Are You Ready to Make Your Move?

Ready to make your next real estate move? The timing is certainly right ~ interest rates are low, inventory is available, the latest economic news is better. But still, real estate is a big decision, one of the biggest you will every make. We want to make this decision easier for you by providing you with the top five reasons to let us make your next real estate transaction your best! If you are on the fence about which way to turn, and where to find help, then look no further ~ Lois Schneider Realtor is here to help you off the fence and into your dream home!

Here are 5 Reasons to Use Lois Schneider Realtor for Your Next Real Estate Transaction:

1. Local Roots – No one knows our beautiful towns better than the team at Lois Schneider Realtor. All of our professional sales associates and support staff are immersed in the life of our communities – many are third generation residents. We know our neighborhoods, our schools, our local businesses and services. We track local market trends and understand nuances that affect home values. Lois Schneider has been a highly respected local businesswoman for over thirty-five years. Her name is on the door and she is accessible and available to our sales associates and our clients every day.

2. Global Reach – We’re also at home in the world thanks to our network of global connections. Through numerous affiliations with the foremost real estate networks such as Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Luxury Portfolio, and LuxuryRealEstate.com, we can offer our listing clients national and international exposure. Lois Schneider Realtor can present your property via the Internet to potential buyers around the nation or the world. And if you’re relocating or shopping for a vacation home, we can connect you to the best real estate companies to facilitate that transaction as well.

3. Our Team of Experts – In any market, selling a home is a complex process. The Realtor you select will make the critical difference in both the quality of your experience and its ultimate outcome. Lois Schneider Realtor can make that difference for you. Each member of our team has been personally selected by our founder based on professional achievement, community involvement, technical competence and a shared sense of the company’s core values. Our real estate professionals are skilled in determining value, strategic pricing, contract negotiations, accessing financing options, and developing a customized marketing plan for your property. Our sales associates are backed up by a team of in-house professional graphic designers and marketing experts who understand how to maximize your properties features for potential buyers.

4. The Inside Track – We know that the process of buying or selling a home can feel long and intense, like running a marathon, but it doesn’t have to be that way. At Lois Schneider Realtor, we are committed to staying with you, from starting gate to finish line. As the premier real estate company in our area, we have the inside track on the current market conditions in our communities and access to all of the information that you need to make decisions about buying or selling a home, including detailed information about the home you own right now.  We are happy to share this information with you. And as the market leader in our area for more than 35 years, we have relationships with past clients, attorneys, financial institutions, relocation companies and others who have experienced our service and have spread the word to potential buyers about our knowledge and expertise.

5. High Touch…High Tech – Tradition and technology. That’s what you’ll find at Lois Schneider Realtor. We’re proud of our legendary reputation for personal service. And we are delighted that 21st century technology has enabled us to enhance that service through quicker, more consistent communication with our clients. Our tech-savvy Realtors know that over 90 percent of residential real estate sales start on the web. And we are there on all the most frequently visited websites.

 

Questions about the local market, interested in one of our communities, ready to start your search? Give Lois Schneider Realtor a call at 908.277.1398, drop us an email at info@loisschneiderrealtor.com,  or stop in and visit us in our lovely office at 431 Springfield Avenue, Summit, NJ.

 Houses are our business, homes are our passion ~ let us help you find your dream home today!

Show Your Support on Super Bowl Sunday

For football fans everywhere, this Sunday is THE Sunday. The game of games. The Super Bowl. Friends, families and fans will gather in front of big screens across the country, dressed to the nines in team colors and team jerseys. And they will watch every moment…the pre-game, the actual game, the commercials, and the half-time show. And if they take their eyes off of the big screens for even a second, chances are it will be to fill their plates with all of the game-day goodies have become a staple of Super Bowl parties…chili, wings, pizza, chips and dips. In fact, it seems like the second question asked when discussing the game (immediately following, “who are you cheering for”) is “what are you serving at your Super Bowl party.”

This year, as fans are preparing for their festivities and celebrations, groups of young people will be taking a different approach to gathering food by participating in the “Souper Bowl of Caring.” Armed with large soup pots, youth across the country stand in their churches and collect canned goods and cash to be donated to local food banks. The Souper Bowl of Caring administrative offices work with the groups to mobilize them in their efforts to reduce hunger and poverty, and all of the food and monies collected by the youth organizations are donated to the charities of their choice. According to the Souper Bowl of Caring website, the following Summit youth groups will be participating in 2012 drive: St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Central Presbyterian Church, and Calvary Episcopal Church.

