Homeowners always have questions about investing in their homes, especially in the current market. People want to know how much they should spend on renovations, what kind of renovations and improvements to make, or if they would be better off making a move. Before you make any major changes to your home there are several things to keep in mind. A recent article on realestatejournal.com highlighted the following five questions as some of the most important.

 

How long do I plan to stay in my house after the renovations? The longer you plan to live there, the more creative you can be. But if you’re planning on selling the house in the next five years, keep potential buyers in mind with your choices. In the latter case, for instance, go with neutral colors in the kitchen and bathroom, and consider maple cabinets. Some people hate oak, others hate cherry, but the majority can live with maple.

 

Am I doing just cosmetic fixes or am I ready for an all-out overhaul? It’s OK to make small changes one at a time, but think long-term about the next step. For example, if you’re buying a new sink, buy one with enough holes on the deck for the faucet, sprayer and soap dispenser you might want to add on later. (Cutting more holes into stainless steel or porcelain after the sink is installed is an onerous job you don’t want to get stuck with.) And if you know you’re going to buy new cabinets later, don’t replace the countertop with expensive granite now. The chances of reusing it are very slim — either it breaks when you try to remove it, or it doesn’t match the footprint of the new cabinets.

 

Am I prepared for the home upheaval? Be realistic about how long these changes might take. Renovations can go on for months, so you need to be prepared to make do without that bathroom, kitchen or bedroom. When checking references before you hire your contractor, be sure to ask if the company finished the work on time. You’d be surprised how quickly a week can turn into a month. And if you’re bunking up with your in-laws during renovation, that month can seem like a year.

 

Are the renovations keeping with the style of my home? Any big changes you make to a home inside should reflect what future buyers will expect from the outside. If you live in a Victorian house, don’t make it too contemporary. People who see a historical exterior will expect a historical interior, so stay true to the details. The same goes for a contemporary or modern home, where future buyers may not expect old-fashioned details like antique crown molding.

 

Are my DIY choices reasonable? You may consider yourself handy, but many do-it-yourself jobs demand your time more than anything else. If you have a full-time job, are you capable of taking on a second one? Some makeovers that are not technically difficult can take longer than you think. For that reason, if you start any job yourself, try to sample it before committing to the whole thing. For example, while refinishing cabinets with a new stain isn’t rocket science, sanding down each one can take forever.

Basking Ridge office is NOW officially on the Move!!!!- We are very excited to announce that the office will be moving to what could be considered the best location in downtown Basking Ridge, 47 South Finley (right next to “the Store” restaurant). Time frame will be sometime in June…more info to follow.

Congrats to Mark Scuderi owner of RE/MAX Supreme for being the top producer in both companies last week. He and his wife are the proud parents of healthy twins!!!!

I have been working on a “get out of a slump plan” that will give agents a course of action to get back on track when they fall into a slump. I hope to finish it this week…

 

 

Tuesday- Dan who is charge of Classic’s health insurance program

                   will be in the Branchburg training room from 12-2pm to

                   answer any questions about our programs.

Thursday- Meeting in the West Milford office at 12 noon.

                 HSAR Spring kick off at the Bridgewater Manor- 5pm- ?

Friday- Meeting in the Berkeley Heights office

 

 

Would you play basketball without a basket?

Would you start driving without knowing where you wanted to end up?

Would you shoot arrows without a target?

No, you’re too SMART for that!!! J

 

 

SMART is an acronym for you to remember how to best set goals.

 

S is for Specific.  Be very specific with your goal.  Many people set vague or uncertain goals.  It should be very exact what you want to see at the end of the rainbow.  It’s a pot of gold.  It’s a black pot of gold with gold coins.  It’s a 55-gallon black iron pot with 19th-century genuine Liberty coins salvaged from the famous S.S. Central America Shipwreck. You get the idea.

M is for Measurable.  How will you know if you get there without the ability to measure if you got there?  This is like the NFL playing games but without keeping score.  This is like having a long-jump contest, but not measuring after each jumper.  You need to know how you are going to measure it, then you need to measure it.  Sometimes this requires tools (weight scale, MS Excel, tape measure, etc.)

A is for Attainable. This is one that is most debatable for me.  Who is to fully determine attainability?  My impressions on this are to shoot for the moon.  Let’s say you just finished a month with 4 transactions and you set your goal for the next month to write 10 contracts.  For some, that would be called a stretch.  And to fully succeed, you HAVE to stretch yourself.  Let’s say you achieve 7.  Did you fail?  NO, YOU DID 75% MORE BUSINESS! Let’s say you set your goal for 5.  Would you get 7?  Too often, we sell ourselves short rather than shooting for the moon.  Here is where there is a caveat to the story: When you are just getting your confidence in something, it’s better to set your goals in small increments so as to not overwhelm/disappoint/frustrate yourself. 

