Sayreville & Piscataway NJ Real Estate Blog

There are a lot of financing options to help you buy Mercer & Middlesex County NJ real estate, if you can meet the credit guidelines.   

Most lenders prefer to use 30-year mortgage loans.  With a longer loan term, the lender can collect more money in interest over the life of the loan.  For those who are credit-worthy, a 15-year mortgage term may be offered.  So, what is the difference between the two?  Here are a few guidelines: 

What About a 30-Year Mortgage?Thirty-year mortgages are becoming the normal term for Mercer & Middlesex County NJ real estate loans.  The payments are usually more affordable and lenders are quick to recommend them.  Lenders are more likely to offer you a higher loan amount with a 30-year loan, but the trade off is usually a higher interest rate.   

What Are The Benefits Of A 15-Year Mortgage?Signing up for a 15-year mortgage can save you a lot of money in interest payments.  True, your monthly payments will be higher than with a 30-year loan, but the impact on your long-term finances may be worth it. After just 16 years, you can start investing the money that you’re no longer spending on your mortgage into other real estate properties or investment opportunities.  You can build your investment portfolio with just the money you would’ve spent on your monthly mortgage payment.  

What about Prepayments?Even if you do decide to take out a 30-year loan, you can still have some of the same benefits of the 15-year loan.  By making prepayments, you can take years off a 30-year loan and still have the freedom of making smaller monthly payments, if you need to.  Before finalizing your decision, ask your lender if there are any penalties for making prepayments. 

A 15-year mortgage is usually the better financial decision, because you can save thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.  The interest on a loan may be halved by choosing a 15-year loan. 

No matter how you choose to finance your Mercer & Middlesex County NJ real estate, I can help you find the home that meets your needs and budget.  Call me today at 732-247-1935 ext 182 or email me at freddie@freddiemoorer.com for more information. 

LINKS:Benefits of a 15-year mortgage:  http://financialplan.about.com/lw/Business-Finance/Personal-finance/15-Year-Mortgage.htm  

Investing:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investment 

Prepayments: http://www.mortgageqna.com/mortgage-terms-glossary/prepayment-definition.html  

We went to a movie last weekend and went to the Shop Rite Supermarket near the movie theater on the way home rather than make a single trip to the supermarket the next day. It was about conserving some to that $2.83 per galloon gasoline. Seems like more Americans did the same thing, conserved feul. Makes sense really to combine outings rather than make a special trips especially when gas prices are so high. That gasoline stock are increasing mean consumers are doing more thing right.

“Something dramatic is occurring with consumer driving habits,” Geoff Sundstrom, a spokesman for AAA motor club, said in a telephone interview. “These numbers, if sustained over next couple of weeks, should set the stage for a reversal of price forecasts.”

While the idea of conserving gas is one on many American minds, the idea of conservation and spending quality time with the family while conserving a natural resource and creating less greenhouse gases is a rather pleasant feeling. Perhaps we can continue this practice of going to the supermarket after the movie even after gas prices come down.

Three Mercer County school districts will recieve a 20 percent increase in state funding next school year. Governor Jon Cozine announced yesterday the new formula for school aid next year after revising the school funding formula. Under the new formula three Mercer County school districts: Ewing, Hamilton, and Washington Township, will all receive a 20 percent increase which is the maximum that any district may receive.
The plan calls for increases to most districts with the poorest and the richest districts getting the least. Lower and middle income districts, as well those with increasing enrollment will receive the bulk of the aid. The state aid will require some districts to offer property tax relief to its residents.
The legislation setting the the 2008-2009 state aid could be passed before the Jan. 7 end to the legislative session.

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Hopewell Township Voters will find a referendum on the general election ballot in November that asks them to approve a 1-cent increase in the open space tax to be used for walking trails and bike paths. For the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $549,400 the 1-cent hike would mean an additional $55 a year in taxes. With New Jersey having the highest property taxes in the country even a 1-cent increase seems too much.

Will New Jersey lawmakers ever get it right! Seems like these taxes are just eating all us homeowners alive! Who is in the room when it comes to writing the budget? What is the plan to help us homeowners keep our homes, cause runaway taxes is sure trying to take our homes out from under us? How are we going to pay for county and municipal services without hurting the homeowner? Maybe these are the questions lawmakers need to address before the budget is set. The government promotes homeownership and then taxes us to death just when we get a piece of the “American Dream”. That tax relief remains elusive in Mercer Towns is an under statement. If every homeowner files a tax appeal, the pressure will be on lawmakers to find a real solution to municipality and school funding that does not require yearly increases in taxes. Take a look at the chart below. See where your municipality falls in the tax nightmare. They don’t call us the “Garden State” for nothing, legislators would have us believe money just grows here.