Are Two Bathrooms Too Much to Ask For?

Remember those Notting Hill townhomes? Now the decked-out model can be yours, for $990,000.

Builder's stunning St Moritz model now for sale! Every imaginable upgrade in this impeccably finished townhouse with sophisticated details, one of 19 in the development.

If the model, a 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath end unit, goes for that price, it will match a sale back in October 2007 for 24 Notting Hill that went for $994,900. Since then, prices have dropped off, with townhomes going for as low as $660,990.

Meanwhile, at The Commons at Bay Street, a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath townhouse end unit is now listed for $549,000, a drop in price from last December. See pictures in the jump.

Continue reading "Notting Hill "Model" For Sale" »

There were lots of open houses scheduled yesterday. Here are three in Montclair, located a healthy walking distance from each other. If you went a house hunting, or just looking, give us your open house report in comments.

This is 77 Myrtle. Located here, it's listed at $2,299,999; but also advertised as $1,699,999 for the 9-bedroom home and another $599,999 for an adjacent level lot of about one acre. The entire property is 2.01 acre; taxes, $50,203. Listing notes...

Amazing home (former Jr. League Showhouse) on level two acre lot. Magnificent property with rentable apartment in carriage house to offset taxes. Architectural details abound.

Continue reading "Open House Calls" »

Fast on the heels of GreenWorks on Grove, Montclair's first green office complex has just entered the market and is pending Silver-level LEED certification. Academy Square is a renovation of the former Katherine Gibbs School site, and the name is a nod to its century-long scholastic function.

The structure was originally built in 1877 as a single family home; it was sold at the turn of the last century to Mary Kimberly Waring to become the Kimberly School for Girls. In 1949, the Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School took over the building, and remained there until it was sold to local realtor Jay Schweppe in 2004. After debating the future of the development, Schweppe brought in Robert Silver as a partner, along with six other developers, and construction began in February 2009. Although the group considered tearing down the structure and building townhouses, they decided to keep the "beautiful bones" of the former school intact. As for the decision to make it green: "Well, it's an investment. And it's the right thing to do," says Silver.

Continue reading "Montclair's Green Real Estate Bloom" »

The former home of Michael Strahan goes from the ridiculous price of $7,750,000 (which we told you about way back in September 2008) to the only slightly less ridiculous price of $5,795,000.

More about the Strahan spread here.

Here's what we know: This three-bedroom ranch, at 31 Cornell Way, in the Yantacaw section, sold earlier this month for $589,000 cash (listed for $599,000). Buyer and seller were represented by James Van Note, of Rhodes Van Note & Co. The house is situated on .26 acre; taxes are $14,609. Here's the listing remarks:

Classic ranch in Yantacaw Brook section of Upper Montclair. Large rooms, including master bedroom with master bath, rec room and private back yard. One floor living in a great location near 2 parks. Sold as is.

The house has days on market listed as 171. The original list price was $799,000. Let's watch and see what happens. Will the house stay a ranch or grow another floor with a hefty price tag to match?

Business may be slack for much of the economy, but these are boom times for property tax attorneys. The annual deadline for filing property tax appeals in New Jersey comes up next Wednesday, April 1 at 4 pm. Livingston tax attorney Michael Schneck has already filed or is in the process of filing 2,200 cases -- a 50 percent rise in his caseload since last year. He doesn't have time for any more. Montclair property tax attorney Greg Lotz has also been "flooded with calls" this year. "People are just trying to save a dollar anywhere they can," he speculates. Lotz is still taking new clients on.

Homeowners around here have always complained about property taxes. But with house prices falling, many people see a possibility that their property is overvalued. Home values are also very much in the heads of Glen Ridgers, whose homes underwent a revaluation last year, and Montclarions, whose reval was the year before. Bloomfield, you're next. Your revaluation will be in the next two years.

So, time is running out. You have no idea what to do. Here are some suggestions.

