Hoboken and JC Foodies - Restaurant Week is Here

Hudson Restaurant Week is back

The bi annual special is back and runs between January 23rd thru February 3rd 2012.
This year two restaurants were added to the list.
Wicked Wolf Sports Bar and Grill in Hoboken and GP's Italian restaurant in Guttenberg.


Do you have a twitter account? If you do you can participate in the $50 gift certificate to the weekly restaurant by tweeting from your seat! For details and to sign up click here


This is the full list from Hudson Restaurant Week's Website.

3Forty Grill	Elysian Cafe	O'Connell's
Amanda's	Embankment	Oddfellows Rest
Bistro La Source	Gaslight	The Pointe
Boca Grande	GP's Restaurant	Port-O Lounge
Box	Hamilton Inn	Porto Leggero
Brass Rail	Henry's on the Hudson	The Quays
Casa Dante	Komegashi	Satis Bistro
Chart House	Komegashi Too	Sawadee
Cityside Bistro	Liberty House Restaurant	Sky Thai
Clinton Social	Light Horse Tavern	Trinity
La Conguita	Madison	West Five Supper Club
Dino & Harry's	Maritime Parc	Wicked Wolf
Edward's Steakhouse	The Merchant	Zylo
	Michael Anthony's

Support our local restaurants! How many have you visited from the list? Any favorites?
This year I want to try La Conguita and Satis :)

NJ Ranks #1 State To Raise Your Child

Say what you will about the Jersey Shore and crack Jersey-licious jokes but what many New Jersey-ans know in their hearts to be true, got some affirmation today.

The Foundation For Child Development released it's annual report, they call the Child Well Being Index (CWI) which measures across the U.S. for highest quality of life for children and families.

The report measures 7 categories:
Family economic well being
Health
Safe and risky behavior
Education attainment
Community engagement
Social relationships
Emotional/spiritual well being

NJ ranked #1 overall, coming in top ten for 5 categories with Massachusetts coming second.
The remaining of the top 10 are
New Hampshire, Utah, Connecticut, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, Maryland and New York.

Read the full report. Warning it is 70+ pages. Or get a quick video news report from channel NJNews 12 

Are you raising your children in NJ? Share what you love about the garden state! 

Home Selling Tips

A short video reviewing some of the tips I write about when preparing your home for sale.

Preparing Your Home For Sale

Soon winter will be over and the Spring real estate market frenzy will be upon us.

Now is the perfect time for you to get your home ready for market by investing a little time and money into getting it looking picture perfect.

Three Must Do Tips

First Impressions Last

Walk up to your property and take a good look.

What impression do you get from the outside?

Entry ways should be clean, look new and cheery. Doors get a fresh coat of paint and a new doormat. Plants or Flowers should look full and healthy. Windows are washed and sparkling. Hallways look dingy? Volunteer with your condo board to paint at the very least your floor or the entrance if it's in bad shape.


De-Personalize

Although your personal family photos and wedding photos are lovely, the less that are up on your walls the better.

Beautiful Neutral Bedroom, No Personal Pictures

Professional stagers never put up personal pictures because they want buyers to envision themselves living in the home. They don't want the buyer to feel like they are in someone else's home nor do they want them distracted looking at your pictures because then they loose the possessive feeling buyers get when they walk into a home they love.








De-Clutter

Probably the hardest thing to do for most people is to de-clutter. Not just knick knacks and chotskies but extra furniture, gadgets and stuff! When selling your property, remember, less is more.
Kitchens are clutter culprits so make sure your counter tops are cleared so that you can highlight the space.

A Kitchen Ready For Buyers!

Living rooms should feel big so get rid of extra seating if it crowds the space or hides the best feature, like a fire place.



Closets should never look like they are busting at the seams so spend some time putting away off season clothing and making space.





Need more additional tips or want some advice? Contact me for an appointment, I offer staging as part of my real estate services and listing properties.

Hoboken Parking Rules

Parking in Hoboken is always a challenge, and unless you've lived here for a long time it's difficult to understand all the parking rules.

Metered Parking

Meter

Over the years metered parking has changed, gone up in price, and expanded to different areas of town. Gone are the little coin meters and in are the more sophisticated meters similar to the ones you see in NYC.

Currently, meters are enforced Monday - Saturday and the rate is $0.25 per 15 minutes and a two hour limit.

Be careful and double check to see if your street has metered parking.

