Bed-Stuy Real Estate Specialist

January Real Estate

2012-02-03T07:48:00.001-08:00

Number 1 Tip For Selling Your Home!!!

2012-02-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

10 Tips for Sellers

2012-02-03T07:29:00.000-08:00

Today’s sellers may face challenging conditions in many markets, but that doesn’t mean choosing to sell is a bad idea. There are many reasons to sell and most are good ones.

Here are ten tips to get you on your way to getting your home sold.

1. Hire a Professional. This is no time to be navigating the rough waters of the real estate market on your own. You want someone who can help you accurately price your home, bring in potential buyers, handle contracts, and market your home to the masses.

2. Fully Disclose. Are you selling because your current home needs more work than you can handle? Are there infestation problems you’d rather not talk about? You must disclose all of these facts to potential buyers. If they find out after the fact that you withheld information you could be in a whole heap of trouble.

3. Be Realistic about Pricing. It is much wiser to price a home correctly from the start of the selling process than to have an overpriced home sit on the market for months only to have to do a price reduction. You get much more traffic on a well-priced home and newly listed home.

4 . Detach Emotions. Sellers may have the inclination towards adding sentimental value to a home. They see the memories and work they’ve put into a property and think every buyer should recognize this. This kind of attachment will make it harder to make smart and timely decisions about offers.

5. Be Involved. Yes, you’ve hired a professional to handle the legwork and legality of your sale, but you’ll rest much easier at night if you understand the process and all that is going on. Be sure to have regular conversations with your agent.

6. Stage your Home. Staging is a perfect way to help buyers see the true potential of each room. This may mean, however, that you have to tone down your own style and pack away any clutter or extraneous decor.

7. Don’t Hover. Sellers can put a lot of heart and soul into staging and getting a home ready for the market. They might want to hang out during an open house. Resist the urge. This makes it very uncomfortable for buyers. So, during showings of any kind, be sure to make yourself scarce.

8. The Next Step. Are you going to be buying another home? Have you decided to rent? Under normal sales, you’ll have plenty of time to make arrangements, but you also might get a buyer who needs to move in right away. Be ready to take your next step.

9. Be Flexible. It’s no secret that today’s market can be challenging for many sellers. Some markets have seen sharp price declines and shallow buyer pools. This means you need to be flexible on both price and terms. Don’t compromise on your bottom line, but understand that you must be willing to negotiate.

10. Positivity. Focus on the good in today’s market. Pull your attention to the feedback you get from your agent and prospective buyers! Most of all, don’t get discouraged. You will find a buyer!

Selling in today’s market can be a tough, but rewarding. So, whether you’re selling to move up, downsize, avoid foreclosure, or are following a job, be sure to keep these ten tips in mind for smooth sailing.

Beautiful Deal in Bed-Stuy!

2012-01-30T12:51:00.000-08:00

Brick 2 family brownstone on a conveniently located block in Bedford Stuyvesant. This home has a large backyard,deck,new roof,and an income producing rental unit on the top floor. There are some original details such as the non working fireplaces, moldings, high ceilings, etc... The owner’s duplex encompasses the garden and parlor levels. The master bedroom boasts tall ceilings, a balcony, and a lot of sunlight. The rental unit on the top floor is very well maintained and sunny. The apartment has 3 skylights, 2 bedrooms, and a nice kitchen. Contact me for a cost analysis and a private tour of this lovely home.

For more photos visit

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/437-Pulaski-St-A-Brooklyn-NY-11221/30602075_zpid/

720 Jefferson Avenue

2012-01-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

Bed Stuy Deal of the Month! A 2 family home with a finished basement, 3 bedroom rental unit, function-able fireplaces, a very large open backyard with deck, original details, and hard wood floors. This home is priced to sell and needs only cosmetic updating.

For more photos and floorplans go to

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/720-Jefferson-Ave-Brooklyn-NY-11221/30604549_zpid/

Down Payment Assistance in Bed-Stuy!

2012-01-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

Have you been daydreaming about owning your own home in Bedford Stuyvesant?

The dream of owning your own home... Not paying rent, having income to cover all of your bills, not worrying about rent increases, your own backyard.... it is something we all aspire to have!

Now it can be real. REALLY REAL!

With the new Down Payment Assistance Program you can achieve home ownership without waiting to save up longer for your down payment!

According to NYC.Gov...

Many New Yorkers want to buy a home but don't have

enough money saved for their down payment and closing

costs. As part of Mayor Bloomberg's "New Housing

Marketplace Plan," the New York City Department of Housing

Preservation and Development (HPD) created the HomeFirst

Down Payment Assistance program. It provides qualified

home-buyers with up to $15,000 toward the down payment or

closing costs on a 1-4 family home, a condominium, or a

cooperative in one of the five boroughs of New York City.

