Dawn Marie White, Broker-Office Manager

Buying a new home can be a very exciting. The idea of owning your first home or even upgrading to a larger home to fulfill the needs of an expanding family seems like wonderful idea. If coming from a rental situation, buying a new home begins with choosing a real estate agent and hunting for your new home. When people are ready to make a change and begin the new home search, they may also need to first concern themselves with selling an existing home.

Depending on the local market, home buyers may realize that it could be a good time for buying a new home but a challenging time for selling an existing home. During a buyer's market, there is an abundance of homes for sale, making it more challenging to sell a home. Choosing a real estate agent that has a long term history of selling real estate in various markets as well as an organized and aggressive sales plan will help minimize these challenges.

If selling a home proves to be fruitless, individuals may choose to explore the option of renting their home rather than selling. Exploring this option thoroughly may prove to be of benefit by resulting in monthly income.

When buying a new home and selling an existing home, there is the possibility of selling for less than one may have wanted or expected. It is important to not rely on a specific number or count the equity in the home until there is a signed contract. Analyzing the local markets, building an aggressive team of experienced professionals, and exploring all available options will prove beneficial when buying a new home and selling an existing

• Del Webb
• K. Hovnanian's Four Seasons
• Lennar

• Pulte Homes
• Ryan Homes
• Somerset Development
• Kokes Family Builder

• Toll Brothers
• Walters Homes
• Diamond Developers
• Windriver Developers
• Forte Builders
• Eire-Con Builders & Developers

Here are a few of the available New Home sub-divisions in the Ocean County Area. Please call Dawn Marie White for additional details. 732-528-6800 x 204

Barnegat New Home Sites

Carriage Estates

Independence Place

Manors at Freedom Hills

Ocean Acres at Barnegat

Whispering Hills

Bay Ave Estates

Beachwood New Home Sites

Cranbury Road Estates

Berkeley Township New Home Sites

The Grand Single Family Homes

Brick South Mantoloking

Inchimoor II Oceanfront Estates

Forked River New Home Sites

Sea Breeze at Lacey

Jackson New Home Sites

Four Seasons at Metedeconk Lakes

Four Seasons at South Knolls

Preservation Woods @Jackson

Lakewood New Home Sites

The Enclave at The Fairways

Manahawkin New Home sites

Villas at Manahawkin

Manchester Township New Home Sites

Country Walk of Lake Ridge

River Pointe

The Reserve at Lake Ridge

Point Pleasant Beach New Home Sites

Waters Edge at Point Pleasant

Inchimoor Estates Oceanfront Homes

Toms River New Home Sites

Somerset Meadows at North Dover

Tuckerton New Home Sites

Four Seasons at Harbor Bay

Winding Run

Waretown New Home Sites

Greenbriar Oceanaire

Please call Dawn Marie White for details on any of these communities.

