Southern New Jersey Overlook

The Internet has revolutionized the way the property buyers think and act as they pursue the the home of their dreams or the property that will best fit their business requirements.
 
If you aren't effectively using the Internet in your property search, you're missing out on one of the most powerful, time-saving real estate resources available to consumers and businesses, whether single-person shop or large corporation.
 
Before starting any property search, buyers should first establish the property characteristics that they consider the most important. A well-defined set of priorities serves as the basic guide for your search of homes, land, farms or commercial properties. In general, it's advisable to have desired property specifications grouped into categories of importance (separating the "wants" from the "needs").   You should also have a well thoughout budget and financing plan so you can stay within realisted price ranges.
 
Knowing what you want is even more important when searching real estate on the Internet, because the sheer amount of information available on property, locations, options, service, etc. can overwhelm unfocused buyers. Depending on the thoroughness of the listing agent and the rules of the area, you can often learn a great deal about a property by reading beyond that first descriptive paragraph. 
 
Location remains one of the most important factors in any real estate purchase.. If you don't already have a specific district or two in mind, you can use online neighborhood data and community profiles to help narrow down your target areas. Compare current asking prices by neighborhood to get an early feel for market factors. 
 
Look for the extras - Many online listings include galleries of additional photos, virtual tours, floor plans and plot maps.. Often extra listing features such as these can be a great way to get a better feel for a property from the comfort of your home.

Keep track of your favorites - Keeping tabs on the homes that interest you the most is absolutely essential. Print of listing details or flyers of your highest rated properties for a hard-copy reference. Whenever possible, save searches or favorite properties online to easily track available properties on the market. Tracking listings online can even help you catch crucial changes such as a sudden change in price or terms of sale.
 
Perhaps the most exciting thing about shopping for real estate online is the pace at which the technology continues to develop and benefit buyers. Ever improving features such as map-based searches and emailed search updates keep providing reasons to start the search for a new property with the click of a mouse.
 
Source: RE/MAX-NJ
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: http://www.LawrenceYerkes.com
  
and visit BestHomes-NJ.com to shop for the latest New Jersey Real Estate property listings (residential, commercial, multi-family, farm, land).   
  
Copyright 2006 by Timon, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

Freddie Mac is expanding what it calls it's Home Possible suite of mortgages through hundreds of lenders to include Military Personnel, beginning 10/6/2006.  Originally available to teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers and healthcare workers, the program boosts their buying power, allows more flexibility for lower credit scores and reduced mortgage insurance coverage levels.

According to a recent Freddie Mac press release, "The Home Possible changes are expected to increase by as much as 30 percent the home buying power of members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and National Guard on active duty, in the reserves, or separated from their respective services by less than two years."  Fixed rate mortgages up to 40-year as well as 7/1 and 10/1 ARMs are available for 1-2 unit properties under this program.

"Home Possible mortgages have zero or very low downpayments and flexible credit requirements designed to foster homeownership in underserved communities and among at or below median income families. Home Possible also offers higher loan-to-value ratios and other underwriting features to help critical community workers such as teachers, police, firefighters and health care workers – and now military personnel – to afford homes in the communities where they serve."

One of it's many new enhancements will allow borrowers who qualify for Home Possible Mortgages to be eligible to use temporary subsidy buydown plans (available 11/19/06) to reduce initial interest rates. "Specifically, the subsidies can be used to reduce the interest rate by up to 1.5 percentage points in the first year, effectively increasing home purchasing power by as much as 30 percent. Allowable subsidies can come from a wide range of sources, such as gifts or grants.

For example, by using the temporary buy-down feature with a three percent down payment, a borrower with adequate reserves earning $2761 a month can boost his or her home buying power from $200,000 to $260,400 with a Home Possible Mortgage compared to a standard 97 percent LTV mortgage, all other things being equal."


Check with a mortgage specialist for details.        

(If you are not already working with a mortgage provider, feel free to contact us for help in locating one.)
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: 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 is a list of free online measurement conversion sites for use at work, school and for personal use.  Find your favorite calculator page and bookmark so you can quickly get to it when you need it.  I hope that these will cover most of your needs and make it easier for you than the man in the image.  If not, let me know if anything is missing.

Online Conversion - Convert just about anything to anything else. Over 5,000 units, and 50,000 conversions. (The conversions on this site require the use of JavaScript)

OnlineUnitConversion - Convert 1000's of units of measurement, and also including currency, time, clothes/shoes (different countries/regions) and cooking.

AllConversions - for conversions related to area, volume, length, temperature, computer bits/bytes, power, pressure, speed, etc.

Convert-Me - perform online conversions (e.g. metric conversions) for many measurement systems both commonly used like metric, U.S. Avoirdupois and even Ancient Greek and Roman.

