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.

For some, camp is a way for generations of the same family to share similar memories.  And for others, camps provide kids with a chance to take a break from school and winter routines and have a few weeks of good old-fashioned fun.

There are plenty of good traditional camps in New Jersey.  I can personally speak about Stonybrook Day Camp in Randolph, NJ and Meadowbrook Day Camp in Long Valley, NJ where my daughter, Abby Seitchik, worked as a counselor for many summers and loved them.  A few other very popular area day camps include Camp Riverbend, Camp Harmony, Jeff Lake Camp, Gesher Day Camp, Willow Lake and JCC Camps.   Some favorites for toddlers include Mini Camp at Far Brook and The Connection.  I have heard hundreds of wonderful, fun-loving stories from friends, neighbors and clients about how many of these camps were monumental in the development and growth of their children.  Oh, I wish I were a kid again!!

Today, many camps specialize in one particular area like sports camps, art camps (Creative Hands Art Studio, The Messy Artist, The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Montclair Art Museum Summer Camp) girl scouts, drama camps (Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, New Jersey School of Dramatic Arts, Acting with Emily), computer camps and the list goes on.  Ultimately, it comes down to the right fit for your child, location, timeframe and structure.  So do a little research, take a visit and you will be amazed at the wonderful choices right here in New Jersey.

Believe it or not, many have application deadlines coming up very soon!  With so many good ones to choose from, it’s hard to know where to begin….

Hoping this provides a little help from someone who’s been there many times.  Happy camping!!

Sue Adler

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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!

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There are no bounds on creativity and fun at the Art Studio, a multi-faceted studio dedicated to stimulating the artist in all of us, located near your Maplewood home. The Art Studio provides unique art instruction for children and adults in a focused yet relaxed environment. This week, or the sooner the better, awake your artistic side and have a great time at the Art Studio, especially if you live in Maplewood.

Adults are in for a treat this Halloween season and beyond as the Art Studio welcomes you with Masterpieces and Martinis, evenings full of artistry and most of all, fun for you and all your friends. You can choose from a portfolio of master paintings and then have a blast creating your own, step by step and while sipping on refreshing martinis.

All skill levels are welcome most evenings of the week from 7:00 to 9:30pm. The cost of the evening $35, including canvas and paint. Groups of seven or more may paint for free. The Art Studio is located at 499 Summit Avenue in Maplewood. For more information and to schedule a reservation, call (973)378-3798 or click here.

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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!

Ben Kinney and Cary Sylvester interviewed us about how we have dominated our local markets with our web strategy and use of videos. I discussed my community videos and how they attract relocation buyers who will be working in NYC, want an easy commute to work and great schools. The reason buyers stay on sueadler.com typically more than 5 minutes,  is because the site gives the real estate buyers and sellers the information they are typically researching –   commute, schools, home sale stats, restaurants and shops, recreation, community blog posts, seller blog posts with staging and pricing tips, and of course listings with floorplans and tons of photos. But it’s the community videos that make our buyers fall in love with our towns and make them want to come in and see it all in person. Do you agree?

We also discussed SEO and the fact that only after a couple of months, my new website is at the top of google for most of my towns, which is pretty cool considering how new it is.  BTW, if you’re on google plus, go ahead +1 the site if you like it. Thanks  I also do pay per click advertising for my www.LatestNJlistings.com site, which is my NJ home search site. I made a point to the Realtors in the audience that they need to make sure not to just throw money at pay per click advertising unless they have a website that has “stickiness” with great content that people won’t just click out of. Also, they need to have a great long term follow up system in place or they are just throwing money out the window.

We discuss my new chat feature that we just  added for everyone who is browsing the site. If  my team and I can be there to answer someone’s questions while they are on my site, I’ve found that people are so appreciative, especially in this day and age where everyone has ADD  and would also like to stay anonymous.

If you have any suggestions for the site, I’d love to hear. Are we missing anything?