732-528-6800 x 204 or 732-581-9414

Monmouth County Closed Sales January 2008 through September 30, 2008

Area # of Sales Total Sales Avg Sales ABE ABERDEEN 102 $34,573,007 $338,951 ALH ALLENHURST 4 $6,600,000 $1,650,000 ALL ALLENTOWN 8 $3,755,000 $469,375 ASB ASBURY PARK 31 $8,648,901 $278,997 ATL ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS 28 $14,247,275 $508,831 AVO AVON-BY-THE-SEA 8 $10,241,000 $1,280,125 BEL BELMAR 23 $18,608,675 $809,073 BRA BRADLEY BEACH 23 $11,945,318 $519,362 BRI BRIELLE 26 $19,426,686 $747,180 COL COLTS NECK 52 $55,137,485 $1,060,336 EAT EATONTOWN 40 $13,647,990 $341,200 ENG ENGLISHTOWN 11 $3,636,500 $330,591 FAI FAIR HAVEN 51 $39,502,300 $774,555 FAR FARMINGDALE 8 $2,471,500 $308,938 FRB FREEHOLD BORO 41 $12,606,400 $307,473 FRE FREEHOLD TWP 148 $80,674,414 $545,097 HAZ HAZLET 122 $37,517,655 $307,522 HIG HIGHLANDS 19 $6,192,530 $325,923 HOL HOLMDEL 99 $89,509,538 $904,137 HOW HOWELL 282 $101,646,731 $360,449 INT INTERLAKEN 11 $6,860,000 $623,636 KEA KEANSBURG 47 $9,489,650 $201,907 KEY KEYPORT 34 $9,272,571 $272,723 LAK LAKE COMO 20 $8,622,000 $431,100 LIT LITTLE SILVER 49 $33,211,150 $677,779 LOC LOCH ARBOUR VILLAGE 1 $700,000 $700,000 LON LONG BRANCH 60 $21,966,900 $366,115 MAN MANALAPAN 182 $103,004,310 $565,958 MAQ MANASQUAN 54 $36,660,715 $678,902 MAR MARLBORO 185 $112,114,508 $606,024 MAT MATAWAN 37 $12,588,300 $340,224 MID MIDDLETOWN 378 $183,194,657 $484,642 MIL MILLSTONE(MON) 62 $36,943,770 $595,867 MON MONMOUTH BEACH 25 $24,767,740 $990,710 NEP NEPTUNE CITY 20 $5,493,700 $274,685 NPT NEPTUNE TWP 137 $47,160,400 $344,236 OCE OCEAN(MON) 105 $44,870,214 $427,335 OCP OCEANPORT 36 $23,861,700 $662,825 RED RED BANK 43 $19,940,000 $463,721 ROO ROOSEVELT 7 $3,784,000 $540,571 RUM RUMSON 65 $83,896,915 $1,290,722 SEA SEA BRIGHT 8 $11,068,000 $1,383,500 SEG SEA GIRT 32 $52,899,000 $1,653,094 SHB SHREWSBURY BORO 30 $16,979,400 $565,980 SPH SPRING LK HEIGHTS 23 $11,069,350 $481,276 SPR SPRING LAKE 39 $79,601,500 $2,041,064 TIN TINTON FALLS 76 $37,035,600 $487,311 UNI UNION BEACH 40 $10,472,170 $261,804 UPF UPPER FREEHOLD 27 $12,693,700 $470,137 WAL WALL 137 $77,203,059 $563,526 WLB WEST LONG BRANCH 35 $16,305,452 $465,870 Total 3,131 $1,724,319,336 $550,725

Ocean County closed sales by township from January 1, 2008 through September 30, 2008

Based on current data available through the Monmouth county board of realtors and the List-it system the following data has been provided.

Area # of Sales Total Sales Avg Sales BAR BARNEGAT 98 $29,735,778 $303,426 BAY BAY HEAD 12 $15,554,000 $1,296,167 BEA BEACH HAVEN 2 $3,470,000 $1,735,000 BER BERKELEY 139 $50,812,036 $365,554 BEW BEACHWOOD 62 $15,702,354 $253,264 BRK BRICK 397 $157,435,906 $396,564 EAG EAGLESWOOD 5 $1,155,000 $231,000 ISL ISLAND HEIGHTS 7 $4,199,500 $599,929 JAC JACKSON 263 $99,633,388 $378,834 LAC LACEY 225 $67,942,788 $301,968 LAV LAVALLETTE BORO 19 $17,408,550 $916,239 LBC LBI CENTRAL 1 $695,000 $695,000 LBN LBI NORTH 2 $2,347,000 $1,173,500 LBS LBI SOUTH 2 $1,085,000 $542,500 LEH LITTLE EGG HARBOR 62 $14,970,335 $241,457 LKH LAKEHURST 15 $3,030,800 $202,053 LKW LAKEWOOD 154 $45,571,191 $295,917 LNG LONG BEACH 7 $11,389,000 $1,627,000 MAC MANCHESTER 87 $25,216,800 $289,848 MAK MANTOLOKING 3 $15,550,000 $5,183,333 OCG OCEAN GATE 16 $3,726,100 $232,881 OCN OCEAN(OCN) 48 $13,977,025 $291,188 PIN PINE BEACH 17 $5,154,500 $303,206 PLU PLUMSTED 38 $14,496,325 $381,482 PPB POINT PLEASANT BEACH 59 $37,665,150 $638,392 PTP POINT PLEASANT 142 $61,033,724 $429,815 SEH SEASIDE HEIGHTS 8 $2,108,500 $263,563 SEP SEASIDE PARK 14 $10,105,000 $721,786 SHI SHIP BOTTOM 3 $1,957,500 $652,500 STA STAFFORD 153 $48,008,169 $313,779 STO SOUTH TOMS RIVER 19 $3,890,128 $204,744 SUR SURF CITY 2 $1,035,000 $517,500 TOM TOMS RIVER TWP 587 $223,985,261 $381,576 TUC TUCKERTON 12 $2,917,300 $243,108 Total 2,680 $1,012,964,108 $377,972

If you have never experienced an opera then Don Giovanni would be a great choice for your fist experience. Back in the 1990's I had the opportunity to experience this opera. At times it will make you laugh, at times it will keep you on the edge of your seat, or it may even bring a tear to your eye.

