New Jersey Realtor®—July August 2020

NEW JERSEY

REALTOR

®

July/August 2020: VOLUME 6 ISSUE 4

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NEW JERSEY REALTOR® A publication of New Jersey Realtors®

10 Hamilton Avenue Trenton, NJ 08611 Phone: 609-341-7100 njrealtor.com

10

Jarrod C. Grasso, RCE Chief Executive Officer PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MARKETING DEPARTMENT Colleen King Oliver Director of Public Relations &

Marketing | editor@njrealtor.com

Erin McFeeters

Dana Fiori

Communications Coordinator

CONTENTS July/August 2020

Content Coordinator

3

President's View: Finding New Ways to Spend Our Time

4

CEO's Desk: Adapting to a Virtual World

5

Important Dates & Deadlines

7

New Member Perks Partners

2020 OFFICERS Angela Sicoli

President

Jeffrey Jones

President-Elect

Robert White

First Vice President

Kathleen Morin

Treasurer

ADVERTISING SALES Laura Lemos | 973-822-9274

17

Town Spotlight: Long Beach Township

laura@boja.com DESIGN Rebecca Ryan McQuigg | Encompass Media Group rebecca@encompasspubs.com

New Jersey Realtors® provides legal and legislative updates as well as information on a variety of real estate related topics solely for the use of its members.

Due to the wide range of issues affecting its members, NJ Realtors® publishes information concerning those issues that NJ Realtors®, in its sole discretion, deems the most important for its members.

8

The content and accuracy of all articles and/or advertisements by persons not employed by or

Legislative Update: The Realtor® Voice is Loudest at the Polls

agents of NJ Realtor® are the sole responsibility of their author. NJ Realtors® disclaims any liability or

20

What Agents Need to Know Now about Mortgage Availability

23

The ABCs of Cryptocurrencies in Real Estate

28

Local Board/Association News

responsibility for their content or accuracy. Where such articles and/or advertisements contain legal advice or standards, NJ Realtors® recommends that NJ Realtors® seek legal counsel with regard to any

10

COVID-19 Update

14

Hope on the Horizon for the Summer Market

Sudoku puzzle solution:

specific situation to which they may seek to apply the article.

New

Jersey

Realtor ® ,

publication

number

13260. Published bi-monthly each year. Member subscriptions allocated annually from annual dues: $3. Non-member annual subscription: $10. Known office of publication: 10 Hamilton Avenue, Trenton, NJ 08611. Periodicals postage paid at Trenton, NJ 08611 and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address change to Editor, 10 Hamilton Avenue, Trenton, NJ 08611.

NJRealtors

@NJ_Realtors

2 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020

@njrealtors

NJRealtors

NJ Realtors

editor@njrealtor.com

PRESIDENT'S VIEW

Finding New Ways to Spend Our Time

BY ANGELA SICOLI

W

hen the state and the entire country shut down, we had to find new ways to spend our time and cope with our new day-to-day.

Some took to the kitchen—finally spending the time they never had on sourdough starters, baking up their grandmother’s famous blueberry pie, or learning to cook.

A select few of these kitchen lovers also became experts in ordering groceries online (if you have insider knowledge on this please give me a call).

Others seized the opportunity to purchase new streaming services and have had the movie marathons they always dreamed of but never had the time to have. Some are learning how to better cope with stress and taking the time to meditate or journal through the days of quarantine. All of our lives look different in some way.

For me, I added a new furry friend to my family. As I was scrolling through Facebook one day, I saw a fellow Realtor® had added a puppy to her family, and my heart melted. I haven’t had a dog in 20 years and while my husband and I had previously

discussed a puppy, we thought after my presidency ended would be best. But when the pandemic hit, we knew it was right and now I have the pleasure of introducing Mia Sicoli, an Australian Labradoodle.

Without the normal travel obligations that come with the presidency, I have the time to devote to a new dog and all the training that comes with it. And we’ve been training Mia on our own since there were no trainers open for business! She’s kept me on my toes the past few months, with 5 a.m. wakeup calls and chewing everything in sight, but she has become my best friend.

Every time I enter my house, she runs to greet me and is keeping me active, patient, and focused.

I hope you have found something to help center you during this stressful time and I hope that something will remain with you as we slowly reopen our lives.

In the past few months where everything has shifted, I have come to realize how utterly important our community of Realtors® is, especially during times of difficulty and hardship.

Though our ability to hold in-person meetings has ceased, I appreciate how easy it is to continue to connect with you all. But I’m still looking forward to the day we can all be together once again.

NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020 | 3

FROM THE CEO'S DESK

Adapting to a Virtual World I

t’s an odd thing to say that the New Jersey Realtors® Government Affairs Department and I haven’t been in the Statehouse since early March. Just like our businesses and personal lives, we had to adapt to change. Lobbying is as much of an art as it is a science; it’s about relationships, conversations, communicating positions and platforms.

Transferring that to a virtual world has certainly been difficult, as I’m sure you all know.

We have adapted just as so many of you have and those adaptations have truly led to some exciting developments.

Take, for example, our annual Hill Visits that are usually held during the Midyear Meetings in Washington, D.C. We use that time to have members and staff meet and talk with our federal elected officials or their offices and make sure our industry issues are top of mind. To lose those meetings would be a loss for us, the Members of Congress, and our entire membership base. Once we received word Midyear Meetings were moved to a virtual platform, we opted to do the same with our hill visits. So, in a matter of weeks we worked to shift our in-person meetings to Zoom meetings.