Aside from all of the  national and international referral business I get from speaking ( which amounts to 4 or 5 new clients a week) , this is what makes it all worthwhile: My favorite tweet:

Want to follow all of the other twitter chatter?  Enter #kwmc in the search bar.

Thanks Keller Williams for allowing me the opportunity to share, and learn from the other top agents in our amazing company. Believe it or not, when I spoke at my first Mega Camp back in 2006, I was so terrified of public speaking that I would have rather jumped out of a plane, but now I really look forward to it!

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Whether you are buying or selling real estate in New Jersey, you can benefit from having an understanding of the local market.  The average listed sales price of a Maplewood New Jersey home for the month of August, 2011 was $327,400, with a median sales price of $517,500 for sold Maplewood homes.  Housing inventory has decreased in Maplewood when compared with  August of 2010, with 144 active listings being reported for the last day of August for Maplewood versus 161 in August of 2010.

The average listed sales price of a South Orange, New Jersey home for the month of August, 2011 was $422,000, with a median sales price of $397,000 for sold South Orange homes.  Housing inventory has decreased in South Orange when compared with August of 2010, with 110 active listings being reported for the last day of August for South Orange versus 134 in August of 2010. The big complaint of most buyers right now is the lack of inventory in these towns which are in such high demand, with their easy commute into Manhattan.

The number of closed listings for both areas combined in August was 52. The average number of days a home was on the market was 67 days in Maplewood and 112 in South Orange. If you would like to learn more these statistics, please click here for Maplewood and click here for South Orange. These statistics only include the current listing information gathered from GSMLS, so this report does not represent a full history of the property listings.  If you need information about the history of a specific listing, please call us at 973.552.2419.

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The Burgdorff Cultural Center will be showcasing the talents of young actors who live in Maplewood and surrounding midtown direct towns this weekend!  Join in the fun and laughter with your friends and neighbors at a production of “Annie Get Your Gun.”  This faced paced show near your Maplewood home features music from Irving Berlin, unexpected romance, and cowboys and Indians and is sure to be a delight.  This production is geared for all ages will run Wednesday, August 17^th through Saturday, August 20^th at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, August 21^st at 2 p.m.  General admission tickets are $13 and student and senior prices are $11.  The Burgdorff Cultural Center is located in the heart of Maplewood, at 10 Durand Road.  Enjoy your evening of entertainment in this historic stone theater and reserve your tickets by calling 973-632-4108.  To find out more about other performances near your New Jersey midtown direct town, please click here.

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Our New Jersey Midtown Direct Towns know how to celebrate the Fourth of July! If you live in Millburn/Short Hills or a home in Chatham, you know what I am talking about. Red, white, and blue is the name of the game as we express our love for our country, family, friends, and fireworks on Independence Day! The following are some great ways to spend your holiday weekend and share some special time with your family and neighbors throughout our midtown direct towns of Chatham, Livingston, Maplewood, Millburn, Summit, and South Orange.

