Archive for the 'Living in Maplewood' Category

One of the things I love most about Montclair is its diversity. Over the 20 years that I’ve lived here, I’ve  become friends with a number of people whom I probably would never have even gotten to meet in a more homogeneous suburb. These friends come from different religious,  ethnic and economic backgrounds from my own. I was thinking about this in connection with Governor Christie’s veto last month of an affordable housing bill.

On January 24, the governor conditionally vetoed a bill that would have replaced New Jersey’s Council on Affordable Housing with simpler ways for towns to meet their affordable housing obligations. He feels that the bill places too much of a burden on towns and builders; I believe that his proposed solutions will endanger the building of any new housing for middle- and working-class New Jerseyans. These are often the very people who provide the services essential to any community–the firefighters, police officers, shop owners, schoolteachers, etc. Without this economic diversity, walkable suburbs such as Montclair may become richer in terms of per capita income, but we will almost certainly become poorer in terms of our civic spirit. Hopefully this will never happen.

A recent New York Times article discusses the rise in short sales in Manhattan due to the recession. One market analyst said “2010 might well be dubbed the Year of the Short Sale nationally. ‘A short sale is going to be the only way for many people who bought at the peak and who are now underwater to move on with their lives if they have to relocate or downsize.’” Like Manhattan, Montclair, Glen Ridge Maplewood and the rest of Essex County have seen the number of short sales rise. When the alternative is foreclosure, selling a house through a short sale is a way for the owner to come out of the deal relatively unscathed. I discuss the issue of short sales further in Short Sales for Buyers and Short Sales for Sellers. If you have any questions about short sales, either because you’re thinking of selling your house short or you’re interested in buying a house that’s  a short sale, please email me for more information.

When I walk to Watchung Plaza from my Montclair home, I take a short route  through an interconnected grid of streets and through a small park.  I wave to my neighbor on the way.  I stop for a brief minute in the park to chat with a friend who’s on her way home from work (she’s just gotten off the 5:31 train from Manhattan).  It’s social.  It’s interactive.  It’s exercise.  It’s green.

On the other hand, it’s very difficult to walk to the train station, or the corner store to get milk in a town that is laid out in a branching street pattern with a series of dead-ends -aka cul-de-sacs- feeding in to a main artery. In these configurations, you can be a stone’s throw from your destination, but have to travel a mile to get there.  This may be a satisfactory layout for the car but not for the pedestrian or bike rider.

Watch this very clever video from the Congress for New Urbanism and you’ll see what I mean…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGJt_YXIoJI

As you may or may not know, rental transactions are a marginal business for real estate agents.  They require many hours, uncertain payoff and a very small commission.  However, many agents handle rentals with the knowledge that renters often become buyers at a later date and therefore view it as an investment in a relationship rather than a source of revenue.

It is typical in rental transactions for the tenant to pay the commission or fee (although occasionally, the landlord will pay if the there is much competition or if the property is difficult to rent).  Many prospective tenants look for ways to avoid  the fee – who doesn’t want to save a buck, right?  My approach has always been to tell my rental  clients about the many ways to rent without paying a commission.  I figure that my good advice is as valuable to the relationship as anything else.  Here are my strategies for the D-I-Y renter:

• Knock on the door of the superintendent  in large rental buildings.
• Call the management company of rental buildings, usually listed in the lobby.
• Drive around looking for “For Rent” signs put out by the owner or manager.
• Craigslist.org

If you have more time than money, these strategies may work well for you.  One caveat for craigslist : Be certain that you are dealing with the owner/landlord or a bonafide agent for the landlord.  In this recent craigslist post, a person posing as the owner of a Maplewood NJ house has advertised it for rent (at a below market-rate price).  The house is not, in fact for rent - but it is for sale.

“Hello
     I can see you are interested in the ad I have pasted, I am currently in West Africa where I work as a volunteer with the RAFIKI FOUNDATION,here is the site for more detail about why I am here in Africa.( http://www.rafiki-foundation.org/). So I need a tenant to take care of it but since  I am out of the state now, I have received some proposals regarding the rent because it is located in a very good area of Maplewood, but I still have to make sure it is rented out to someone who can take good care of it. It includes facilities such as water and heat laundry facilities,  air condition, internet and telephone access and a car park and other necessary facilities, also comes with trash collection,pets are allowed as well as long as they are not destructive. so if you know you are capable of the task, get back to me so that I can provide you with some questions that I would want you to answer.below is the location.  101 Parker Ave, Maplewood, NJ.”

Sounds vaguely like the Nigerian prince scam.  Renter beware.

South Orange Performing Arts Center

 For those of us who opted for the staycation this year, ArtsMaplewood and SOPAC offer a welcome distraction:  Free Outdoor Performances for Kids & Families  Kids: bring your parents to this event, grab your red-checkered picnic blanket, but leave the basket at home. Whole Foods will be on site selling delicious meals for the family.

Wednesdays in South Orange (Cameron Field in Meadowland Park)
Thursdays in Maplewood (Memorial Park)

Two Performances Each Day at 5 & 6:30pm

Wed, Aug 19 & Thu, Aug 20
Little Red Rosie and the Three Big Pigs  (I am proud to mention that friend and colleague, Nancy Chu -who moonlights in the theater-wrote and directed this performance)

Wed, Aug 26 & Thu, Aug 27
Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could

For years, New Jersey was sprawling westward, northward, and southward with real estate development in formerly rural areas. Now the recession has hit and so many of those big new shiny houses a couple of hours outside the city are losing value rapidly—despite their newness, their immense pasture-like lawns, and quiet isolation. What seemed like a good idea a few years ago is suddenly languishing in the for-sale market.

That’s why now seems like a good time to start talking about why density is good for the planet and good for humans. Yes, density. The word has a bit of a negative connotation. But you’ll get past that. These days, many young families want to live in areas where they can walk places, shop in their towns, spend less time in cars and get to the city quick.  Density is also a good investment.  In the recent economic downturn, towns on train lines have been holding real estate values far better than those far from urban centers.

Walkable Suburb is my new website and blog.  And it’s the focus of my New Jersey real estate business. You can find out more about density, new urbanism and what makes New Jersey’s inner-ring suburbs like Montclair, Glen Ridge, Bloomfield, South Orange and Maplewood, walkable suburbs.  These towns were built early in the last century with walking, community, and public transportation in mind. They are increasingly desirable and make sense for the world today.

Welcome to Walkable Suburb. Please drop in from time to time or sign up for my monthly summaries via email or my RSS feed. I hope to keep the journey interesting with insights, market analysis, and tips for life and real estate in New Jersey’s best walkable suburbs.