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Maplewood, NJ Real Estate News

By Blast Realty & Oliveri Development LLC R/E Broker & General Contractor, Broker Manager Career
(Blast Realty)
Search Maplewood NJ MLS, New Jersey Real Estate Listings & New Homes for Sale in Maplewood, NJ. Find Maplewood Houses, Townhouses, Condos, & Properties for Sale at Property Hub Realtors
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
Being a New Yorker who moved to New Jersey a few years ago I must say it was a real eye opening experience.  New York is fast paced, aggressive and can be somewhat cold (the concrete jungle) if your not use to the customs; whereas New Jersey (the garden state) has tons of tree's and outdoor living mixed with a blend (just like NY) of all types of people and cultures.  I will say both are interesting places to live and both have pro's and con's. Now enough about that, let's discuss two towns that are great places to live if you are a New Yorker seeking a break from the city grind or if you already reside in NJ and want to find a small oasis that has pretty much everything you could ever ask for in a community...then think Maplewood & South Orange.   With a shared school district and a mi...
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By Barbara Lawrence, Maplewood NJ Homes For Sale-Maplewood/South Orange
(Keller Williams MidTown Direct Realty)
Maplewood NJ Homes are selling quickly this month!  Many new listings that have come on the market have sold within a week and with 2-5 multiple offers.  These are either the "cream puff" houses - renovated, well staged homes that are priced right OR homes that need work but are priced below market value.  This is a definite shift from the past several months, where good inventory sat for awhile with no offers.  Maplewood Home Sales for February showed 17 homes sell at a list to sales price ratio of 96%, with an average of 115 days on market.  In January, the list to sales price ratio for Maplewood homes was 97%, with 13 homes sold, at an average days on market of 70.  This month to date, 8 Maplewood homes have gone under contract, with most of them on the market for less than 15 days. ...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
Just pack your bags and move right in! this home has it all!! Incredible value at this price!!!! This is a Must See!!! Stunning Cape completely Renovated w/spacious size rooms, 4 beds, 3 Full baths, Nice Size EIK w/Granite Countertops & Ceramic Tiles. Also includes a Fully Finish Basement w/Full Bath & Large Master Suite Oasis upstairs equipped with Private Bath & Sky Light. Plenty of Closet Space, New Windows & Roof. This Lovely Cape has Beautiful Hardwood floors thru out and is Move in Ready! Modern Kitchen Equipped with SS app & Granite Countertops   Exterior View Front View     Finished Basement   Just pack your bags and move right in! this home has it all!! Incredible value at this price!!!!                
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
GREAT RENTAL PROPERTY IN MAPLEWOOD NJ   LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Enjoy the benefits of Maplewood Living in this lovely space that is move in ready. Enjoy a cozy 2 Bedrooms, 1 bath, formal Dining room and nice size kitchen in this Orchard rd Rental. This unit comes with an assigned garage parking spot, Jitney bus just steps away from the front door & Heat is also included in the rental price, this is a MUST see!                 LOCATION IS EVERYTHING! This nice size Maplewood 2 Bedroom 1 Bath first floor unit has beautiful hardwood floors is freshly painted and is Move in Ready!      