While we missed touring around our nation’s capital and the face-to-face interaction, the positive to come out of it was that we were able to open the meetings up to a much larger number of members. With in-person meetings we are often limited by the office space accommodations of the Members of Congress.

Virtually, we had no such limitations, allowing our meetings to be more accessible to the members and constituents—we met with almost all of our federal elected officials.

Lobbying, in general, has been a game of adaptation and in the past several months we’ve relied heavily on the decadeslong relationships we, as an association, have cultivated

4 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020

with our state and national representatives, key decision makers, and policy experts. Those relationships have helped disseminate critical, time-sensitive information to members when misinformation was running rampant.

While we’re grateful for the opportunity to continue talking with legislators and decisions makers, a Zoom meeting just isn’t the same, and we look forward to returning to the statehouse, hopefully sometime soon.

We thank you for your continued support as we work to ensure the reopening of economy is driven by our industry and our incredible New Jersey Realtors®.

I M P O R TA N T D AT E S & D E A D L I N E S

JULY

4 15

AUGUST

Independence Day

SEPTEMBER

Financial 14 National Awareness Day

OCTOBER

Realtors Office 7 NJ Closed—Labor Day Realtors 14 NJ Quarter Century

Tax Day

®

New Jersey 2 RPAC Realtors Circle of ®

Excellence Sales Award® Deadline

12 Columbus Day

Club Application Deadline

15 Executive 16 Boss’s Day Committee Meeting of Directors 15 Board Meeting

31 Halloween

Neighbor 18 Good Award Application Deadline

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NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020 | 7

The Realtor® Voice Is Loudest at the Polls

BY BRUCE SHAPIRO

T

his November, voters in New Jersey and across the country will go to the polls to make their voices heard and cast their ballots for numerous elected offices. From the President of the United States to local mayors and town councils, there’s a myriad of critical positions up for election this November.

In New Jersey, all 12 members of the House of Representatives and one of our two United States Senators will stand for election. There are also two special elections for the State Legislature in the 25th district, one of the State Senate and one for the General Assembly (the 25th District covers portions of Morris and Somerset counties). In addition, many county and local elections will also be held across the Garden State for offices ranging from county freeholders, mayors, town councils and local boards of education officials. New Jersey will also have two statewide ballot questions concerning whether to extend the property tax deduction and exemption to peacetime veterans and whether to legalize marijuana.

Now is the time to have your voices heard! The first step is to make sure you are registered to vote. At the beginning of 2020, just over 89 percent of New Jersey Realtors® were registered to vote. While this number is good, there are still nearly 6,000 Realtors® in New Jersey who were not registered. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 13, 2020, which is 21 days prior to the general election. Registering is easy: you can search to see if you

RPAC OF NEW JERSEY

are already registered and if not, can find a registration application on the New Jersey Division of Elections website at nj.gov/state/elections/.

The winners of this November’s elections at all levels of government will be considering many issues of vital importance to our industry. From the National Flood Insurance Program and the State and Local Tax Deduction at the federal level to taxes affecting the real estate industry and time-of-sale requirements in New Jersey—the candidates who are elected will have a tremendous say on issues affecting real estate, homeownership and private property rights for years to come. In the last federal elections two years ago, only 65 percent of New Jersey Realtors® voted in the 2018 elections, meaning over 18,000 New Jersey Realtors® did not have a say in voting for the officials who made the decisions on issues affecting their livelihood.

New Jersey Realtors® have a tremendous presence in advocating on behalf of the real estate industry, homeownership and private property rights because of the strength of our voice. Let’s make sure our voice is heard where it counts most, at the polling booth in the November 3rd elections. When Realtors® vote, we make our voices are heard in electing those who will consider the countless issues affecting the real estate profession at all levels of government.

$900,000

8 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020

[$ 396,434.21] as of June 11, 2020.

3 ® VOTE REALTORS 3 REALTORS VOTE ®

The data below is courtesy of the National Association of Realtors®—the full report can be found here.

The data below is courtesy of the National Association of Realtors®

Nationally Realtors® registered to vote:

1,212,136 | 87.93% Realtors® unregistered to vote:

166,465 | 12.07%

New Jersey In 2016, 85% of New Jersey Realtors® were registered to vote.

The number of New Jersey Realtors® registered to vote increased 4.28% since 2016.

New Jersey Realtors® registered to vote: 46,633

| 89.28%

New Jersey Realtors® unregistered to vote: 5,598

| 10.72%

JULY

N E W J E R S E Y L E G I S L AT I V E B I L L S New Jersey Primary Election is July 7

7

Register to vote at realtorsvote.org

General Election is November 3, and to vote you must register by October 13 A525 – Jimenez (D32), Murphy (D7) A2523 – Vaineri Huttle (D37) S709 – Addiego (D8) Waives certain professional and Sets maximum contaminant level and Exempts certain surviving spouses and occupational licensingOrder fees for wellPrimary testing for PFOAwill besurviving civil union by partners Executive 144 mandates requires that the private upcoming Election mainly conducted vote of certain veterans and veterans. and will PFOS. veterans fromyou components of by spouses mail. All of active, registered voters automatically receive a ballot. Afterdisabled filling out the ballot the realty transfer fee. can mail it from home, drop it off at your County’s Board of Elections, or deliver the ballot to a secure New Jersey Realtors® Position: Jersey Realtors® website Position: for details. drop box location. Check your CountyNew Board of Elections ®

MONITOR

OPPOSE

We are monitoring this bill in the event it is amended to include licenses granted by the Real Estate Commission as currently it only applies to boards located in the Division of Consumer Affairs.