Parking Boot

Street Parking

If you do not have a Hoboken resident sticker you may park on a street with no meter, however you can only park on the side of the street that is not resident only parking.



This is how many people get boots!! And trust me you do not want a boot..




The white sign with green letters is the only street you can park on, and there is a four hour limit. This limit, is CITY WIDE. (Fox news recently reported how many visitors are getting hit with  fine's and boots for not knowing this, but the signs are still not clear and do not say that the limit is city wide.)

Residential Parking Sign

The green sign with white letters, is for residents with a resident parking decal ONLY.




The city is quick, and well equipped to monitor the streets with scanning technology that notifies them when someone is parked past 4 hours or if a vehicle does not have a permit sticker.


Visitor Parking

You can obtain a temporary or visitor parking pass from the parking authority located inside City Hall for friends and family, or for yourself if you live in Hoboken and cannot obtain a residential parking decal. For more info on temporary passes click here.



Parking Sticker Decals

In order to qualify for a residential parking sticker you must meet the following criteria:

• Hoboken address, proof of address required
• Hoboken address must appear on your driver's license
• Hoboken address must also appear on your car insurance &
• Must appear on your registration. (Although if vehicle is leased you might be ok as long as the address appears on all other documentation)

Finally,
You also have to watch out for street sweeping times, zip cars and hertz connect corner cars -  marked spaces, handicap spots, and don't park close to a fire hydrant or too close to the cross walks!

There are many parking garages around town, and it's sometimes best to not have to worry about getting an expensive ticket.

While parking is difficult don't let it keep you from moving here. Any local will tell you they love it, deal with it, and I have had many a client get rid of their cars. After all, it is a city with amazing transportation options so you really don't need a car. Hoboken was ranked #1 'most walkable city' and #1 for 'public transportation' so take advantage! **



*Walkscore.com
* US Census

77 Hudson Rentals | Downtown Jersey City Luxury Buildings

77 Hudson Rentals

The Lobby

The luxurious all glass skyscraper curtain wall residences at 77 Hudson offers units for rent. They are owned by individual unit owners and not the sales office. 77 Hudson St is a residential condominium building, in contrast with 70 Greene which is a residential rental building directly behind 77 Hudson St. They are managed independently.

It has it's own amenities except it shares the outdoor pool area with the residents of 77 Hudson.

Here is a current list of available rentals, click here to view.

Terrace and Direct East Views

The building offers studios up to 3 bedrooms.

The amenities at 77 Hudson St include:

Add caption

A Kitchen at 77 Hudson White Cabinets

The Gym

• Rooftop Pool and Hot Tub
• Rooftop courtyard, lawn, bar and fire pit
• Outdoor BBQ area
• Private Dining Room with serving kitchen
• Pilates/Yoga Room
• Fitness Center/ Gym
• Men and Ladies' Locker rooms equipped with sauna, steam room, showers and baths
• Massage Rooms
• Game Room and bar
• Click Cafe
• Private Screening Room
• Virtual Golf
• Wi Fi Public Spaces
• Lounge 
• Outdoor Kid's play area
• Dog Run
• Jogging Path
• Doorman Concierge
• Covered Attached Garage
• High Speed Elevators
• Virtual Mail and Package Acceptance system

Have you been inside 77 Hudson? What do you think?

Monday Blues, Steeler Loss

Ugh. Monday blue's take on a whole new meaning today.

Watched the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Denver Broncos yesterday at our local Steelers Bar Texas Arizona in Hoboken. What started early as a good game, turned ugly quick, then gut wrenching, exciting - amazing come back to tie the game and head into overtime.

Unbelievable. And as the whole world knows, on the first play in OT Tim Tebow gets the ball and throws a pass for an amazing 80 yard touchdown.

So sick. My poor husband is in the first stage of denial. There will be no playoff games for us this year.

At Hoboken Steelers Bar Last Year

We'll be back next year!! Thank you Texas Arizona for a great season even though it was an early exit.

I joined the beer club so there's always that!

Is the Hoboken Condo Market Still Declining?

Is the Hoboken Condo Market Still Declining?

Hoboken condo sales have been on the decline since the real estate market crash. On average Hoboken condo prices are down about 20% from their peak and sales prices in 2010 and early 2011 were trading at 2004/2005 levels.

As a Hoboken real estate agent I've noticed that sales and prices have seemingly started to pick up. With several bidding wars and homes being sold in as little as 3 days, plus investors still active in almost 30% of the market, it is an unmistakable sign that things are looking up.

