b'Finding HomeWorking with Carol FardinBY ELLEN DONKERT wo years ago, Ani and Seth Levyroom. Now the house feels like their own.first were living with their two youngThe neighborhood feels like home, too. We children on three beautiful acreshave block parties, says Ani. My kids walk to in Maryland when Seth got a jobschool. Watching the daily trek is especially fun: offer he couldnt refuse. It meantThe kids start walking down from the top of the pullingupstakesandmovingstreet and are like a herd by the time they come to a New York City suburb. ThetoRidgewood.Awelcomesurprisethat sooner the better, too, because once Seth tookyear was finding out that Carols son and their the job, he was living in New York during thedaughter were in the same third grade class at week and commuting back to Maryland on theJefferson School. weekends.It didnt take long for Carol to notice that Ani After deciding to focus on towns betweenhad an eye for dcor, from the way she lovingly de-Montclair and Summit, Ani found an onlinesigned her home to the bathroom beautification Keller Williams Mid-Town Direct listing andefforts at Jefferson that Ani helped coordinate. connected with realtor Carol Fardin. She andThe Levys have been settled in to their home for two years now. Carol says, She can take something ordinary Seth met Carol on a rainy spring day and toured theand make it special. When Carol suggested that Ani houseit turned out to be Carolsalong with sev- and a mutual friend stage a house for a client, the eral others. Ani says, Everything was just so pretty.after street full of families with young children.Everyone was saying hi to each other in town. YouAni says that even though the process was a whirl-could tell that its so family-friendly.wind of activity, Carol made the whole process so Although the design of the house appealed to thesmooth. She is a get-it-done type of person. The Levys, it wasnt right for their family, so they con- family moved in on the weekend of Maplewood-tinued the search. Making time for house huntingstock and were quickly welcomed by neighbors who was not easy with Ani and the kids still in Maryland.made it a point to introduce themselves.Carol says, There were many times when I met SethThe Levys have been in their home for two years after getting off the train in Summit, Maplewood,now and have accomplished a number of upgrades, South Orange and Montclair.putting to use Carols advice to factor in renovations Carol quickly learned to be the eyes of the buy- when setting a budget for a house search. They re-er and proposed homes that had enough space forconfigured two bedrooms, carved out a new master the Levys to host guests and were a reasonable walkbedroom closet (Anis favorite feature of the house), to town and the train. Eventually, they settled on areplaced kitchen countertops and renovated a bath-Victorian style home in Summit. But as gorgeous as it was, a home inspection uncovered several issues and they rescinded their offer.Realtor Carol Fardin helped the Levys relocate DecidingtoconcentratesolelyonMaplewood,from Maryland to Maplewood.Carol regrouped and showed the Levys another selec-tion of homes. Ani is grateful for Carols energy andduo readily agreed. Their efforts proved successful says, She really hustles for youshes always posi- and Ani and her business partner, Janel Whitehead, tive. The Levys made a successful bid on a house onnow run staging company A+J Designs. Euclid Avenue, before Ani even got to see it. This clas- Ani never expected that contacting a realtor on-sic Colonial with four bedrooms and four and a halfline would yield anything besides finding a home. baths offered the space they were looking for, schoolsBut with Carol, she gained a valuable friendship as and the train within walking distance, and a sought- well as the launch of her own enterprise. 14/ matters magazine / summer 2020'