This year Bergen County MLS's inspiration was what can we do to make buyers comfortable buying and searching here?  What you needed was the ability to find a property for purchasing as an investment.  Now you can see recent sold sale prices.  The prices of other properties in their neighborhood and even a glimpse of golden nugget information upside which is provided on a personal level.

Yes buyers can obtain similar data but it will take days, trotting from one municipal office to another.  Our solution was BergenCountyMLS.com, a Web site that details only Bergen County New Jersey real estate.  We saw our site as an opportunity to level the playing field with the mundane proprietary information of special interest and real estate lobbyist's.

As real estate markets across the United States are cooling off, the playing field has shifted to the buyers.  In many communities, a seller no longer holds as powerful a position during negotiations as was the case last year.  Buyers will want to play whatever slight advantage the market is giving them but you have to know the market.

To do that well, they need as much information as they can get. In the hands of the buyer or the seller information from Web sites like BergenCountyMLS can shift the negotiation dynamics in the buyer's favor.

Chances are the neighborhood you wanted to buy in is now available and no longer does the seller have a market stronghold on top real estate prices.  Our brokers who negotiate deals in the special market areas of Bergen County say that homes are not receiving multiple offers because sellers have remained firm on yesterdays real estate prices.  As a deliberately overpriced home, your property will sit and remain stale to buyers.  If a discount is building the bidding platform will change.  It's still a far cry from what we were seeing in 2005.

If you're a seller, you are already hearing real estate agents advising you to increase the portion of the commission that your agent shares with the buyers' agent in order to make the listing more attractive.  Really? Think about this: You are paying your agent more than enough to bring in the buyers' agents.  Buyers will come if the house is priced right, not because their agent will make $15,000 more. Save your money and spend some time doing some research into home values and home valuations.

While the slippery slope is halfway down the slide it isn't a buyers' market dream quite yet.  There may be individual desperate sellers, but if a seller has a lot of equity in the house, then they aren't going to be desperate. Until that time comes, what makes the seller sit up and take notice is that you start asking for concessions.  The more information you have about a property, the more you'll know what to ask for and your negotiating position strengthens.  Use our site to strengthen your postion as a Buyer looking to buy in Bergen County.

Real estate agents rarely urge you to talk to neighbors, but many acknowledge you can find out a lot about a neighborhood's defects and charms that way. If you hit someone gossipy, you may even discover secrets about the property you are looking at and the circumstances of the sellers. This is one of the special features Bergen County MLS reveals about neighborhoods that can be so useful in negotiating.

Look at public information In New Jersey, a site like BergenCountyMLS is invaluable because with a few clicks, a prospective buyer can request information on assessments, as well as flood maps, sold maps and the names of neighbors or prospective sellers.  You should be looking for the sales history of the property and those homes surrounding it that are similar.

You should also check the test scores in public schools even if you have no children. Neighborhoods with excellent scores command a premium because the homeowners presumably won't have the expense of private schools. But if scores are slipping, you may be paying a premium for nothing.

Have the home inspected, make sure the purchase is contingent on your acceptance of the inspection report. That may seem like basic advice, but inspections fell by the wayside during the home buying frenzy.  If you use a thorough inspector with no ties to the agents in the deal, you should have a good idea of the problems with any house. If your own investigations raised some suspicions, you can ask the inspector to pay special attention to those areas.

Ask for cash at closing.  This will allow you to fix whatever is not up to standard code at the seller's expense. Don't agree to allow sellers to fix problems as they are heading out the door. If you arrange the work, you'll be able to supervise it and make sure you are satisfied with the outcome.

How much can you ask for? If there are no other offers behind yours and the neighborhood has several other comparable homes on the market, request appliances, repairs of cracked windows and damaged floors, as much as you want. You may not get it, but it can't hurt to ask politely and only people who ask, can receive its called negotiation.  If you put emotion into a bid it will hamper your negotiation.

"We will be seeing the disappearance of the 'sold as-is' listings," said Mathew Dowd, a fulltime active agent in Bergen County New Jersey with REMAX Property Exchange.  In fact, he is seeing more listings in the Bergen County area, where he wants to invest, offering credits, right in the listing, to cover flaws in the house or multifamily investment property.

The BergenCountyMLS.com website is the newest source of current Real Estate Listing information created by REALTOR® Members in Bergen County New Jersey. The for sale information cooperation exchange is of residential homes, condominiums, co_ops, vacant land or commercial properties like apartment buildings, multifamily properties, retail space, shopping centers and industrial and office properties. We have designed this site with the buyer and seller or investor in mind because we own real estate in Bergen County and operate as REALTOR® Members working in Bergen County's Real Estate market for 16 years which is located in Northeastern New Jersey as a Multiple Listing Service called BergenCountyMLS.com. It is separate from any of the other New Jersey Multiple Listing Services or pay to play listing sites and is the preferred site for the New Jersey home buyer or seller looking for Bergen County New Jersey Real Estate Listings. 

Our site displays listings in Northern New Jersey's Bergen County area exclusively. Our Bergen County New Jersey Real Estate listings are unique and updated by REALTOR® Members because we trust them to disclose the most accurate information available as part of the National Real Estate Listing Service for REALTOR® Members. 

Type in your name and address and we will be happy to provide you sales history, research and comparable prices in your neighborhood.  We have access to the complete sources of information including the Bergen County Deed Vault.  Our service area covers all of Bergen County in Northern New Jersey.  Below are all the muncipalities the encompass Bergen County.