New Jersey Real Estate Video Blog with Doug Tucker

What Do Dawson Brook Townhomes Have to Offer?

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 11:18:00 -0700

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Today I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to a new townhome development in Randolph, New Jersey called Dawson Brook. It is the only 55+ age restricted townhome community in New Jersey at this time.

There are 30 luxury units being built right now by local builder Bill Reed, someone who I have worked with a lot over the years. Many of his standard features are what other builders consider upgrades, including cultured stone pathways, carriage style garage doors, and other things you won't find in competing complexes.

On the inside, all the units have first-floor master bedroom and bathroom suites, and the entire place has an open floor plan. In the kitchen, you'll find granite countertops and islands, along with stainless steel appliances.

All models also have a 2-car garage, and a large second bedroom upstairs. A study upstairs can either be left open or a wall can be put in to create a 2nd enclosed room. There is also some great storage space in the attics. Many of the units have basements, and some even have walkouts.

These properties haven't been open to the public yet, but 10 of the 30 units are already reserved. They will go fast once they are, so if you or somebody you know is interested, reach out to me on the phone or through email. I can send you the floor plans and specs, and even meet with you by appointment before the town homes go on sale.

So give me a call today, I look forward to hearing from you!

What Is the New Jersey Mortgage Process Like?

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 10:53:00 -0700

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We are delighted today to be joined once again by Sandy Davis of New Jersey Lenders. We are going to focus on the closing steps of the mortgage process today, and Sandy will be answering some of the most common questions we get from our clients. Here they are:

What are closing costs?

When you buy a home, there are two large expenses associated with that. The first is your down payment, which can range anywhere from 3% to 20%+ of the purchase price. The other is closing costs. They include a number of fees relating to attorneys, home inspections, appraisals, and the like. Typically all of your closing costs will run you about 3-3.5% of your purchase price.

Do I have to pay for closing costs out-of-pocket?

You have 2 options when it comes to paying your closing costs. The first is paying out of pocket, which is your best long-term option. The other thing you can do is roll those closing costs into your mortgage through a seller's concession, so you only have to worry about your down payment.

A quick update for you on interest rates: There has been yet another drop in rates recently, and it's a great time to lock one in before they are expected to rise later this year. We are looking at some amazing rates, whether you are looking to buy a new home or refinance your current one.

If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We are your best source for all the latest real estate information here in New Jersey.

Important Mortgage Information for Spring Home Buyers

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 11:29:00 -0700

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Today I'm back with Sandy Davis, and she's here to answer some more questions about the mortgage process. She's going to help keep everyone informed on what is going on in the mortgage market, and I have a few specific questions that I'll be asking her.

How long does the mortgage process take?

From start to finish, 45 days is a realistic timeline from the time you sign your purchase contract until you close the loan. I've closed loans in 29 days, but 45 days is the standard if the borrower has the correct paperwork and is eager to complete the process.

Pre-Approval vs. Pre-qualification, what's the difference?

These are two very different designations, and a pre-approval is much more desirable. A pre-approval scrutinizes your credit and other factors much more than a pre-qualification does, and home sellers would always prefer an approval over a letter of qualification. The pre-approval is highly recommended by lenders and real estate agents alike, and it can also help to streamline the mortgage process.

What's the difference between an interest rate and an APR?

Your interest rate is your note rate, and it's what your monthly payments are calculated from. The APR is the cost of your credit as a yearly rate, it's essentially taking into account the closing costs that you had to pay. Your mortgage payment is not based on your APR, it's based on the note rate, which is the interest rate of the mortgage.

Hopefully this information has been useful to you. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact Sandy or anyone on my team. We look forward to helping you!

Sandy Davis

Senior Loan Officer

NJ Lenders Corp.

102 Chestnut Ridge Road | Suite 200 | Montvale, NJ 07645

E-mail: sdavis@formanteam.com

Phone: 201.505.8295 | Fax: 201.591.7965

Direct/Cell: 973-670-9702

NMLS 172843

What Should You Know About Mortgages in New Jersey?

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 14:11:00 -0800

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Thanks for joining us again today, everyone. Today we are here with our preferred lender, Sandy Davis from New Jersey Home Lenders, and she is here to go over some basics of the mortgage process with us. Let's start by asking Sandy some questions we have been getting from our clients:

How does a buyer know how much they qualify for?
What lenders do is take your gross monthly income and subtract out debt as it appears on your credit report. Different products have different guidelines for debt-to-income ratio, depending if you choose FHA or conventional financing.