To qualify for the loan, a prospective homebuyer must meet certain criteria. To learn more contact me at JessicaHargrove@fillmore.com

Ask This First!!

2012-01-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

The Top 10 +1 Questions to Answer
Before You Sell Your Home

Before you decide to put your house on the market there are a few bases you need to cover.

The following are the base questions you should have answered either by your agent or your attorney before you start down the road of home selling.

The last thing you want is to get to a closing table and have some major surprises either from your bank, your agent, or your attorney.

The most successful seller is an educated and knowledgeable seller.

Keep the following in the front of your mind when weighing your selling options.

A knowledgeable agent should be able to guide you through each topic clearly and concisely.

1. How do we set a realistic price?

2. Will we be released from our mortgage obligation if the buyers assume our loan?

3. How much cash will we actually net after our selling
expenses?

4. Will we have to pay a prepayment penalty?

5. What are loan discounts and points? Do we have to pay?
Why? How much do points cost?

6. What is special financing?

7. How is a property shown to best advantage?

8. How do we know if the buyer is pre-qualified or pre-approved?

9. Does your state have mandatory disclosures and how do we comply?

10. What federal environmental hazards disclosures are required and how do we comply?

11. How do we protect ourselves legally?

For answers to these questions feel free to contact me anytime!
Jessica Hargrove
Fillmore Real Estate
718.643.0040
JessicaHargrove@Fillmore.com

or visit my website at www.BedStuyRealEstate.com.

Perks Of the Hood

2012-01-05T11:29:00.000-08:00

Just another wonderful reason to be an

active member of our Bed-Stuy community!

Farm Fresh food every week direct from local farms!

Help your community by volunteering

and help the farms with their seasonal start up costs.

Just imagine - all summer long - fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs each week straight from a local farm. The cook in me is already getting my recipe book dog-eared!

The Bed-Stuy Farm Share delivers fresh vegetables, fruit, and eggs from local farmers straight to Bed-Stuy once a week for 22 weeks out of the year, starting in June.

The Bed-Stuy Farm Share is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project. It is a mutually beneficial partnership between local farms and the Bedford Stuyvesant community.

The farm brings fresh, seasonal, affordable produce to Bed-Stuy and we provide a stable, financial base for the farm.This is the kind of thinking the world should be based on!!!

Members sign up and pay for a Farm-Share in the early Spring. They do this so that the farmers can have the money they need to purchase seeds, hire labor and get the season started without having to take out high interest loans. Also, members volunteer 4 hours of their time over the course of the harvest season to help the Farm-Share keep running.

Share cost are different for each product and our vegetable share is based on household income. Upper income members pay slightly more in order to subsidize shares of folks who cannot afford to pay as much. Members who buy “full shares” pick up every week, and members who buy “half shares” pick up every other week. They also accept WIC and Food Stamps!

For More Information Visit

http://www.bedstuyfarmshare.org/

About Me

2012-01-03T12:36:00.000-08:00

A Little Bit About Myself:

I am a licensed Real Estate Salesperson with Fillmore Real Estate. I am a manager / Recruiter / Trainer for one of the most prominent offices in our network. I specialize in sales, rentals, and commercial real estate in the Bedford Stuyvesant Neighborhood here in Brooklyn NY.

I live in Bed-Stuy with my husband. We love this nieghborhood, the people, and watching it grow.

With the block-parties, restaurants, and events in the park - This is our home and I respect that Bedford Stuyvesant is your home as well.

My philosophy in this business is

"The People Come First".

It is important to work with an agent

who cares about what You care about.

I will carefully go over all of your options with you and enlist the help of my entire team of bankers, brokers, and agents to facilitate your decision.

If an experienced, capable, hard-working, and efficient agent

is what you are looking for be sure to contact me!

No time is too soon to enlist the proper help.

Even if you don't plan to sell or move for another few months,

it is always wise to know what to expect and when to expect it.

I have an arsenal of listings, agents, and relationships that I have nurtured to help you in any Real Estate Matter.

Call or email me anytime to learn more about what I have and what the market is looking like for you! Let's Work Together!

Best Regards!

Jessica Hargrove

Fillmore Real Estate
345 Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, NY. 11201
718.643.0040
JessicaHargrove@Fillmore.com

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visit www.BedStuyRealEstate.com to learn more!

Stand Out ! - - - Bed-Stuy Housing Market is Booming!

2012-01-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

The Bedford Stuyvesant Housing Market is Booming!

How Will Your Home Stand Our From The Hundreds of Others?

Every Real Estate Agent will tell you "Yes! It's a GREAT time to sell!".

No matter what the market is like, no matter what the economy is doing... they will tell you what they want you to hear.

Of course there are good times and bad times to sell you home. Just like there are good times and bad times to buy a home.

