Miranda Tsotsoria

One of the commonly cited reasons why New Jersey homebuyers remain on the sidelines is that they think they need to have a 20 percent downpayment in order to get a mortgage. This is another mortgage myth that is easily busted when you stop to think about the facts.

Recent statistics from the National Association of Realtors show that the number of first-time buyers is increasing. It is common knowledge that most first-time buyers don't have large downpayments, so they couldn't possibly all be putting 20 percent down.

Low-downpayment loans are still readily available. Just the other day, I heard about a 25 year-old man who purchased his first home using a Weichert, and got a loan through Weichert Financial Services requiring only 3 percent down.

So if you are considering to buy real estate in Chester, Mendham, Hackettstown, Long Valley, Chatham, Short Hills or anywhere else in New Jersey do not hesitate to contact me and I will show you how to find best real estate purchaising or financing deals in today's market.

Rent All or Part of the House

This year has been tough on the U.S. economy, and we’ve all been feeling it -- whether at the gas pump or the grocery store, in phone calls from creditors or in worried discussions with neighbors, in fluctuating retirement accounts or in budget-related meetings at work. Whatever financial problems you’re facing, here are some tips and resources that can help.

Paying your bills
If you realize that your current resources aren’t going to cover the bills, then it’s time to talk with your creditors. First, review your budget to see what you can afford to pay. Then, call your creditors and explain your situation. Ask for a payment plan that fits your current cash flow. Most creditors will try to work with you, especially if you demonstrate your intentions to meet your obligations by paying even a small amount each month.

You might also want to contact a credit counseling agency. These agencies, which are usually nonprofit, provide personalized counseling to consumers who need to pay off unsecured consumer debt, such as credit card and utility bills. Contact the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) and the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies (AICCCA) for a list of agencies.

Here are some other resources if your situation is more serious:

• Rent or mortgage. Local nonprofit organizations may be able to help with rent and mortgage payments. Many communities also have foreclosure prevention programs. Contact the local United Way, community action agency, or church groups for more information. Again, if you’re behind on your mortgage, make sure you’re talking with your mortgage company.
  
  
• Utilities. Private and publicly-funded energy programs are available to qualifying individuals and families. Contact your utility provider to find out what assistance may be available to you.
  
  
• Medical. Contact your state health and human services department to see what resources are available to help you and your family pay for health care. Depending on your income level, you might also be eligible for federal assistance through Medicaid. If you’re trying to pay for care you received at a hospital, you can request a case manager or social worker to help you decipher bills and coordinate financial and medical resources.

Other common financial worries and what you can do

• Putting food on the table. Your local or state health and human services department or community action agency can advise you on food assistance either through distributors of free food in your community or through the federal food stamp program. And if you have a child in school, contact the school to see whether he or she would qualify for free or discounted breakfasts and lunch.
  
  
• The solvency of your bank. Check that all of your bank accounts are covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC currently insures deposits up to $100,000, but if you have a joint account, the coverage is $100,000 per person per bank. Find out if your bank is covered at www.fdic.gov/deposit/index.html.
  
  
• The value of your 401(k), stocks, and other investments. Before making any major decisions about transferring or withdrawing money from any of your investments, talk with a certified financial professional. A financial professional will help you understand how the current shifts in the market might affect your financial plans and whether you should be making any significant changes. You can find a Certified Financial Planner by looking in the yellow pages or asking friends and family for recommendations. Make sure you choose a professional who is certified with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.
  
  Also, make sure your investments are secured through the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). The SIPC works with customers of failed brokerage firms to recover up to $500,000 in cash, stock, and other securities lost during a closure or bankruptcy. Note that the SIPC does not insure against market losses.
  
  
• Your ability to sleep at night. If anxiety is keeping you up at night or interfering with your ability to concentrate at work or enjoy life, you may benefit from talking with a counselor. Contact Work-life Balance or your employee assistance program (EAP) for more information and resources. You might also want to begin limiting the amount of time you’re spending monitoring your accounts, watching TV news, and participating in discussions related to the current economic crisis. Constant exposure to negative news and speculation can make your personal situation seem much worse than it actually is. And, of course, if you’re concerned about any physical symptoms, such as severe head- or stomachaches, chest pains or tightness, or heart palpitations, contact your doctor.

Remember to take care of yourself and accept help
As you sort through your finances and look for the solutions you need, don’t forget to take care of yourself and accept help when it’s offered. The following basic tips can help you maintain your energy, strength, and perspective.

• Set aside small moments to relax, even if it’s just 10 minutes away from your job or the phone to take some deep breaths, make some tea, or go for a quick walk.
  
  
• Do your best to get good sleep, regular exercise, and healthy meals whenever possible.
  