What is the difference between a fixed-rate and an adjustable-rate mortgage?
A fixed-rate mortgage means that whatever rate you choose, your principal and interest will always remain constant throughout the life of the loan. An adjustable-rate mortgage is a mortgage where the rate can be changed over time, and is usually a good idea for people who know they won't be in their home for a long time. Unless you are absolutely certain of this, however, you should probably go with a fixed-rate mortgage, simply because rates are so low right now.

What's the difference between a 30-year fixed and a 15-year fixed mortgage?
A 30-year fixed has a much lower payment than a 15-year fixed, because you are paying for the loan over a much longer period of time. With a 15-year fixed, you are paying more per month, but you are also paying less in interest throughout the life of the loan, with a lower rate.

If you have any questions for Sandy, please give her a call or send her an email at,

Sandy Davis

Senior Loan Officer

NJ Lenders Corp.

102 Chestnut Ridge Road | Suite 200 | Montvale, NJ 07645

E-mail: sdavis@formanteam.com

Phone: 201.505.8295 | Fax: 201.591.7965

Direct/Cell: 973-670-9702

NMLS 172843

If you have any questions for us, you know what to do. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

You're Invited to a Real Estate Seminar

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 15:25:00 -0800

I'd like to take this opportunity to invite everyone to a real estate seminar that we will be holding on February 18th at 7pm. There will be some appetizers available, as well as a cash bar. The seminar itself will start at 7:30, and will begin with a review of the local real estate market in New Jersey.

After this brief introduction I'll be chiming in on buyer and seller topics such as move-up buyers, empty-nesters, downsizing, and more.

The final 20 minutes will be spent on mortgage and tax-related topics. There have been some important changes in the area this year, so it'd be a good idea to stay updated. We will have local mortgage and tax experts speaking about these things.

If you're interested in attending, please RSVP by calling or emailing me. We would love to see you there. It's going to be very beneficial to you!

What's Changing in the Mortgage World?

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 10:31:00 -0800

Today I wanted to share with you some changes going on within the mortgage market and how they will benefit both buyers and sellers in 2015.

The first thing I want to share with you has to do with FHA loans. Recently, the FHA significantly decreased their insurance premium on low-down payment loans, which is going to save a lot of buyers a lot of money.

Another change has to do with conventional loans. There has been a substantial reduction to the required minimum down payment, from 5% to 3%. So instead of an average of $20,000 for a down payment, it's more like $12,000 now.

The last change I wanted to mention to you has to do with appraisal reform. Over the last year we have had a difficult time with appraisals, but this new process should lead to fewer appraisal problems, as well as more home closings and sales.

On top of this, we have historically low interest rates. Right now, you can get a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 3.75% and a 2.99% rate for a 15-year fixed. This will bring more buyers to the market and give your home a better chance at selling quickly.

If you have any questions about mortgages or about real estate, be sure to give us a call. We would be glad to answer any questions you have, and look forward to talking with you soon!

Looking for an Incentive to List Your Home?

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 13:56:00 -0800

Have you entertained the thought of upgrading to a larger home? Today, we share some information that will help you better understand the move-up market.

In some communities here in New Jersey, we have seen a drop-off in activity in the move-up sector of the market. The lack of confidence homeowners have is a big reason for this, as they are hesitant to put their homes on the market. Our goal is to provide an incentive for homeowners to list their homes in order to stimulate this area of the market.

To do this, we offer a Trade-Up Guarantee - we will sell your home in 49 days or we will sell it for free. This program should help buyers who are entering the marketplace by giving them confidence their current home will sell. Additionally, it should help sellers in the market place who list their homes with us, as they will have an incentive to put their home on the market because they know it will sell quickly or for free.

We're excited to be rolling out this program just in time for the new year. If you have any questions about how it can help you, give us a call or shoot us an email. We would love to hear from you!

What Sets Us Apart from Average Agents?

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 08:55:00 -0700

We at the Tucker Real Estate Team offer a wide range of guarantees to ensure our clients are taken care of. In this challenging market, it takes effort and expertise to help buyers and sellers successfully navigate the market. Despite tough conditions, we have some pretty impressive statistics.

Over the past 12 months, our listings have sold for 2% more than the market average and are on the market for about half the time. The reason for our success is the system we have in place - our team approach allows us to assign 2 agents to every client, in addition to a support staff that enables us to deliver remarkable service.

We offer a handful of unique guarantees to make clients feel protected when buying and selling. Our Love it or Leave it guarantee allows you to walk away and work with someone else if you're not satisfied with what we're doing to represent you. For sellers, we offer a similar guarantee called the Easy Exit Guarantee. In addition to these services, we offer a 48 Day Home Sale guarantee - if we don't sell your home in 48 days we'll sell it for free!

We would love to sit down with you and go over all the details of these fantastic programs. If you have any questions about what we have to offer, or about any real estate related topic, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to assist you!

