westfield luxury real estate Archives - Luxury Homes/Top Towns

Best Home Improvement Projects for the Money

October 19, 2018 by Scott Gleason

Your home is a major investment of your time and money. Most likely, you’re going to want to make a few changes while you own it. Some projects you’ll do because they improve your lifestyle. Other projects you do because they improve your home’s value. Here are some of the best home improvement projects for the money.

Best Home Improvement Projects for the Money

Replace the Roof

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Does your roof look a little worse for wear? Replacing it costs about $7500 on average. But your ROI runs around 109%, making it the best home improvement project you can do. As time goes on, however, that ROI lessens (due to wear and tear on the roof itself). Whether you plan on selling your Westfield home soon or want to live there indefinitely, you need a good roof over your head to protect you from the elements. So, this is always a good investment.

Plant Some Trees

Trees provide shade in the summer and protection against harsh winter weather. They also help the environment and make your Westfield home look more appealing. But did you know that they’re one of the best home improvement projects you can find? At 100% ROI, they’re well worth the investment. Be careful with which trees you plant. Keep them far enough from the house so that the roots don’t hurt your foundation. Consult with professionals at your local nursery to find out which trees work best and where to plant them.

Wood Flooring

Another one of the best home improvement projects Westfield homeowners should consider is replacing your old flooring with new wood floors. Carpet in the bedrooms and tile in the bathrooms is fine. But today’s home buyers want to see beautiful hardwood floors everywhere else. The cost of materials and installation runs around $10-$15 per square foot. However, your ROI comes in at 91%. If your home currently features hardwood floors that look a little worn out, save some money by refinishing them instead of replacing them. That bumps your ROI up to 100%.

Replace the Garage Door

One of the most underlooked home improvement projects that offers an excellent ROI (87%) is replacing the garage door. Not only is it a minimal cost to install (around $2300 on average), it takes a short amount of time to complete and can totally change the look of your home right away. This also becomes an energy efficient feature when you install an insulated garage door.

Add an Outdoor Kitchen

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Do you love your summer barbecues? Many people do. Another one of the best home improvement projects for the money is adding an outdoor kitchen/grilling station. A $14,000 investment offers a 71% ROI. Charcoal or gas grills cost less than an electric grill. If you keep your outdoor kitchen near your indoor kitchen, you can use the plumbing from there instead of running it out to an area further away. This helps reduce costs and increase your ROI.

Basement Conversion

Basements are very popular here in the Westfield real estate market. They create extra living space. You get to mold it to fit with your family’s lifestyle. As far as being one of the best home improvement projects for the money? Not so much. The cost to finish your basement and convert it into usable space runs around $40,000. If you plan on adding a bathroom or wet bar, you’re looking at much more. The ROI comes in at around 63%. So, if you want to do this, go ahead. Get creative. Just don’t expect to recoup all your costs when you sell your home.

Indoor Kitchen Remodel

One of the most popular home improvement projects actually offers the least ROI (62%) out of all the projects on my list. On average, you’re looking at around $65,000 to completely overhaul an outdated kitchen. Even so, if you want to sell your property in today’s Westfield luxury market, you’re going to need to bring your kitchen up to date. One way to keep remodeling costs to a minimum is to keep the same footprint as the original kitchen, ie, don’t move the plumbing or electrical. If your cabinets are in good shape, sand them down and refinish them instead of replacing them with new ones. Doing the demo work and painting yourself also shaves some money off the costs of remodeling.

Scott Gleason, CRS at RE/MAX Select, Luxury Homes

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How to Make Your Westfield Home Sale a Success

March 3, 2018 by Scott Gleason

There are many pre-listing tasks every seller should undertake before putting their home on the market. Decluttering, packing up, and staging, are just a few of the chores on the list. If you want to make your Westfield home sale a success, follow these simple steps.

How to Make Your Westfield Home Sale a Success

Price Your Home According to the Current Market

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First, let’s talk money. Pricing tops the list of importance for most buyers. Price it too low, you risk losing money. However, price it too high and you risk losing buyers’ interest. It’s imperative that you price it according to how the market currently values it. How do you know what that magic number is? That’s where your Westfield REALTOR’s@ knowledge and expertise comes in to play. Not only can they run a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) of your neighborhood, but they can also factor in the current market trends they see on a day-to-day basis.

