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  • Interest in Interest [Rates]
    Interest rates. These days, this topic is front and center among realtors, buyers, sellers, and of course, mortgage lenders. We have some essential information from Dave Pressel, a long-time Maplewood, NJ resident and a local mortgage lender who’s been in the biz for eons. Dave has seen it all. Below he shares some […]
  • Making Moves | Buying, Selling, and Adaptation
    2022 is upon us, and it is undeniable that the national housing inventory crisis of the past few years has impacted the way we think about the real estate market. Since Carla and I are hyper-focused on the uber-competitive NYC commuter-friendly markets of NJ; Maplewood, South Orange, Montclair, etc. where the inventory crisis […]
  • Trees Do Fall
    I love love love trees. In fact, when people talk about being “an ocean person” or “a mountain person”,  my answer is “I am a tree person.”  So I, like so many who have made the move from the concrete urbs to the verdant suburbs considered the increase of trees a great perk. […]
  • Home Buying in 2021
    Well hello Essex County NJ homebuyers! We are two months into 2021, welcome to this year’s unusual melange of housing market variables. We thought we’d compile some defining factors at play so you are armed with info when you are ready. As you peruse the following, don’t get discouraged – just keep in […]
  • LOOKING AHEAD TO 2021
    2020. Where to begin? Since Carla Labianca and I are a Real Estate Partnership, let’s begin with one aspect of the beast that was 2020 – the local real estate market since COVID-19. Picture a (beast-themed) roller coaster with almost vertical climbs, a few minor dips but no extreme drops. The Seller’s market, […]
  • Real Estate Competition | Making an Offer
    Making an offer for real estate in Maplewood, South Orange, Montclair, or other Essex County commuter towns of New Jersey was not for the faint of heart pre-Covid-19, and even less so since Covid-19.  While the real estate options in Essex County’s bedroom communities have become an even more desirable option for urbanites, […]
  • In Contemplation of Staging
    Considering Local perspectives Scrolling through listings or visiting open houses in different parts of the United States, one might see homes looking very much the way they look on an average Tuesday. Towels hang off-kilter, mismatched furniture obstructs pathways, personal items out – someone is living life there. No one is hiding it. […]
  • A Few Minutes in Maplewood, NJ
    A Look at Maplewood, NJ at the Turn of the Last Century Look what we found in the Maplewood Memorial Library? It’s a Real Estate marketing pamphlet written specifically for Maplewood, NJ and it was published somewhere between the late 1800s and early 1900s. It describes Maplewood, NJ as having “…an active, growing, intelligent […]
  • How We Found No. 139 Maplewood Avenue
    Welcome to No. 139 Maplewood Avenue, our home. Let me tell you a story… “That’s the most perfect house around here.” I said to our Realtor as she drove Gary and me away from the Maplewood Train Station. Only an hour before, we left our Brooklyn apartment in search of the suburban dream. […]
  • We Nearly Sold No. 139
    A perk of practicing real estate is the Broker Open. This is when agents debut new listings or listings with a recent price modification or renovation of some sort or another to their colleagues.  As a lover of historic homes, it’s such a treat. My husband calls it an occupational hazard.  I sometimes […]