 
Here are online resources for finding the location of the nearest movie theaters, what's playing and their show times...

http://www.fandango.com/ (National)
http://southjersey.com/movies/ (South Jersey)
http://www.nj.com/enter/index.ssf?/movies/ (New Jersey)
Courier-Post - South Jersey Entertainment (South Jersey)

 
 
Visit my web site for additional resources and services: http://www.LawrenceYerkes.com

and visit BestHomes-NJ.com for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land)

Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved.