Leander McClain Realtor, Burlington County, NJ Real Estate & Luxury Homes

It's The Holiday Season - We ALL Need COOKIES :)

My buddy Calvin has really been giving me a hard time about these cookie recipes. I tried to hold back, but I couldn't do it. I know you guys are looking forward to the next cookie recipe.  So here ya go.

This recipe comes to us compliments of Shannon Clarke of Starry Night Bakery Coffeehouse in Westminster, Maryland.  She tells us that it is a great cookie base and you can add the special extras - Whatever you have on hand!

Whatcha Got?  Cookies

Ingredients:

 ½ cup butter, softened

½ cup shortening

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla (or whatever flavoring you have on hand)

2 ¼ cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon (or nutmeg, cloves, ginger, curry, cayenne pepper, etc.

Mix it up every time! (coconut and curry with some chocolate chips???)

 3 cups of goodies

(Goodies may include: chopped nuts, chocolate, peanut butter, butter scotch chips, chopped candy bars, dried fruit, M&Ms, Rice Krispies, Trail Mix, etc.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

Cream butter and shortening until light and fluffy

Add Sugars, eggs, and extract; mix on medium until combined. 

Toss in dry ingredients; mix until combined. 

Add the goodies (either put them all in the dough or sprinkle some on top of each cookie before baking)

Drop even sized pieces of dough on cookie sheets and bake until golden around the edges and set in the centers.

Enjoy

Should I REALLY Thank Active Rain For THIS Phone Call?????

I repeat once again that I LOVE Active Rain. Active Rain has been the forum that allowed me to meet and exceed one of my goals for 2008. That goal was to increase my web presence and position myself as an expert when it comes to real estate and Burlington Township, New Jersey.

I recently did a post about the Burlington Bristol Bridge Closing. Yesterday I received the following phone call

Me: Good Afternoon, Leander speaking

Caller: Ah yes, can you tell me if the Burlington Bristol Bridge was closed last night?

Me: According to the schedule it was supposed to be closed, but I am not sure.

Caller: Is there any way you could find out for me, because I REALLY need to know.

Me: One second while I check the Bridge Commission's website

Me: Maam' according to their website, they were scheduled to be closed last night

Me: Would you like me to give you the phone number to the Bridge Commission?

Caller: YES PLEASE! This is really great thank you

Me: The phone number is......xxx-xxx-xxxx

Caller: Thank you sOOOOO much. You have a great day

Me: You do the same. Bye

Now that is Google Juice in action. If you Google Burlington Bristol Bridge close, you will see the following:

#1 listing is from the Courier Times,

#2 is my Active Rain blog post

#3 is unrelated to the closing

#4 is from my Localism post

I can't say that when I started blogging that I was looking to answer calls about bridge closings, but isn't this what blogging is all about? I focus not only on real estate in Burlington Township, New Jersey, but what is going on in and around town. This is my town and I love it here. I want to help make dreams come true for as many families as possible.

So for this phone call, I say Thank You. And to the very nice lady who called me, I hope I was able to help you.

Have a great day.

Leander McClain, Burlington Township Realtor & Real Estate Consultant, EXIT Buyers Plus Realty, 15 E. Broad Street, Burlington, NJ 08016 609-505-6578(cell)

PLEASE LISTEN TO OUR MENU CAREFULLY BECAUSE OUR OPTIONS HAVE CHANGED!

 Everyone has hear the above line when trying to call any company.  This is usually followed by a series of "If you would like ____ press 1, To report a _____ press 2", etc.  How frustrating is this when all you want to do is talk to a real live person.

THERE'S NO NEED TO FEAR, UNDERDOG IS .......

Ooops, sorry I digressed for a second. 

There is help.    Thanks to Paul English, a human being is now a few keystrokes away.  Mr. English has created an alphabetical listing of more than a thousand companies and the steps required to reach a living, breathing, phone answering person.  Just go to www.GetHuman.com.  You can also try www.GetHuman2.comwhich was created by Walt Tetschner

So the next time an automated voice tells you to press 1 for sales....You whip out you list and say NOT TODAY SISTER!