Continue reading "Property Tax Appeals 101 " »

Montclair's first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified commercial space is now on the market and will be ready for occupancy by April 2009. 100 Grove Street, the former retail site of World Pottery, has been renovated according to the Silver-level certification process by GreenWorks on Grove LLC, jointly owned by Cadbury Properties, SOALDA LLC, the Bravitas Group and Jack Finn & Company. The site currently is pending official approval by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The renovation was taken up by Joel Patenuade, the president of World Pottery and Cadbury Properties. Before World Pottery opened in 2001, 100 Grove Street was a gas station; as a first-time developer, Patenuade was taken by the idea of turning a former environmentally-unfriendly business site into a green space. "We thought it would be less work than it really was," Patenuade says with a laugh.

In order to qualify for a LEED certification, developers must apply for approval and build according to a point system developed by the USGBC. GreenWorks on Grove features solar panels that are projected to provide at least 20% of tenant energy needs, a high-efficiency HVAC system that costs 30-40% less than traditional systems to operate, low-flush toilets, specially insulated glass to reduce heat transfer, and landscaping designed to prevent water run-off. Bike racks are also featured here, and they are accompanied by a shower with a flash-water heater for employees who choose to bike or walk to work.

Continue reading "How to Get Preferred Parking in Montclair" »

Realtors have been buzzing about the brisk sale of this home at 40 Edgemont Road. The circa 1907 house, newly renovated, was listed for $1,999,999 and sold for $2,510,000, for a whopping $510,001 over asking. It was also on the market for just nine days. We'd show you pictures of the inside, but the listing oddly provided only an exterior shot. Here's what the house has: 6 bedrooms, 5 full baths, plus a carriage house. It sits on .42 acre and taxes were listed at $22,265. What's interesting: the same house sold exactly one year ago this month for $1,065,000 (see before pictures from that listing in the jump). At that time, the carriage house was listed as renting for 1,100 a month. It also used to be a 7 bedroom, 4 full bath home, so a bedroom might have became a bathroom in the renovation. The renovation is touted here.

Continue reading "Renovation Brings Big Bucks" »

Want some found money? Getting smart about water and energy usage brings down your utility bills, and all it takes is some free time and a trip to the hardware store. Gray Russell, Montclair Township's Environmental Affairs Coordinator and founder of Green Living Solutions, a green and sustainable design-consulting firm, gives Baristanet advice on how to reduce both your energy bill and your carbon footprint.

Continue reading "Better Than Change Under Your Couch Cushions" »

The recently announced Rose Aire development won't be ready for some time, but a slew of condominiums are set to go on the market between now and summer of 2009. The new condos are in downtown Montclair, and while they may not be "Tuscany-inspired" like some past offerings, they range from the moderately upscale to more affordable. And yes, they'll come with their own parking.

24 Elm Street (left) is already on the market and the 12-unit building will be ready to be shown sometime next week. There are 9 units with 2 bedrooms and 2 full baths, with Jacuzzi-tubs in the master suites, fireplaces and balconies. The remaining 3 units have 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. Units start in the mid-500s for the 2-bedroom unit and $639,000 for the 3-bedrooms, with two units set aside for affordable housing. Room is being left for a retail space on the ground floor, although the possibilities for that space are still being decided by the township.

Continue reading "Condomania!" »

In the New York Times real estate section on Sunday was this nugget:

Last month only seven homes sold in Montclair. "Usually," said Ms. Grotenstein, a former president of the area Board of Realtors, "we sell 25 in December; that's what it's been, year after year."

In fact, it has been only a couple of months since the last residential sale for an amount above asking price in Montclair, said Ms. Grotenstein, who works out of the Coldwell Banker Real Estate office there.

A quick check of the GSMLS had 21 closings for the month of December (depends how you define homes, a few were apartments, not houses). Of those 21, I found six that sold for over asking. As of today, only four sales were listed for January with 668 Valley Road (shown above) being the only one to sell for over asking. It was listed for $599,000, sold for $615,000 after 54 days on the market.

Not surprisingly, NJRereport traces the old underpricing/overasking bid technique to Schweppe Burgdorff...