  
• Spend time with your trusted friends and loved ones. When you’re under stress, try not to push your loved ones away even though that might be your typical defense mechanism. A kiss from your child, an embrace from your partner, a kind word from a friend, or a romp in the park with your dog can all have remarkable power to restore your sense of peace, normalcy, and stability.

Finally, remember that our web site has many other resources that can help you deal with a wide variety of real estate and financial issues; and most importantly if you have any question about your New Jersey real estate do not hasitate to contact us by phone or email.

Foreclosure filings in Pennsylvania fell by 4.39 percent from September to October, while New Jersey saw a 10.64 percent increase, according to data released Thursday by foreclosure data tracker RealtyTrac.

Foreclosures were up 5 percent nationally month to month.

Pennsylvania’s foreclosure rate of one filing per every 1,362 homes was well below the national average of 1 for every 452 homes and has the state ranked No. 32 out of 50. But foreclosures were up 26 percent compared to October 2007.

New Jersey was ranked eighth nationally with a foreclosure filing rate of one out of every 410 homes, a nearly 75 percent increase from October 2007.

Nationally, foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 279,561 U.S. properties during the month, a 25 percent increase from October 2007.

Nevada posted the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate for the 22nd consecutive month in October, with one in every 74 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month — more than six times the national average. That represented an increase of 11 percent from the previous month and nearly 119 percent from October 2007.

With one in every 149 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in October, Arizona registered the second highest state foreclosure rate, which represented an increase of nearly 35 percent from the previous month and was up 176 percent from October 2007.

One in every 157 Florida housing units received a foreclosure filing in October, the nation’s third highest state foreclosure rate, which was an increase of 13 percent from the previous month and was up nearly 80 percent from October 2007.

Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 were California, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, Illinois and Ohio.

To find out what foreclosed properties are available on market in the New Jersey, obtain Free New Jersey Market Snapshot, conduct Free MLS Property Search in New Jersey, receive free reports, and find out more details about the properties you are interested in you can always contact us via email or phone.

Which of the following actions are likely to hurt your credit score?

• Closing an old credit card account that you rarely use.
• Opening a new charge account to get a department store discount.
• Spending to your cards' limits.
• All of the above.

The answer is "all of the above." Each of these actions can hurt your credit score, which in turn can hurt your effort to get the best rate on a loan—or to get a loan at all.

How your score is determined

When you apply for a loan or fill out a charge account application, most lenders request your FICO score, which is named for its developer, the Fair Isaac Corporation of Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Your FICO score is intended to tell the potential lender how reliable a borrower you will be, says Barry Paperno, consumer operations manager at Fair Isaac. In compiling your score, the FICO scoring formula tries to answer these five questions:

1. Do you pay your bills on time?
2. How much of your available credit are you using?
3. How long have you been using credit?
4. Have you taken on more debt recently?
5. Have you managed different types of credit well?

The answers come from an examination of your credit reports at the nation's three consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. These three companies keep records of your day-to-day credit use. You have a FICO score based on each of your three credit reports.

Your score, which ranges from 300 to 850, is a compilation of what a credit report says about you at any given time. So it can change in a short period. It can fall if you miss a payment and rise if you pay down a balance, for example.

So closing an old credit card account can lower your FICO score because it changes the proportion of available credit you are using. That's why when you pay off an old credit card, it may be better to leave it dormant than to cancel the account.

Opening a new account can also lower your score. Taking on additional debt can increase the risk that you won't pay back what you already owe, especially if your credit history is short.

Spending to your cards' limits is also a red flag. It suggests that you may be overextended, which can increase the risk that you'll start to miss payments.

Wrong information in a credit report can also hurt your score. You are entitled by law to get a free credit report from each of the three credit reporting companies each year. You can get your free reports at www.annualcreditreport.com.* You may receive offers for credit monitoring services at the site, but you don't have to accept them to get your credit report.

Your credit score, on the other hand, is not free. Fair Isaac charges $15.95 for a credit score based on one credit report and $47.85 for all three at its website, www.myfico.com.*

Should you pay for your credit score?

You may not need to know your credit score if you already have a sufficient amount of credit available and don't foresee the need for additional credit anytime soon. But if you are thinking about applying for a loan, knowing your credit score—and how to improve it—may save you money.

Though lenders base their decisions on many factors that aren't part of your credit score, including your income, a higher score generally leads to a lower interest rate.

In practical terms, that means homeowners with low FICO scores may pay hundreds more each month on mortgages than their neighbors who borrowed identical amounts but who have sterling FICO scores (see table).

Source: MyFICO.com. Mortgage interest rates as of October 3, 2008, based on the national average. Monthly payments are based on a $200,000 loan amount and do not include insurance or real estate taxes.