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
I have some ... The Bad News: I had a buyer who placed an offer on a property not too long but unfortunately they were just a little too late as another buyer had beat them to it.  The Good News: The deal fell through!!! so my buyers are back in the drivers seat towards buying their Dream Home... Here's the kicker, the seller of the property accepted our offer and the agent stated that we did not need to do a home inspection because the last buyer had completed one already.  I explained to my buyer that not all home inspectors are created equal and you should still get your own done.  We did request that they send us the report so we could review and compare to ours...Luckily we did because after reviewing the previous report we found that the home inspector did not catch anything that ...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
If you are from New Jersey I am sure you have notices that the Mosquito activity has seemed excessive over the past few weeks.  I thought it was just me when I was out on Friday showing houses to a client and each time we approached the front door we were hit with a swarm of Mosquitoes. This continued all weekend long as I took my Dog Bella for a walk; it seems like everywhere I turn there is more and more annoying and possibly deadly Mosquitoes.   The state departments of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Health  and Senior Services (DHSS) are urging state residents to take precautions to  protect themselves from mosquito-borne West Nile virus by taking some  simple steps to reduce populations of the insect on their own  properties. Concerns are  elevated this year because many areas ...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
Hey Malik, when is your Birthday?  my response; " The day before the World changed" some look at me strange while others get it right away...those that do understand what I mean by that usually responds with ohhhhhhh, sorry to hear that! But I always reply; "its not about me, its about those that we lost..." Birthdays are supposed to be about BIG Birthday cakes, loud music, great food and good friends but for me it always feels like the day before the World changed and not about me at all...May sound strange but it is my truth.    September 11 2001 was the day the World changed Forever and also changed the way I celebrate Birthday's probably for the rest of my life.  Ever year since that dreadful day I have spent the week leading up to along with day of and the days after my born day se...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
I guess the title says it all huh? Hurricane Irene did some serious damage this past weekend to home owners in New Jersey as downed power lines, flooded streets, destroyed trees and broken branches can be seen almost everywhere.  Many areas in Maplewood, Milburn, West Orange, Irvington & Nutley have little to no water and some areas also do not have electricity as New Jerseys power company states that outages could last up to 7 days because of the severe situation at hand.  Here are some actual photos I took on Sunday in the Morning      South Orange, NJ                                     Maplewood, NJ    South Orange, NJ Milburn, NJ Newark, NJ   Anyhow, back to my story; so my Agent calls me this morning inquiring on whether or not we would be open today; I told her that we will be op...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
So I woke up this morning (a little late) grabbed a snack and made it just in time to my Martial Arts class with little to no signs of Hurricane Irene.  As I started to leave at around 10:30am it did start to rain (off and on) but nothing to serious. By the time I got home it had started to get a little rougher, BUT hardly a Hurricane.  It is said that everyone in the Greater New York Area will feel this storm, with rain falling on us all.  This storm is likely to drop between 6 and 12 inches of torrential rainfall, starting on Saturday morning and continuing until Sunday evening. Some spots may receive up to 15 inches. In one way this storm is a BOOST to the economy; as consumers have been buying groceries, hardware store supplies and gas at a extremely high rate, which I am sure store...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
  "WOW!!! I just drove by home depot in Springfield, New Jersey and the line was ridiculous...people are over preparing for this hurricane, I must admit I have not done much to prepare for it myself"   As Hurricane Irene approaches the Southern East Coast many residents are packing into local department stores such as Home Depot, Target, Grocery stores and more preparing for impact...   As of today the Hurricane is still considered highly dangerous and residents of projected areas are advised to stay indoors where hopefully it is safe.  Here is some info about the Hurricane you need to know. The threat level is "EXTREME" along the East Coast from eastern North Carolina to southern New England. Irene is a hurricane that poses an extraordinary threat and is one that no one has yet experie...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
Earthquake tremors felt in New Jersey after VA Quake   So I was sitting in my office working on a few things and I felt something that I never felt before...the ground was shaking, so was the ceiling and so was the things on my desk....In my mind I was feeling like old Fred Sandford feeling like this was the big one...     I started receiveing tweets, FB messages, text messages and phone calls because what I was feeling was not the wind but was actually after shocks and tremors from a 6.0 Earthquake that started in Virginia.  From what I hear from my network of friends is that it was felt from North Carolina to NYC down to PA and even further than that...All I can IS scary... In Washington there were even news crews taping an event and when the felt the tremors; were seen dropping their...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
Now that the Summer is coming to a closure and the school bells are getting ready to ring for the 2011-2012 School year, many of us (hopefully all of us) are preparing for the final quarter of the year in hopes of going out with a If you follow any of my blogs or even read my last post I spoke of how I treat September as my revised New Year and Jan 1st as my mid year evaluation period so I wanted to add a little something to the topic for the good folks of AR. Many Professionals fall into a and find themselves falling victim to unexpected phone calls and emails thus making it difficult to get into a proper work flow so the most important things seem to fall through the cracks.  If you know anything about the 80/20 Rule; its basically a way of viewing what's productive and focusing on  t...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
