It’s Time to Think Summer – Local Camp Resource Guide for Our NJ Midtown Direct Communities

The dog days of winter are here!!  But I’m thinking spring– longer days, green lawns and the first signs of budding trees and flowers.  It’s such a pretty time here in our New Jersey Midtown Direct communities.  It makes me think of all the great spring and summer resources like our fabulous farmer’s markets, summer concerts and festivals.  And come to think of it, summer is only 5 months away and many parents are now combing through the yellow pages and kids resources for the best area summer camps. Read more

Home Buyers – Do you stop the car to scan a QR code on a real estate sign?

I just received  an email marketing a listing from a NJ Realtor that made me want to write this post.

There was a QR code in the email that says ” Scan this with your smart phone.. links to a listing website”  WHY would I do that? Wouldn’t it be easier for me to click a link to the listing than  grab  my iphone, go to the app, and  scan  her QR code on my computer? Even if I were on my iphone or ipad, it just seems easier to click a link. Am I the only one who feels this way? Read more

Playgrounds In Our New Jersey Midtown Direct Train Line Towns!

Looking for a playground in New Jersey?

Sheila Sayah has created www.NJPlaygrounds.com – all from exploring New Jersey’s playgrounds as a great way to keep her 3 toddlers busy. She recently joined Amy Lamperti of www.theplaygroundguide.com and together they have provided parents a HUGE playground guide.

Here are links to playgrounds in our New Jersey towns:

Chatham which is known for Castle Playground and Memorial Park.

Livingston Community Center, Littell People’s Park by Livingston High School

Maplewood has Memorial Park, which is in a centralized location to Maplewood Village and Maplewood Train Station.

Millburn – There’s Gero Park, right by the Millburn pool, and Taylor Park, located in town.

Madison – Visit Dodge Field, walking distance to Madison Train station.

South Orange – Farrell Field

Summit – Wilson Park, Mabie Playground, and my favorite – Memorial Field.

New Providence – Morris-Union Joint Venture Playground

Westfield – Tamaques Park, Memorial Park, and Mindowaskin Park

Berkeley Heights – Snyder Ave Park, Columbia Park

Click here for an Indoor Playgrounds!

Go ahead… “like” NJ Playgrounds on facebook and stay up to date on New Jersey Playground News!

Short Hills Halloween House is Ready to Spook the Glenwood Trick or Treaters!

Every year in our NJ Midtown Direct Town neighborhoods we can count on certain houses  getting decked out for Halloween. I live in the Glenwood Section of Short Hills and our neighborhood refer to the house in the video as “The Halloween House”. That home is for sale now and when I went on the listing appointment, we even said, ” Oh, it’s the Halloween house!”.  Now The Glenwood Section, much like the South Mountain Section, is a haven for trick or treaters because you can cover alot of houses in a short period of time. The kids quickly figure that out.  When the weather is nice, we go through as many as 12 bags of candy! But the parents are all outside drinking wine, so no one’s really counting.

One year, the day AFTER Halloween, my daughter and her friend decided to visit every house in Glenwood with their emptied pillowcases, telling the unsuspecting homeowners, ” We were sick on Halloween and couldn’t go out. Do you have any extra candy?”…. and of course – this is the day after Halloween when homeowners were anxious to get rid of their excess candy,  people emptied entire bags of candy into their pillowcases.  Pretty smart 4th graders, eh?

So witch Halloween stories come to mind for you?

Westfield Home to Wheels and Wishes

Calling all classic car enthusiasts and anyone looking for a fun day and night on the town! Rev up your engines, appetites and enthusiasm for Wheels and Wishes, a car show, auction and more, taking place near your Westfield home. This exciting day will be full of unique fun and entertainment that will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey. Complete with a live auction of collectible and memorabilia items as well as an evening event, come prepared to be dazzled by this car show’s events. Whether you live in Westfield and enjoy car shows or just want to try something new for the Halloween weekend, Wheels and Wishes is where you want to be. The Car Show will be held at the Westfield Armory (across from Westfield High School).

The fun begins with the Car Show Saturday October 29th at 10 a.m. and the Car Auction will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets are $5 for the day event. $1 of each ticket sold will be donated to the Make a Wish Foundation of New Jersey. Kids under 12 are FREE. The Evening Event will be held from 8 p.m. to midnight and will include music and dancing along with food tastings from over 25 of Westfield area’s finest local restaurants and eateries. Tickets for both the day and evening events are $30 each, all inclusive. $6 of each ticket sold will be donated to the Make a Wish Foundation of New Jersey. For more information, click here.

Video: Give Home Buyers and Sellers What They Are Looking For! Sue Adler and Kenn Renner Share Video and Website Strategies at Keller Williams National Convention

I’ve been fortunate to speak at several major real estate conventions over the years, but this time, I was lucky to have the King of Video, Kenn Renner, on stage with me because he filmed our whole panel! Read more

Work in NYC? 10 Reasons why you should commute from New Jersey.

10 Reasons why you should move from Manhattan to our awesome New Jersey towns….

1. NJ Transit- Midtown Direct Train gets you into New York Penn Station in 25-50 minutes from South Orange, Maplewood, Millburn, Short Hills, Summit.  After Summit, the trainline branches off to: Chatham, Madison, Convent Station…  and the other branch heads to New Providence and Berkeley Heights….   If you click on link above, you will see parking options whether you live in one of these towns or one of the surrounding towns. Need to commute to downtown to the financial district? Just take the train to Hoboken, and then the path or ferry.

Oh, did I mention that there is valet parking at the Millburn train station, and that there is a jitney bus to get you to and from the Maplewood & South Orange train stations during morning and evening rush hours?

Great Schools

2. We have great public schools! 2010 New Jersey School Report Card

3. Our towns are absolutely charming and beautiful. They are SO not like the New Jersey stereotype. Each town has its own personality(and different sections within each town do as well), and you’ll find that living here you will frequent all of the surrounding towns for different things from shops to restaurants to theatre to fitness centers to art, piano or karate lessons. Read more

Hey suburbia-phobic New Yorkers- we have great FREE schools in New Jersey!

Just released : the 2010 New Jersey School report card  

 Our local NJ schools continue to be strongly ranked - Millburn, Livingston, Chatham, Madison, Summit, Berkeley Heights, New Providence and others are among the top ranked New Jersey public  schools.   So listen up all you suburbia-phobic New Yorkers – come in for the town tours, and visit our great schools….. OK, ”free” may be arguable since you’re paying for it in your taxes,  however, it’s still less expensive than New York private schools, and only a 25 to 45 minute direct train into midtown Manhattan.