I spent some time creating this spreadsheet. It shows the Median Sale Price of all Hoboken Condo Sales in 2010 (recorded on the MLS) vs the Median Sale Price of the same in 2011.

Blue  2010 Green 2011

You can see that early 2011 median sale prices were trading below the median sale prices of 2010.

But if you take a close look you'll see that prices rose above 2010 prices in the months of May, September and October, and 4th quarter sales finished strong with November and December prices trading very close to last year.

This is a positive sign that prices are stabilizing. There were no artificial factors in 2011, no home buyer tax credits to jolt sales.

2012 will see an increase in inventory as Hoboken sellers will attempt to sell their homes again after trying the last two years but I suspect buyers will absorb some of that inventory because rent vs owning is finally showing that owning is more beneficial.

There were 683 sales in 2010 compared to 742 sales in 2011. Total number sales are down about 8% yr ov yr however the median sale price for the year is virtually unchanged.

The median sale price for all Hoboken condo sales in 2010 was $455,000 VS
The median sale price for all Hoboken condo sales in 2011 was $450,000

The Hoboken rental market is hot and rental prices have jumped more than 5% year over year. This along with an improving jobs picture, mortgage rates remaining low despite the recent good news (jobs report, tax cut extension and ADP numbers) could lead the way to a stronger year in real estate sales for Hoboken.

I don't expect the rental market to ease in 2012 and would predict that there will be another increase in prices, more modest near 3%.

What do you think? Are you waiting to buy? Or are you taking advantage of these favorable conditions?

Rejuiceanation Hoboken Perfect Lunch

New England Clam Chowder is probably my favorite soup and on a cold
day it just hits the spot.

Rejuvenation is a cozy little healthy cafe with fresh salads to order,
soups, sandwiches, smoothies and fresh squeezed juices like this
Sunrise (apple, orange, and carrot). It gets busy in spurts especially
in morning around lunch and late afternoon but the line moves pretty
quickly!

They are located on Newark Street just 3 doors from my RE/MAX office
and next to Basiles Pizza.

To a healthy 2012!

Free Rabies Vaccines For Hoboken Resident Dogs and Cats!

Our Yorkie Lex :)

The Hoboken Health Department just announced it will host the administering of rabies vaccines to Hoboken residents and their dogs or cats for free On January 7th, 2012 from 11a.m. to 2p.m.

Bring your furry friend to The Multi Service Center at 124 Grand Street in Hoboken either on a leash or in a carrier. Dog owners must have a Hoboken Dog License which can be obtained on site. You must bring proof of residency and the license fee for spayed/neutered pets is $10 and those not neutered or spayed $14.

Call (201) 420-2375

A veterinary from the Animal Infirmary Of Hoboken will be on site to administer the vaccines.

Cupcakes. Smile!

Cupcakes.

A collection of cup cake pics I pulled. Even on a blustery cold day like today doesn't it warm your heart and make you happy?

If I wasn't in real estate I would probably open a cupcake shop...

Hoboken Real Estate Condo Sales And Brownstone Update

Hoboken Real Estate Condo Sales And Brownstone Update

December 2011 Sales

Sales
There were 57 sales close for the last month of the year.(Compared with 31 units in November and 45 units in October) The lowest price was a studio at 1021 Grand St Hoboken, with a list price of $243,000 and a sale price of $227,500. The highest price sale was a 2.5 bed, 2.5 bath unit at Maxwell Place with a list price of $2.193Million and a sale price of $2.137Million.

The median list price for the month was $435,000 and the median sale price for the month was $417,500. The median days on market was just 48 days.

Units Under Contract
For December, 32 new contracts were written (compared with 33 units in November and 17 units in October) Their median list price was slightly higher at $482,950 and the median days on market slightly up to 53 days.


Hoboken Brownstone Sales
Two Hoboken Brownstones sold in the month of December. 208 Hudson St, a 5 bedroom 3.5 bath with backyard and a list price of $1.625Million sold for $1.450Million;
And 932 Hudson St, offering a flex 5/6 bedrooms 3.5 bath with backyard and a list price of $1.999Million sold for $1.810Million

Two more brownstones / single family homes are under contract for the month. 310 Park Avenue 5 bedroom two baths with a list price of $725,000 and 1203 Park Ave, 4 bedroom 4 baths and a list price of $1.125Million are waiting to close.


Information provided by the Hudson County MLS, deemed reliable but not guaranteed.