AskNumbers - conversions of measurements, area, volume, clothing/shoe size, cooking, currency, electrical, flow and more

OnlineConversions - quick, easy conversions, just select category (length, Length, Weight, Currency, Volume, Area, Energy, Pressure, Temperature), select from/to measurement, the enter a value. Included standard as well as historical and obscure: for example, convert ropes to perches, ells to barleycorns, slugs to stones, scruples to carots, hogsheads to gills and more.

OnlineConverters - measurement converters and tables for julian date calendar, clothes, shoe sizes, leap year calc., wind chill factor, circle solver, capacity, polygon calculator and more.

DigitalDutch - Unit measurement conversions, also a Standard Atmosphere Calculator

Science Made Simple - conversions of measurements, area, time. (They even have one comparing fruits: apples to oranges :-)

Metric Conversions - all things metric, including conversions, calculators, tables, web tools and other links.

Martin's Calculators - an extensive collection of links to calculators, tables, conversion charts for the sciences, business and everyday use.

Latitude and Longitude Format Conversion - compliments of NC Geological Survey.
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: 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. 

According to an NAR report, 77% of homebuyers surf the Web to begin their home search. Likewise, commercial property buyers are usually heavy users of the Internet in conducting initial searches.  That means buyers are well aware of what properties are available on the market and the prices for which they are selling. Therefore, now more than ever, pricing is the key to selling your property.

Some sellers think that a higher price will give them some negotiating room. But in fact many buyers don't even look at a property that is overpriced, much less make an offer on it.   A seller needs to keep in mind that a higher price may also put their property into another search bracket for online searches of available properties which may cause it to be overlooked.  For example, pricing a property at $354,000 will mean that it may never been seen by those looking for $350,000 and under, even though there is often a good chance that $350,000 (or even a higher amount) would be a price the buyer would agree to if they liked the property well enough.

Overpricing can lead to the property’s becoming “shop-worn.” Buyers often inquire about the length of time a property has been on the market (Days On Market or DOM). If it has been on the market a long time, they wonder if there is something wrong with it. The sellers then have to drop the price, taking less than they might have if they had priced it correctly to begin with.

Starting at too high a price may also mean that the critical period when the property first comes on the market and the real estate buying community first becomes aware of it's availability will create a negative impression about the value of the house and may turn off agents from showing it, not wanting to waste their and their buyer's time.  This is especially so in a buyer's market.  The seller then tries to play "catch-up" to the downward market demand and may eventually be forced to drop the price below what would have sold if property priced at the start.

Properties that are well-priced attract the buyers in their price range. The buyer's perception is that the property is a good buy, and then the seller is positioned to receive the listing price or close to it.  Time and time again, experience has shown that properly priced properties have a much higher chance to experience competitive offers from several buyers, sometimes driving the price higher than asking price.
 
 
Please feel free to call or email us if you have any questions. We would be happy to provide you with a market evaluation on your property to make sure it is competitively priced in the marketplace so you will receive the best offer.
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: 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. 

As a member of the National Association of REALTOR®s (NAR), we have many resources that are available to our clients to help with property buying, selling and ownership and community involvement and support -- for both residential and commercial. 

For example, the NAR provides a chart listing items that have to be addressed (whether home seller or buyer) in order to avoide post-contract pitfalls that WILL occur if not properly addressed during the critical contract Acceptance to Closing phase.  It requires the support and guidance of a real estate professional with the knowledge, experience and resources to effectively address the wide variety of issues that WILL appear during that period -- and if not handled correctly, could result in extra costs and/or hardships before, during and even after the closing.
 
"Selling a home is like climbing Mount Everest – getting a signed contract is a great accomplishment, but that's only half the journey. The typical home sale today involves more than 20 steps after the initial contract is accepted to complete the transaction.

Much of what needs to be done before the closing is the responsibility of appraisers, loan processors, attorneys, and inspectors — the REALTOR®'s role is to coordinate those responsibilities, helping to ensure that others do their jobs promptly and correctly and that the closing isn't jeopardized." (Source: NAR)

Click here for more details about how to avoid Post-Contract Pitfalls.
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: 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. 

Home Planning Series, developed by the Copper Development Association, features a set of articles specifically developed to provide useful information on various copper applications and use areas within a home. These include articles related to plumbing, heating and cooling, electrical and communications wiring, lighting, architecture, health and technology.  The information is presented in a clear and easy to use format, free of industry jargon or technical lingo to answer specific questions consumers might have as they build a new home or make changes/upgrades to their existing home.

Information categories include: Home Networking, Fuel Gas, Wiring, Safety/Codes, Projects.

Home Planning Series

Note: There is also a kid's copper educational and fun section.
 
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: 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. 