R is for Realistic or Reasonable or Relevant.  I’ve heard all three.  I believe Attainable and Reasonable/Realistic are nearly the same thing, so I like to use Relevant.  Relevant begs the question, does accomplishing this goal help me achieve my mission, my purpose, my vision for my life?  Relevant means looking at the big picture and making sure that the goal fits into the BIG GOAL. 

T is for Tangible or Time-Bound.  I would argue that BOTH apply and are important.  If it CAN BE Tangible, make it Tangible.  It’s easier to achieve a tangible goal.  The picture of a car, a watch, a house, a mouse (from Disney), etc. is VERY POWERFUL in PULLING you toward the goal.  I explained this in the last e-mail!  The other part of T is Time-bound. Set yourself a deadline for achieving a goal.

 

Spreading the news
BY DEBORAH BALL
RE/MAX TIMES ASSOCIATE EDITOR 

 

 

Upcoming Events –

May 6^th – New agents to Re/Max orientation (go to www.remax-nj.net to sign up)
            *even if you have been with Re/Max for a while it is a great seminar to find out all the great things/tools we have at our finger tips and anyone can go.

May 13th - Brian Buffini LIVE - Be on TV/RSN live in Atlantic City. (sign up at www.remax-nj.net)

May 29th - Re/Max night at the ball park!!!  It’s a Thursday night with fireworks at the Somerset Patriot game

Classic News:  Short Sales HELP - If you run into a challenge with a client that needs to have a short sale, we have a number of trained (and successful in getting their short sale clients to the closeing table) agents that are available to assist you in all the paperwork, dealing with the bank and getting you paid.  Contact me if you need this service.

Commercial Division - In my many years of Real Estate I have found that when I had an opportunity to list or find something in the commercial world it was best for me to refer it to those who know what they are doing.  I had a MUCH better chance getting a referral check than trying to do it on my own.  NOW Classic has your source for commercial business.  More info. to follow, but if you have an urgent need contact me at john@bendallgroup.com

I HAVE A DREAM…. TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS!

Today’s post focuses on going from a Dream to a Goal.

A Harvard Buisness School study found:
83% of the population do not have any clearly defined goals
14% have goals, but not written down
3% of the population have goals that are written down
The study concluded that the 3% that did have written goals were earning an astounding 10 times that of the 83% group.  In addition, similar studies have shown that indivuals with written goals aslo tend to have better health and happier marriages than those without goals.

The power of written goals is indisputable.
That’s pretty good testimony to why we should write down our goals.

Here’s a little technique I think you’ll find helpful.  Too often, people have dreams, but not goals.  A goal not written down is just a dream.  However, I know you’re a goal-setter and you strive to achieve more.  Here’s how to take that to the next level:

Find a magazine, a photo, or some depiction of your goal.  Perhaps it is a new car, a new rental property, a vacation home, etc.  Tape this picute on the left side of your bathroom mirror.  Your achievement of this goal is going to take many little goals.  For example, a certain production for the year, which equates to a certain production per month, which equates to a certain producaiton per day.  To make that certain production, it will take a certain amount of prospecting, networking, phone calls, appointments, etc.  Take these mini-goals and put them on the left side of your mirror.

After all of the mini-goals are achieved, you can move the picture of your big goal to the right and go purchase your BIG GOAL item!

I’ve seen this work for people to remove their debt also.  The mini-goals are differnt credit cards and as they knock them out, they cross out the money amoount (or the picture of the credit card) and put the post it on the right.

Having your goal in front of you on a daily basis helps you to stay on the right path and keeps the top-of-mind awareness that is necessary to achieve big goals.  I’ve achieved a watch, a car, and a rental property with this goal setting mechanism.

Now go take some Post-It’s and mess up those mirrors!

Short sales are becoming increasingly common in today’s Real Estate market due to falling selling prices in combination with a large number of homes that were financed using a low money down or a no money down mortgage. So what is a short sale? A short sale is when a home is priced below what the sellers owe on their mortgage. The lender agrees to accept less than what is owed on the property and typically negotiating is done directly with the bank. The banks are willing to take less than what they are owed because often the sellers are financial distress and have not been making their payments regularly.

