Last week marked 3 weeks in a row of improving rates.  We saw a 21/32nd move up in the price of Fannies by close of the business week on Friday. That is one of the biggest weekly gains we have seen since November.  Keep in mind that in the credit markets, price up means yield down. The Auctions last week went better than expected and that is the real reason for the improvement. We did have a few weaker than expected numbers as well and Friday's CPI number helped to confirm that inflation was well under control. This week is not only a short one because of MLK, but it is also short on reports that may move the market: Monday: Markets were closed for MLK's birthday. I spent the day building sleds for the Klondike. Tuesday January 19: No real news today to report on, in the absence of an... 01/19/2010

Let me start by saying thank you for all your help and support throughout the years. I am proud to announce that I have affiliated myself with Re/Max. As many of you may know I was a multiyear top producing agent in my previous company and moved on in my career to obtain my NJ Brokers license and managed 3 different offices in Ocean County at that same company with over 100 agents. I have listed some of my accomplishments below. My wife, Fiona, and I have decided to start our own business with Re/Max as they are the largest most successful real estate company in the world with a great support system and plenty of opportunities; including national and international real estate sales, residential and commercial real estate development and so much more. As we are building our business I wo... 01/18/2010

Monthly Real Estate Market Report for Toms River, NJ - December 2009December by the numbers: · 56 The number of Single Family Homes CLOSED during the month · $387,928 Average LIST price for December*  · $354,078 Average SALES price for the month*  · 109 Average DAYS ON the MARKET for December · 91.27% The SALES price to LIST price RATIO for the month · 686 Number of Single Family Homes ACTIVE on the market in December · 12.25 Number of MONTHS it would take to SELL OFF the existing supply of homes on the market, in Toms River, at this rate, if NONE were to come on the market! December 2009 saw 56 Single Family Homes CLOSE in Toms River, as compared with 63 in December of 2008. THIS MARKS THE FIRST MONTH, IN THE LAST 6, WHERE SALES HAVE NOT SURPASSED THE SAME MONTH OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR! ... 01/16/2010

   With temps in the 40's this weekend I am beginning to wonder if we will get any "sail-able" ice Locally this year. I guess I am one of the few crazy people that hope for a few weeks of bitter temperatures so I can go sailing on some hard water. Ice boating is one of the things that will either: Scare you to death Become instantly addictive For me it became instantly addictive.  Below is me sailing at the mouth of the Toms River last year where the river meets the Barnegat bay. It wasn't very windy that day, and I was probably only sailing past doing about 20 or so MPH... But my DN will easily hit over 50mph.. Just inches off the ice and near instant acceleration you don't even think about the cold! Just one of my hobbies that helps me maintain my sanity in our crazy business!   Have ... 01/16/2010

  We have all had the Three "L's" of Real Estate etched in our minds, With Real Estate it is all about Location Location, Location! What about price?  There is a "right" Price for EVERY home in EVERY market.  The funny thing is that buyers know what that price is and they will not even look at an over priced home. There are always too many over priced homes in just about every market, Even in a Seller's Market you can have an over priced home.  The only thing the over priced listing does is help sell a well priced listing. So what is the right price?  Obviously that will be determined by each individual market. From an appraiser's stand point, value is calculated using comparable sales, "comps". A comp is a similar home that has sold and closed with in the most recent few months. A few ... 01/14/2010

  This weeks Economic Calendar Last week ended up squeaking out a pretty decent gain of 9/32nds on Fannies after yet another choppy week of trading. The first full week of trading for the year helped settle down some of the indigestion in the credit markets from the end of 2009.  I think most of the losses in the credit markets at the end of the year were in part profit taking, hopes of a Santa Claus Rally in the stock market along with fear or hopes of a stronger economy.  The surprise last week was the weaker than expected employment report. by the end of the day Friday we saw no gain from the report even though it helps to reinforce that the Fed will not be raising rates anytime soon. This week has a long list of items to look out for: Monday January 11: Treasury auctions off 10 Bill... 01/11/2010

Ok, so you had your home on the market, with a real estate brokerage, and it didn't sell. Why not? Rick Deluca, National Real Estate Speaker, suggests there are 5 reasons even GREAT homes don't sell. Watch Jim Flanagan, Broker of Record for Coldwell Banker Flanagan Realty, as he explains these 5 reasons: And the rest of the day to you, Jim   01/08/2010