Everyone Have A Great Day

Leander McClain, Burlington Township’s Top Realtor & Real Estate Consultant, EXIT Buyers Plus Realty, 15 E. Broad Street, Burlington, NJ 08016 609-505-6578(cell)

I have always told my clients that there are several things that sell a home.

1. Location

2. Price

3. Condition

4. Accessibility

The table above is data related to a recent listing.  The addresses have been changed so that I may speak freely about the other listed properties in the area. 

PREVIEW

One of the first things that you MUST do is study your competition.  You must know the condition and price of every home that is for sale in the area which you will be listing a home.  What is the best way to do that? PREVIEW, PREVIEW, PREVIEW.  I like to take my sellers with me on these previews.  This gives them an idea of how their home stacks up against the other homes in the neighborhood.  It also gives them an idea of what they must fix or improve in their own home. 

ANALYZE

Once you have previewed the homes, you MUST analyze the data.  I usually make a table like the one above. I want to see what the current asking & selling prices as well as how long homes have been on the market.  In this neighborhood, there were 7 active listings.  An interesting point was that a home had not sold in this development for more than 6 months.  Most of the houses in this neighborhood were similar in size and property size.  The big differentiation between the homes was condition and upgrades if they were located on the main road or a quieter side street.

PRICE

I ALWAYS tell my clients that we don't want to have the most expensive listing in the neighborhood.  Even if we have the nicest home listed, we want to be priced at a competitive level. In this market, everyone is looking for a bargain.  A home that is listed for top dollar is not considered to be a bargain by the potential buyers.  In this case, the last similar home that sold was sold for $200,000 with $7,500 seller concession..  This was a very nice home, but it was smaller than our subject property, but in similar condition.  The other homes listed for sale needed updates & repair.  Homes in this neighborhood are 30+ years old.  Many of the homes previewed still had the original windows and flooring.  My client had updated all of the major systems in the home as well as the roof, windows and flooring.

My client felt that his home was the best home in the neighborhood and that he should easily be priced higher than $229K property on Rutgers Ave.  I explained to him that 33 Rutgers has been on the market for 473 days.  That said to me that the house was priced too high for the condition and location.  I also explained that 45 Axlerod has been on the market for 528 days.  Therefore $223.5K is probably too high of an asking price.  . 

So what is the price needed to move this home?  Probably between $200 - $224K.  The last home in similar condition sold for $200K (this was a smaller home).  In addition, home prices in the area have been on a steady decline.  We decided to list the home for $215K

THE RESULTS

We had an offer and acceptance in 25 days for 95% of the listing price.  There were no price adjustments.  I would say that this home was priced to sell.  Each case is different and there are many variables that affect a potential sale.  In this case, the strategy worked.

If you are looking to sell your home in Burlington County New Jersey and are looking for a Realtor and Real Estate Consultant, feel free to give me a call or send me a text message.  I will gladly answer all of your questions.

Have A Great Day

Leander McClain, Burlington Township’s Top Realtor & Real Estate Consultant, EXIT Buyers Plus Realty, 15 E. Broad Street, Burlington, NJ 08016 609-505-6578(cell)

One For The Guys

Ok fellas.  I know many of you are wondering what happened to your buddy Leander McClain.  The Burlington County New Jersey Realtor & Real Estate Consultant.  The mans man.  The one who talks about man caves and other manly things.  I have had many guys ask me "dude.....what's up with cookie recipes"?  So for my fellow guys (and ladies), here is an easy recipe that you can cook and impress your significant other.  Pair this with a pack of Birds Eye or Green Giant Steamers (vegetables, rice) and a bag of salad and you will have a dinner that cannot miss.  Just pop the steamers into the microwave for 5 minutes and serve.  What could be easier. Try different types of ravioli & beer.  Enjoy.

Pumkin Ravioli with Samuel Adams Octoberbest, Brown Butter and Sage

Ingredients:

24 store brought pumpkin ravioli

2 shallots, diced

6 teaspoons butter

2 teaspoons sage, chopped

6 ounces Samuel Adams Oktoberfest beer (what to do with the other 6oz....drink it of course)

1/4 cup Pamersan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Cook ravioli according to package directions.  Saute shallots in butter and brown.  When butter is brown, add beer, sage, salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese.  Pour over ravioli and eat.

Have a great day