• If you live in Chatham, you’ll be happy to hear that the Chatham Borough Volunteer Fire Department will celebrate its 57th Annual Fourth of July Celebration on July 4th. Following a flag raising at the Chatham Borough Firehouse, a parade with Grand Marshal firefighter and Vietnam War veteran John Clark will kick off the event at 10:30 a.m. The parade starts at Main Street and Hillside Avenue will continue to Chatham Middle School on Main Street. That night the Middle School field will come alive with performances by Magic Moments featuring Gina and Pepe from 7 to 9 p.m. The World Champion Santore Brothers of Garden State Fireworks Company of Millington will produce an amazing fireworks show beginning at 9pm.
• Maplewood residents have special events planned near their Maplewood homes, as well! At 7:45 a.m. Ricalton Square will come alive for the Annual 109th 4th of July Opening Ceremonies, complete with flag salute & a performance of the national anthem. Following that, Maplewood residents can enjoy a true community parade at 8:15 a.m. where anything that can move and be decorated in red, white, and blue participates and competes for awards. The parade will conclude at Memorial Park and a party, complete with circus, music, food, fireworks, and fun can be had for $10 per person.
• Near your Millburn -Short Hills home, you will find an exciting display of fireworks offered at Millburn High School, located at 462 Millburn Avenue. Beginning at 7 p.m., you can gather to experience Krazy Kat DJ and the 50-50 raffle, along with refreshments and glow in the dark items for sale. The fireworks will begin after a performance of God Bless America by Millburn’s Patty Hetherington at 9 p.m. Be sure to bring your blankets and chairs and dress warmly. Advance tickets can be purchased at Town Hall or various Millburn town shops for $10 and tickets at the gate are $12. You can also purchase tickets to just see the fireworks for $5 that night at the gate. Click here to get more information.
• At Flood’s Hill, located at 70 N Ridgewood Rd, near your South Orange home, you will be delighted by the Village Parade. Beginning at 9:30, South Orange residents will gather to create a safe bicycle course and give instructions prior to the 11:30 a.m. Village Parade. Bike, strollers, wagons, skaters and skateboarders will roll from Floods Hill to the South Orange Community Pool where prizes will be awarded. This event is free and more information can be found here.

If you have a home in Livingston, you can participate is an extensive, all day celebration at The Oval, located at 10 Robert H Harp Drive, starting at 9 a.m. This 75th Annual Livingston 4th of July Celebration includes a car show, baseball game, fair, rides, and games will occur alongside patriotic readings and ceremonies. Various bands will perform throughout the day and a spectacular fireworks show is planned at 9:15 p.m. To find out more, click here.

Soldier’s Memorial Field is the place to be if you live in Summit!  The Flag Raising Ceremony begins at 9:45 a.m., followed immediately by the Children’s Decorated Bicycle Parade where children ages four through ten compete for trophies by decorating their bikes in red, white, and blue. Following the awards, Polka Dot will entertain the children with music and the day will continue with carnival rides, ponies, crafts, games of attractions will run until 1 p.m.  The Kootz will perform at 11:30 a.m. to liven up the event and encourage Summit’s Emergency Services as they hit Memorial’s Softball Field at noon for a very competitive game.  The Cameos will entertain that evening, beginning at 7:45 p.m. until the Grand Fireworks Display at 9:15 p.m. in the sky over Summit’s Memorial Field. This event is a highlight to families who live in Summit, and more information can be found here.

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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.

Town Tour Videos

Town Tour video of Millburn & Short Hills

Town Tour video of Maplewood & South Orange

Town Tour video of Summit

Town Tour video of Chatham

Town Tour Video for Livingston

4. There are very active Newcomers Clubs in each of our towns. A great way to meet other newcomers & put the “bourbon back in suburban” is to attend the Octoberfest or Spring Formal. My husband and I STILL go to the monthly wine tastings at the Millburn/Short Hills Newcomers Club because we’ve made so many new friends at this event. Newcomers Club Sample Activities, Activities with Children

5. We have lots of Golf Courses in New Jersey . Prefer tennis instead? There is the Racquet’s Club in Short Hills or the Orange Lawn Tennis Club in South Orange. You can join for tennis or just get the social membership. There are always tons of activities going on. But the cherry on the top is- each of our towns has its own town pool, a relatively inexpensive and popular option.

6. Contrary to Manhattan real estate, in New Jersey, we have a Multiple Listing Service (MLS), so ONE realtor can show you all of the listings in the Garden State MLS.  Search all MLS listings now

7. Cars today have navigation systems, so you can wander around our beautiful winding tree-lined streets and not get lost if you move here.

Short Hills Pond

8. We have beautiful parks, arboretums, the South Mountain & Watchung Reservations, and local dog parks in Millburn and Livingston. You can go to Millburn Deli and stroll through their parking lot into Taylor park to eat, and relax to a concert or movie in the park as well during the summer.

