Recently, Governor Christie signed into law a bill that would allow school board elections and budget votes to be moved to November, as opposed to the usual time in April.  One of the provisions, in line with the 2% cap on property taxes increases, is the elimination of a vote on school budgets that fall within this limit.  Is this change a good thing? Some would argue that it removes a check on school districts on how they spend taxpayer money.  On the other hand, the 2% cap [...]

If you've been following real estate in New Jersey recently, one popular topic is foreclosure.  It seems to be on the minds of many buyers looking for a great deal, as well as economists concerned about the impact of shadow inventory on the local market, where we have more than 50 months worth of inventory, according to USA Today.  Yet, despite the predicted deluge, we haven't seen a lot of bank-owned homes come on the market.  So, what's going on? What some d [...]