The buyer who paid $350K over asking for this Tudor home ‘would not take no for an answer’

When you find what you want, you pounce on it, especially in this real estate market.

A home in Montclair was listed for sale Jan. 18 for $1.45 million. “A buyer came in the first day and put in an offer the seller couldn’t refuse,” said Lauren Orsini, the listing agent with BHHS Fox & Roach West Essex Regional Office in Verona.

The offer was for $1.8 million, cash. That’s $350,000 above the asking price. “The seller was very content with that and not having to show the house the rest of the weekend,” she said.

The sellers had just bought the home last year. When they bought it, it was listed in May for $1.19 million and they paid $1.4 million.

Typically a home gets listed and has showings all weekend, then by Tuesday they go for the highest and best offer, Orsini said.

“Many agents won’t submit an offer until the deadline because they don’t want their offer to be used as leverage,” she said. “This was an aggressive offer by a very savvy agent.”

No other offers were submitted. “Most agents would not expect that to be the cadence,” Orsini said.

The home, an English Tudor, has six bedrooms, four full- and two half-bathrooms. It has a kitchen with a butler’s pantry with a wet bar and a breakfast nook, a sunken living room, a paneled library, a solarium, an primary bedroom with an updated bathroom and a third floor media room with vaulted ceilings. It’s also close to trains and buses and shopping.

The buyer “had been waiting for a Tudor and they weren’t taking no for an answer,” she said.

Homes in Montclair typically sell for 20% to 45% over list price, Orsini said.

“There’s not enough inventory and plenty of buyers,” she said.

Homes in Montclair tend to spend 34 days on the market. Statewide, homes spent 44 days on the market in February, according to data from New Jersey Realtors.

And the median sales price of a home in Montclair is $770,000, that’s up 2.7% from a year ago. The median sales price of a home in New Jersey is $500,000, according to New Jersey Realtors.

Montclair is a particularly hot market for people looking to relocate from Brooklyn, Manhattan, Jersey City, Hoboken and Weehawken.

“They like Montclair because it’s a suburban town with an urban flair,” Orsini said.

Montclair has a diverse population, cultural activities, restaurants of many national flavors, a highly regarded magnet school system and a rail line that goes directly into Manhattan.

“Montclair just offers so many different things other communities don’t. And if you’re coming from the Gold Coast, Manhattan or Brooklyn, you’re getting a yard, space, independent living in a single family house,” she said. “For people coming from those areas, this is a bargain for 4,200 square feet versus the small square footage they’re getting in the city.”

Are you an agent, buyer or seller who is active in this changing market? Do you have tips about New Jersey’s real estate market? Unusual listings? Let us know.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com.