Four ways to improve your credit score

1. Pay your bills on time. Payment history is typically the most important of the five factors that make up your score. If you have a history of paying on time, you're considered more likely to pay on time in the future.

2. Don't borrow to the limit. Amounts owed is the other big factor. Keeping balances at a low percentage of your available credit, whether or not you pay them off in full each month, helps your score. Lenders don't worry that you have the capacity to splurge. Rather, they see you as someone who manages credit well.

3. Be a loyal customer. Having a charge card for decades can raise your score, and opening new accounts can lower it. So it may not pay to switch from old credit cards to new ones for a short-term gain, such as a low introductory interest rate.

4. Use different types of credit. Effectively managing both revolving accounts, such as credit cards, and installment accounts, such as an automobile loan, improves lenders' perception of you.

*When you access any of the sites mentioned in this article, you will be leaving our site. We are not responsible for the accuracy of information on third-party sites.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the Pending Home Sales Index increased 7.4 percent in August to its highest level since June 2007. In the Northeast, the index rose 8.4 percent. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said homebuyers were responding to improved affordability and low interest rates. In general this is very good news for Chester, Mendham, Long Valley, and Hackettstown real estate sellers and buyers, because despite of wall street crisis things in real estate market are apparently still moving and even improving a bit.

One way to really dress up a room and try your hand at some different decorating techniques is to consider wainscoting. There are number of ways to combine materials and create some very attractive wainscoting effects, and the cost doesn't need to be prohibitive.

Traditionally, wainscoting is tongue and groove boards, raised or flat paneling sections that are applied to the lower part of a wall. The wainscoting extends from the top of the baseboard up to a height of usually between 3 and 5 feet off the floor, and is topped off with a horizontal molding. In addition to its decorative appeal, wainscoting had  very practical advantage of protecting the lower portion of the wall from wear and tear.

Today, however, wainscoting has taken on a somewhat less specific definition. It can be just about any combination of materials, including paint, wood, wallpaper and even fabric.

A wainscoting application consists of three elements: the lower portion of the wall, the upper portion of the wall, and the dividing line between the two. How you mix and match those three elements is up to your individual taste and budget.

Splitting Up The Wall

One of the first things to decide for any wainscoting project is where dividing line will be between the two different materials. For a room with an 8-foot-high ceiling, a division of approximately 3 feet on the lower half and 5 feet on the upper half tends to give the best balance. Many Craftsman-style homes used the reverse of that, with about 5 feet of paneling on the lower half, capped with a wider molding that was suitable for shallow storage. For best appearance, the dividing line should not be exactly half way up the wall.

To get a better idea of how different proportions will work, tape some newspaper or other material on the wall at couple of different heights. This will give you a better representation of how the two halves will balance out, and you can adjust them accordingly.

Installing Traditional Wainscoting

To achieve the look of a board wainscoting, you can install individual narrow, tongue and groove boards; you can install wider boards that are milled on the face to look like two or three narrower boards, which simplifies installation; or you can install 4-foot-wide beaded paneling, which again replicates the look of individual boards but installs faster. With any of these methods, finish off the top of the boards with a horizontal molding such as a wainscot cap or a chair rail.

For a paneled look, there are kits available that include a routed base molding, a routed top molding, routed vertical strips, and the panels themselves. The pieces all interlock with one another, and as long as you take some time with the layout to ensure that the panels are balanced to the width of the wall, you can achieve a beautiful, traditional paneled wainscoting in a relatively short time. If you are an avid woodworker, there are specialized router bits that help you cut the individual pieces yourself and save some money.

With wood, you have the choice of painting or staining the material to get the look you want. For painting, the boards and paneling are available in medium-density fiberboard (MDF), which paints nicely and is less expensive than solid wood. For stained wainscoting, you can select from pine, fir, oak, cherry, maple and other woods.

Wood strips, paneling and moldings can all be found at most home centers and lumberyards, along with all the installation materials you need. Some larger stores also carry the paneling kits, or they can order them for you. You will also find a wide selection of wainscoting paneling kits online.

Other Wainscoting Materials

In addition to traditional wood, there are lots of other material combinations that will work very well together. You can experiment with different combinations of materials to achieve the exact look that works for your décor. In general, heavier materials such as wood and fabric look best on the lower half of the wall. Also, darker paint colors and darker, more heavily patterned wallpapers look best on the bottom.

Your wainscoting choice may be something as simple as two different colors of paint. You can also use a solid paint on one section of the wall, and some type of textured paint effect on the other section.

Another easy wainscoting can be achieved with two different wallpapers. Select a lighter paper with a more open pattern for the upper half of the wall, and a darker paper or one with a vertical stripe or heavy pattern for the bottom. You can also combine the two materials by using paint on one section of the wall and wallpaper on the other.

