I consider myself a very accepting person, but I also hold some very strong opinions. One of them relates to attached garages.

First, please let me say that if you have an attached garage, this is in no way meant to disparage you or your carport. But if I'm being honest, I've never really liked the way a garage looks when it's attached to a [...]

Earlier this week, I came across an intriguing headline in The New York Times: "Young Americans Lead Trend to Less Driving."  As aNew Jersey Realtorwhose home-buying  clients tend to be New Yorkers looking for urban convenience along with leafy yards and good schools, I've been a witness to this phenomenon locally. Apparently it's [...]

Anyone who knows me or reads my blog knows that I consider walkability very important to both the environment and one's general health, both physical and mental. According to an interesting post on the [...]

Here's a short quiz:  What do the diner, the fast-food drive-thru, the turnpike and the mall have in common? Apparently, these icons of suburbia all had their beginnings in New Jersey. I  learned this bit of historical trivia from an interview with Dr. Richard Jackson published last week on [...]

I'm feeling very retro these days. A couple of weeks ago my dryer quit after a long and useful life.  Engrossed in my washing, I hadn't noticed that the dryer was not keeping pace with the washer and so 4 loads later I found myself with 80 lbs of wet clothes. A quick run to Mr. Charlie's (aka [...]

I just read an article on usatoday.com that confirmed what I've suspected for awhile - that walkability leads to happiness.  The article cited a recent study from the University of New Hampshire which found that people who live in [...]

Heard this weekend while showing some Montclair houses for sale: "disappointed by the kitchens in the current inventory of Montclair real estate - even some of those that have been renovated"

It seems today's Montclair home buyers expect more out of the kitchen than they did in years past. The dream kitchen of today is not just equipped with [...]

I'm a big fan of the Brookdale section of Bloomfield. It has charming, well-maintained houses right by Brookdale Park, as well as a great mix of traditional and trendy shops and restaurants on Broad Street. Italian food fans have two delicious choices, each open less than a year.  [...]

What Is Your Community Walkability Score?

I'm a big fan of the rating website, www.walkscore.com, but its algorithm relies mostly on the proximity of a house to stores and community resources.  But to find walkability rating, it's not just about distance -- it's also about the quality and ease of the [...]

We have a saying among real estate agents that  "Kitchens sell houses." At the mere mention of the words "granite" or "stainless steel," buyers flock to a new listing, imagining themselves preparing home-cooked meals for the family or having friends gather around the "island" while the host prepares a gourmet meal and offers a little kitchen [...]