New Jersey suburbs - having deer as neighbors

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Having lived in the wilds of suburban Essex County, New Jersey, I can personally testify to the incredible number of deer roaming through wooded areas; such as the one that bordered my home.  I once read that there are as many deer now as there were in the time of the Revolution.  The reason, we killed off their natural predators.

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In any event, they are back with an annoying vengeance.  Here's an interesting article on the problem from the New York Times

Deer Make the Worst Neighbors

Like many of us who choose to live in the suburbs, deer want a nice, safe neighborhood, with great food and plenty of privacy. For one particular doe and fawn, that neighborhood happens to be my backyard. 

 Sure, they’re quiet — come to think of it, I’ve never heard them make a sound. And the little one covered in Bambi spots sure is cute. But let’s face it, they’re rude neighbors. When I ask the mother to leave by, say, pounding on my kitchen window with a spatula, she stares back at me blankly and pees. 

 Sometimes, she deposits her fawn in my shrubs for the day while she runs off to do whatever it is deer do with their time when they’re not devouring my marigolds. I’m not a free babysitter, but she seems to think I am. And the fawn is under the impression that we can’t see her, even as my children crouch, perplexed, to get a better look at the little speckled creature crushing my lamb’s ear. 

 I’ve tried using subtle hints to let them know I want my space, like spraying my foliage with an organic concoction that smells like sour milk and claims to repel deer, but actually only repels people who like to sit near flowers. Sometimes, they take a hint and venture off — I imagine them taking long strolls in the nearby nature preserve, another suburban selling point. 

 No sooner have they left, though, when another mother shows up. How do I know she’s not the same one? A hint: this one has twins.

 You’d think I live far out in the country, in some area of thick woods and wild mountains. But no, I’m only 20 miles from Midtown Manhattan in New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the country.

 Blake Smith, who moved from Brooklyn to West Orange, N.J., 13 years ago with her husband, Tim, 49, can see the Empire State Building from her back deck, but it’s the deer that take her breath away.

 “They’re like these mystical creatures,” she said. “They’re like unicorns.”
 More like shameless interlopers. A few weeks ago, a deer pushed its way into Ms. Smith’s screened-in porch to get ahold of some potted hibiscus. Ms. Smith, 45, an associate director of digital at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, had moved the pots inside so they wouldn’t become deer salad. 

 So much for that. Ms. Smith gave up and put the pots back outside. “I told them, ‘Have them, just eat them. Just please don’t eat my watermelon,’” she said. 

 Ms. Smith knows these deer well. They are members of a herd that has lived in a vacant lot behind her house for years, with a doe that the family named Limpy for her uneven gait. Perhaps because they’ve been neighbors for so long, the deer listened to her about the watermelons and so far have left them alone. The hibiscus they ate.

 Whitetail deer are a source of suburban awe and angst. They were hunted to near oblivion in the late 19th century, but their numbers are back and they’re seemingly everywhere. New Jersey doesn’t even know how many whitetails call the Garden State home, since government estimates are based, morbidly, on the number of deer that hunters kill each year, which hovers around 50,000. In areas where hunting is prohibited, like my backyard, no one is tracking the herds.

 “It’s really hard to get a population estimate, especially in a fragmented, densely populated state like New Jersey,” said Brooke Maslo, an assistant professor of ecology at Rutgers University.

Read the full article.

For your real estate purchase or mortgage refinance or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

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It's not about Title Insurance! Getting Down Payment Help Now. Sharing Home’s Gain (or Loss) Later.

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help!

From the New York Times, an interesting way to get a large down payment for that expensive home:

Getting Down Payment Help Now. Sharing Home’s Gain (or Loss) Later.

With home prices in some markets going through the roof (pun intended) just how does a home buyer come up with that large down payment.

For aspiring homeowners, coming up with a healthy down payment has long been the biggest obstacle to owning a home.
 With property values soaring in many areas — median prices in San Jose, Calif., and Denver are 60 percent above their prerecession peaks — the barrier is rising. That has some firms promoting unconventional ways to scrape together a down payment, including crowdfunding and using Airbnb rental income.
 Now, a small but growing number of home buyers are trying something different: asking an outside investor to put down money alongside them.
 It is called shared equity, and Unison, a company based in San Francisco, is the largest of a handful of firms putting it to work. Unison will provide at least half of a consumer’s down payment in exchange for a piece of any appreciation in the home’s value when it is sold. If the home sells at a loss, the company absorbs a share of that, too.

Read the full article here. 

What will they think of next?

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

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What is title insurance? Why do you need it?

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help!

