The Blue Moon Mexican Cafe is one of the most popular local restaurant chains in Bergen County.  With 3 locations – Englewood, Woodcliff Lake and Wyckoff – no matter where you are in Bergen County, you’re near a Blue Moon restaurant.  This Tuesday 20% of all dinner bills is being donated to the Tenafly Nature Center for food ordered from 11 am through 9 pm.  You must bring a donation flyer with you and give it to your waiter.

So come out on Tuesday and have a 2nd Cinco De Mayo at a Blue Moon Mexican Cafe and support the Tenafly Nature Center.  Maybe I’ll see you there!

On low fixed or limited incomes, senior citizen homeowners simply can’t afford to make the house repairs they need.  It is for many seniors an unfortunate fact of life that they can barely make ends meet.  The Cresskill Housing Rehabilitation Program is the solution for this problem.

The application form shows you the income levels that qualify and if you do, this is a fabulous opportunity.  The Cresskill Housing Rehabilitation Program gives qualified seniors who own and live in their Cresskill home interest free loans  for house repairs that are repaid only when the house is sold.  That’s right – 0% interest and no monthly bills!

Don’t you wish more towns helped their senior homeowners the way Cresskill does?  Cresskill homes are always in demand because it’s a great place to live.  Here’s just another reason why.

This makes sense, doesn’t it?  Isn’t this what you’re told to do?  Absolutely but it’s absolutely wrong.

The strongest emotion is fear.  When it comes buying a home, fear is the #1 reason buyers make tragic mistakes.  The young man who wanted my listing could not afford it.  He had no idea about the true cost of a mortgage loan and no idea about closing costs.  How could this happen?  He spoke to 5 different banks and shopped through the web.

It’s very simple - his fear of commitment allowed him to be used by mortgage loan salespeople.  They did what he demanded instead of what was right hoping to “build rapport” to secure the loan when he found a house.  He is now upset because he can’t afford a home he loves.

In the early 80′s marketing folks came up with a neat idea:  Let’s redefine a pre qualification as a pre approval.  Buyers love this – they get a meaningless piece of paper to go along with their offer and have total control.  Well, that’s great.  You have total control of nothing when you’re jumping off a cliff.

I blame the buyer, the bank and his agent.  I’ve never had a buyer disappointed like this.  I teach my customers how to buy a home the right way and insist that they speak to my banker, Emi Kalici of Weichert Financial.  Why?  Because Emi has the right model of taxes and home insurance so the monthly payment amount is real.  You can’t get that from walking into a bank branch or going online.

Don’t allow yourself to be sucked into a feel good no commitment approach – don’t allow your fear to put you in a precarious position.  Buy a home the right way so your home buying experience is fun, rewarding and successful giving you many happy years in a home you can definitely afford.

Dumont has an entire section on it’s site devoted to a series of videos promoting all that Dumont has to offer.   If you go to the Dumont home page you’ll find Welcome to Dumont which takes you to their community videos.  Six excellent video presentations are there for you – Welcome, Quality of Life, Education, Real Estate & Relocation, Parks & Recreation and Attractions.  By the time you’re done viewing all six videos, you have a fabulous view of Dumont as a community plus you are sold on it as a location. 

It’s easy for a home buyer to get listing information on the internet but the web doesn’t often give you neighborhood information that’s more than just facts and figures.  For Dumont home buyers these videos solve the problem.  Dumont homeowners can take pride in how their town portrays itself online.  Whether you’re buying a Dumont home or own a Dumont home, you’ll find these videos something to see!

If you want to buy a Dumont home it’s easy to find listing information on the web.  Discovering the character, the “feel” of a town and it’s neighborhoods is another matter – Dumont understood this need and solved the problem for future Dumont home buyers with this excellent series of videos.

If you haven’t registered to vote because you’ve just moved to Bergen County or elsewhere in New Jersey, click on this link for voter registration application forms.  It’s very easy, doesn’t take long so do it today before you forget and it’s too late.  The New Jersey Division of Elections website is easy to use and very informative for any questions you might have.  Here’s something else too -

If you’re not sure you can make it to the voting booth on election day, you can apply for a mail in ballot.  If you want to vote by mail,  just get an Application for Vote by Mail Ballot You don’t need any reason at all – just make sure you get your mail in ballot application to your County Clerk no later than 7 days before the election.

