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November 2008 – Week 1 Issue
Tenafly continues to attract many
Activities for Alpine and Tenafly residents
Road in Teaneck closes for a week
Home buyers play the waiting game
Opportunity in the housing crisis
Tenafly continues to attract many
Tenafly is an ideal place to reside and many homeowners seek new developments in the town. A main attraction of Tenafly real estate is Tenafly’s reputation for quiet neighborhoods and less pollution. Another attractive feature for families is its excellent school system that is noted to be one of the best in New Jersey. Tenafly stretches over 4.6 square miles and is bordered by Cresskill and Alpine on the north. Towards the southern part, it is bordered by Englewood, while Bergenfield and Dumont are seen towards the Western end. A scenic Hudson River is on the east of the township. The area was initially named as Tiene Vly (ten swamps) by its Dutch settlers in the 1600s. It was renamed as Tenafly by the English community. Those seeking a home in the region can benefit from a wide price range that begins from $150,000 and may also go up till $1.5 million for luxury houses with many modern amenities in the East Hill section. Also property taxes range at $4.15 per $100 of assessed value. Homes can be constructed on plots of 50 feet or 100 feet near the central business section as per the zoning ordinance. However in the East Hill section, one acre zoning is enforced as per law. Of the over 2900 acres in Tenafly, approximately 97% is developed with single-family residential. As per statistics, out of the total of 4753 homes, approximately 4020 are single family homes. Those seeking rental apartments in Tenafly also have choice with rents ranging at $820 per single bedroom apartment per month. The region also offers good condominiums, cooperatives and luxury homes. The Browning House is a 59-unit condominium that is located at the corner of the West Clinton Avenue and Tenafly road. This building was initially a school that underwent a $7.1 million renovation. With homes priced in the range of $99,100 to $216,000 for single, double and three bedroom homes, approximately 60% of condominiums have been sold. On the other hand, co-ops are noted to range at $130,000 to $250, 000 for a single bedroom. Commuting to and fro is also convenient using the New Jersey Transit and also the red & tan line buses.
Activities for Alpine and Tenafly residents
The township of Alpine offers various exciting events to its residents. One of the latest events that took place was the Halloween hike conducted at the Palisades Interstate Park in Alpine. This program offered a free three-mile hike on moderate trails. Hot cider and free cookies were also offered and short stories were also read at the Kearney House later on. The event started off with a meet at the Alpine house of Palisades Interstate Parkway. Residents of Alpine, who are interested in more such events, can contact 201-768-1360 for information and updates on upcoming activities. For residents of Tenafly who wish to promote a green environment, the Tenafly Environment Commission also organized for its first ‘Greening Tenafly’ campaign on October 30, 2008. At this event, the commission focused on the economics of building a green environment. Focus was placed on how people can make environment-friendly choices while building or renovating homes. Emphasis was also placed on how natural resources can be saved by residents in day to day lives. Various architects and experts gave their views on relevant topics. More information on how environmental friendly measures can be promoted can be accessed at 201-871-4280.
Road in Teaneck closes for a week
Residents of Teaneck and motorists using the Queen Anne road between West Englewood Avenue and Route 4 will now need to arrange for detours. This comes up after an announcement that the particular section of the road would be closed for a few days starting from November 7, 2008. Construction will take place in the region and the road would be closed from 8 am to 5 pm on weekdays. The work on the section of the road is expected to take a week and is expected to end by Friday, November 14, 2008. This region is used by many motorists, and while development may cause inconvenience, it is unavoidable. While the various detours will surely help ease traffic, residents in the neighborhood are concerned about the pollution and increase in traffic.
Home buyers play the waiting game
A recent survey by the National Association of Realtors revealed that a sizable percentage of home buyersare now playing the waiting game. A remarkable 20% of potential home buyers are now waiting for the spiraling home prices to hit bottom. Thus while realtors keep telling potential clients that home prices have indeed come down, many are waiting for these to fall further, so that they can make a profitable deal. These fence sitters are also studying and observing the market quite keenly. Using the Internet and other tools, they are monitoring properties they are interested in and strategizing to get the best deal. The offers they make are also quite low as they bide their time for home prices to fall further. Their efforts have paid off in many cases, as home prices have fallen. Statistics also show that in North Jersey, prices have dropped by 19% from the housing high of 2005 and are expected to continue the fall by a few more percents. In previous times, if buyers would have made such low bids, agents would have told them to go to more affordable towns. However trends have changed and now buyers have an upper hand. Real estate agents state that while such low ball offers take place all the time in any housing market, more such offers can be seen now. Few home buyers also report that home prices are still quite high and many regions are still overpriced. This gives enough scope that prices will fall with time and come down further.
Opportunity in the housing crisis
Amidst all the crisis of the real estate market, many real estate agents are also finding new opportunities to better business. With the housing market spiraling downwards and home sales down by 50%, foreclosures are offering a window opportunity for some realtors. The instances of foreclosures have gone up and statistics by the US Census Bureau reveal that one out of five homeowners in Bergen County were noted to spend their incomes on housing in 2007. This is a rise as compared to 2000, when only one out of eight residents had to invest on housing. Also the number of foreclosures in New Jersey went up by three times to 3000 in the year 2008 as compared to 2007.Thus while clients may need to pay up more to prevent foreclosures; real estate agents are conducting negotiations and short sales for those in financial danger. In such cases realtors sell distressed homes at amounts lesser than what they owe to mortgages. Lenders forgive the difference amounts, which may be small or large, and accept the amount. This helps clients come out of the emotional and financial woes associated with distressed properties and large debts. It also helps lenders avoid the process of foreclosure, which may take many months. Finally it also makes business sense for the agents at a time when the housing market is slow.
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