Title insurance may seem like just another expense to pay when you buy your home, but this coverage may be more important than you think. Title insurance seems unnecessary, but, when you need it, you’ll be glad you have it.

For instance, someone says they have a claim against your home, your title insurance policy steps in to protect you from financial damages. Title insurance can also protect you from the impact of old liens, unpaid property taxes or even the contractor who says he was never paid for work on the home.

If you are worried about being overcharged, please know that title insurance premiums are regulated by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance.

To learn more about title insurance, call us, or take a look at the NAIC article the Vitals of Title Insurance.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

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The Rise of the Accessory Dwelling Unit

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help.

Accessory Dwelling Unit is a mouthful.  What does it mean?  How about "where do I put my mother?

From NYTIMES.COM-

When Jeni Nunn, an agent with Intero Real Estate in Santa Clara, Calif., and her husband bought their 1,270-square-foot house, they planned to use its deep backyard to build a pool or playground. But they switched course when Nunn’s dad and mom (diagnosed with Parkinson’s) couldn’t find an affordable condo nearby. Instead, four years ago, they built a 640-square-foot, wheelchair-accessible, one--bedroom house, with room for their baby grand piano, for $160,000—a bargain in the Bay Area. “For us, it’s the perfect scenario,” says Nunn, who is also a mother of four. “I can send my 3-year-old into the backyard. ‘Go to grandma’s house!’ ”

Nunn’s own build-out put her at the leading edge of the movement to address one of today’s most vexing real estate problems: the need for affordable housing in areas with tight inventory. These secondary residences, known formally as “accessory dwelling units,” have become a popular alternative in high-demand areas of the U.S., from Washington, D.C., to Seattle. And local governments are increasingly passing measures that makes it easier for homeowners to build and rent out ADUs. The homes are permanent, with their own entrance, kitchen, and full bath. “It’s a self-contained dwelling on the same property as a standard single-family home,” explains Martin Brown, a researcher who co-edits AccessoryDwellings.org and rents out an ADU on his Portland, Ore., property. While much attention has been paid to the rise of tiny homes under 400 square feet, the emergence of compact ADUs has been similarly swift, if with less hype. 

Ponder the future and read the full column here.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

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Home Warranty and Home Insurance, what's the difference?

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help!

This post about the differences between a home warrant and homeowner's insurance is an oldie but a goody from Plymouth Rock Insurance and is worth setting out in full.  Just remember, neither are title insurance.  We can give you that!

What’s the Difference: Home Warranty Versus Home Insurance

August 9, 2016

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Last updated on July 19th, 2018 at 06:10 pm

If you own a home, you probably already have a homeowners insurance policy. If you’re shopping for a new home, you may have been approached about buying a home warranty or had one offered as part of your real estate deal. While both offer protection for your home, they’re not the same thing and it’s important to understand the differences between a home warranty versus home insurance.

What You Should Know

1. A home warranty generally helps to cover appliance or equipment breakdowns, whereas home insurance helps you repair your home from unexpected damage or situations, like fires and theft.

2. You might not have to purchase a separate home warranty. If you have home insurance through Plymouth Rock, you might be able to add optional coverages that are similar to home warranties, like equipment breakdown and utility line coverage. Plymouth Rock’s coverages can be cheaper than purchasing a separate home warranty.

If you want to know more about home insurance coverages, Plymouth Rock has handy resources for you to check out.

3. If you’re financing the purchase of your home, most lenders require homeowners insurance, but home warranties are typically optional.

Still, a home warranty could be a smart purchase depending on your own situation because it might help you control your budget for home repairs. And, when it comes to buying/selling real estate, a home warranty can offer benefits for both buyers and sellers.

Say, for example, there’s a home on the market that has a furnace and air conditioning system that’s up there in age. As a buyer having a home warranty might be a good way to guard against breakdowns or malfunctions. As a seller, offering a home warranty can help to assuage potential buyers who might be leery about buying a home with older HVAC systems. 

How Each One Works

When you buy a home warranty, you purchase a service agreement that pays for the repair or replacement of things inside of your home when they break down. Compare that to home insurance, which covers your home’s actual structure and your possessions. You should check your own home insurance policy to find out exactly what it covers.

Here’s an example to help you understand the difference: your insurance policy may help to replace your washing machine if it’s damaged by a fire, but a warranty may help replace it if it simply breaks down (however, it will depend on the terms of your service agreement).

If you do opt to purchase a home warranty, you can purchase different levels of protection. Basic warranties typically cover appliances, but you can even upgrade to cover things like a swimming pool. It’s also a standard practice for most warranties to include a modest deductible.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow@vested.com

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