In August I wrote about the great job Dr. Kuchar and his team were doing telling you that Bergenfield was beginning all day kindergarten in the fall of 2011 with no tax increase.  What we learned today from Dr. Kuchar and Dr. Fasano was even more impressive.  Bergenfield schools are so improved that New Jersey Monthly Magazine awarded Bergenfield High School as the most improved in the State and Governor Christie came to Bergenfield visiting the schools and classrooms congratulating students, staff and Dr. Kuchar for an extremely well done job.

Dr. Kuchar explained the innovative things he has been doing and Dr. Fasano discussed the exciting programs and successes in the high school.  From using solar panels to generate $20,000 per month in income by selling back power to a simply awesome number of AP courses in everything from robotics to journalism, Dr. Kuchar has brought the Bergenfield School District into a position where Bergenfield has been invited to become a Blue Ribbon District.

If you are a Bergenfield homeowner you must be thrilled about your schools.  If you are thinking about buying a Bergenfield home, this has to move you into a purchase.  Bergenfield homes are gaining value because of their schools.  With all the improvements that Dr. Kuchar has brought about since he became Superintendent a few years ago, more and more buyers are looking at Bergenfield homes as attractive options in the market.

I’ll bet you didnt know that you can go to the woods and get your own maple sugar from a tree right here in Tenafly!  Well, it is true – the Tenafly Nature Center will show you how to do this, right here at home, for the next two Sundays.  On March 4 and March 11, you and your children can learn how sap is gathered today, and check tapped trees.  Then, you’ll boil down the fresh maple syrup for a warm sweet treat!

Yes, you can do this in Tenafly.  So close to New York City, and yet the wonders of nature abound here.

The Tenafly Nature Center is a wonderful resource in our community.  Located at 313 Hudson Avenue, the center is close to everything, and yet seems far removed, its own nature world.  Its wonderful to have such a rich resource near us.  Maple sugaring isnt the only thing you can do there.  Take guided nature hikes for children and adults, attend children’s nature story times, or find out about opportunities to sail along the Palisade!  Whether you are an adult or a child, you will find there is something for you here.

Tenafly is a beautiful place to live and to play.  Not only do we have a great schools system, beautiful homes, and proximity to New York City, we live in a beautiful place with many natural wonders to appreciate and explore.

Check out maple sugaring at the Tenafly Nature Center, March 4 and 11, 12:30-1:30 and 2:00-3:00.  While you are there, find out about Spring Break Camp in April, and an Easter time “Eggs Bunnidict” celebration of rabbit trails and hidden candy eggs.

Bergen County is known for it’s foliage – our streets are often lined with magnificent towering trees reaching enormous heights.  Many of these trees have limbs perilously close to electrical wires and when winter storms come, they snap and break tearing down those wires creating havoc for the nearby residents.  Last October 29th Bergen County was brought to a standstill as power, phone and cable lines were out everywhere and streets were made impassable due to the overwhelming number of trees and branches that fell.

PSE&G spokeswoman Bonnie Sheppard said that all pruning work should be completed in the following towns by the end of April: Bergenfield, Bogota, Cliffside Park, Dumont, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs, Fairview, Haworth, Fort Lee, Leonia, Little Ferry, New Milford, Oradell, Palisades Park, Paramus, Ridgefield, Ridgefield Park, River Edge, Teaneck and Tenafly.

This is welcome news for Bergen County residents some of whom were without power last October for one week.  No one wants a repetition of last year’s Halloween snowstorm.

School board elections in Bergen County and throughout New Jersey have been held on the 3rd Tuesday in April. Because they are a separate election apart from the general elections in November, they’ve never gotten the turn-out of the November elections and have been an extra expense. Starting in 2012 this is going to change for many New Jersey and Bergen County residents.

Signed into law on January 17th of this year, a new regulation allows a school board to move its election to the general election in November. While there is no specified deadline to make this change, towns were encouraged to do so no later than February 12th.

By February 9th twenty-one Bergen County towns had moved their school vote to November: Alpine, Bergenfield, Carlstadt, Cresskill, Elmwood Park, Glen Rock, Hasbrouck Heights, Little Ferry, Maywood, Moonachie, New Milford, North Arlington, Oradell, Ridgefield Park, Riverdell Regional, River Edge, Saddle River, Teaneck, Tenafly, Waldwick and Wallington. Six opted to maintain the April date: East Rutherford, Englewood, Lodi, Palisades Park and Ramsey.

There are 70 locations in Bergen County; if yours is not here, get in touch with your local Board of Education to find out when your school vote is scheduled.