Ask Yourself These Questions Before You Sell

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Wed, 8 Oct 2014 13:28:00 -0700

There are a variety of opportunities in the New Jersey Real Estate Market for both buyers and sellers. If you're a prospective buyer click here for a full home search, or if you're considering placing your home on the market, get a free home value report, right here.

If you are thinking about selling your home before the end of the year, there are some important things you need to be aware of. Selling a home is a complicated matter, so we decided to focus on the three most important questions that you need to answer if you are thinking about selling before the end of the year. They are:

1. Do you really know your market?

It's really important that you know all about your specific, hyper-local market. Don't look at the national numbers expecting them to be a good indicator, they are not. You need to know what is going on in your specific town and in your specific price range. Every town performs differently and statistics are changing all the time.

2. Are you asking for the right price?

This always starts with an in-depth market analysis of your property. The market is always changing, however, and so will your analysis. If you ignore market changes when it comes to your pricing, you are going to get left behind and it will come back to haunt you. Once your property has been listed, be responsive to changes and if you aren't getting the response you want from buyers, you may need to re-evaluate and make changes.

3. Is your house ready for the market?

Most buyers don't want to have to do a lot of work. They want updated, remodeled homes that are move-in ready. If you aren't updating your home's condition, you are missing out on a huge pool of potential buyers. We have clients who don't have interest in making improvements and updates and while that is fine with us, it can greatly influence the asking price of your home. Making an investment now can really pay off down the road.

These are the 3 things you really need to know if you are selling before the end of the year. If you have any questions about what is going on in your neighborhood, give us a call. We'd be happy to provide you with a free market analysis to show you what your home could sell for.

Understanding New Jersey's Attorney Review Clause

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 11:07:00 -0700

Every contract prepared by a real estate agent here in NJ is subject to an attorney review, for both parties. It gives the option of both buyer and seller to have their attorney review the contract and improve it before it becomes final.

The process here in NJ is just a little different. When a buyer makes an offer, they write up a complete contract and submit it to the seller's agent. This is when negotiations begin and the sale is not final until the buyer and seller have an agreement, and sign the agreed upon contract.

Most of the stuff they are negotiating are things like closing costs, closing dates, and what exactly is included in the sale of the home. In addition to that, there are multiple paragraphs of legal jargon that each respective attorney can add, remove, or change as they see fit. Once the contract is fully signed, it's submitted for attorney review.

At this point, both buyer and seller have 3 days to approve or disapprove the contract. They are not binding at this point, and still open to attorney change. This process shouldn't last longer than a week. If it lingers on a bit too long, one or both parties may decide to jump ship, because there is no legal obligation at that point for them to stay.

Do you have any other questions about attorney review or anything else real estate related? Let us know by giving us a call or sending us an email. We'd love to help!

Perfect Conditions for an Upgrade

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Tue, 2 Sep 2014 12:40:00 -0700

There are a variety of opportunities in the New Jersey real estate market for both buyers and sellers. If you're a prospective buyer click here for a full home search, or if you're considering placing your home on the market, get a free home value report, right here.

Today we are going to talk about some opportunities that exist right now in the luxury home market. Some of these deals are unheard of, and prices are much, much lower than where they have been in the past.

Most of these opportunities in our area exist in the towns of western Morris County. To give you a specific example,one home that sold in 2006 for $1,812,000 just came back on the market with an asking price of $975,000.

Homes just like this can be had for hundreds of thousands dollars less than in the past. If you are thinking about upgrading your home, the value you will get from a luxury home is unlike any other value you are going to get. An upgrade of $500,000 in 2006, on average, is $200,000 less today. There are also some different kinds of property tax exemptions that these properties are eligible for.

If you'd like to take a look at these homes, or just have questions about them, please give us a call or send us an email. We would be glad to help!

How we helped Maggie sell her unique home with our knowledge of the market conditions

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 14:10:00 -0700

"Doug and his team were very professional and they called it the way it was. I’d heard about Doug and his reputation of his ability to sell houses and it was really a no brainer to work with him. He really knew the market and what it would require for us to sell our home. He has a better knowledge than half of the people out there put together!"

How we helped our client sell their home with our professional, low key approach

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 14:08:00 -0700

"Everything was just so professional when I worked with Doug. He didn’t push me, he listened to what I wanted, and gave his input appropriately. He has a good support team and all in all the process went very smoothly. Doug has a low key approach and him and his team were always available when I had questions. "

How we helped Bob sell his home with our different approach of doing business

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 14:07:00 -0700

"Doug Tucker and his team are top notch, the best Realtors that I’ve worked with. The marketing, the pictures, and the web portal were all so professional and look really great. The way he organizes his team is so efficient and really sets him apart. I would utilize his services again in a heartbeat."

