580 Prospect Street

I'm not a real estate professional just curious and perhaps clueless. Nice story in the Ledger this morning about 580 Prospect, and family that built and lived in it for 100 years. So, I look at the listing on Zillow, and was curious about a few things. First, there is no previous sale data listed?  Why not? Can listing agents suppress that info somehow?  Second, the taxes (according to Zillow) were listed as 21K in 2017, but then went down 45% and are listed as 11.5K in 2018. 11.5K in taxes for a 1.3 M house? How does this make sense? 

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/580-Prospect-St-Maplewood-NJ-07040/52634698_zpid/



Why would there be previous sales data? The family lived there for 100 years. The sales price is not relevant. The family were probably the first owners.There was no sale. Correcting this. It was sold in July for $600,000.


Went to open house last week. Nice place. Much of it updated. But $1.3 M?  Seems a bit high. I live a couple of blocks away and my taxes for a much smaller property with only 60% of the square footage of that building is about $16 k.  I too am perpelexed about the taxes on the property. 


On Zillow, I recently looked up my parents' house (elsewhere in NJ) -- and it is shown as having 2018 taxes that are also about half of the 2017 taxes. I wondered if it had anything to do with them recently retiring and being senior citizens?  Or if Zillow was only including the taxes for half the year of 2018 for some reason? I'm guessing it's a Zillow glitch, and it's the latter.


Zillow may not be accurate.  If you want to know the current real property taxes for the property, check with the town's real property assessor's office.  


Getting more info I see it was sold in July for $600,000. Somebody flipped it.


galileo said:
Getting more info I see it was sold in July for $600,000. Somebody flipped it.

 Yes, I saw that too and wondered why it was not on Zillow...



Zillow makes quite a few mistakes.


They will get a new assessment based on the new sale price. The buyer could be in for a shock.


The house was in the same family for 120 years.  It was is fairly serious disrepair when Robert Northfield bought it over the summer.  The renovation work, the flipping, is his.  I am not a fan of his choices in his flips but he knows the market and it is his money on the table so I am very interested in whether he gets his 1.3 mil.  The tax change will be dramatic, but it will also have a significant effect on comps and prices for the neighborhood.  I do not think it will be the first $1 mil + sale on Prospect, though.


Was that Dr. Crandal's house?  Is it on the corner of Plymouth?


max_weisenfeld said:
The house was in the same family for 120 years.  It was is fairly serious disrepair when Robert Northfield bought it over the summer.  The renovation work, the flipping, is his.  I am not a fan of his choices in his flips but he knows the market and it is his money on the table so I am very interested in whether he gets his 1.3 mil.  The tax change will be dramatic, but it will also have a significant effect on comps and prices for the neighborhood.  I do not think it will be the first $1 mil + sale on Prospect, though.

Northfield is the listing realtor but failed to disclose he is also the owner.


yahooyahoo said:


max_weisenfeld said:
The house was in the same family for 120 years.  It was is fairly serious disrepair when Robert Northfield bought it over the summer.  The renovation work, the flipping, is his.  I am not a fan of his choices in his flips but he knows the market and it is his money on the table so I am very interested in whether he gets his 1.3 mil.  The tax change will be dramatic, but it will also have a significant effect on comps and prices for the neighborhood.  I do not think it will be the first $1 mil + sale on Prospect, though.
Northfield is the listing realtor but failed to disclose he is also the owner.

 What's the legal requirement for doing so? 

I would bet it's owned by an LLC. Maybe that allows him to not disclose himself as owner. 


Sparky123 said:
Went to open house last week. Nice place. Much of it updated. But $1.3 M?  Seems a bit high. I live a couple of blocks away and my taxes for a much smaller property with only 60% of the square footage of that building is about $16 k.  I too am perpelexed about the taxes on the property. 