We oppose this bill that will make it more expensive to purchase a home with a private well as there is no funding for homeowners provided and could lead to delays in home sales due to concerns over the number of labs that could process these types of tests.

Bill History: 1/14/2020– Introduced in Assembly and referred to Assembly Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee

Bill History: 2/3/2020 – Introduced in Assembly and referred to Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee

New Jersey Realtors Position:

STRONG SUPPORT

Designated REALTOR® | April 2020 | 1

We strongly support this bill as it will decrease the realty transfer fee for certain spouses and partners of disabled veterans.

Bill History: 1/14/2020 – Introduced in Senate and referred to Senate Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee

NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020 | 9

COVID-19 Update

BY PAMELA BABCOCK

W

hile the spring market had a slow start because of COVID-19, some New Jersey Realtors® are seeing what many predicted: a rush of buyers leaving New York City and other virus hotspots. Tight inventory is driving prices up and sparking bidding wars in some areas.

Realtor®,” Da Silva says. The key? Having solid systems that can thrive in all markets. “The good Realtors® will learn to lead-generate via tech and get in front of the buyer or seller first to offer them that care, service, and expertise that a website simply cannot provide,” Da Silva adds.

“The urban migration is happening, and we are experiencing a huge surge,” says Realtor® Peter Engelmann of Weichert Realtors® in Bernardsville. Realtor® Lisa Wolschina of Lisa Wolschina & Associates Keller Williams Haddonfield, is also witnessing an outmigration as people have been quarantined in tiny apartments or condos.

“With no yards, maybe even no balcony to go out on, they are seeing more benefits to the suburbs,” says Wolschina.

On the Ground

Around the Garden State, Realtors® adjusted to a “new normal” in a no-contact world. Open houses were shuttered, and hand sanitizer, masks, and gloves became part of the job. Many staged virtual open houses and added virtual tours to their listings. Meanwhile, some worked to give back to the community by raising money to help small businesses or giving back to their local food pantry.

Realtor® Ryan J. Bruen, C.P.A., who leads the Bruen Team in Coldwell Banker’s Morristown office, says he’s also seeing an influx of buyers from the city as well as people either moving from, or that would normally be looking in, South Orange, Maplewood, Summit, Chatham, Springfield, moving farther out to towns such as Morristown, Madison, Mendham, Randolph and Bernardsville.

The coronavirus pandemic may have taken a lot of the in-person interaction out of the picture and while many buyers–especially the younger generation–have become increasingly more comfortable shopping for a home online, Realtor® Brendan Da Silva, leader of The Da Silva Team Keller Williams-NJ Metro Group in Montclair, says he thinks quality Realtors® are here to stay, particularly since investing in your single largest asset can be overwhelming, stressful and full of “logistical booby traps.”

Bruen says many of the buyers include families who’ve been cooped up in their homes perusing listings on their computers who have grown “more anxious to get into the new home that they have been looking forward to.”

“The American consumer, by and large, wants to be able to have the professional support and expertise from a 10 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020

Since the March 21 lockdown, Engelmann has closed four sales and is working with about a half dozen other buyers. He adds that there’s been a boom in activity on his listings from out of area Realtors®. Most buyers are from New York City or Bergen County, both hard hit by the coronavirus. “I am on track for my best year in 28 years in the business.”

Today’s buyers are much more serious, Realtors® say, because window shoppers seem to have essentially stayed home to adhere to guidance limiting in-person contact.

Realtors® are doing more to screen buyers because open houses were not allowed until mid-June and home showings severely limited.

Children seem to be a big influencing factor, so outdoor space and playrooms are key, Bruen says. Home offices are popular but not deal killers because as more work can be done remotely, people often are fine as long as there’s some space where they can isolate themselves from the rest of the family for remote work meetings.

Bruen says inventory is low and demand is high. “We are seeing a lot of bidding wars,” Bruen says, noting that a $975,000 listing in Randolph languished for four months last summer with no offers received multiple offers above asking price the first week on the market in April.

see what they might get, although there are a lot fewer— new listings in Essex County were down 65.9 percent since April 2019, Da Silva says.

Selling during the pandemic is not for the faint of heart.

From mid-March to June 1, The Da Silva Team had nearly 20 deals fall through due to unemployment and changes in lending regulations. At the same time, the team had multiple Newark properties go into bidding wars and ultimately sell for as much as 10 percent above asking price.

Upping their Game While entry-level price points are still the most popular, there’s also growing demand for higher-priced homes that were previously slower to move. Bruen attributes that to the fact city dwellers are used to paying higher prices and some people are shifting more of their entertainment budget to their home budget.

During the lockdown, The Da Silva Team conducted virtual tours for any property that wasn’t occupied. It also implemented what it called a “9-1-5 strategy,” with a Zoom call every morning at 9 a.m. to set goals, another at 1 p.m. to track progress and a final check-in at 5 p.m. to provide accountability for accomplishing goals.

