American Realty Appraisals

01/03/2025

I am very proud to share that 2025 marks American Realty Appraisals 20th anniversary in business. This past week I appraised a very interesting house and challenging appraisal. This was NJ’s first governor’s house – Governor Carteret (as an English proprietary colony). Its original foundation is from 1670 and has been expanded several times. It is now 7,000 sq ft on 5.75 acres and is located in Bound Brook. Needless to say there are no comparables in the immediate area so in depth research was necessary. Happy New Year everyone!

09/16/2024

Pinball anyone? This was in a basement in Chatham appraised for a pre-listing decision.

A common question I receive is, "does this room qualify as a bedroom?"

In particular I am asked, "does a bedroom need a closet?"

The following is the criteria for a bedroom from the
International Code Council.

• Window for egress
• Fixed heating system – no plug-in heaters
• Ceiling height of 7 ft or more
• Minimum size is 70 sq ft
• Access must be from a hallway or common space
• Above grade from the front door.

According to the International Code Council a bedroom does not need a closet to be considered a bedroom. Town codes may be different and that is on a case by case basis. I asked the Westfield town assessor if a closet is required to be a bedroom and he said no.

As a side note, in conversing with him the assessment is not based on the number of bedrooms but the square footage of the dwelling. Therefore the taxes on a 2,000 sq ft 4 bedroom house will be less than a 2,400 sq ft 3 bedroom house (everything else being equal).

I recently came across a situation where the house was marketed as a 5 bedroom and the fifth bedroom was on the first floor where the garage access door was located. I could not call it a bedroom as it had this functional obsolesence. The contract had to be renegotiated.

Some towns may consider basement bedrooms with proper egress as bedrooms as they want to collect the tax dollars. On an appraisal the bedrooms in the basement are on a separate line for rooms below grade and not counted in the main room count.

If you have any questions regarding if a room is considered a bedroom, feel free to reach out to me.

01/17/2024

The Impact of Location on Property Appraisals in New Jersey

You’ve heard the old saying from realtors “location, location, location.” It is simply the most important factor in the valuation process for the NJ real estate housing market.

Take for example the average sale price of a house in Plainfield, NJ vs. Westfield, NJ. Both are in Union County, and they are only 4 miles apart from each other.

The average price in Plainfield is $432,000 and the average price in Westfield is $1,176,000 (per GSMLS 01/2024).

Hypothetically, moving an average 2,000 sq ft colonial style dwelling in different locations will have a vastly different value. Another reason why realtors have the “location” saying is the fact that it is the only thing you can’t change when you purchase a house. Homeowners often renovate the house, expand it or add landscaping and a pool however they can never change the location.

For the full article
https://www.arappraisals.com/blog/the-impact-of-location-on-property-appraisals-in-new-jersey-1

10/06/2023

Did you know Charles Addams grew up in Westfield and based the Addams family house on this house? It's on Elm Street just up the road from Trader Joe's. To my surprise, when I appraised an old house on East Dudley Ave about 10 years ago, I took a photo of his drawing inside the barn/garage behind the house that he drew as a teen (around 1928).

The Market

I have been appraising since the end of 2001 and the average 30 year mortgage rate is the highest it has been in my appraisal career at 7.65%. One would think that these rates would negatively impact property values and yet median home prices in NJ are up 3.9% for the year. Closed sales are down 22.9% as inventory numbers are down overall. Adult communities are the exception with an increase of 12.2%. Since mortgage rates are at their highest since 2000 and home prices at their all time high, both continuing to increase is not sustainable and it will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

02/15/2023

A localized analysis of the Westfield residential real estate market.

As a resident of Westfield and appraiser for the past 20 years, Westfield has seen a lot of change.  But one thing has remained constant, it is a residential market with high demand. This is mainly due to the quiet neighborhoods, downtown area, commuting distance to NYC, and reputable scho

12/16/2022

The current state of the real estate market and a cautionary tale from the field.

  The Market  Headlines of doom and gloom in the real estate market can be attention grabbing, however once you dig into the articles, I have found depreciation statistics are on the west coast in markets like Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle.    Ther

11/15/2022

I wrote an article on the status of the real estate market and how mortgage rates have affected the market. Click the link below.

The market continues to have forces pushing up against each other. I recently did a study of monthly payments with different mortgage rates. A year ago mortgage interest rates were 3% and now they are at 7% for a 30 year fixed.

09/21/2022

The real estate market has continued to shift.

In reviewing statistics from the Garden State Multiple Listing Service, there has been a clear declining trend in the list price to sale price ratio. While homes on average are still selling above list price which shows strong demand in the market, Westfield for example went from 106.3%, to 105.2%, to 102.5% over the past three months. This means homes are still selling 2.5% over the list price on average, but we will see how long that lasts...

The listing days on market for homes is increasing as well. Days on market went from 14-19 days in the past 3-12 months to 29 days on average in the most recent 3 months.

As mortgage rates rise it decreases the markets buying power. With low inventory in the market, still strong demand, but rising mortgage rates, it provides quite the mix of ebb and flow in the current market.

Reviewing market statistics is one way we keep a pulse on how the market is moving. We also converse with top local realtors.

Mortgage Rates in the News

Per Bankrate.com "For yesterday, Monday, September 19, 2022, the current average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage is 6.33%, rising 25 basis points over the last seven days. If you're planning to refinance, the average rate for a 30-year fixed refinance is 6.32%, up 24 basis points since the same time last week.

After a summer of ups and downs, the benchmark fixed rate on 30-year mortgages topped 6 percent in September, its highest level since November 2008, according to Bankrate’s national survey of large lenders."

01/27/2022

National housing history and predictions. Market value is higher than it ever has been. 2006-2009 saw more than a 30% decline. Some experts are still calling for a 2-3% appreciation in 2022. Others are not.