What's the infection in your local market keeping the buyers away? Many blame the media, however I think most buyers see through that. The media may be a disease, but are they the disease keeping buyers out of the market? If not the media, then what's the real problem?
"All real estate is local" is becoming the new catch phrase. My market is in Lacey Township, a small community located in Ocean County on the Jersey Shore. Most people move here for the open space and the lifestyle. Here are my Big Four reasons why the buyers are on the sidelines.
The Premise: The majority of buyers make a decision to buy a house based upon their monthly cost at the time of purchase.
The Big Four
•1. The Price of Gas. Greater than 65% of all workers in my local market commute to a different counties - about 80 miles and $13.00 to 18.00 per day.
•2. Road Tolls. This is Jersey... Just about everyone knows we describe were we live by the exit number - that's because one needs to travel on a toll road to get just about anywhere. Our governor wants to raise tolls by about 200%, sum reports suggest an even higher number. For most commuters, that would mean paying about $4.00-$7.00 a day in road tolls. If they commute to NYC multiply that by four.
•3. Property Taxes. Home selling since Nov 07,207, with say an average selling price of $320,000, have an approximate property tax of $4538.00 ($377 per month). That's not a typo.
•4. Homeowners Insurance. I heard getting homeowners insurance is becoming a problem. The problem is getting affordable homeowners insurance - Tack on another $83.00 per month on that $320,000 house.
The "Credit Crunch", "Sub-Prime Meltdown" are not the primary reason why buyers are sitting on the sidelines in my local market, the media should pay more attention to the BIG FOUR.
By the way, I'm at exit 74.
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