Bradley Beach NJ Trivia

On the lighter side this week, I’ve dug up some fun and random facts & figures about the Bradley Beach and Jersey Shore area.  Whether you’re a Bradley Beach homeowner, or just interested in learning more about the Jersey Shore area, I think you’ll find these tidbits interesting: 

• Bradley Beach was the first location in the US to charge beach-goers for access in the 1920’s
• The borough has a total area of .6 square miles
• Picturesque Cape May holds the distinction of being the oldest seashore resort in the United States and one of the most unique.
• Bradley Beach was incorporated on March 16, 1893
• Atlantic City has the longest boardwalk in the world.
• The state seashell is the knobbed whelk, busycon carica gmelin, it is found on all beaches and bays of New Jersey.

To learn more about Bradley Beach NJ or Jersey Shore real estate, please call me at 732-775-2774 or visit PatrickParkerHomes.com.  You may also request a complimentary relocation package by clicking here.

Bradley Beach NJ Home Buyers – Why Get A Home Inspection

Buying your Bradley Beach NJ home is one of the most significant decisions and biggest investments you will ever make. A professional home inspection will enable you to learn a great deal about a home, help give you peace of mind and answer some important questions. Whether you are buying or selling, you will have the benefit of knowing the ins and outs of a particular home.

Homebuyer Benefits:
You will gain an education of the home, top to bottom, so that you will know exactly what you are buying.. This information will help you to buy with confidence knowing that a true professional has carefully evaluated and inspected your future home.

Home Seller Benefits:
For sellers, a pre-listing inspection can detect previously unknown problems or potential upgrades that you wish to address prior to selling your home. Being aware of issues in advance will allow for disclosure of problems, which can result in smoother transactions for all parties.

Good Hiring Practices:
1. Hire a Professional.
Confirm your home inspector is a member of American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) – http://www.ashi.org and National Association of Home Inspectors (NAHI) http://nahi.org. 2. Obtain a printed report.
Make sure you are given a complete, written report of your inspection results, preferably with photos included.

3. Attend the inspection.
There is no substitute for the being at the inspection. The report provided is only a part of the inspection. When you attend the inspection, you can ask questions, and become more familiar with your home, you’ll gain greater comfort and confidence in your buying decision.

If you are ready to take advantage of the current Bradley Beach NJ real estate market, please begin by calling me at 201-788-6182 or visit PatrickParkerHomes.com. You may also begin searching the MLS here.

It’s a Buyer’s Market – Make it Work for You!

A “buyer’s market” occurs when there are a lot of homes for sale and they are staying on the market for a long time.  During times like this, home buyers are in a great position to negotiate for lower prices and incentives. 

The guidelines for buyers’ incentives vary among loan options, so make sure to get pre-qualified first so you can ask your loan officer about the allowable incentives for your loan program and down payment. Not sure what you can ask for?  Here are some ideas:

If you are putting ten percent or more down, you can ask for up to six percent of the price of the home. If you are putting less than ten percent down, you can ask for three percent of the price.  This “cash back” could be used to cover your non-recurring closing costs (things like points and mortgage fees that you only pay one time), or to cover the cost of extensive repairs to the home, if they are needed.    Most loan programs will only allow you to apply incentives toward non-recurring closing costs.  Your Realtor will make sure that the incentive request is spelled out clearly and thoroughly in your offer to purchase the property. 

If you are paying cash for a property, you have much more negotiating power when it comes to the selling price if you state in the offer that you will be paying cash.  In a buyer’s market, sellers are generally seeking a quick and “painless” sale: i.e., one where they do not have to worry that the deal may fall through due to credit or loan problems. 

When asking for incentives in an offer, it is important to make sure you do not get taken advantage of by a lender who may inflate your loan costs to “use up” the incentives you negotiated.  An experienced and perceptive Realtor will be able to help make sure you are protected.  Be sure to avoid “loading up” your offer with a lot of contingencies (such as offering to purchase the home, but only after your current home has sold), especially when you are pursuing incentives.  Doing this makes it less certain you will actually close, so a seller will be less likely to offer financial incentives in hopes of a quick sale.

The one contingency you always want to include, especially in a buyer’s market, is that your offer is contingent upon the property appraising at or above the purchase price by the lender’s appraiser. 

For more information about Bradley Beach NJ real estate, please visit PatrickParkerHomes.com or call me at 732-775-2774.  You may also begin searching the MLS here!

Bradley Beach NJ Vacation and Investment Home Taxes

Continuing with our recent discussion about preparing for tax season, I wanted to spend some time this week covering issues related to paying taxes on vacation homes.  Many homeowners in the Jersey Shore area use their property as a vacation home – but can these homes truly be claimed as vacation properties? This article from RealEstateJournal.com answers this and other important questions, such as:

• When and under what circumstances do I have to pay taxes on rental income?
• What sort of deductions can owners of rental properties take?
• If my vacation home is considered a secondary home (not a rental home), what deductions can I take?

 Once you have determined which category your property qualifies as, the chart below gives you a quick overview of what you should expect during tax season:  

Vacation-Home Category	Rental Income	Deductions	Losses
Masters	not taxed	not available besides mortgage interest and property taxes	no tax benefit
Secondary	taxed	available	may possibly report a loss if mortgage interest and property taxes exceed rental income; but can’t carry the loss forward or backward to apply to another tax year.
Rental	taxed	available	can carry losses forward, or back

 Other helpful links on this topic:

• IRS Publication 527: Residential Rental Property
• IRS Tax Topic 415: Renting Residential and Vacation Property
• IRS Publication 925: Passive Activity and At-Risk Rules

To learn more about owning a Bradley Beach vacation home or Jersey Shore real estate, please call me at 732-775-2774 or visit PatrickParkerHomes.com.  You may also begin searching the MLS here!