Did you know that:

• More than 850,000 New Jersey residents are currently living in poverty?
• More than 25,000 of our state’s poverty stricken people are children?
• Almost 44% of the homeless are employed but do not make enough to keep a roof over their head?

What's in your cupboard?

Your Grandmother’s Cupboard of Toms River does!

According to their brochure and their knowledge, Your Grandmother’s Cupboard is America’s only mobile outreach program serving people lacking transportation to access traditional food pantries and clothing depots.

They are a non-profit 501(C)3 organization founded with the mission to provide food, clothing and other “necessities of life” to the hungry, the homeless, seniors and the other invisible people in our midst with specials needs.

I cannot do everything but I can do something.  And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.  It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little–you must do whatever you can.  -Edward Everett Hale

What do they need?

• Clothing (folded and sorted, please)
• Shoes
• Blankets and sleeping bags
• Coats, hats and gloves
• Bars of soap and shampoo
• Combs and brushes
• Deodorant and disposable razors
• Feminine hygiene products
• Laundry detergent
• Toilet paper
• Toothbrushes and toothpaste

How You Can Help Your Grandmother’s Cupboard in Toms River

You can make a financial contribution here!

Or visit them at the Roslyn Plaza, 173A Route 37 west, Toms River, NJ 08755.  The Cupboard is open Tuesday through Friday, 10am to 4pm, but you may want to call first; 732-240-0441.  Please “LIKE” their Facebook page here!

If you live in Toms River, or visit often, chances are you have enjoyed breakfast and conversation at the FastBreak Diner.  Well, starting tonight, May 4th, 2012, FastBreak goes prime time!

Watch as I Interview Cindy in Fastbreak

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is right off of their Facebook Event Invitation:

May 4th will mark a new day in the long history of Fast Break and Toms River dining. Starting on Friday our hours will be reaching into the depths of late night and we’re not looking back!

The acoustic styling of Bruce Pelka will be setting the mood for the night while we all beat the drum on this momentous occasion.

We invite you and all of our favorite guests to come on out and celebrate this night while we turn the a new page in our book of great times with great people.

So, grab a six pack or nice bottle of wine from Monaghan’s (next door) and join Cindy (and her brother, Bruce) tonight at their Grand Opening Event!

Thank for watching and reading.  If you would continue to be so kind, please LIKE Cindy’s Fastbreak in Toms River Facebook Page!  Thank you.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

How is your home search in Toms River going?  How many real estate websites have you been to?  Do you have more questions than answers?

You are NOT alone!

Has this ever happened to you?

You were on a REALTOR’s website, looking at listings in Toms River, when you find one that interests you so, you CLICK on “request more information”.  Chances are one of the following things happened:

1. NOTHING!
2. You received an “Auto-Response” telling you an agent will contact you shortly (which they never do)!
3. You eventually receive an e-mail from a real estate agent which reads something like this, “Thank you for your inquiry on _____.  I look forward to helping you find your next home.  Please CALL ME at 123-456-7890!”

If you answered, yes, to one or ALL of the above, here’s why:

The Law of Unintended Consequences in Toms River Home Search

Click here to view the embedded video.

Did you just smack yourself in the head like you need a V-8?

I did the same thing when these productive agents told me they didn’t participate in their company’s network!

That’s why I personally receive and review EVERY inquiry, request and/or lead that comes in through this website and FlanaganRealty.com.  Your first response comes directly from me and then I personally select the real estate agent best suited to help you with your specific needs.

Come On, Give It a Try, You Know You Want To!

What does it all mean?

The Toms River real estate market is warming up!

Is it just seasonal or is it more?

Time will tell (perhaps another 90 days) but one thing appears certain; even if home prices in Toms River continue to fall this year, the COST of buying a home will most likely rise.

How will the cost of buying a home rise if prices fall?

Let me show you:

Courtesy of Keeping Current Matters

Based on this example, if mortgage interest rates were to rise just ONE percent over the next year, home prices in Toms River would have to fall another $40,000 or 10% to offset the COST increase!

As home prices, in general, are down roughly 30% overall (since the peak of 2005), the chances of them falling another 10% in one year are pretty slim.

So, what do you want to do?

We just may be at the “best time in history” to buy a home in Toms River.  Only time will tell us for sure.  The decision is yours.  Are you prepared to live with it?

Is this Bayshore or Breezy Point?

Do you know where the waterfront communities of Bayshore and Breezy Point are in Toms River, NJ?