HUD's 100 Questions & Answers About Buying A New Home 
 
Homeownership is becoming a reality for more and more Americans. During 2000, the US homeownership rate reached 67.7%, the highest rate ever. Yet many Americans don't realize that homeownership is within their grasp.  A home is a financial asset and more: it's a place to live and raise children; it's a plan for the future; it's an investment in your community. (HUD)

HUD provided the information online.  We have also provided a copy on our website with a linked table of contents to the main sections.  It covers how to get started, where to look, financing, closing and even a glossary.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Part I Getting Started 
Part II Finding Your Home 
Part III You've Found It 
Part IV General Financing -- Questions:The Basics 
Part V  First Steps 
Part VI Finding The Right Loan For You 
Part VII Closing 
Part VIII How Can HUD And The FHA help Me Become a Homeowner 
Part IX Mortgage Insurance
Part X FHA Products 
Glossary

Click here for 100 Home Buying Q&A's by HUD
 


Visit my web site for additional services and support: 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. 

For those of us that have loved ones that may be suffering from the effects of Alzhiemer's Disease and/or are caregivers of Alzhiemer's Disease sufferers, here are some resources that we hope will help...
 
Order Online: Free Identify Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Kit
The Alzheimer's Foundation of America is pleased to provide a free "Identify Alzheimer's Disease" ("ID.A.D.") resource kit on behalf of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and the National Family Caregivers Association. http://www.alzfdn.org/brain-health/IDADKit.shtml
 
Alzheimer's Disease: Unraveling the Mystery.
A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE. Free! Speakers Kits, Videos, Handbooks Why are so many more people suffering from chronic diseases (like arthritis and Alzheimer's disease) today? One reason may be our use of suppressive medicines. Luckily there is another way to treat disease -- homeopathy. In fact, the "Impossible Cure" of Alzheimer's may not be so impossible after all!
http://www.alzheimersoption.com/
 
Search Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Trials Database by State
You can search for current clinical trials by location, type of therapy, and study characteristics and requirements. http://www.alzheimers.org/trials/basicsearch.html
 
Search for Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers by State
For patients and families affected by AD, many ADCs offer diagnosis and medical management (costs may vary - centers may accept Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance), Information about the disease, services, and resources, opportunities for volunteers to participate in drug trials, support groups, clinical research projects, and other special programs for volunteers and their families. National Institute on Aging funded.
http://www.alzheimers.org/adcdir.htm
 
Find Best Care Options with Alzheimer's Association Web Tool
Millions of individuals affected by Alzheimer’s disease are faced with the challenge of finding good care for themselves or their loved ones. To support them, the Alzheimer’s Association has developed a unique Web tool that helps individuals find the right care options, from home and community-based care, to assisted living and nursing home care. The Alzheimer’s Association CareFinder™ at http://www.alz.org/carefinder/index.asp, has a special feature that allows individuals and families to input personalized information, special needs, abilities and preferences, and receive a customized summary report with care recommendations and specific questions to ask potential care providers based on the profile. (Source Alzheimer's Assoc.)
Click here for full details about the Alzheimer's Association Web Tool
 
 
  
Visit my web site for additional services and support: 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. 

To help determine what needs to be repaired on a property in order to insure a maximum return on your investment, it helps to imagine you are a buyer looking at your property...

What do you think needs repair? The most common areas of concern are the roof, gutters, and downspouts. In addition, repair of missing or peeling exterior paint.  These are usually minor repair issues on the part of the owner and should be part of normal property maintenance and upkeep.

Money spent on repairs can make a difference in the final sale price because buyers tend to overestimate the cost of performing repairs. Then they reduce their offer by an amount higher than necessary to compensate. If the lender requires the repairs to be performed before closing, or a buyer's property inspector recommends repairs under a contract's due deligence clause, the seller can, in effect, end up paying for repairs twice: first in a lower sale price and second in the out-of-pocket cost of the repairs themselves.

A better strategy is to perform the repairs before putting your property on the market. Simple repairs that make a huge difference in marketability and offer price are:
* Replace cracked windows and torn screens.
* Fix or replace any broken stairs or handrails.
* Fix plumbing fixtures, leaking faucets, and so on.
* Replace exterior lock sets and garage door openers if damaged.
* Repair worn or damaged flooring.
* Replace broken or leaking gutters and downspouts.
* Remove any soil or landscape mulch from contact with wood.
* Clean, repair, or replace the roof.
* Repair or replace any worn boards on decks or porches.
* Have your heater and air conditioning units serviced and filters replaced.

First impressions are key. Taking care of the necessary repairs before putting your property on the market is important to yielding top dollar and ensuring a quick, hassle-free sale.

We would be happy to talk and make some recommendations on how to create an inviting atmosphere. Properties that convey pride of ownership often receive the best offers and have the shortest number of days on the market.   This is confirmed time and and again by experience -- buyers will tend to pay more for properties in better condition and appearance, because they believe they are getting more value and perceive lower ownership risks (less chance for surprises after taking possession).
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: 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. 