  Ocean County Library offers free language study    PRESS RELEASE TOMS RIVER -   To help people function in the global community, the Ocean County Library now offers the Mango Languages program to help county residents learn 22 foreign languages.   The program also offers 14 English as a Second Language courses.   The programs are free to Ocean County Library card holders and can be accessed through the library's Web site (www.theoceancountylibrary.org) via the Internet from a home or library computer.  It can be reached by clicking on the "Research & Info" icon, then clicking on the "databases A-Z" icon. Mango Languages offers online instruction at two levels. Mango Basics is designed for people who want to learn just the basics of a language and people who have a limited time to mast... 01/06/2010

  HAPPY NEW YEAR!  This is the first full trading week of the new year, The last few of the old year were fun choppy sessions leaving us with higher rates. We no longer have the excuse of light trading due to the holidays so we will be back to "normal" trading (I hope) Last week actually ended almost dead flat from the previous week, it was a bouncy ride as we headed into New Years eve but Fannies managed to squeak out a 1/32nd gain for the week. That is basically an unchanged week. This week is the start of the new year and a new month worth of data. Here is this weeks Economic Calendar: MondayJanuary 4: December institute of Supply Mgt expected 54.0%. This is already factored into the market and the market has been trading in positive territory all day, although off the highs we saw t... 01/04/2010

   As predicted, last week was a choppy week with the market giving us some exciting ups and downs only to end up unchanged for the week (at least Fannies were unchanged). So after much nail biting we had rates pretty much unchanged for the week.  This week should be an interesting one with Christmas tossed into the mix.  Traditionally the last week of the year is pretty lightly traded and with volume down we are apt to see big swings. This week does have more than Christmas on the Calendar: Monday, December 21: No news day today, but so far it looks like Stocks are having a bit of a Santa Claus Rally and that is not good news for rates. Look for a bump up in rates today. Tuesday, December 22: Final Estimate of third Quarter GDP expected +2.8%. The beginning of the year had business ble... 12/21/2009

Photo Credit Monthly Real Estate Market Report for Toms River, NJ - November 2009 November by the numbers:  •·        68  The number of Single Family Homes CLOSED during the month  •·        $322,726  Average LIST price for November*  •·        $303,988  Average SALES price for the month*  •·        87  Average DAYS ON the MARKET for November  •·        94.19%  The SALES price to LIST price RATIO for the month  •·        714  Number of Single Family Homes ACTIVE on the market in November  •·        10.50 Number of MONTHS it would take to SELL OFF the existing supply of homes on the market, in Toms River, at this rate, if NONE were to come on the market!  November 2009, saw 68 Single Family Homes CLOSE in Toms River, as compared with 47 in October of 2008.   THIS MARKS THE FIFTH MONTH I... 12/16/2009

  This Weeks Economic Calendar Last week was a mixed week with 2 good days and 3 bad days, by the end of the week Fannies lost another 12/32nds ending 2 weeks in a row of rates creeping up on us. This week has a broad mix of data to keep investors confused.  Keep in mind that we are fast approaching the new year, and in early 2010 Uncle Sam will step out of the Mortgage Backed securities market and that alone may cause rates to climb a bit as the market loses one of the big participants.  Here is this week's calendar: Monday December 14: Better get your Christmas shopping done! In the absence of any real news today we have a confused market that is bouncing back and forth on either side of "unchanged" awaiting this weeks big news events. Tuesday December 15: Fed Open Market Committee be... 12/14/2009

  In a word last week was "UGLY" for interest rates. We lost 31/32nds (on Fannies) last week which is a huge loss and VERY noticeable on rate sheets.  It makes our jobs lotsa fun when you consider that FHLMC just release "lowest rates ever" report on Thursday.  What most people do not realize is that that weekly number is already a week old when reported and mortgages are like stocks, they are traded all day long on the secondary market and the price drives the yield.  I figured we were due for an up week after over a month of improving weeks. Profit taking alone would have been a good enough reason. Ultimately it was the employment report that was the excuse to take profits at the end of the week with the employment report (while still ugly) came in much better than expected and there ... 12/07/2009