Professional Photos Sell Homes

Next, to make your Westfield home sale a success, you’ll need great photos. Most buyers take to their computers to search for homes. That means that the photographs posted will be their first exposure to your property. If you only offer lackluster photos, they may hinder the chances of buyers actually coming to see your home in person. Consider hiring a pro to take photographs of your property or even a short video tour. The extra polish a professional provides might be the catalyst that brings more traffic to your door.

Make All Needed Repairs

Then, make sure any and all necessary repairs are complete before you list. While small items can be tackled yourself, definitely hire a pro for the big things, like plumbing, electrical, water heaters, etc. Buyers tend to overestimate costs of repair issues by as much as 200%. Then, they start decreasing their offer price to offset these costs. Also, when they see cracked tiles, dingy grout, or stains on the carpet, they often worry about what other, larger problems you haven’t taken care of. That puts an even bigger dent in their offer price. It might even turn them away from buying your Westfield home altogether.

Share Information About Your Home

Once a buyer has a home inspection performed, some of the problems your Westfield home may have endured over the years will come to light. It instills a sense of trust with the buyer if you are upfront about these issues, even if they are no longer a problem. Besides, it’s the law for New Jersey homeowners to disclose any “known material defects” in regards to the home they are selling. This includes past roof damage, water damage, termite infestations, etc, even if they happened before you owned the property. Then, you can then explain how these issues were resolved. As part of the home selling process, you will be filling out a Seller’s Disclosure Statement. This information must be included here, too. Keeping this information from buyers could end in litigation down the road. It’s much better to be forthright with this information from the beginning.

Leave During Showings

Finally, in order to make your Westfield home sale a success, don’t stick around while it is being shown to potential buyers. Let your REALTOR@ field questions and highlight your home’s best features. Take the dog for a walk. Visit with friends. Go out to lunch. See a movie. Go shopping. Buyers feel much more comfortable if the owner of the property isn’t hovering around when they are trying to tour a home.

Want to make your Westfield home sale a success without all the stress? Use these tips as a guideline. And be sure to contact me when you’re ready to put your home on the market.

Scott Gleason, CRS at RE/MAX Select, Luxury Homes

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June 2017 Westfield NJ Market Report

June 30, 2017 by Scott Gleason

It’s always a busy time for the Westfield real estate market in the summertime. Sunny skies bring the Buyers out. According to the June 2017 Westfield NJ Market Report, active listings increased substantially from the previous month. Meanwhile, sales remained even.

June 2017 Westfield NJ Market Report

Active Westfield Luxury Homes for Sale in June 2017

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The Garden State MLS reported a total of 20 active Westfield luxury homes on the market in June 2017. That’s double the amount of active listings we saw in May 2017. Included among the active Westfield listings is the beautifully updated colonial at 560 West 1st Street. Originally built in 1922, this property underwent a huge renovation in 2015. This home entered the Westfield market just 23 days ago. Another currently active listing can be found at 204 Gallows Hill Rd. It was also renovated in 2015 and sits near Washington school. Of these, 12 were either newly built, are currently under construction or were ready to be built. Thirteen homes came onto the Westfield market within the last 30 days, including the aforementioned 560 West 1st Street.

Westfield Luxury Homes Under Contract in June 2017

Only one Westfield luxury home was under contract in June 2017. This NCN Properties custom colonial went under contract after just five days on the market. Currently, it is under construction.

Westfield Luxury Homes Sold in June 2017

Seven luxury Westfield homes sold in June 2017, the same amount that sold in May 2017. Of these seven, five were newly constructed homes. Two of them spent less than 30 days on the market: a recently renovated Mahoney built Colonial sold after 20 days on market while another custom Colonial spent just 22 days on the market. One home sold right at list price while another sold just above.

Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve decided to raise rates another 1/4%. Since their announcement, however, mortgage rates experienced only a slight increase. They continue to hover around 4%. Financial experts believe we could see at least one, maybe two more increases before year’s end. If you’re interested in purchasing a Westfield luxury home, please contact me right away.

Scott Gleason, CRS at RE/MAX Properties Unlimited, Luxury Homes for Sale in Westfield

Curious about your home’s value?