So, whether you are cheering on the New England Patriots or our local, hometown heroes, the New York Giants, please consider sharing your game day bounty with another group of heroes…the youth of our communities that are working hard to help those less fortunate. Contact any of the local participants listed above with donations to support our community food pantries, or donate directly to www.souperbowl.org. And if you are a participating youth group that we have failed to mention, please let us know. We will share a link to your page as well.

Thank you…and GO TEAM!!!

The Best of Both Worlds

Who says a real estate company has to decide between being a “global agency” or being a “Mom and Pop shop.” At Lois Schneider Realtor, we believe that our clients deserve the benefits of both models.

Our privately owned firm has long been respected for its deep roots in the community and the exceptional experience we provide our clients.

Our affiliation with the prestigious Leading Real Estate Companies of the World allows us to extend that same service through our network of over 500 partner companies around the country and around the world. This includes our relationship with the well-respected Halstead Properties, LLC  and Brown Harris Stevens Residential Sales, both in New York City. This regional partnership assures that we are the choice company to work with buyers who are moving from the City, but still want to retain train-line access to all New York has to offer.

Because of our affiliations with such choice companies, listings on the Lois Schneider Realtor website are automatically featured on the websites of the best real estate companies  all over the world. Combine this with our local market expertise, and you can be assured that our clients receive the powerful local marketing they have come to trust and the global exposure we believe they deserve–truly the best of both worlds!

From Our Home To Yours…

Wishing you and yours every happiness this holiday season, and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Happy Thanksgiving

Lois Schneider Realtor Wishes You and Yours a Very

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Anniversary!

It’s a beautiful autumn day today, a perfect day to take a stroll up and down the streets of downtown Summit. Perhaps you’ll dine al fresco one last time before it gets too cold, perhaps you’ll visit one of the fine clothing stores looking for a fall wardrobe enhancement, perhaps you’ll stop by the bank or the hardware store or the pharmacy. And perhaps you’ll walk past our very own window display and notice the balloons, confetti, and champagne glasses — an indication of a celebration! And what a celebration it is–today we are taking a moment as a company to celebrate 35 years of Lois Schneider Realtor!

35 years ago, Lois made the decision to go against the grain of big mergers and franchising in the real estate business; and instead, focused on a business with just one office and just one mission: superb service. And Lois has stayed true to that mission for 35 years, maintaining an agency rooted in market knowledge and first-class service. Lois has taken her business savvy and her steadfast commitment to excellent service and combined it with that one other thing she knows so well–that one thing that makes real estate the perfect business for her–a sense of “home.”

Her sense of home is evident in what she has created with her husband Al, and has grown over the years to include her children, grandchildren, and great-granddaughter. It is seen in her role as “head of the household” at LSR, where she has fostered the atmosphere of home from the way she decorates the office all the way through the way in which she treats her agents and staff as members of her extended family.   Lois’s commitment  to home moves outward to the community as well, where she believes that the members of a community, much like the members of a family, are responsible for each other. She believes that lending a helping hand, in a respectful manner, is the way to build a strong, vibrant society, and she insists on doing her part.  And finally, but most importantly, Lois takes great pride in bringing that sense of home to her clients. She knows that this business is about more than buying or selling a “house”; it is about sharing the excitement of opening the door to the perfect place to start building memories, and it’s about anticipating the emotions of closing the door when it is time to move on. That is why Lois has proven to be a perfect fit for the real estate world; because at the very heart of it all, it is about home.

The real estate business has changed a great deal in 35 years, and Lois Schneider Realtor has weathered the storms, faced the challenges, and gained the experience to continue to move ahead and navigate the current market. And in the end, after all, it is still about home. And there is no place like it.

So tonight, the “family” of Lois Schneider Realtor will celebrate home, and will celebrate the head of our household, Lois Schneider. Here’s to a remarkable 35 years. We are proud and honored to be a part of it. Congratulations to you, Lois!!!