 Bad week for rates.  This morning the Employment report came in much better than anticipated and there were revisions to previous reports that in effect show the jobless report is not as bad as originally thought. Today the market was expecting a report that would show a loss of 130,000 jobs and a 10.2% Unemployment rate.  The actual number was 10% with only 11,000 jobs lost for the month. This causes a sell off in the credit markets that drive the price down and the yield up. So this week has been a bad week for interest rates. Just yesterday the reports in the news show "LOWEST RATES EVER" Well Folks, that was so last week!  Almost every day this week we have had rates getting worse. Rates are still great, but just not as good as last week.   Have a great week End. Rob Robert Rauf Mo... 12/04/2009

   Seller ConcessionsAn often necessary & useful tool •What is a seller concession? A seller concession is an agreement between buyer & seller for the seller to pay some or all of the buyers closing costs, up to the percentage allowed by the lender. •Who benefits from a concession?   Both Buyer & Seller can benefit!  A buyer may ask for a concession in order to afford both down payment & closing costs, or in order to reserve some money for savings or repairs to the home.  A seller may wish to offer a concession in order to make their listing stand out.  As a listing agent, you can make the sellers aware of this tool, & the benefits of doing "something different" to help market the home.  Often, reducing the price does not have the effect a seller offering to pay some closing costs will.... 12/02/2009

   Well, Last week ended up being much better than I thought it would be. Traditionally we get a bit of a smack on holiday extended weekends, but this time we have to thank Dubai for tossing enough insecurity into the markets to cause a flight to quality that pumped a few extra dollars into our credit markets. By weeks end we had one of the more positive weeks we have seen in a few months. Can you say "Global Economy"?  Dubai??? That crazy rich little country that builds its own Islands.... That's the place.  They took a trip to a neighbor to borrow a few bucks so they could pay their bills and now the market has something else to worry about.  This week starts a new month of data for the markets to chew on, along with the world hic-ups to digest. Here is the calendar: Monday November 3... 11/30/2009

Paying ‘Points'- Good or Bad? •Discount points-  Used to reduce a borrowers interest rate. One point = 1% of the amount borrowed. Rule of thumb is 1 point reduces interest rate by approx .25% on a 30 year loan.  •*Can be deducted on income taxes- ( up front mortgage interest ) •Should a borrower pay points? This depends on the individual borrower's scenario.  The mortgage crisis of the last couple years has created a shift in how mortgage rates are offered.  With the average loan being paid off or refinanced in a much shorter period of time, lenders are looking for ways to earn a better return over a shorter period of time.  Often, the best ‘value' in terms of rate/fee combination is offered to buyers willing to pay around one discount point on their loan.   •Consider the following exam... 11/24/2009

    Happy Turkey Week! Last week ended up being another positive one with Fannies ending up 6/32nds better than the previous week. If you are keeping track, that makes 4 positive weeks in a row bringing us back close to the Low LOWS we saw last spring.  This is a short week which has some issues in itself that can cause a bump in the road that can move rates.  Here is this weeks News worthy events: Monday November 23: October existing home sales were expected to be up 1.4% but ended up being UP over 10%. This should have been bad news for rates but ended up being a neutral event. My guess is that much of the increase was due to the pent up demand and people rushing to make the 11/30 deadline for the First time buyer credit. Monday: First auction of the week with the Treasury auctioning ... 11/23/2009

SHARE THE JOY! One of our local radio stations, 100.1 WJRZ & Investors Savings Bank will unite again for the 10th annual live broadcast of "Share The Joy," DATE:  Friday & Saturday, November 20th & 21st, 2009  LOCATION:  Walmart, 950 Rt. 37 West in Toms River, NJ Being collected will be food, towels and blankets for our four legged friends on behalf of the Jersey Shore Animal Center. This includes an effort to fill a tractor-trailer with non-perishable food items, gently used clothing, new unwrapped toys, as well as monetary donations - all to benefit Ocean County Hunger Relief & Big Brothers Big Sisters. At 6 am on Friday the 20th, 100.1 WJRZ will begin accepting donations while having a live broadcast on location. The broadcast will go on through the weekend and will end when the tra... 11/17/2009

The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 has extended the tax credit of up to $8,000 for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence. It also authorized a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified repeat home buyers. $8,000 First-time Home Buyer Tax Credit at a Glance •The $8,000 tax credit is for first-time home buyers only. For the tax credit program, the IRS defines a first-time home buyer as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. •The tax credit does not have to be repaid. •The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home's purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000. •The tax credit applies only to homes priced at $800,000 or less. •The tax credit now applies to sales occurring on ... 11/17/2009