Jennifer D’Elia, a broker salesperson and broker manager for Samsel & Associates Realty in Clark, says her office has seen quite a few buyers from Brooklyn and Staten Island. “We had one client, she said she just wanted to mow a lawn and garden in her backyard,” D’Elia says.

The woman, who lived in a third-floor condo in Brooklyn, paid $305,000 for a Cape Cod in Rahway. Inventory varies town by town, D’Elia says, with towns such as Westfield having a lot of “overpriced” homes, while others, such as Colonia, still have inventory “but the stuff is going so fast that you can’t even get in to show them,” D’Elia says.

Wolschina says she upped her social media presence and has worked to be “more in the moment” with her family and personal life. While she has been quite busy with clients, working from home has allowed her to spend more time with her family than she typically does. “Taking long family walks with our dog and kids has been great for reconnecting,” Wolschina says. “I am thankful for that, but wish this horrific pandemic wasn’t the reason for it.”

Da Silva reports an uptick in buyers from Jersey City, Hoboken, Manhattan and Brooklyn looking to buy in Newark, Bloomfield, Belleville and Clifton. Sellers are much more serious and not just trying to test the market to

D’Elia and Samsel & Associates owner John Samsel have regularly reached out to the company’s agents to see if they need help moving transactions along, for example, by offering to pick up permits at the town building department if an agent fears contracting the virus. “We are definitely more hands-on in the agents’ transactions,” D’Elia says.

Sometimes they just check on a personal level to see how NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020 | 11

they’re doing. “We’re making an effort to call the agents and not talk about real estate, too,” D’Elia says.

Giving Back Meanwhile, many New Jersey Realtors® are using the crisis to strengthen ties with the communities where they do business.

On Easter Sunday, The Da Silva Team gave away nearly $6,000 worth of gasoline to frontline workers such as nurses and police officers in Newark. Da Silva says the idea came to him when he read about a Good Samaritan in Detroit who had done something similar.

“What I thought would be 50 cars turned out to be about 250,” Da Silva says. “It was surreal to see all the faces, and honestly, very humbling. People waited in line for over an hour for some gas.”

After hearing that many business students had lost internships because of the pandemic, The Da Silva Team brought on two summer interns who are graduates of the Knowledge is Power Program schools, a nonprofit network of public charter schools.

His team also called past clients to check in and see if they needed anything. The Da Silva Team delivered groceries to one client and sent pizza to another in the hospital.

12 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020

In Ho-Ho-Kus, a borough in Bergen County, Megan Fox and Maxwell Stokes, Realtor-Associates® in Christie’s International Real Estate Northern New Jersey, helped establish the Focus on Ho-Ho-Kus Campaign to raise funds for local healthcare and other frontline workers. The group is working with the Ho-Ho-Kus Chamber of Commerce to provide support via gift cards purchased from small businesses in town. As of June 8, more than $26,000 had been raised.

Cherry Hill Realtor® Nikunj Shah mobilized hundreds of clients and friends to help raise funds to purchase masks for healthcare workers. In just two weeks, Shah raised $100,000 and donated masks to 204 hospitals and medical facilities across eight states.

Meanwhile, Leaf Realtors® in Oldwick has made several trips to the Flemington Area Food Pantry with hundreds of dollars of food collected from former clients and left in a collection box outside its office.

“There has been food insecurity in our community that was made worse by the pandemic but hasn’t ended with the easing of restrictions,” says Kelly Gordon, broker of record for Leaf Realtors®. Gordon also collaborated with Bex Kitchen, a Califon café owned by friend and licensed appraiser Becky Geisel, to bring nutritious meals to healthcare workers at Morristown Medical Center.

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Hope on the Horizon for the Summer Market

BY COLLEEN KING OLIVER

A

s expected, the housing market numbers in April were down in almost every category, except price. But as the state slowly started to reopen in June, cautious optimism was in the forecast for the summer.

The spring market took the hit at the height of the pandemic, with some sellers hesitant to list and some buyers hesitant to make the next step.

In April, the median sales price for all properties was $333,000, up 14.4 percent over April 2019. Homes are moving quickly, with the average property spending just 61 days on the market, a 9 percent decline since April 2019.

14 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020

The pandemic did no favors to already-low inventory, either.

“It’s a case of supply and demand,” said 2020 New Jersey Realtors® President Angela Sicoli about the rise in costs.

“Far before this pandemic we had an inventory shortage throughout the state and now, compounded with a large percentage of people who were ready to sell in March but put their plans on pause, you are seeing buyers who have far less to choose from. With only a small pool of homes to choose from buyers are sometimes paying slightly above asking or finding themselves in a situation with multiple offers on the property.”

Throughout the state, when compared to April 2019, new listings were down a staggering 63.1 percent, with only 7,272 recorded throughout the state for the month. Pending sales for that same period dropped 46.7 percent. However, closed sales were only down 20.7 percent, indicating the pipeline of deals in progress from before the lockdown has extended through at least some part of April. There were just 35,714 homes for sale in New Jersey in April, down 35.6 percent from last April.

While the majority of the conversation has focused on the downturn of the market due to the pause on active selling and buying, anecdotally, some markets saw an upturn from clients wanting to leave the city for the family-friendly suburbs while not tethered to a physical commute. Particularly, northern New Jersey counties have seen high prices rise even higher as people migrate out from the city and scoop up available inventory.