 

The term “short” in short sales is in no relation to the length of time it can take to close a short sale. Since the banks are involved in the negotiation process and are weighing in on the decision making the entire process is slowed down considerably.   A buyer interested in purchasing a short sale needs to go into the process with a lot of patience, knowing it is likely to take a long time. With a bit of patience a buyer can benefit from the reduced sale price that a short sale offers.

As the news of record foreclosures rates continues to bombard us what can someone do to avoid becoming one of those statistics? Thousands of homeowners are struggling to make growing payments on adjustable rate mortgages. One possible solution is loan modification. Loan modification allows borrowers to renegotiate the terms of their current mortgage rather than refinancing. In many cases it is difficult, if not impossible, for owners who are having trouble making their payments to refinance due to declining home prices in many markets. Banks are reluctant to loan homeowners more than their home is worth, which is often what they own. 

 

Loan modification is one of the tools that the U.S. government is using to help combat the mortgage crisis. There are agencies in place to act as a middleman between borrowers and loan companies, which can be very helpful in the complicated process. Critics of the process complain that wait time for help is too long and paperwork is too complicated and cumbersome. Sorting through bureaucratic red tape can cost homeowners precious time as their payments climb higher and higher. Similar obstacles can be encountered when homeowners try to do a loan modification themselves, by dealing directly through their mortgage provider. Even taking the obstacles and difficulties into account loan modification when completed successfully can be the answer to avoiding foreclosure. 

Is Branchburg New Jersey, the next Hollywood California? Well maybe not quite, but a major motion picture is doing some location shooting at the old Branchburg Dinner this week. Anyone coming and going from the Re/Max Classic Group office in Branchburg this week will undoubtedly notice an unusual amount of activity at the long closed and usually quite former Branchburg dinner. Trucks and crews and security are swarming the site to film scenes for “Cadillac Records”

According to an article in today’s Courier news “The cast includes Beyonce Knowles as Etta James; Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess, one of the label’s founders; Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters; and Mos Def as Chuck Berry, according to the Web site Imdb.com. The film is directed by Darnell Martin and produced by Headhunters Inc.”

The movie is about Chess Records, the famous R&B record label. Hmmm…. I wonder if our Rock and Roll conference room would be a good spot for there next location?

 

I certainly don’t recommend trying to do any star gazing as you drive by on route 22, we don’t want to see any Beyonce inspired fender benders out on the highway. But, keep your eyes peeled as you are out and about and you may just spot some famous faces. I know I’ll be checking out the movie when I get a chance, to see our little corner of the world up on the silver screen. 

 

For the complete Courier News article visit http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080416/NEWS/804160327

Now’s the time of year to get some spring cleaning done! This year when you’re cleaning out the cobwebs why not add a new consideration. When choosing your cleaning products and procedures think about the environment. Natural products like vinegar, baking soda, and lemon oil work great for a lot of cleaning jobs. Not only are they better for the environment they can also be more economical than traditional products. There are many green alternatives available in commercially prepared cleaning products like Seventh Generation, Method, and Simple Green. Even Clorox has just released a new line of natural cleaners called Green Works. 

 

If you just don’t have the time and choose to have someone else do the cleaning for you, you can still go green by choosing an environmentally friendly cleaning company. There are several nationwide cleaning services that use nontoxic and nonpolluting products like Maid Brigade. To find green cleaning services in your area try to find companies that are certified by Green Seal or EcoLogo. Web resources include epa.gov and Lowimpactliving.com which provides lists of green cleaning companies by state. 

For most people buying a home is the biggest investment they will make in their lifetimes. For this reason the home inspection is no place to try and save a buck. A home inspection is your chance to make sure that the investment you are making is a good one. Many potential problems that a home may have are invisible to an untrained eye. Hiring the right home inspector can help to ensure that small problems will be found before they become big problems. 

 

Not only is having a home inspection important it is important to select the right home inspector. If your Real Estate agents has some names they recommend, that’s a great place to start. The next thing you should do is make sure that your inspectors is licensed and ASHI certified. Then check with them to see if they carry errors and omissions insurance. 

 

With all your homework done you can go into the home inspection process with confidence that your inspector will do their best to identify potential problems. You do, however, need to be realistic in your expectations. There are some problems that are impossible to detect, no home inspector can guarantee that they will find everything that may be wrong with a home. All homes will have problems and repairs that need to be dealt with just as a matter of maintenance. 

 

The best thing that you can do to guarantee a productive inspection is to attend the inspection yourself. That way any potential problems can be pointed out and explained to you. You can also pick up a number of important maintenance tips from a good inspector.