Branchburg NJ Real Estate Blog » Real Estate

This Week’s Word: “Non-Accrual”

chughes — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:27:41 +0000

As in, "we're getting stiffed". The commercial real estate time bomb just keeps ticking.

Wonder how much of this the banks will even try to foreclose.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/construction-and-land-loans-look-ugly-despite-extend-and-pretend-lipstick

128 Windy Willow Way- SOLD

chughes — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:27:22 +0000

This festering insult to the neighborhood sold to its busted-out owners in June, 2005 for a bargain-priced $540,000. This week, it sold again...for $265,000. A veritable tabula rasa awaits its proud new owner. I'm just glad the neighbors won't have to tolerate this eyesore much longer.

Just add two cots and a hot plate. Luxe!

3204 French Drive, Glenbrooke

chughes — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:40:25 +0000

Priced thousands under competing homes!

Here's a terrific, well-located 2 BR townhome in Glenbrooke (Bridgewater Twp), now at $257,000. It's been lightly lived-in, freshly painted and is turnkey nice. A couple of reductions have also put it well under competing homes. Someone is going to get a great deal here.

Virtual Tour: http://rtvpix.com/RE-7038-BLF3H2-01

Is It a Moral Failing When Developers Play Jingle Mail?

chughes — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:17:19 +0000

It's one thing when your deadbeat neighbor strips the copper out of his house, lets the weeds grow a foot high, then mails his keys back to the bank. It's quite another when Taubman, SPG, Vornado and Morgan Stanley do it.

Imagine being the lender who gets the keys back to this.

"Banking-industry officials and others have argued that homeowners have a moral obligation to pay their debts even when it seems to make good business sense to default. Individuals who walk away from their homes also face blemishes to their credit ratings and, in some states, creditors can sue them for the losses they suffer.

But in the business world, there is less of a stigma even though lenders, including individual investors, get stuck holding a depressed property in a down market. Indeed, investors are rewarding public companies for ditching profit-draining investments. Deutsche Bank AG's RREEF, which manages $56 billion in real-estate investments, now favors companies that jettison cash-draining properties with nonrecourse debt, loans that don't allow banks to hold landlords personally responsible if they default. The theory is that those companies fare better by diverting money to shareholders or more lucrative projects."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703447004575449803607666216.html

Warning: Do Not Look Directly at This Photo

chughes — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:27:31 +0000

Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.

This assault on the eyes began its sad descent in February, 2008 and was originally priced at $749,000. It is apparently a new home built on an old foundation. Over the course of 743 excruciating days on market, it became a short sale, and the asking was lowered to a merely nosebleed-inducing $575,000.

Well, the market has spoken...and Mr. Market says $268,686 is the current value of this palatial estate.

The best things we've learned from this sale?

1) The lender couldn't wait to get whatever they could recover out of this ship of doom. That's actually a hopeful sign, as perhaps the current reality is sinking in.

2) The builder of this monstrosity will probably never be able to obtain construction financing again.

Wishful Thinking

chughes — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:08:54 +0000

Flag not included with purchase.

This diamond in the rough has spent 729 days on the market since August of 2008. At this point, the only question a buyer might have would be: is this house really for sale?

There is a difference between selling your home and trolling for a sucker. This house has crossed that line.

Branchburg Closed Sales: June 1 to June 30, 2010

chughes — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:42:06 +0000

Twenty this month. You can thank the 8K rope-a-dope tax credit for that:

6 Apache $336,000
416 Azalea $218,500
3 Birch $627,000
1613 Breckenridge $222,500
14 Cascades $510,000
620 Case $320,000
105 Choctaw Ridge $370,000
129 Howell $528,000
305 Kelly $619,000
3343 Lukes Pond $580,000 (short sale)
101 N Branch River Rd $310,000
114 N Branch River Rd $345,000
115 N Branch River Rd $365,000
118 N Branch River Rd $363,450
33 Oak Tavern $540,000
792 Old York $417,000
24 Preston $322,500
2250 S Branch Rd $463,750
112 Sturbridge $500,000
16 Susquehanna $418,000

Doh!

chughes — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:26:17 +0000

Here's another example of magical thinking. It's a nice enough house...clean, updated kitchen, beautiful pool...but it was built in 1973 and has the limitations you'd expect of such a home. Unfortunately, the seller priced it out of the box at $539,000, thinking that the neighborhood had entered a time warp and traveled back to 2005.

There must not have been any showings, because two quick price reductions have dropped it to $499,900. Maybe somebody will at least show it now.

Warning! Caught In 2005 Time Warp!

Expired

chughes — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:01:08 +0000

Note to Agent: Don't Shoot Pics of Listings With Cell Phone

This week's installment is a dandy little Colonial on Station Rd. ~~Currently asking $739,900~~ EXPIRED, it was originally listed at $949,000 on August 17, 2006 and has spent 806 actively-listed days hurtling toward oblivion. In the interim, it has had two tenants, who I'm sure have made an excellent contribution toward accelerating the depreciation.

Given that the current tax assessment on this property is $694,000- and that virtually no properties in this range sell for even the amount of the tax assessment in Branchburg- will this house ever find an owner? Or, will the next owner be the lender who financed the construction?

December, 2009 Branchburg Closed Transactions

chughes — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:08:42 +0000

Closings below were from 12/1/09 through 12/31/09. Short sales are noted.

1705 Breckenridge Dr. $209,000 (short sale)

611 Magnolia Ln. $239,000

736 Magnolia Ln. $236,000

17 Cheyenne Trl. $375,000

2 Rolland Dr. $369,000

39 Seneca Trl. $407,500

129 Fairview Dr. $439,900

252 Carol Jean Wy. $400,000

141 Fairview Dr. $479,000

119 Brandon Ct. $465,000

2 Oak Tavern Cir. $560,000

24 Champions Cir. $600,000