While the rental market for the summer initially looked uncertain, by all accounts it’s been busy, with consumers more confident their vacations will be able to happen, albeit a little different than previous years.

In mid-June, New Jersey entered Stage two of Gov. Murphy’s Restart and Recovery plan. Open houses, which had been previously banned under Executive Order 107, were permitted, a strong sign of forward momentum. Only time will tell if the loosened restrictions will spur buyer and seller activity, but for the first time in several months there is hope on the horizon.

As always, you can read the full housing data reports at njrealtor.com/data and our COVID-19 FAQs and resources are updated at njrealtor.com/covid19.

Since printing, data has been updated.

NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020 | 15

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Long Beach Township

BY ERIN MCFEETERS

T

ravel through the New Jersey Pine Barrens to the causeway bridge over the bay to this seaside island township on Long Beach Island. In the early years, traveling to Long Beach Island was hazardous, and many visitors experienced flat tires, mechanical breakdowns, and even highway robbery.

Despite the harsh travel conditions, “everyone who ever came to this island…came out of pure enjoyment and returned year after year for the same reason,” wrote John Baily Lloyd in his book, Six Miles At Sea.

NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020 | 17

TOWN SPOTLIGHT The dawn of the 20th century brought major roadways like County Route 539 and U.S. 72, which have made traveling down the shore a sea breeze.

“Long Beach Township is a water lovers paradise,” said Dave Powitz, Dipper-in-Chief of Skipper Dipper Ice Cream and life-long resident of Long Beach Township. “Beautiful beaches, great waves and access to Barnegat Bay. And the sunrises and sunsets are breathtaking.”

The township is comprised of 13 beaches that span across the island: Brant Beach, Beach Haven Crest, Brighton Beach, Peahala Park, Beach Haven Park, Haven Beach, Dunes, Beach Haven Terrace, Spray Beach, Holgate, North Beach, Love Ladies, and High Bar Harbor. Interesting enough, these towns are not right after another along the 18-miles of Long Beach Island. Rather, towns such as Beach Haven, Surf City, and Harvey Cedars break up the township into smaller sections.

“Although Long Beach Township is large,” said Samantha DiPietro, manager of Stefano’s Restaurant, “within the township, the small neighborhoods are close knit communities that look out for each other.”

Like many beach or coastal areas, in the winter months Long Beach Township tends to be on the quiet side, with no vacationers and a majority of businesses closed during the off-season. The tides switch during the summer months with warm weather and summer tourists.

“The community life here is like any small town,” said Powitz. “For a resort town, which attracts thousands of people every summer, when you live here, you still run into people.”

Nearly eight years ago in 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit Long Beach Island and much of the Jersey Shore. Today, as you drive down Long Beach Island Boulevard, the difference in home types is obvious. In some areas that were heavily 18 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020

TOWN SPOTLIGHT damaged, with many homes left in ruins, newlybuilt homes replaced them. These new builds are beach cottage style on a larger scale, while others have a more modern look with dark window frames and clean lines. Areas of the island that were not as damaged, have much smaller classic style beach cottages with wood shingles.

Prior to Hurricane Sandy, in September 2012, the year-to-date median sales price was $800,000 year-to-date according to monthly housing data from New Jersey Realtors®. In April 2020, the median sales price in Long Beach Township was $932,250 year-to-date, which is the highest median sales price out of all Long Beach Island local markets and over a $100,000 median sales price increase in less than 10 years.

Looking ahead, many small businesses were concerned COVID-19 would not allow them to open this summer, and with an economy reliant on summer tourism, they were concerned. But, with Gov. Murphy’s Restart and Recovery Plan, as of June 15 businesses down the shore opened for outdoor dining, non-essential retail opened, and rentals resumed.

DiPietro doesn’t foresee the summer to be extremely different from previous summers, “because the heart of an LBI summer is enjoying the island, spending time with friends and family and supporting local businesses—and none of that is changing!”

Many businesses, like Skipper Dipper, have planned a change in the way they do business this summer to keep customers safe.

“Putting safety first, we pivoted the business so that our guests now place their orders ahead on our website. We are providing contactless, curbside pickup,” said Powitz. “Ice cream feels more essential than ever right now, and we’re doing our best to provide a service that brings our guests joy.”

NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020 | 19

What Agents Need to Know Now About Mortgage Availability

BY MICHELE LERNER

R

ealtors® who have been in business for more than a decade know mortgage credit availability has been on a rollercoaster, with extremely easy credit guidelines followed by hyper-tightened credit. In recent years, mortgage credit has gradually become more available, but several factors in 2020 have led lenders to pull back the reins and tighten credit a bit again.

“If an agent has been shopping with a client prior to April, it would be a good idea for them to have their client update their preapproval or speak with their mortgage advisor to see if anything has changed,” says Corinne Wallace, vice president of mortgage lending for Guaranteed Rate Affinity in Madison.

Extremely low mortgage rates drove refinancing applications to new heights, but when the pandemic hit, businesses closed and more than 40 million Americans filed for unemployment—mortgage forbearance programs were needed. Lenders, already overwhelmed with applications, were hit with the need to help borrowers in financial distress.