  Why I treat September like the first New Year! We all know that December 31 at 11:59pm embarks on what will be the New Year and it often comes with tons of promises and an extra level of pressure to make changes, but often times we all fall short of our plans, resolutions and expectations.  But its funny because I treat September as my first New Year and Dec 31st as my pre-spring/summer charge; so I have figured out my way to avoid those pitfalls.  ]I'll explain more in a few... Now not just because I was born in September, (shout out to the Virgos) am I trying to glorify the month as anything more than the 9th month of the calender year but I want everyone to understand what I mean by making September the first part of the New Year.  Now for me September represents a fresh start...s...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
As a New Jersey Real Estate professional I often meet some people that are as passionate as I am in the pursuit of helping home owners. As a Real Estate Broker I work on the financial side helping home owners buy,sell and rent homes but once their all moved in my job is pretty much done; that is why I have decided to write a post for all my Realtors and Home owners who need a reliable handy man.  I met this guy around 4 years ago and whenever an unexpected issue comes up just before closing (which it also does) I call Terry "aka" "The Super" for help, whenever my clients call me because of a household problem, I call The Super.  A lot of times he will complete the work and wait till the house closes to get paid, you just can't beat that!!! So I figured the folks in my area may need a li...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
This Topsy Turvy Real Estate Market has quickly turned the sweet times of 2005 into the dark days of the present for Real Estate Agents and Sellers trying to sell homes.  It seems like practically overnight we became a buyers Market and now Sellers find themselves trying to survive in a world where the Buyers Rule! So I listed a house a few months ago. I priced it right, ran a couple Open Houses and things were looking promising.  After 90 days on the market we received an offer...HAPPY, HAPPY JOY, JOY, HAPPY, HAPPY JOY, JOY (please pardon the happy dance) it was not quite our asking price; but a good start if we negotiate a little.  So I present the offer to my Sellers and they immediately get upset because it is not a full price offer (or at least closer. I heard everything in the bo...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
  As Real Estate Professionals and Human Beings we all need  "pick me ups" from time to time...I know with the way the Real Estate market has been over the past few years we all wish we could just hit the button and make everything "easy" again... Well unfortunately it's not that easy...so I felt the need to provide some books that may help generate some motivation and some inspiration to help get through the tough times.  Now that we are in the Internet age a lot of people have forgot that sometimes a good book (whether you prefer paperback or a kindle/nook) can take you away and sometimes help you channel energy, reorganize thoughts or even tighten your focus.   Of course there are thousands of books you can read, but these are some of my favorites. (these are in no special order of i...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
As a New Jersey Real Estate Broker, showing properties are apart of my daily routine. Between previewing houses two times a week and working with excited house hunters; I am usually in about 10-20 homes per week.   Now the other day I was going through some homes in my area to show a buyer and came across a particular listing and was quite shocked at what I saw; first off Problem #1: there was only 6 pictures (not bad, I prefer about 15 + but hey that's me) but the problem was it was the same photo 6 times, Problem #2: there was hardly any info filled out in the listing, Problem #3 : it was seriously over priced (by about 50k), Problem #4: the showing instructions are very, very limited (M-F 2-4PM, no weekends) Problem #5: the commission was 2% - $300 (ouch) now OK, I get it we all hand...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
During this shift in the Real Estate Market a lot of home owners have made some of the toughest decisions that  we all dread deep down inside... The decision of when it's time to cut your ties and walk away from your home. Of course there's plenty of content available online and tons of Realtors that are leading the way in the fight against Home foreclosures.  But still with all of this info available, a lot of Home Owners still don't know what to do.  Truth is; once your in default, the bank is calling daily, there sending certified letters with all kinds of threatening messages, not to mention strange people (BPO agents) taking pictures of their home while neighbors look on... Some are fortunate and contact Agents like the GOOD folks of GoodBuy Homes NJ Realty (shameless plug), while ...
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By Malik Crichlow, Maplewood,SouthOrange,Union Real estate
(GoodBuy Homes NJ Essex & Union County Real Estate specialist)
  As an active member in the Maplewood/South Orange community; I have to admit that I love these towns, I live here, enjoy its parks and restaurants and I also have my Real Estate Office in town (GoodBuy Homes NJ Realty), so of course as a Broker in the area I often check market trends & sales as a way to stay on top of my market. Over the past 6 months have seen an alarming trend of more foreclosure & pre-foreclosure properties entering the market and the site is quite scary. Many homeowners just don't know where to turn. I just reviewed the pending Auction Sales for the Towns of Maplewood/South Orange and we have approx. 40+ homes pending sheriff sale as of today and that number continues to grow. These numbers are alarming to us because we pride ourselves on helping the residents of ...
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