One of my BIGGEST pet peeves is real estate agents that do NOT know their market areas!

Another one is real estate agents that do know their market areas but think their customers don’t!

The reason I am “venting” my frustration to you is because I understand that when you are searching for waterfront homes for sale in “Breezy Point”, they may NOT be showing up in your search results because an agent labeled their listing as “Bayshore” or worse yet, just “Toms River”.

Bayshore and Breezy Point Are NOT the Same Community!

The waterfront community of Breezy Point, in Toms River, NJ, is just east of the Bayshore Section of town (and often confused with the same) and just south of the Thomas Mathis (Seaside) Bridge.

Bayshore is actually ONE lagoon away from Breezy Point, just south of Fischer Blvd (behind Stewarts).  It too is often “mis-identified” by real estate agents wishing their listings were not located in Guilford Park!

To Learn More About Waterfront Homes in Bayshore & Breezy Point, CLICK HERE!

I understand your frustration and am doing everything in my power to “raise the bar” in Toms River real estate.  If you don’t find what you are looking for in Bayshore and/or Breezy Point, check back in a day or two and I’ll showcase another one of Toms River’s waterfront communities!

The NEW Rules...

There is an old expression, “God ain’t creating anymore waterfront”.  Not, at least, in Toms River, NJ.

So, during the last real estate BOOM, waterfront home prices rose like the price of Apple Stock!

Unfortunately, the housing “correction” did not discriminate in Toms River and waterfront home prices dropped like the price of Kodak stock.

So, as we finally “bottom out” in this real estate market, it’s time to learn the rules of buying waterfront homes.

The New Rules of Buying Waterfront Homes in Toms River

1. BUY LOW, sell high!  Sure, home prices may drop a little more but mortgage interest rates are already rising and it is just a matter of time before waterfront home prices follow.
2. By the TIME you HEAR it’s a GOOD TIME to BUY, it’s too late!  Nobody, likes to go first…except; Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and Mark Cuban!
3. The EARLY bird really does get the worm!  Right now, you have your PICK of the litter.  The longer you wait, the less choice you have!

But wait Jim, these aren’t “new” rules!  We have seen and heard these rules before…

Um, duh, yeah!

The NEW rules; same as the OLD rules…when it comes to buying waterfront homes in Toms River

It has been 7 years since the peak of the waterfront housing market in Toms River, NJ.  That is longer than most marriages last.  We are on the verge of a housing recovery.  If you have seen these rules before, it is because they always work!

Are you ready, willing and able to buy a waterfront home in Toms River?

The rest of this month, March, the beginning of the “Spring Real Estate Selling Season”, I will be show-casing each of Toms River’s waterfront communities.  So, why don’t we start alphabetically, with Anchorage:

To Learn More About the Waterfront Community of Anchorage, CLICK HERE!

Remember the rules and you could be in your very own waterfront home, in Toms River, by Memorial Day Weekend!

Where's the love?

I am really curious; just how many home-buyers in Toms River know about and use Trulia Voices?

Why?

Because, I myself, am in a “love/hate” relationship with Trulia Voices!

Here is what I LOVE about Trulia Voices for Toms River Real Estate:

• The CONCEPT!  A forum where Toms River’s Home-Buyers are free to ask questions and receive answers from real estate professionals in Toms River, NJ.

Here is what I HATE about Trulia Voices for Toms River Real Estate:

• The QUESTIONS!  Lately, it feels as if the questions are being asked by a very cynical/skeptical segment of Toms River’s home-buyers.
• The ANSWERS!  I may be giving my peers in Toms River too much credit; only a minor percentage of local real estate agents actually ANSWER the questions.  Further-more; I have received “alerts” informing me “New Answers” have been posted to QUESTIONS months after the QUESTIONS have been asked!
• The ANONYMITY!  The home-buyer gets to remain “anonymous”, if they so choose, while the real estate professional cannot afford anonymity.
• MOST of the PROFESSIONALS!  I was under the impression that we, as real estate professionals, were knowledgeable, skilled and local.  I am constantly disappointed by the ANSWERS posted by most of my peers in Toms River and the intrusion of agents from outside of Toms River, who feel compelled to ANSWER QUESTIONS outside of their market expertise.

Now that I have “vented” how I feel, what are your feelings about Trulia Voices Toms River?

Were you aware of it?  Do you use Trulia for your home searches?

Have you asked, or considered asking a question on TV?

What do you think of the “answers”?

