Last Sunday morning, I found myself on Midland Avenue in Montclair walking against a tide of hundreds of runners. This is not really unusual; Midland Avenue is a straight wide street that starts at Bloomfield Ave and runs about a mile north. As a centrally located, not-very-busy street, Midland is often the first leg of the races or fun runs [...]
When I moved to Montclair, there was basically one main event in October: Halloween. When my kids were little, I’d take them trick-or-treating (like any good parent might do), and occasionally, we’d stop by the house that [...]
I recently wrote a post about how houses don’t need to be perfect in order to be sold – or bought! Yet, many buyers seem to turn away from a home that isn’t a turnkey sale. Why is that?
In my experience, it’s usually because people who are new to homeownership don’t yet have the knowledge base to understand what’s a big problem and what’s a little [...]
As interest rates began to rise, I started getting a question I haven’t heard since the beginning of the pandemic: Is it STILL a good time to sell my house?
The short answer is: Yes!
There is an assumption that rising rates have pushed prices down. However, that has not yet happened.
There was a house on the market as recently as last week [...]
I’m always noticing how living in a walkable suburb feels different from other suburbs, but also how it feels different than living in a city. One of the walkable perks I notice again and again in Montclair are all the Little Free Libraries.
If you’re not familiar, these are little “book houses” people build that sit in their front yard, [...]
When I stop to think about it, it’s slightly shocking that this June marks Montclair’s first Pride event.
Shocking, I guess, because I’ve raised my kids in this town for the past 25 years, and it has always been a given that some of their friends would have two moms or two dads. Diversity, acceptance, and inclusivity are some of the many [...]
For all the years I’ve lived here in Montclair, the month of May has been an event. With winter in the rear-view mirror and everything flowering, May in Montclair always felt like a season unto itself -- 31-day celebration of the arts and culture of this special town.
These last two years, May in Montclair took a hiatus, and I was excited to discover that this year, it has started to make its way back. [...]
Tired of losing offers in a seller’s market? Here are 5 strategies to help buyers win.
In the last two years, buying a home has gone from finding the right house to finding a way to win a bid on a house. And the truth is, people who are the most savvy and flexible are often the ones whose offer ends up being accepted. In light of that, I’ve [...]
It’s not news to anyone that the housing market continues to favor sellers. One of the questions I’ve been getting regularly from buyers is:
“Are houses selling for way over the list price everywhere in Northern New Jersey?”
In real estate parlance, this is what we call sale price to list price ratio and the short answer is: No.
These days, [...]
I was recently given an award by the New Jersey Association of Realtors – their Circle of Excellence Award, which is based on an agent’s sales performance for the year. This was my first year as a Platinum winner – the highest [...]