Naturally, lenders wanted to reduce their exposure to risk, but not every lender reacted the same way.

If your clients have been furloughed or placed their mortgage in a forbearance program, they may need to go through some additional steps before they can qualify for a loan. Generally, if someone is furloughed and their income is required to repay the loan, the clients will have to wait until they are fully working again, says Scott Lindner, National Sales Director at TD Bank Mortgage in Mount Laurel, but there are nuances.

“Changes to loan program requirements depend on the individual lender. Some lenders have placed additional restrictions, known as loan overlays, on programs such as increasing the minimum FICO score or requiring post-closing cash reserves,” says Michael Borodinsky, branch manager of Caliber Home Loans in Edison. Lenders with these stipulations want “borrowers [to] have additional funds available to cover potential financial impacts such as a job loss, compensation reduction or a furlough. Borrowers would be wise to not only shop for the best terms but also to make sure they meet the lender’s specific guidelines.”

Realtors® need to have relationships with reliable lenders who can offer guidance to their clients. Keep in mind that loan guidelines and programs change frequently, so specifics mentioned in this article may have changed by publication time.

20 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020

Furloughs, Forbearance and Loan Applications

“Borrowers and loans are not cookie-cutters, so if someone has another source of income in the household that can be used to qualify, then the furlough may not matter,” says Lindner. “Our loan guidelines generally require a debt-toincome ratio of 43 percent and a loan-to-value of 70 to 80 percent, but we look at every loan application individually to see if we can make it work.”

Everything depends on the individual scenario of our members, says Amy Wright, a loan officer with Navy Federal Credit Union in Cherry Hill. A furlough does not necessarily block a loan approval, particularly if someone can get a cosigner.

The mortgage forbearance program has been frequently adjusted, but generally borrowers cannot qualify for a new mortgage when they have a loan in forbearance, says Janet Bossi, senior vice president and loan origination manager of OceanFirst Bank in Ocean City.

“We have had people who requested forbearance out of an abundance of caution or who were furloughed and who are now back to work,” says Bossi. “If you can document that you made all your payments even when in forbearance, then you can apply for a new loan.”

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae require loan applicants to wait three months after their forbearance ends and to document that they have made three consecutive monthly loan payments before a new loan can be approved.

Prepare your Clients for Extra Scrutiny Loan preapprovals are typically good for 90 days, but since loan guidelines have been fluid this year, borrowers should check in with their lender before making an offer to confirm their preapproval is valid.

“Some lenders raised their minimum credit score for all loans to 700,” says Brian Woltman, branch manager of Embrace Home Loans in Basking Ridge. “Our minimum credit score for conventional loans was 620, but we raised it to 640. That’s why it’s so important to go call your lender to be sure that loan will still work.”

In addition, Woltman says, borrowers should be prepared to update their information close to the closing date.

“We want to know if their income is the same,” says Woltman. “We ask every borrower just before closing if they are still working, if they have been furloughed or if their hours have been cut. We check to see if they’re paying all their bills, too.”

Typically, bank statements must be provided for the previous 60 days before the closing and employment must be verified within one week prior to the closing, Wright says.

Bossi says that borrowers will also need to provide documentation that they have paid the mortgage on any other properties they own.

“The best thing agents can do is to guide their clients to have all their documentation ready when they meet with the lender, such as tax returns, W2s, pay stubs and bank statements, because people don’t always have that paperwork around,” says Lindner.

Self-Employed Borrowers May Need Extra Time to Qualify Self-employed borrowers have been the most impacted by the new post-COVID-19 guidelines, says Borodinsky.

“Many small business owners were required to shut down if they were not considered essential and most lenders now require that the business be reopened for at least 30 days prior to settlement,” says Borodinsky.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac updated their guidelines for self-employed borrowers and now require an audited profitand-loss statement or an unaudited profit-and-loss statement with business bank statements from the most recent two months, says Woltman.

Jumbo Loan Availability Jumbo loans, which are loans above the conforming loan limits that range from $510,400 to $765,600, depending on the county, are typically among the first to be tightened because of the larger amounts borrowed. Some lenders stopped offering jumbo loans and others raised their down payment requirement from five or 10 percent to 20 percent because of the concern about the economic shutdown and the risk of nonpayment, says Woltman. He says borrowers need a credit score of at least 700 and usually must have a maximum debt-to-income ratio of 43 percent to qualify for a jumbo loan.

NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020 | 21

“There is a dichotomy for jumbo loans between banks and independent mortgage bankers because independent lenders didn’t have the capital on hand to offer jumbo loans when liquidity was tight,” says Lindner. “Banks like TD have deposits, so we were able to continue to offer jumbo loans.”

Guaranteed rate continues to offer jumbo loans, but with tightened down payment, reserve and credit score requirements.

“We also have alternative options to the new down payment requirements such as a piggyback second mortgage for qualified borrowers,” says Wallace.

Loan Programs to Share with Clients While some of the larger banks eliminated their low down payment loan programs and immediately raised their minimum FICO score requirements, a variety of financial institutions continue to offer conventional loans with down payment requirements as low as three percent; Veterans Affairs and United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development loans with zero down payment requirements, and Federal Housing Administration loans with a 3.5 percent down payment requirement. In addition, different lenders offer their own in-house loan programs with low down payment requirements and without private mortgage insurance, typically for low to moderate-income households, says Borodinsky.

the Fannie Mae allowance,” says Wright. “It’s a great option for people who may have exhausted their savings if they were furloughed or had a reduction in pay during the pandemic but are now fully working again.”

