Typical First-Time Home Buyer Starts the Search: Recommendations

If you are like anybody, everyone has searched for houses at home, at work, and on their phones. The typical sites to look at are Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Realtor, etc. You scan through hundreds of listings and honestly, you feel overwhelmed. What does it exactly mean when it says auction? Why does it show information about the home and pictures, but doesn’t say it is for sale? Is this home too expensive or is it in the ballpark of all others? Well, don’t worry. I am here to help a little. Here are a few things to be aware of during this portion of your journey to buying your home in New Jersey.

While asking a friend or family member

First and foremost, I am sure most of you have asked someone who bought a home how they did it and what they looked for when they bought it. It could have been a friend, brother, parent, or acquaintance at work, but you asked someone for advice. At this point, be careful who you take advice from. They may have gone through the process once, but that does not mean they are the subject matter expert on buying real estate. You wouldn’t take advice about singing from someone who once sang during their middle school choir a decade ago would you? Times change and people change. Furthermore, I know you may trust the individual a lot, but this is arguable the most significant decision you will ever have in your life. Do you trust that individual that much?

While doing research online - Zestimates

While hearing feedback from friends and family, most, if not all, people will do research online. As mentioned above, there are dozens of sites that give you free information about the property. However, you need to be weary on what you look at and follow vs what you just use as a measure. For example, the “Zestimates” on Zillow can be inaccurate up 30-40% or even more depending on the home! Zestimates are simply a guiding point. They are not what homeowners or first time home buyers should look at to see if it is a good price or not. Here in Belleville, NJ, I have seen them be completely inaccurate unless the home was completely renovated and even then, they are sometimes too high. Contact a local realtor to get a proper Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). I would be happy to help in that endeavor.

While researching online – auction or preforeclosures

Also, I get calls pretty frequently about properties that are listed on Zillow as Auction or pre-foreclosure from first time home buyers looking to get a deal. In regards to auctions, if you see it on Zillow, that may not necessarily mean it is on the market. Sometimes Zillow writes auction because there is an auction date set for it in the near future at the sheriff sale (different topic for a different time). Not to mention, as an auction property, I have never seen a home sell for other than “all-cash” in Northern New Jersey so unless you have a lot of money, there is a very little chance you will be able to afford it. In regards to pre-foreclosures shown, that does not always necessarily mean it is listed either because pre-foreclosure information is public and Zillow may have just grabbed that information. Many pre-foreclosure listings have homeowners trying to save their homes through a loan modification. If you are curious about these or have any questions , I can explain them to you as these are topics in themselves.

While researching online – Off-market?

Another interesting thing you will see on these sites are homes that have a lot of information on them to include pictures and a description, but the listing says off market. In this instance, the home WAS on the market and now it is not either due to being under contract, sold, withdrawn or expired. Therefore, more research on the agent’s part would need to be done. If he or she is a really good agent, he or she can try talking to the homeowner if the listing was withdrawn or expired to see if there is a deal that can be done on your behalf.

While researching online – Is Trulia’s crime tracker accurate?

Finally, the last thing I like to talk about is Trulia and it’s crime tracking color coded system. As far as Northern New Jersey is concerned, yes this is accurate for the most part. It takes from what the police reports are getting and posts it there. Then, it uses a certain algorithm to color coordinate all blocks of each town. The colors are really accurate as well when talking about safety.

Overall, these are the answers to only a few questions that I know most first time home buyers in NJ have, but if you have any others, feel free to reach out and I can guide you in the right direction.