Posts by Elliott Caplan

In an opinion yesterday, Judge Ramos ruled that a real estate broker could not recover a commission because the agreement was not in writing as required by the Statute of Frauds (under New Jersey law). The broker tried to rely on a series of text exchanges, but Judge Ramos found that texts would suffice only if the [...]

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The Big Picture: I tell students all the time that they must research the property before bidding. This story from Florida provides two great examples of why, wen you read to the end – Elliott Kerville Holness thought he’d done a great job snapping up a $177,000 Tamarac villa for only $9,100. But that’s not [...]

Read More... from Auction Winner Learns Why Property Was Such a Great Deal: It’s Only 12 Inches Wide

The big picture: A reader Asks Elliott “What do I do when the Buyer’s agent does not have an active license?” Be prepared, because this can happen to anyone. [...]

Read More... from Ask Elliott 73: What do I when the Buyer’s agent does not have an active license?

Ocean County has some of the nation’s highest levels of foreclosures from reverse mortgages its residents took out during the housing bubble in the 2000s, a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis has found. New Jersey had more than 19,000 reverse mortgage orginations from 2001 to 2009. Of those, about 15 percent wound up in foreclosure a few [...]

Read More... from Reverse mortgages: Ocean County has one of the nation’s highest levels of foreclosures

Urban African American neighborhoods are hardest hit as nearly 100,000 loans have failed. In a stealth aftershock of the Great Recession, nearly 100,000 loans that allowed senior citizens to tap into their home equity have failed, blindsiding elderly borrowers and their families and dragging down property values in their neighborhoods. In many cases, the worst toll has fallen on those [...]

Read More... from Seniors were sold a risk-free retirement with reverse mortgages. Now they face foreclosure.

Getting your clients to complete a successful transaction is as much about managing their personalities as it is about finding the right property. For those looking to find a buyer for a higher-end property, it’s important to note that affluent clients have a different mindset than many of those in the traditional market. Learning the [...]

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For more than 25 years, I’ve coached agents to get to their next level by helping them stay ahead of the game in terms of their knowledge and skillsets. In today’s world of 24/7 information (and often misinformation), the time to be diligent about staying sharp, informed and skilled is right now. If not, you [...]

Read More... from iBuyer Lies Are Hurting Your Business

Big-box retailers nationwide are slashing their property taxes through a legal loophole known as “dark store theory.” For the towns that rely on that revenue, this could be a disaster. Dark stores rising: As big-box retailers shutter, many companies have found a way to turn vacant properties into lower taxes on open stores nearby. Madison McVeigh/CityLab [...]

Read More... from After the Retail Apocalypse, Prepare for the Property Tax Meltdown

As businesses adapt to the ever-changing market, tenants increasingly are attempting to reduce their costs when it comes to real estate. One way that tenants can do this is through the use of surety bonds as the security for leases. Surety bonds provide for a third-party contractual guaranty, requiring the surety to pay if the [...]

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Retail giant brings the tiny house trend to the masses – with free shipping, too! Some Americans apparently love to fantasize about an extreme downsize that reduces their personal space to the bare minimum and slashes their cost of living to a fraction of what it once was. Hence, the rise of the tiny house [...]

Read More... from You can now buy your house on Amazon