Pictured:Karen, Al and Lois Schneider

Kitchen Tour 2011

Lois Schneider Realtor, along with Bouras Properties, is thrilled to sponsor The Overlook Auxiliary Kitchen Tour on Thursday, October 20th. If you believe that kitchens are truly the heart of the home, then this is your chance to visit the heart of some of the most beautiful homes in Summit — and support an important cause at the same time. Proceeds of this event will benefit Overian Cancer Research.

Every year, more than 21,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer Of those women, 15,000 will not survive. However, if detected early, the five-year survival rate is greater than 90%. That is why it is so important to develop a method to screen for tumors, and identify them early. This is a key component to improving survival rates, and this is why we are proud to support such a important organization and such an important cause.

Tickets can be pre-purchased for $40 at Lois Schneider Realtor, at the gift shop at Overlook Hospital, or by visiting www.ohaux.org. Tickets will also be available the day of the tour for $45. The seven state-of-the-art kitchens will be open from 10 am – 3 pm.

*Pictured from left to right are Peggy Schreck (Co-President of Overlook Auxiliary), Kassandra Romas (Managing Director, Bouras Properties), Lois Schneider (President of Lois Schneider Realtor), and Elsa Russell (Co-President of Overlook Auxiliary).

Welcome Hilltoppers!

 If you are walking around Summit, NJ this weekend, expect to see a whole lot of maroon and gold! Why? Because this weekend, October 14-16, marks the first annual Hilltopper Alumni Weekend, and residents and guests alike are sure to be decked out in team colors, showing off their school pride!

Here’s just a sampling of the weekend’s events:

Friday will feature a Career Day at Summit High School, which will be open to alumni, and will be followed by guided tours of the school once classes are dismissed.  Friday will also feature the Women’s Tennis Team taking on Westfield, a pre-game tailgate party at Tatlock Park. Then fire up the “Friday Night Lights” and bring on the highlight of the weekend–the Hilltoppers will host the Highlanders of Governor Livingston High School–and kickoff is at 7 pm. End the evening at the post-game party at the Hat Tavern in the Grand Summit Hotel, or perhaps go stargazing with the Astronomy Club in Upper Tatlock Park.

The weather is supposed to be lovely on Saturday–perfect for a round of golf at the Summit Municipal Golf Course (space is limited, please call 908-343-2122 to check availability). The weather will also be perfect for a “Four Centuries In A Weekend” historical tour throughout Union County, featuring sites in Summit and surrounding towns. Also scheduled: a Centennial Garden Dedication at Brayton School, lunch at Towne Deli, Varsity Girls and Boys Soccer games, tour of Summit High School, SHS Student exhibitions and performances, and SHS Alumni Reunion parties.

Sunday will bring the weekend to a close with the Hilltopper Alumni Brunch at the Broadway Diner at 10:30 am and the YMCA 5K Walk/Run at 1 pm.

Sounds as if there will be something for everyone! And as always, Lois Schneider Realtor is proud to support our Hilltoppers and we are pleased to welcome returning alumni and guests to our wonderful community.

For more information regarding event times and locations, please visit www.hilltoppersalumni.com or join the Hilltopper Alumni Weekend group on Facebook.

The Best Places To Live

Imagine beautiful streets lined with lovely homes, top-rated schools, wonderful parks, vibrant downtowns, restaurants, theatres, symphonies, museums, Mid-Town Direct access to New York City. Doesn’t this sound like the perfect place to live? Well good news–if you live in one of the towns served by Lois Schneider Realtor, then you’re already there! And if you’re not familiar with our towns, we’d love to take you on a video tour. This week we are featuring the towns of Summit and Chatham. With the help of the wonderful crew YouHere Productions, you can see why we love being part of these communities.

At Lois Schneider Realtor, we’ve always known that the towns we serve are some of the best towns in New Jersey. That’s why we live here, work here and play here. And now, thanks to NJ Monthly Magazine, everyone else will know what we’ve known all along.

This month, NJ Monthly Magazine released its “Best Places To Live” issue, complete with rankings for 513 towns throughout the state of New Jersey. We are proud that so many of the towns we serve are in the top 100! #7-Berkeley Heights, #15-Chatham Township, #16-Summit, #21-New Providence, #31-Chatham Borough, #37-Madison, #51-Millburn/Short Hills, and #77-Harding Township.

For complete rankings, visit the NJ Monthly website at www.njmonthly.com, or pick up a copy at your favorite newsstand!

In Remembrance of 9.11