Why a Pre-Inspection Will Help You in the Long Run

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 13:31:00 -0700

If you want an easy way to make your home look more attractive to buyers, not to mention save you a lot of time and aggravation down the road, you should consider getting your home pre-inspected before putting it on the market.

A pre-inspection is done by a seller before putting their home on the market for a number of reasons:

The home inspection process has become more problematic - a lot of deals a long time in the making fall through because of a defect found late in the selling process.
You can fix the defects before putting your home on the market. This will give you peace of mind during the buyer inspection later. It is also a way to add value to your home.
A pre-inspected home is a differentiated home. Your home stands out from those of other sellers because it less likely to have any hidden or unknown flaws. You may even be able to attract higher prices.

Really, getting a pre-inspection is a safe bet if you are trying to ease the selling process. By having one done before putting your home on the market, you'll avoid issues that could cause a deal to fall apart after a lot of time has already been invested. The added value this will give to your home will more than pay for the cost of the inspection, so think of it as a good investment.

As always, if you have any questions about New Jersey real estate, we are happy to be your go-to resource. Give us a call or shoot us an email - we look forward to chatting with you soon!

Know Where to Find the Most Accurate and Up-to-Date Real Estate Information!

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 08:18:00 -0700

Today we're going to talk whether Trulia and Zillow are trustworthy resources for real estate information. While perhaps these sites are a good place to start, we have experienced some of their inaccuracies first hand. For instance, we recently sold a home that has a market value of $850,000 - but if you look up that same home on Zillow and Trulia, they value it at $727,834 and $735,000 respectively. That's over $100,000 lower than the market value. In another case, we sold a home in one day for $699,000, whereas Zillow and Trulia valued at $501,000 and $557,574. That estimate is close to $200,000 too low! Why is it that these websites are so misleading?

For one, it's hard for these sites to interpret location value. Trulia and Zillow can't take into account accessibility to shopping or public transportation, among other goods that may affect the value of your home.
The same goes for lot values. One lot could be perfectly level while another is hanging off a cliff, but Trulia and Zillow wouldn't know the difference.
Improvement values are not taken into account. Say two colonials have nothing in common but the year they were built - one is completely upgraded while the other is falling apart. There is no way for these online resources to be able to account for the difference in value.
Another big problem is that, since 95% of homes are listed with brokers - Zillow and Trulia upload their information from the broker sites. This generates a lag - sometimes some of the best properties are already under contract by the time they show up on these sites. Other times, homes that have been off the market for quite some time show up as active listings.

These, among other reasons, are why online home search sites probably aren't your best place to go for information. If you want to get right to the source, you should call your local real estate expert. You need someone who knows the market, can interpret the data, and account for the differences in location, lots, and improvement values. If you are looking to buy or sell a home or simply want more information about market conditions in your area, don't hesitate to give me a call. I would love to give you a hand.

New Jersey Real Estate Market Update for May 2014

tucker@dougtucker.com (Doug Tucker) — Thu, 29 May 2014 09:25:00 -0700

There are a variety of opportunities in the New Jersey real estate market for both buyers and sellers. If you're a prospective buyer click here for a full home search, or if you're considering placing your home on the market, get a free home value report, right here.

New Jersey Real Estate Market Update

Today I'm going to provide you with a brief real estate market update for the New Jersey area. My goal is to educate you in order for you to make better decisions in regard to real estate.

I would like you to know that at this point in time we have transitioned from a buyer's market into a seller's market, and this is true in most towns and in most price ranges. In many cases this has allowed consumers to experience fewer days on market, higher sale prices, and multiple offers (on the best homes available).

If you're selling, you can take advantage of the low inventory around New Jersey. Because you're competing against fewer properties and you have access to more buyers, it will probably mean that you can lock in a good home price. If you're on the fence about buying, I will tell you right now that you may not see a better time to sell your home for a while. You have a great opportunity right now, and I would urge you to take advantage of it if you are thinking about selling.

Buyer activity has been great, so your home will surely be garnering a lot of attention from consumers. This translates directly into a better selling experience for you.

If you're a buyer, don't be intimidated by the fact that the New Jersey markets are favoring sellers. You can take advantage of historically low interest rates that can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of your loan. Right now, affordability is at an all-time high. You just need to know what you want and you need to be ready to take action in order to get the home that you desire.

Please contact me if you would like to take advantage of this fabulous market in the New Jersey areas. Whether you're buying or selling I can provide you with assistance to make your transaction as smooth and pain-free as possible.

I look forward to speaking with you.