TD Bank’s medical professional loans, which cater to physicians leaving school who have an offer letter for a new job, allow for 100 percent financing up to $750,000 and 95 percent financing up to $1.25 million, says Lindner.

TD Bank also offers the Right Step loan program for firsttime buyers who earn 80 percent of area median income.

The down payment may be as low as three percent without requiring private mortgage insurance.

Many lenders also offer the HomeReady mortgage from Fannie Mae with a down payment of three percent. The program is designed for creditworthy low-to-moderate income borrowers.

“The New Jersey Housing and Finance Agency offers a Police and Fireman’s program for active first responders with excellent terms,” says Borodinsky. “Some lenders offer program discounts to teachers and union members too.”

The Homebuyer Dream program in New Jersey, offered by several participating banks and credit unions, provides up to $14,500 in closing cost and down payment assistance for firsttime buyers who have an income of 80 percent or less of area median income for their county, says Bossi.

“At OceanFirst we also offer a discounted mortgage rate for first-time buyers with low-to-moderate income that can be combined with the Homebuyer Dream program,” says Bossi.

The Homebuyers Choice loan program from Navy Federal Credit Union, a zero down payment loan program, does not require mortgage insurance. Membership in the credit union is available to anyone with a relative who has served in any branch of the military, says Wright.

“This loan program also allows up to six percent of the sales price in seller credits to cover closing costs, which is double 22 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020

Advice for Agents Shopping for a lender is more important than ever right now, says Wright, because lenders have varied standards and numerous special programs.

Closing times vary widely from 30 to 55 days for purchase loans, with some delays during the stay-at-home period because of appraisal issues and other delays because of the volume of applications.

“Now more than ever, your team dictates your success,” says Woltman. “You need to be confident that your client is working with a lender who help them restructure a loan if necessary. Your team, including the lenders you work with, dictate how fast you can close and if you can close.”

The ABCs of Cryptocurrencies in Real Estate

BY LEE NELSON

NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020 | 23

L

uis Leiva believes he is a very forward-thinking Realtor® and considers himself an early adopter of many technologies. So, in 2018, after researching cryptocurrencies and blockchain, he saw the implications of using it in the real estate industry and all its auxiliary businesses.

“Why not be one of the first people to compensate one of my agents with cryptocurrency?” says Leiva, CEO of Culture Estate in Scotch Plains and Realtor® with EXP Realty.

Some of his agents were investing in cryptocurrency anyways. One of those agents accepted her commission check from the brokerage in digital currency two years ago. Despite the transaction being a traditional one involving the sale of an investment property with U.S. dollars, the agent’s portion was converted into her cryptocurrency wallet. This way she could convert it to her crypto of choice. She saw the funds instantly and did not wait for days to have a check clear.

“Since then, the economy had been really strong, and cryptocurrency took a beating,” Leiva says. “People backed off of it for a while.

But it’s slowly coming back in a healthy way.”

He believes many people still think it’s a scam. He hopes that like on the West Coast, people in New Jersey will begin to research it and embrace it in many areas of life including real estate.

The ABCs of Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin Bitcoin was the world’s first and most widely used cryptocurrency and is stored and exchanged securely on the internet through a digital ledger known as a blockchain.

Bitcoin has a total market cap of a little more than $100 24 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020

billion, according to Coinbase.com, which means there is a limit to how much Bitcoin is available. Collectors and users of the currency believe that because of its limited amount, it will continue to grow in value.

Coinbase shows current market value, historical value, and fluctuating prices of the top cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. The platform allows for people to buy, sell, and store digital currency. The Bitcoin network includes thousands of computers run by individuals all over the world.

Many cryptocurrencies come and go, making them risky for big purchases like a house. For instance, the value of one Bitcoin rose to a high of $20,089 in April 2018. In June 2019, it reached $13,000 again after going up and down.

When the pandemic hit, the value dropped to $3,858 on March 12, 2020, but rose to over $10,000 in early June.

With Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, you simply open up what is called a “wallet” online. Then, you can buy small portions of the digital money, which can be spent at restaurants, car shops, coffee shops, and more. This step will help beginners understand what it entails and what it can get you. Coinmap.org has a list of businesses that accept Bitcoin around the world.

Adopting Cryptocurrency into Real Estate Darren Lizzack’s wife tried convincing him that cryptocurrency was the next big thing.

“So, I started digging into it myself. It was so new then, but I realized the technology behind it will not go away,” says Lizzack, founder the Commercial Real Estate Alliance (CREA) United and associate vice president of NAI James E. Hanson, a sales and leasing of commercial real estate, headquartered in Teterboro.

He hasn’t seen digital currency come into play yet in New Jersey’s commercial business real estate.

“I’m sure it will happen. It will probably be a positive thing for the real estate business. It just makes things more efficient, and once again, the government is slow to the table,” he explains. “They first want to wrap their arms around it.”

He believes there just aren’t enough resources out there for Realtors® to tap into when it comes to the subject on the real estate side. So, the CREA United hired a writer to investigate cryptocurrencies and now offers data on the organization’s website. The information talks about why Chinese investors flock to real estate in Los Angeles, New York, and Miami.