With any of these combinations, separate the two sections of wall with a painted or stained wood molding. To really accent the installation, finish everything off with a crown molding as well.

• Stay local: Seek out well-made pieces by local artisans
• Go slow: Choose at least one piece per room that has character, depth and meaning
• Let it grow: Rather than buying a roomful of furniture all at once, buy one piece at a time and let the decor evolve
• Give new life to old things: A coat of paint, a small repair, even new upholstery can result in furniture that feels new.

You can! Without a real estate agent? Sure. And you can save thousands and thousands of dollars if you do. Even when you hire a real estate agent, you can still save thousands by doing most of the work yourself. Yes, there are number of procedures to follow and rules to learn, but if you're a "do-it-yourself" person, you won't find selling your own house very difficult.

Sure, you'll do much better if you understand what's ahead and follow a logical plan. That's where Miranda comes in to help you understand the process. All major steps for “For Sale By Owner (aka. FSBO) in New Jersey are as follows:

1. Deciding when to sell

2. Satisfy all legal and federal, New Jersey, and local tax requirements

3. Pricing your house correctly

4. Advertising the sale

5. Preparing house for sale

6. Writing all required disclosures

7. Negotiating and making offers/counteroffers

8. Signing a legally valid New Jersey sales contract

9. Completing the escrow process to transfer title of the house and sales proceeds

10. Juggling the sale of one house and the purchase of another

11. Evaluating creative financing options such as seller financing, lease option, or similar agreements.

If you're detail oriented person, you should be able to handle everything on your own during the sales process.

However, you may need or want a real estate agent's help for some tasks such as advertising your house on  New Jersey Multiple Listing Service (MLS), reviewing the contract paperwork or helping you through the escrow process. Fortunately, you are not limited to hiring an agent at full commission. You can hire an agent by hour or negotiate a lower commission for limited services.

No matter what your real estate needs are Miranda Tsotsoria can help you to get what you want. Please feel free to email, call, or research my web site http://www.mirandatsotsoria.com.  There is no obligation from your side and my only purpose is to listen and help you to get what you now want.

Welcome to the Miranda Tsotsoria's blog! This is where I will post my thoughts, ideas, and photos, ranging from Chester, Mendham, Hackettstown real estate updates, local northern New Jersey real estate market insights, to perhaps personal thoughts about the state of the real estate industry.

This blog will also provide updates regarding New Jersey real estate market state, existing and new house sales information, detailed community information and updates about Chester, Mendham, and Hackettstown.

I have a very informal attitude about this blog, so there really aren't any rules. Reading this blog is the best way to hear from Miranda Tsotsoria on a personal level.
 

Many homeowners today are finding themselves in a tough spot, as the value of their homes dip but their mortgage payments increase. If you are in financial trouble and must sell your house because you can’t make the payments, doing so before the bank gets involved increases the possibility that you’ll walk away with a little equity, or at very least, without damaging your credit. You may also be able to work with your lender to restructure your payments, delay them temporarily until you get back on your feet, or refinance your current loan - for example, with a 40-year, fixed rate mortgage or a adjustable-rate mortgage that locks in an interest rate for five or so years. Though you might not want the loan forever, it may keep you in your house for now, until the market stabilizes, home market rebounds, or your income increases.

Perhaps you’re already behind on your mortgage payments, or are worried that you won’t be able to sell your house for what you owe on it. In that case, you may have considered a real estate "short sale.” This is preferable to walking away from the property, because it doesn’t do the same damage to your credit.

With a short sale, the lender agrees to accept less than the full amount owed on the property. Lenders allow sellers to do this because foreclosures are expensive, and they stand to lose even more if that seems imminent.

However, short sales aren’t always great for the seller. For one thing, it can be tough to get your lender to allow the short sale. Even if it’s approved, the lender may drive a hard bargain - you may have to fight to get permission to sell your house for what you know it can bring on the open market.

Moreover, some short sales aren’t the end of the road - lenders have been known to include promissory notes in the paperwork leaving you on the hook for the remaining balance.

Furthermore, any amount your lender forgives is considered “income” to you. That means the lender will likely report it to the IRS, and you’ll have to pay income taxes on it. Although, past year (2007) congress passed the law which allows certain homeowners to do short sale and do not pay any taxes on “income”. If you leave in New Jersey and would like to know more about this law and if you can qualify, please send me an email and I will gladly assist you.

While it’s true that a short sale is preferable to foreclosure, which can seriously damage your credit and make it much more difficult and expensive for you to buy a house in the future, you’re better off selling on your own, if you can, Of course, with foreclosure looming, a quick sale works best - even if it means getting a little less cash and in this case contacting realtor would be the best option. In future, I’ll give you some tips for making your house attractive to prospective buyers so that you can try to get out of the market before turning to the bank.