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.  Any contribution you would care to make on this topic would be greatly appreciated.  I will be asking the same questions of home-sellers in Toms River too.

Pic courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

“New questions have just been posted in Toms River”, read my e-mail alert from Trulia Voices!

Excitedly, I clicked on the link to this “new” question, intending to be the first to “answer” it.  Much to my chagrin, I was not.  But here is what I found that was even more disturbing; the “answers” most of my peers were giving the person that asked the question!

Judge for yourself.

Here’s the original question as asked, by a home-buyer in Toms River, on Trulia Voices:

how can i get a list of all the condo complexs in ocean and monmouth counties?

Pretty straight forward.  Right?

Now, here is the “first response”:

An agent can send you all of them from the MLS. Feel free to email me and I would be more than happy to send them over

Excuse me?  Is it me or does this agent have it all wrong?

And it’s not just her (sorry ladies); 3 more agents gave almost identical “answers”!

As a real estate professional, what would make you think this, or anything similar, is an acceptable “answer”?

Before I give you my “answer”, let me ask you a question:

As a Home-Buyer/Home-Seller in Toms River, what “answer” would you expect?

Please leave the “answers” you would expect, if you had asked this question, in the “comment section” below.  I would love to read your thoughts and feelings on this subject.

After I read your “answers”, I will share my actual “answer” to this question, asked by a home-buyer in Toms River.  Thank you for your time, consideration and contribution.

Courtesy of Keeping Current Matters

Are you in the market for a new home in Toms River, NJ?

Have you spent a considerable amount of time online, researching every facet of the home-buying process?

Do you consider Open Houses an important part of that home-buying process?

Where do you find the Open Houses in Toms River?

Are you a “traditional” home-shopper; using the Sunday paper to locate and direct you to Open Houses in Toms River?

Are you a “modern” home-shopper; using websites like Realtor.com, Trulia and Zillow to find these Open Houses?

Or, are you a “hybrid” home-shopper; using these websites, their “mobile apps” and the Sunday paper to locate all of the Open Houses?

Which source(s) give you the most Open House in Toms River?

My experience tells me the following about sources of Open House information in Toms River:

1. The Sunday paper is as discombobulated and frustrating as an Open House “source” can get!
2. Most “good” real estate websites post Open Houses but NOT ALL of them!
3. If it weren’t for the Open House “directional” signs, most home-buyers would never find most of the Open Houses in Toms River!

Why is something so “simple” as an Open House so “difficult” to find today?

Toms River’s “poor” relationship with Open Houses; it’s not you, it’s us.

I am convinced the ONLY reason the Sunday paper is still printed is because most real estate agents DO NOT know how to market an Open House today!

Would it surprise you if I told you at least half of the agents in Toms River DON’T KNOW they can post Open Houses in their own MLS (Multiple Listing Service) or they DON’T KNOW HOW?  This simple task also auto-sends that Open House to Realtor.com for the agents with “Enhanced Showcase Packages”…don’t get me started!

Would it further surprise you if I told you that at least half of the agents in Toms River don’t know they can set up a FREE profile on both Trulia and Zillow, or just NEVER bothered to, which allows them to post Open Houses and SHARE them on social media sites like Facebook?

Probably NOT.

That’s why you still buy the Sunday paper.  Even after searching for Open Houses in Toms River online, you pick up the Sunday paper and drive around Toms River, hoping those Open House “directional arrows” will lead you to your new home…am I right?

How’s the market so far this year in Toms River, NJ?

I’m happy you asked!

There are some interesting things happening in the Toms River real estate market right now.  And, since it is the end of the first month of the “new” year, I thought I would try something a little different this year…

Your Toms River Video Market Report for January 2012

Click here to view the embedded video.

Down below is the actual “Flash Chart” used in the video.  As I stated, if you move your mouse around the chart, information will “pop up” where ever your mouse hovers.

If you want to know what the Median Sales Price was at any given point in the last 90 days, just hover over that time period on the chart.  The same goes for the Inventory Level and the Market Action Index…

Remember:

• A Market Action Index of 30 is a “Balanced Market”; any number BELOW 30 means it is a “Buyers Market” and any number ABOVE 30 means it is a “Sellers Market”!
• The Median Sales Price means HALF of the homes sold for MORE than that price and half of the homes sold for LESS than that price!

Here is your Toms River Real Estate Market Chart for January 2012

If you would like your very own personal Toms River Real Estate Market Report e-mailed to your inbox every month, or every other week, just subscribe by filling in the form below!