One thing that effects the 'timing' aspect of the sale of your home that you may not have considered is your Plan!

If you don't have a good plan - It's a bad time to sell!

If you have a great plan - the economy or market won't matter much at all.

More often than not your initial plan consists of putting your house on Craigslist, Trulia, Zillow... etc.... letting the world wide web know you have a house for sale.

Perhaps you plan to take a few photos, paint the walls, and clean up the yard as well.

This 'plan' will not help you make your home stand out from the crowd.

Only advertising your home exactly the same way everyone else does is not a good plan.

You may even plan to work with a Real Estate Agent. If you go the agent route take some time to find out what their plan is!

Will your agent put your listing on MLS?
Does your agent have a large enough network of other agents, bankers, appraisers, attorneys etc?
Will your agent market your home to any other newspapers, websites, newsgroups?
Will your listing have it's own website?
Will your agent have professional photos, floorplans, and virtual tour done?
What does your agent have to offer the Buyers as incentive? ie: Home Warranty, Home Services, Inspection Services, Attorneys, Mortgage Approval, etc?
How will you be able to keep tabs on what your agent is doing with your listing and how many prospective buyers have shown interest?
How does your agent plan to price your listing to make it competitive and still get you the amount of money you are looking for?

Your ultimate plan should be to find an agent who has not just answers - but GREAT answers to these questions.

If you are going to trust a professional to create a plan for your listing that will make it stand out from the rest of the beautiful homes in Bed-Stuy you will want to be confident. You will want to know that they are doing a better job and offering buyers more than you would be able to on your own.

Don't let your house be the best kept secret in Bed-Stuy! Make sure you have a game plan to compete with the market!

Visit www.BedStuyRealEstate.com for more information!

Be an Educated Seller! Put Yourself in the Driver's Seat!

Cool Like That - Famous Bed Stuy Residents

2012-01-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

Who's Your Neighbor?

We love our neighborhood for so many reasons. The culture, talent, and arts of the community have given not just Brooklyn but the World a plethora of entertainment and culture that has changed and shaped American culture into what we now call 'reality'.

Just a taste of some of what Bed-Stuy's culture has offered us thus far:

Aaliyah, Grammy-nominated singer
Masta Ace, rapper
Big Daddy Kane, rapper
Memphis Bleek, rapper
Jackie Gleason, actor
Mark Breland, boxer
Foxy Brown, rapper
Lil Cease, rapper
Shirley Chisholm, Congresswoman
Imani Coppola (born 1978), singer-songwriter
Cormega, rapper
Deemi, singer
Mos Def, rapper
Nelson Erazo, professional wrestler better known by his ring name Homicide
Fabolous, rapper^[23]
William Forsythe^[24]
Carl Gordon (1932–2010), actor best known for appearing the Fox TV series Roc.^[25]
Kadeem Hardison, actor Dwayne Wayne on A Different World
Richie Havens, musician, poet, inspiration
Connie Hawkins, Basketball Hall of Fame player
Lena Horne (1917–2010), actress and singer.
Leroy Wallace jr. Black man, thinker, speaker, prayer.
Lil' Kim, rapper^[26]
Talib Kweli, rapper
Jay-Z, rapper, lived in the Marcy Housing Projects for most of his childhood.
Jaz-O, rapper
Norah Jones singer
Spike Lee, award winning producer and director
Maino, rapper
Frank McCourt and Malachy McCourt. Frank's autobiographical bestseller Angela's Ashes describes their early childhood life in a working-class apartment building on Classon Avenue.
Frank Mickens (1946–2009), educator
Sauce Money, rapper
Tracy Morgan (born 1968), comedian and actor.^[27]
The Notorious B.I.G., rapper, lived near the Clinton Hill/Bed-Stuy border.
Floyd Patterson (1935–2006), boxer
Papoose, rapper
Chris Rock, actor/comedian
Tony Rock Comedian and younger brother of Chris Rock
Carl Sagan, astronomer
Gabourey Sidibe, Academy Award-nominated actress
Skyzoo, rapper
Tek, one half of Smif-N-Wessun
Mike Tyson, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
Whodini, hip-hop group
Lenny Wilkens, Basketball Hall of Fame player and coach^[28]
Juan Williams
Ted Williams, voiceover artist
Martha Wainwright, singer
Decan Rush, rapper
Samuel Hugh Wilson (1855-1903), metals industry businessman, son-in-law of Police Superintendent John Seward Folk of Skillman Street, Williamsburg
Robert Wilson (1826-1900s), carman and early settler in Koscuisko Street
Robert John Wilson (1901-1986), chemical/textile industry sales executive

Home Values Bedford Stuyvesant

2012-01-02T10:44:00.000-08:00

Bed Stuy Home Values from 2011!