Access to quality, up-to-date sources of community information and demographics (i.e, the statistical characteristics of human populations), are important to help in determining where, when and even how we want to live and/or conduct business.   Here are community and demographics resources to help you, that are available online, providing community information and statistics on local, state, regional and national propulation characteristics...


Local / New Jersey Community and Demographics
 

OPRA Central: Open Public Records Act (OPRA) of New Jersey

New Jersey has a facility set up for the public to request NJ State Government Records.  Click on the above link for for details on their OPRA page or the logo on the right.

Seeing this link on any public agency web site brings up information about the agency's public record access information. New Jersey public agencies are urged to use this symbol to bring web users to their OPRA information. (Click on image for larger view.)

The Government Records Council (GRC) is committed to making the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) work for the citizens of New Jersey. Since the law’s inception, the GRC has worked hard to make government records more easily accessible to the public. The GRC is committed to being the facilitator of open government in New Jersey.

Department of Transportation OPRA Information Page

Click here for NJ Departmenta/Agency Index
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: 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. 

Resources to help you make informed choices about schools for you, your family and your employees.

No matter what level of education you are seeking for you and/or your family or need to insure a local supply of properly trained employees and continuing education programs, the New Jersey / Delaware Valley area has a tremendous variety of options for schools to met any requirements.  They provide opportunities for you to experience scholastic excellence, technology training, athletic competition and recreation at all Division levels, as well as great social and networking environments.
 
For higher education, we have the top-rated Wharton School (MBA) at the Pennniversity of Pennsylvania (Penn) in Philadelphia, Rutgers University campuses, several nationally recognized medical-related colleges, as well as many other excellent graduate and undergraduate schools and universities.  Their proximity allows you options to live on campus or in nearby housing, communite full-time or attend evening or weekend programs.

There are excellent community colleges in the New Jersey system.  They have solid educational programs as well as competitive athletic programs. For example, check out Burlington Community College (BCC), and the Burlington County Institute of Technology (BCIT), as well as Gloucester , Camden and Mercer County Community Colleges
 
We have some of the best communities in the country, with comparable schools that are strong scholastically with top-ranked athletic programs.  For example, Lenape Regional high schools in Burlington County have received all-state and national rankings -- for example, coaches choice as #3 of all schools (#1 public school in 2003) in nation (#1 region) for soccer -- they compete at the highest school levels of competition and are consistantly all league, all conference, all region winners in all participating sports.

As with any region, there a variety of types of communities for you to choose from, with different strengths and weaknesses.  To help you determine the best school system for you, below are online resources that provide "school reports", educational institutional directories and information, giving answers to most of your questions about educational performance and results, teacher-pupil ratios, percentages of graduates, those going on to college and more...

New Jersey Schools:

NJ Department of Education	NJ Dept of Education: Guides, Services, NJ Schools Directory, FAQs.
NJ School Web Sites	Web sites about New Jersey schools. These links may or may not be "official" pages for these towns. They contain some useful information about the municipality and its surrounding area.
Good News About NJ Public Schools	New Jersey public schools - information supplied by the NEA.
NJ School Report Cards	New Jersey School Reports Cards, provided by state of NJ Dept. of Educ. presents thirty-five fields of information for each school in the following categories: school environment, students, student performance indicators, staff, and district finances.  See also: NJ NCLB School, District, and State Reports New Standards Resource with Related Activities New Jersey Textbook Sharing (at http://education.state.nj.us/)
NJ K-12 Schools Web Directory	K-12 Schools Web Directory - NJ
NJ Colleges	NJ Edge - Information about New Jersey's colleges and universities and related educational programs.
School Surveys	Sperling's BestPlaces.net school profiles.
GreatSchools.net	Online guide to K-12 Schools in NJ and national.

For those those that are experiencing memory problems or have loved-ones that they suspect or have confirmed memory problems, here are memory disorder centers that may be of help in the South Jersey / Philadelphia metropolitan area.

University of Pennsylvania Alzheimer's Disease Center, Memory Disorders
The center is located at University of Pennsylvania, Penn-Ralston Center, 3615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104. The telephone is 215-662-7810. Christopher Clark, M.D., is Director.Website: Click Here

Medical College of Pennsylvania Memory Disorder Center
The center is located at the Department of Neurology, 3300 Henry Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19129. The telephone number is 215-842-7151. Carol Lippa, M.D., is the Clinic Director.

Memory Disorders/Aging Center
The center is located at The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Center For Aging, 42 East Laurel Road, Suite 3200, Stratford, New Jersey 08084. The telephone is 856-566-6843. Anita Chopra, M.D., is Director.

Source: EldercareNetworkNews

Click here for national list of memory clinics.
 
 
 
Visit my web site for additional services and support: 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.