They seek out real estate attractive to immigrant families with established school systems and diverse job opportunities.

Since cryptocurrency has become a popular method in some of those areas to purchase properties, agencies should consider offering crypto as a form of payment.

“New Jersey has many marketable strengths that make this state alluring to foreign investors,” the data from CREA United says. “New Jersey’s proximity to major urban centers – particularly Philadelphia and New York – is one of the state’s many selling points.”

Investors Paying Attention Henry Elder serves as president of International Blockchain Real Estate Association (IBREA) and director of Wave Financial headquartered in California, which offers cryptolinked and blockchain-linked financial products.

IBREA is a member-focused educational and trade organization dedicated to implementing blockchain in real estate. IBREA has over 5,000 verified individual members and several industry members around the world.

“Once you go down the rabbit hole, you don’t look back.

There’s been an explosion of the utilization of blockchain, and I’ve been using it to raise money for companies,” he says. “But in real estate, it’s really hard for developers and investors to understand it.”

What his company does is take cryptocurrency and turn it into traditional real estate.

“A lot of investors are sitting up and paying attention,” he says. “On the commercial side, we haven’t seen whole buildings being traded for cryptocurrency. That is being more adopted on the residential side – in some cities and states.”

Data published by the market research firm Fundstrat shows that Bitcoin (BTC) is the top-performing asset class of 2020, so far. The data reveals Bitcoin to have outperformed every other asset class by at least 19 percent by gaining 39 percent since the start of the year.

“Bitcoin has performed fantastically, and there is tons of interest from investors,” Elder adds. “This is sort of why Bitcoin was created for this kind of environment. With the pandemic, the high unemployment and all the unrest in this country, cryptocurrency stands on its own.”

More and more companies including title companies and others in the real estate world are looking into this technology as a way to create a more efficient way of doing business, Elder states.

According to Elder, blockchain offers an open source, universal protocol for property buying, recording, escrow, crowdfunding, and more. It can reduce costs, stamp out fraud, speed up transactions, increase financial privacy, internationalize markets, and make real estate a liquid asset.

NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020 | 25

David Sorin has worked for years with technology companies.

“As a lawyer who lives and dies by new technology, I ended up creating a blockchain task force,” says Sorin, partner and East Brunswick office managing partner of the law firm McCarter & English.

“That part of our practice has grown and involves anybody who resides anywhere along the supply chain of blockchain. One of the applications of blockchain is to disrupt the supply chain,” says Sorin.

He’s worked with a pharmaceutical company that is using blockchain technology for every pill along the supply chain.

A broad array of industries use that technology.

Just recently, Gov. Phil Murphy formed the Blockchain Task Force, with Sorin and 19 others from various careers.

The group is analyzing what should or may be able to be done at a the governmental level to create efficiencies with blockchain. The pandemic hit after the task force had met only three times, but Sorin hopes to get it started again.

“The implications of cryptocurrencies for real estate are very real and starts with the recording system,” says Sorin. “The current system for recording deeds, mortgages, and liens on real property can be dramatically disrupted with blockchain technologies. The authenticity and lower cost are some things many state governments are looking in to.”

On another level the combination of blockchain and digital currencies can be used by real estate developers, says Sorin.

Developers borrow money to fund a project. The project

26 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020

gets built, then they sell their interest in it, and go on to the next project. They only do one project at a time. Now, Sorin is seeing commercial real estate developers looking into or already using blockchain to finance multiple projects at a time.

A number of new investment vehicles are being created by blockchain allowing investors to participate in areas that they might not be able to have done before like diamonds, real estate, and fine art, he adds.

“I do worry though about the banks and how that will cut into their operations. If cryptocurrency becomes mainstream, what do you need banks for? It could put a lot of people out of business,” says Sorin.

The future of digital currency remains unknown.

“But at this point, this technology is like the internet. In 10 years, no one will talk about it anymore because it will be the underpinning of everything in real estate from the title to escrow,” Elder says.

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B O A R D / A S S O C I AT I O N N E W S

Despite COVID-19, Fundraiser was Successful

Masks for Emergency Responders

NEXUS Realtors Community Service Committee held their pre-scheduled Mother’s Day flower drive, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Metro Centre Association of Realtors® Realtors® Political Action Committee Fundraising Committee raised funds through an email campaign to buy personal protective equipment to essential workers in their community.

Their efforts raised $1,800 for the Forked River-based Coastal Volunteers in Medicine, a free non-emergency family clinic for those without medical insurance residing in parts of Southern Ocean County.

The committee was able to deliver 200 masks to the North Brunswick Volunteer Fire Department. Their efforts supported emergency responders and the industry by contributing to RPAC.

®

Volunteers masked up to raise money for their 2020 charity of choice.

Helping Healthcare Heroes North Central Jersey Association of Realtors® donated over 400 shoe covers to Overlook Medical Center in Union County. Shoe coverings now more than ever are important to reduce the spread of contamination and help keep healthcare workers shoes clean when going between work and home. Thank you to all essential workers for their hard work.

Realtors® deliver masks to firefighters in their community.

Want to be featured in NJ Realtor® Magazine?

Email editor@njrealtor.com with your local board/ association news.

Overlook Medical Center nurses in their shoe covers donated by NCJAR.

28 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | July/August 2020

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