Sometimes It feels like I work for Nefesh B’Nefesh these days (a non profit organization facilitating aliyah). We highlighted in the statistics last week that, historically speaking, activity begins to pick up this time of year with the early chatter of the spring market. If you’re going to list your house in March or April, the time to call the realtor, perhaps me (smiley face), is now. And predictably enough, this has happened recently with an uptick in phone calls to our office from owners in and around Teaneck, Bergenfield and New Milford interested in discussing the process of listing their homes. What is clearly a departure from years passed is the percentage of callers disclosing that their next step is going to be Israel, as opposed to the more frequent downsize or upsize objectives of most sellers.
Given the historic times we are living in, I am sharing a conversation I had with a father in our community to whom I sold a house in Teaneck over a decade ago. He agreed to let me share his thoughts anonymously, of course, and I sense that these days, his sentiments can be attributed to many others living in our community. As we sat down at the long glass conference table in my office, he sighed and said “I remember when we signed the paperwork to purchase my home at this table. I can’t help but think that had we made a different decision, my son might be fighting in Gaza right now.” I was certainly not expecting to hear this but I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. “I can’t change the decision we made to raise our family here,” he continued, “and truth be told, I’m not sure that I would want to. I have raised my children in an amazing community where they have thrived both academically and religiously. At present much of my family has made aliyah and now I feel it is my time to move.”
I have always been a bit unclear and maybe even uncomfortable with balancing my role as a realtor for my community in Bergen County while also being an ardent Zionist who has kids and grandkids living in Israel and who also hopes to one day call Israel home (full time!). I think it is a testament to our community that navigating this balancing act is surely not mine alone but comes from the very highest levels of our community. We have the privilege of marketing the home of one of Teaneck’s finest leaders who is preparing to move to Israel and we all know of other role models embarking on a similar journey! One could imagine that an outsider looking in might take offense and wonder how the leader of a community leaves the flock and heads to greener pastures. This is far from the case! The many families from our area who make aliyah are danced out like heroes on their way to returning home. My company has always taken a very serious posture in helping those ready to move east.
So the balancing act will continue. The homes we sell to people making aliyah will be pounced on by the myriad new families looking to move in and become the next generation to call Northern New Jersey home. The uptick in activity is already being felt and as the snow finishes melting from this week’s storm we are preparing to welcome the spring market!
Nechama Polak is the broker of record and owner of V&N Group LLC located at 1401 Palisade Avenue in Teaneck, New Jersey. Send your thoughts and comments to [email protected] or call 201 826 8809.