Continue reading "Remembering Multiple Bids and Getting Over-Asking " »

Sure, we told you about the most expensive Montclair house on the market, on for $7 million. Here's the least expensive. Listed as an A-frame, chalet fixer upper, 31 Cross Street was built in 1890. Only one picture is provided with the listing, but the house is described as a one bedroom with full bath and galley kitchen. Taxes are $4,100; price is $117,500. From the listing...

Montclair bargain. How to live in Montclair with all the towns' amenities -- schools, transportation, culture, stores at an affordable price. NYC bus at corner.

Take a tour of Montclair's most expensive home on the market.

Despite the precarious economy and faltering real estate markets, Montclair is still grabbing the hearts - and dollars - of prospective home buyers, according to Forbes Magazine. Montclair ranks in the nation's top ten best suburbs to sell a home, right up there with Berkeley, CA.

It may not be a boom, but given regional problems it's a good market to be in. Berkeley joins Venice, Calif.; Bedford, Texas; Kennesaw, Ga.; and Montclair, N.J., on our list of suburbs with the best conditions for sellers..."If you have to sell a house, sell in these places," says Michael Simonsen, chief executive of Altos Research. "But it's a measure of how rough is it out there for sellers. These are the best markets, and we're looking at three to four months of time to sell in the country's best markets."

Nationwide, low-interest rates and low prices caused existing home sales to rise 5.5% in September, but in many areas of the country, sellers are finding relatively few buyers.

From the listing notes...

Zoned SF for new construction; presently tolerated 2-family if renovated. Garage damaged in storm, tear-down condition. No shows after dark please.

The house, located at 476 Grove Street, between Bellevue and Cooper Aves., and built in 1887, might have been grand in its day. Listed for $545,000, the .33 acre property could be a blank canvas for someone. Taxes are presently $15,624.

Inside pictures here.

True, we are officially in a recession. But that doesn't mean there aren't economic opportunities out there. Chris Stearns, a contractor who spent the recent boom times doing expensive kitchen renovations and other upscale work, has re-imagined suburban remodeling as a way for people, no longer able to move up or buy that expensive kitchen, to enjoy the homes they're stuck with. And he's taken a page from his own life to do it. The lovely open-shelved kitchen shown here is in his own very modest home.

I personally have lived with my family for the past fifteen years in a nine hundred square foot house in West Caldwell. We lived very well with one kitchen drawer, very limited counter space, very limited storage, all kinds of limitations when compared to other homes. Nine hundred square feet is smaller than just about all of the houses in Montclair and Glen Ridge. And, as I said, we have created, through really smart design and very affordable remodeling, a home that functions just fine and, most importantly I think, feels really good. Now, we have three kitchen drawers, open shelving in all kinds of different places, lots more windows and natural light to make the house feel bigger by letting the view of the larger world in, old fashioned pantry, etc. My fifteen year old son lives in a submarine room. But, he loves it because there is all of this cool built in storage.

Continue reading "Love the House You're In" »

This circa 1910 house at 205 Park Street is no more; a new home has taken its place. The six bedroom home on .67 acre, was described as ["once a exquisite home w/dentist's office; needs to be restored to single family. Sold "as is."]

Listed for $599,000, it sold for $703,000 back in June. Taxes were $22,026 back then. The new five-bedroom house, which is under construction and listed for $1,850,000, has taxes that are yet to be determined. Interested buyers can call listing agent Rhodes Van Note.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The New York Times profiled the two houses above, built by Frank T. Clute in the early 1900s. Both are located on Glenwood Road and both are for sale. The first in the slide show, (the brown house) #7, is on the market for $689,000; the second, #15, is listed for $1,295,000. Both are on roughly the same amount of land, but the latter has been "done" to the nines by a developer who had bought it for $750,000 last spring. The untouched sibling sports much of the original detail intact. Taxes are $13,736 on #7; $17,685 on #15.

So take the slide show tour and then tell us -- as buyers, past or future, do you seek out old details or new amenities?

Foreclosures in our backyard? You betcha. At Realtytrac.com you get a lay of the land. Type in a zip code and navigate the map to see properties that are in foreclosure, preforeclosure, or at auction. It's not a pretty picture.