Zone 14
No. 17 Vol. 8
My Life Publications • 1-800-691-7549
NEIGHBORHOOD PROPERTIES 381 Main Rd, Montville 973-334-3341
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A RE/MAX AGENT CLOSES A DEAL EVERY :30 SECONDS Buying a House When Inventory is Low It’s been over 12 yrs since the 2008 real estate crash, but we’re still feeling those effects today. After the crash, it was harder to get a mortgage and first-time buyers were less willing to take on that kind of debt. Since fewer people were buying, homebuilders cut back on the number of homes they built so that they wouldn’t have vacant properties sitting around. Companies were afraid to built too many new houses, so they cut back on inventory. Now there’s much more demand for houses, but housing inventory hasn’t been able to catch up. Here’s what you can do to find your dream home when the inventory is low. Look at houses that have been on the market a long time When you’ve been scouring through the listings, it’s tempting to only look at houses that are new to the market. Try taking off any price filters and start taking a look at houses that have been on the market a long time, but are just out of your price range. Chances are these listings are priced too high for the neighborhood. Talk to your real estate agent to see if putting in a lower offer is a good option. The sellers might start to lower the price and once it’s in your range, be ready to pounce! Sweat equity It can be hard to see a house for what it can be and not what it is. It can be even harder to understand what you have to do to turn that diamond in the rough into a polished gem. But if you can do it, you might just be able to get your dream home in your dream location. Be patient, but proactive With so few houses on the market you might find yourself getting desperate to put an offer on something. Resist the urge and just be patient until the right house comes along. That being said, you should be ready to go look at a house as soon as possible after it comes on the market. Be flexible Once you do find the right house, you might need to be flexible with a few things to make your offer more appealing. You could try to: Rent back You saw the right opportunity and you had that house under contract three hours after it went on the market. The only problem? The sellers aren’t sure if they want to sign the contract because they don’t think they can find a new place within 40 days. If you have the flexibility offer them a rent back deal. You’ll officially buy the house, but you’ll allow the previous owners to stay for an agreed upon period. Give on the closing date There are lots of ways you can be flexible on the closing date. If you have to sell your house before you buy the new one you could consider a rental or moving in with friends or family. Ask for fewer repairs If you nitpick on repairs they might decide their better off saying no to everything and waiting for a better offer to come along. If the repair is absolutely necessary, then go ahead and ask. But if it’s something you can fix yourself, then don’t ask for it. Be ready to pay more Ouch. With houses going so quickly you might need to consider spending a little more in order to get what you’re looking for. source: mortgage.com , edited for space.
August 2021
Love of Genealogy Study Leads Riverdale Woman to Volunteer for DNA Doe Project
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By Steve Sears racie Boyle was always fascinated by law enforcement and its work. After all, her late dad was a detective for the Pompton Lakes Police Department. “I kind of wanted to be a profiler for the FBI,” Boyle says, “but I changed direction.” Boyle officially got involved in the DNA Doe Project, an all-volunteer organization that uses genetic genealogy to identify John and Jane Does, in October 2018. She is one of 55 volunteer genealogists. “I wanted to get involved because I was fascinated with genetic genealogy, and at that point I kind of knew that this was a groundbreaking application of the science. And that’s really the ability to identify those that have gone a long time without a name, and help get answers for a lot of grieving families.”
Tracie Boyle at work . Photos courtesy of Tracie Boyle.
Boyle enjoyed dabbling in family history and research throughout her life, but it was 2013 before she started taking it seriously. “My paternal grandfather passed away shortly before my dad turned four,” she says, “so I never re-
ally knew a lot about my dad’s side of the family and wanted to learn more, so that was kind of a start.” From there she started to dive into DNA genetic genealogy. Boyle’s work for the DNA Doe Project is ex-
tremely satisfying. “I absolutely love it. The fact that you can identify somebody who has gone without a name for like 30, 40, or 50 years, it just blows my mind that I’m able to help out with that.” What started continued on page 4
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