I read this interview about Edwin Schrott Opera's new bad boy and thought about how music affects our lives. We listen to it in the car, at work we dance to it, we sing it and we should appreciate it. I have experienced so many types of live performances and found that I have a love for all music. Rock and Roll, Dance, R&B, Jazz, Blues, Reggae, Classical, Broadway and even Opera. Everyone should expeience a live performance in all categories. It opens the mind and brings an appreciation of the heart and soul of the performer.

This story of Don Goivanni is a wonderful choice if you have never seen an opera. The story defiantly moves the soul and when combind with the music it can be a very powerful experience. Not to mention the architecture of the The Metropolitan Opera House is unbelievable.

Here is an interview with Operas New Bad Boy thought it was intriguing so I decided to share it with you.

Edwin Schrott takes on the role if the worlds greatest lover Operas ultimate bad boy as Mozart's Don Giovanni

You've sung Don Giovanni many times, but never before at the Met. How has your interpretation developed?
Everybody discovers different nuances each time they perform in an opera. It grows on you. And I have to compare my own point of view to those of the director and the other artists. That's why singing the same role so many times is never boring-it's never the same thing.

You were asked to sing Giovanni early in your career but decided to wait. Why?
Most people think Mozart is the easiest way for a singer to approach the profession, but it's not easy at all. His music can be cheery or tragic or a lot of things at the same time. When you look at Don Giovanni it may look simple at first, but then you discover there's a lot more to it. Either you decide to sing it and see what happens, or you take your time and study all the details until you're confident enough to face Mozart onstage. I took the second option.

What is it that Don Giovanni is really after? Is it the seduction, power, and the thrill of the chase...?
I think he's a bored, emotionless person who entertains himself by hurting other people. He serially misbehaves. He fakes passion, he's seductive, but the truth is that he has no passion at all-because it's an emotion, and he's unable to feel anything for anyone. He doesn't care about what happens around him.

Mozart wrote the opera in the 1780s. Why does this character continue to interest us?
There are still plenty of Giovannis in the world! The opera is a psychological essay on infidelity, betrayal, and men always being on the verge of moral corruption. It's very contemporary, if you think of it in these terms!

You sang in this production on a Met tour to Japan two years ago. How would you describe director Marthe Keller's staging?
Her vision is quite simple, but in a good and interesting way. Simple things are often the hardest to achieve. Marthe sees Giovanni as some sort of addict, addicted to seduction to the extent that he behaves as if defying death were the ultimate act of seduction.

You just had a son, Tiago, with Anna Netrebko. Congratulations! Would you want him to become a performer?
I'd like my children to become whatever they wish. And to be happy-I couldn't ask for more for them than that.
-Charles Sheek

Don Giovanni opens September 27.

As I watched New Jersey governor Corzine and Jim Cramer of Mad Money discuss today's Bailout. it was clear that this was a necessary move, but it may not be the be all end all solution.

It took long to get here," Corzine said, "so a lot of financial institutions are in trouble and they need to keep shrinking their balance sheets."

That lack of action gave banks plenty of time to collect more and more bad loans, so it's going to be some time before the write-offs end.

Another problem is that the Fannie-Freddie bailout might have used up the government's one "get out of jail free card." When the next great crisis comes along - Cramer mentioned Ford and General Motors - it will be that much harder for the government to step in.

In the end, though, home buyers and sellers should feel a little bit better about this development. It will free up some money, and buyers will likely continue to see reasonable interest rates. Sellers will see additional activity and could see spring's selling season stronger than previously expected.

Dawn Marie White

Broker Sales Manager e-pro

Crossroads Realty Inc

732-528-6800 Office 732-581-9414 Cell

www.njwaterfront.com