b'A Couple BecomesHomeowners and ParentsWorking with Rena SpanglerN G HBY ELLEN DONKER D I ON MIF Eup in the Dominicanwe wanted to be. And it was just like,the best prices. And theyve all done Republic. wehavetodoitbecauseitfeltlikereally good work.Eagertostartthis was our last chance to move intoThe Wednesday before Labor Day lookingathouses,Maplewood. weekend,thecouplefinallymoved theyfirstneededtoThe couple offered the asking priceinto their house. The following Sun-findarealtor.Vil- and it was accepted. They were fortu- day, they became parents to their baby lasmilaskedafewnate to avoid the crazy multi-biddinggirl, Paloma. friends. She says thatscenarios that have lately been the norm.Given that the family is out walk-all of them respond- Leaning on Spangler to take theming their dog every day, theyve gotten edthesame:Ourthroughtheprocess,Villasmilsays,to know some of the neighbors. Vil-realtor was okay, like[Rena]understoodthatwewerefirstlasmilsays,Everyonesbeenreally nothing special. Vil- time buyers, and we dont know a mort- welcoming and sweet. Theres three or lasmil says, Then wegage lender and we dont know an in- four other babies within a one-block asked a friend of oursspector. She continues, Rena was withradius that have also been born in the C ristyVillas- wholivesinChatham,Wouldyouus in the trenches when we were nego- last six months. So, itll be nice to see recommend your realtor?and shestiating back and forth based on inspec- our daughter be able to grow up with like, 100% She was amazing. She wastions.Theonethingthatreallyblewbabies close to her age in the area.milandKel- theonlyrealtorthatweheardfromme and my husband away was after theVillasmilmarvelsatthespeedof vinChiangthat got a glowing rave review. inspectionprocessRena,justproac- change: a new house and a new baby. didntexpectThat realtor was Rena Spangler. tively on her own, took it upon herselfAnd shes grateful to the friend who life to changeVillasmilandChiangagreedtotoscheduleadditionalinspections.connected her and Chiang with Span-soquickly.meet Spangler at an open house theSpangler then packaged the issues thatgler. According to Villasmil, Spangler Theyhadnextweekend.Theyquicklydevel- were flagged along with the cost to fixdidnt just sell them a house. She says, been renting in Jersey City since 2020opedarapport.Giventheircriteriathem and negotiated a final deal. Sheshowedthatshereallycared after many years in New York City and three or four bedrooms, a nice yardAfter the closing, the couple tookabout us. had just started talking about findingfor Chiangs gardening pursuits, walk- afewmonthsto a house now that Villasmil was preg- ing distance to Springfield Avenue andfixupthehouse nant. This was April of 2022. By Junethe VillageSpangler told them whatbeforemovingin. they were homeowners.theycouldgetinMaplewoodwithAgain,Spangler Ithelpedthatthecouplehadal- their budget. The list was rather shortcame through with ready decided that they wanted to live low inventory was a big factorbutrecommendations. in Maplewood. They had visited a fewthen she told them about a house thatVillasmil says, My times when they wanted a break fromhad been sitting on the market for ahusbandcallsher the city with a nice lunch in the Vil- while. It needed a facelift, but Span- theyellowpages, lage and a hike with their dog in thegler was confident they could get it forbecauseshehas SouthMountainReservation.Theythe asking price.a person for every-liked the towns diversity and felt theyVillasmil says, Yes, it needed something that we need. wouldfitineasily.VillasmilisHis- work and some love. But it was in aAnd theyre usually panic and Chiang is Asian but grewperfect location. It was exactly wherethe ones that hadRena Spangler helped the Villasmil/Chiang family find a home.finding home /37'