 There’s a big difference in property values between the typical houses on the side streets that intersect Prospect Street and the larger houses/lots on Prospect Street.


mrincredible said:


yahooyahoo said:

max_weisenfeld said:
The house was in the same family for 120 years.  It was is fairly serious disrepair when Robert Northfield bought it over the summer.  The renovation work, the flipping, is his.  I am not a fan of his choices in his flips but he knows the market and it is his money on the table so I am very interested in whether he gets his 1.3 mil.  The tax change will be dramatic, but it will also have a significant effect on comps and prices for the neighborhood.  I do not think it will be the first $1 mil + sale on Prospect, though.
Northfield is the listing realtor but failed to disclose he is also the owner.
 What's the legal requirement for doing so? 
I would bet it's owned by an LLC. Maybe that allows him to not disclose himself as owner. 

Maybe not illegal, but certainly unethical.

Disclosure is required by the National Association of Realtors Code of Ethics & Standards of Practice.

https://www.nar.realtor/about-nar/governing-documents/code-of-ethics/2019-code-of-ethics-standards-of-practice

Article 4 REALTORS® shall not acquire an interest in or buy or present offers from themselves, any member of their immediate families, their firms or any member thereof, or any entities in which they have any ownership interest, any real property without making their true position known to the owner or the owner’s agent or broker. In selling property they own, or in which they have any interest, REALTORS® shall reveal their ownership or interest in writing to the purchaser or the purchaser’s representative. (Amended 1/00) [listen]

  • Standard of Practice 4-1

For the protection of all parties, the disclosures required by Article 4 shall be in writing and provided by REALTORS® prior to the signing of any contract. (Adopted 2/86)

Article 5 (Case Interpretations for Article 5)

REALTORS® shall not undertake to provide professional services concerning a property or its value where they have a present or contemplated interest unless such interest is specifically disclosed to all affected parties.



His ownership should be disclosed on the listing agreement and contract of sale.


Northfield flips many houses, I looked at several a few years back. Definitely a “look”- I’m sure one that sells.  I would guess it’s all done under an LLC, or multiple, both the investing and contracting.


Thanks yahoosquared I honestly didn't know. I wasn't supporting his action, just curious if he was violating any statutes.

Reading the ethics rules you posted, it seems like he could claim he would inform a potential buyer at any time before a contract was signed. The rules seem to support the idea that his attorney could hand a letter explaining his ownership to the buyers at the beginning of the closing and not be in violation. It doesn't say the information has to be shared up front, just prior to any contract being signed.

It seems to me that's a rule that should be made more specific.


For what it's worth, Zillow isn't quite 'worthless' but it's quite often wrong, and in a variety of ways.

I usually look property up with NJ Parcels, much more likely to be accurate.

http://njparcels.com/property/0711/26.01/30



I thought Northfield flipped with his brother as the contractor, name on the paperwork. Their relationship, however, is obscured since they have different last names, since Robert had his legally changed to match a local avenue in Essex county.


I think it looks amazing. Nice job.


I must say Robert Northfield has refurbished many a home that needed help. In doing so he has really raised the prices of homes in Maplewood. I must give him credit for that.


peteglider said:
Northfield flips many houses, I looked at several a few years back. Definitely a “look”- I’m sure one that sells.  I would guess it’s all done under an LLC, or multiple, both the investing and contracting.

 All of my impressions of him are "sleazy".  I can't provide hard data to support that, but I've just heard too many stories and would NEVER use him.


Two brothers, one the realtor, the other the contractor..... property Brothers of Maplewood.


We had this same discussion with the yellow house on Valley across from the park. But in that case the house was demolished and a new one was built. The new one is fine but I miss the old yellow house.


galileo said:
We had this same discussion with the yellow house on Valley across from the park. But in that case the house was demolished and a new one was built. The new one is fine but I miss the old yellow house.

 Don't get me started.


We toured the home yesterday and thought it was stunningly beautiful.


I live next door to a house flipped by Northfield and his brother.  It soon became obvious that the 'updates' were of the least expensive quality and zero attention was paid to making sure the buyers would not need to worry about things like plumbing or heating failures in the near future. The house did look beautiful and the first time homeowners who bought it soon incurred major expenses updating systems.


His name is on a “coming soon” flip in our neighborhood. Not a fan of the exterior paint job, IMHO looks shoddy...wondering if shingles were sanded or coats just plopped on top for sake of quickly transforming look of the place. 


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