9. We have a variety of great restaurants!

Scalini Fedeli in Chatham, La Focaccia or Fiorino in Summit and Bascilico in Millburn are my favorites for Italian. For Asian/Thai food, I recommend Khun Thai or Samuri Sushi in Millburn or Monster Sushi in Summit.  If you love a juicy steak, Roots in Summit is really great ( reserve early!), and for Happy Hour, there is Winberries in Summit, and Martini’s Bar and Bistro in Millburn, or head over to Toro Loco in South Orange. If you would like to add your favorite restaurants to this post, please comment!

10. You are not, I repeat… ARE NOT… allowed to pump your own gas in New Jersey. Is that great or what?!?

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If you are planning on selling your home in Millburn, Short Hills, Summit, Maplewood, South Orange, Chatham, Livingston, Berkeley Heights or New Providence,

here are a 7 tips to help you prepare so that you’re not scrambling last minute.

1. Construction Permits: Go to your town hall and make sure that any construction permits have been closed out. Even if you haven’t taken any out, the previous owners may have.

2. Underground oil tanks are THE hot issue these days, especially when you’re selling an older home.  If you don’t have proof that an oil tank  has been removed on your property, have a tank sweep done. (I’ve got a list of names if you need recommendations)  If you have record of a tank having been decommissioned, be aware that most local buyer’s attorneys are asking for them to come out anyway because there is an arguement that unless the tank is removed, you can’t test the soil beneath it. Now I’m not an expert, but I’m only making you aware of what will most likely come up so, you may want to be proactive and take it out ahead of time.   Buyers just don’t want the liability.

3.  Pre-home inspections: For homes that haven’t been updated in several years or need alot of work, have a home inspection done by a reputable home inspector prior to putting the house on the market and provide to buyers as an attachment to the seller disclosure. Either fix anything major, and state that in the seller disclosure, or sell the house in as-is condition. This will avoid buyers renegotiating your already discounted price. Even if your house has been updated, but you haven’t had an inspection done in several years, it’s not a bad idea to have a pre-listing home inspection that you attach as part of the seller disclosure. This way you have the option of fixing  issues ahead of time, and all other issues will have been disclosed. Surprise free inspections are a good thing!

4.  Check your mortgage balances - home equity lines of credit count!  If there is a possibility that your home’s value is less than your mortgage balance, and you don’t have the funds to make up the difference, we can  guide you through the process and help you with your options.  Same if you are behind in your payments. Foreclosure should be your LAST resort. Short Sales are a better way to go!

5. Before you start investing money fixing your house up for sale,  consult with a Realtor. For example, last week I was called out on a listing and the homeowner had just spent $8,000 updating her bathroom. However in one minute, I knew that the property was worth more than the house and that it would most likely be a tear down grabbed up by a builder. She basically threw that $8,000 away.

6. Staging: Paint colors matter. Light matters. Furniture matters. Clutter matters. Staging matters more than ever because the first impression today is online, not in person. Just watch some of the staging shows on HGTV or look at the photos of my listings and you’ll see what I mean. Here are some real life home staging examples: I’m happy to offer advice on this. And if necessary, will recommend  a professional stager. Whenever I list a home that didn’t successfully sell with another Realtor, 9 times out of 10 the house was not staged properly for the photos. It’s crucial today.

7. Exterior Photography: If there is greenery outside, my photographer will take the exterior pictures of your house in advance if you’re planning on  putting your house on the market during the leafless winter months. If it’s already winter ( which it is as I’m writing this post), then don’t worry about it. No one else’s exterior shots have leaves on the trees anyway.

The busy selling season will soon be underway and what you may not be aware of is that my pre-listing consultations are  free of charge and no obligation, so if you’re trying to figure it out on your own, that’s just plain silly

Sue Adler  #1 Keller Williams Team in NJ 2005-Present (973)464-9129  www.sueadler.com

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