Please click below for the market update of interest to you:

Cranford
Fanwood
Garwood
Millburn-Short Hills
Mountainside
Scotch Plains
Summit

Westfield by Grade School:

Franklin
Jefferson
McKinley
Tamaques
Washington
Wilson

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May 2017 Westfield NJ Market Report

June 2, 2017 by Scott Gleason

After the previous month’s boom in home sales, the May 2017 Westfield NJ Market Report showed a return to normal for this time of year. Active luxury homes dropped while pending sales stayed almost the same. For a breakdown of what happened in the luxury Westfield NJ market last month, please read on.

May 2017 Westfield NJ Market Report

Active Westfield Luxury Homes for Sale in May 2017

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The Garden State MLS reported a total of 10 currently active Westfield NJ luxury homes for sale in May 2017. That’s less than half of the total active listings for the previous month. Of those, five were ready to be built, are currently under construction or were recently completed. Five of them came onto the market within the last 30 days. These included a custom colonial that went on the market three days ago, a recently rebuilt (from the basement up) colonial that hit the market four days ago and a property that is currently under construction that went on the market just eight days ago.

Westfield Luxury Homes Under Contract in May 2017

Six Westfield luxury homes went under contract in May 2017. That’s slightly lower than the seven shown in April 2017. Four of these were newly constructed homes.

Westfield Luxury Homes Sold in May 2017

A total of seven Westfield luxury homes were sold in May 2017. All but one of them were newly constructed houses. Three sold within 30 days of being listed. One, an Elshiekh custom colonial, is still under construction. It only lasted 23 days before a savvy Westfield Buyer purchased it. Another property, a custom colonial on the north side of town, sold in just 15 days. A Gabriel quality colonial lasted only four days on the market before being sold. And it’s still under construction.

The Federal Reserve’s next meeting takes place later this month. Even though US job growth in May was weaker than expected, financial experts still predict that the Fed should raise rates at their next meeting. When they raise rates, mortgage rates usually increase as well. We are beginning the busy season for the Westfield luxury home market. Better weather brings more Buyers out in search of their next home. If you’re interested buying a Westfield home, contact me for a private tour. I’d be happy to work with you.

Scott Gleason, CRS at RE/MAX Properties Unlimited, Luxury Homes for Sale in Westfield

Please click below for the market update of interest to you:

Cranford
Fanwood
Garwood
Mountainside
Scotch Plains
Summit

Westfield by Grade School:

Franklin
Jefferson
McKinley
Tamaques
Washington
Wilson

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April 2017 Westfield NJ Luxury Market Report

April 30, 2017 by Scott Gleason

The demand for luxury Westfield area homes continues. While active and under contract homes dipped slightly from March, the April 2017 Westfield NJ Luxury Market Report revealed a large increase in sold homes. In fact, the total sales almost tripled from March 2017. If you’re interested in purchasing a Westfield luxury home, you need to act now.

While active and pending listings dipped slightly from the previous month, the April 2017 Westfield NJ Luxury Market Report revealed an almost 300% increase in total sales.

April 2017 Westfield NJ Luxury Market Report

Current Westfield Luxury Homes for Sale

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The Garden State MLS reported 21 active listings in their April 2017 Westfield NJ Luxury Market Report. This was only slightly less than the 23 active listings in March 2017. Ten of these were either ready to be built, were currently under construction or were recently built. Twelve of the 21 active listings hit the Westfield market within the last 30 days. That means more than half of the total active listings came on the market some time within the last month. One, a custom built Colonial, came on market just last week. A custom Center Hall Colonial went up for sale just 10 days ago.

Westfield Luxury Homes Current Under Contract

The April 2017 Westfield NJ Luxury Market Report showed seven homes currently under contract. Again, this was only slightly less than the 10 reported the previous month. Four of these homes were newly constructed (built in 2016/2017). Three of the properties were listed within the last 30 day.

Sold Westfield Luxury Homes

Most impressively, a total of 14 Westfield luxury homes were sold in April 2017. All but one of these was a newly constructed home. Three of them were on the market for less than 30 days. One sold right at list price. A new Michael Mahoney Colonial in the Stonehenge neighborhood sold for $30,000 over the list price. One Westfield Buyer purchased a newly construction Center Hall Colonial for $1,500,000, paying $106,000 over the list price.

Are you looking for a home in the beautiful Westfield area of New Jersey? Newly constructed luxury homes continue to be in high demand. Contact me today to get started on the search for your perfect Westfield area home now.

Scott Gleason, CRS at RE/MAX Properties Unlimited, Luxury Homes for Sale in Westfield

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