An Essex County home inspector has built a free website that lets anyone look up the public records behind a New Jersey property &mdash; building permits, flood zones, fire history, property taxes, and more &mdash; by typing in an address.
The site, <a href="https://oprasearch.app/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Permit &amp; Parcel</a>, covers all 564 New Jersey municipalities and brings together records from official sources, including state and county databases, FEMA flood maps, and the towns&rsquo; own municipal codes. No account or email is required, and there&rsquo;s no cost.
&ldquo;I kept watching buyers fall in love with a house before anyone checked the paper trail &mdash; the open permits, the flood zone, what the town actually requires when a home changes hands,&rdquo; said Leo Betancor, a Certified Master Inspector based in Cedar Grove and the founder of the site. &ldquo;All of that is public record. It just wasn&rsquo;t in one place anyone could actually use.&rdquo;
Alongside the main lookup, the site includes free single-purpose tools: a <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/lead-safe/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">lead-safe inspection lookup</a> showing which of the two state-required inspection methods each town uses under New Jersey&rsquo;s lead paint law, a searchable <a href="https://oprasearch.app/lead-contractors/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">directory of DCA-certified lead evaluation and abatement contractors</a> sorted by distance, a <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/fire/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">fire-incident map</a> built from more than 40 years of state fire records, and a <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/radon/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">radon map</a> covering every municipality.
Homeowners can also <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/tax/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">look up property taxes and assessments</a>, <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/hvac-age/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">check the age of a furnace, air conditioner or water heater</a> using its serial number, and <a href="https://oprasearch.app/tools/co/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">find their town&rsquo;s certificate-of-occupancy requirements</a> before selling or renting a home.
A companion site, <a href="https://njflood.zone/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">njflood.zone</a>, gives instant FEMA flood-zone answers for any New Jersey address &mdash; built after the federal government shutdown left FEMA&rsquo;s own map site unreliable &mdash; running on the site&rsquo;s own servers with the complete flood map data for the state loaded locally.
As an added benefit for homebuyers, Permit &amp; Parcel users can receive $100 off a qualifying home inspection with Smart Choice Inspections, Betancor&rsquo;s North Jersey home inspection company.
The project was recently featured in <a href="https://www.tapinto.net/towns/east-hanover-slash-florham-park/columns/at-home-with-holly/articles/deep-dive-conversations-what-the-house-won-t-tell-you" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">TAPinto.</a>&nbsp;Both sites are FREE at <a href="https://oprasearch.app/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">oprasearch.app</a> and <a href="https://njflood.zone/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">njflood.zone</a>.

Essex County

Eric Kiefer

New York City Metropolitan Area

Montclair

New Jersey

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Updated, bright and easy - welcome to Avon Village. This light and bright one-bedroom end-unit condo has been refreshed throughout and offers great natural light, a private patio and access to four community pools.
The location is a winner: pedestrian underpass to shops and restaurants, with shopping and a farm stand just up the street, plus NJ Turnpike, Historic Hightstown and Big Pond nearby.
And there&rsquo;s storage: assigned cage W-11 in Building X&rsquo;s basement - from the bottom of the stairs, bear right and look for the W-11 tag.
Simple, updated, convenient - and ready to enjoy. $199

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Looking for a home near Princeton but unsure which town fits? Local broker Charlie Wu compared eight Greater Princeton towns using BrightMLS median sale prices (data through September 2026).Takeaways from the guide:&bull; The eight towns are Princeton, West Windsor, Plainsboro, Montgomery, Hopewell, Lawrence, South Brunswick, and Robbinsville. Single-family medians run from about $650K in Lawrence to about $1.71M in Princeton.&bull; For the NYC commute, West Windsor stands out: Princeton Junction is in town, with direct Northeast Corridor trains to NYC in about an hour. Plainsboro shares the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district at a slightly lower median (about $1.03M vs. West Windsor's about $1.14M).&bull; On schools by average SAT (excluding magnet and vocational schools): Princeton High (#5 NJ), West Windsor-Plainsboro (#2 and #3), and Montgomery (#4) sit in New Jersey's top five. Montgomery pairs that with larger lots, often half an acre to two-plus acres, but no train.&bull; Lawrence borders Princeton and is the lowest entry point (about $650K). Hopewell (about $835K) and South Brunswick (about $850K) lean toward more land or newer construction, with commute trade-offs.Full guide (prices, school rankings, commute notes for all eight): <a href="https://thewuteam.com/best-towns-near-princeton.html" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://thewuteam.com/best-towns-near-princeton.html</a>Charlie Wu, Broker Associate The Wu Team at Queenston Realty Princeton, NJ | (609) 375-5677Source: BrightMLS / The Wu Team town comparison guide.

Mercer County

Sarah Salvadore

Princeton

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A retired professional in the Princeton/Hopewell area is looking for a part-time assistant &mdash; someone who understands investing, has investment experience, and is genuinely interested in it. Accompanying the principal to investment events, lectures, and seminars is part of the role, along with occasional out-of-town trips and day-to-day personal support as needed. Flexible hours, no office grind. Ideal candidate:- Real interest and some experience in investing &mdash; you follow the markets, understand investment products, and have your own views- Enough financial knowledge to read financial statements and reports, and assess a company's financial health- Organized, reliable, discreet, and easy to be around- Excellent communication skills- Valid driver's license with a clean driving record- Flexible schedule; able to help on short notice when needed- Comfortable with occasional travel Compensation negotiable. To apply, please email your resume and a brief introduction to: <a href="mailto:pracetonpa@gmail.com" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">pracetonpa@gmail.com</a>, including your educational background, total years of work experience, your current position (if you're not retired) and how long you have held it, your current availability, and the best phone number and email to reach you. This is a professional assistant role &mdash; NOT a caregiving or home-health position.

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Young Audiences Arts for Learning New Jersey and Eastern PA (YA) welcomes its newest members: Jane Golden, Stephanie Lachenauer, Victor Limjoco, and Gita Varadarajan. Congratulations and welcome aboard!
Jane Golden is the founder and former executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, newly retired after more than three decades of leadership. Under her direction, Mural Arts created more than 3,800 works of public art through partnerships with communities, schools, nonprofits, city agencies, and philanthropies, while developing nationally recognized programs in youth arts education, restorative justice, and behavioral health. A nationally and internationally recognized leader in public art and urban transformation, Golden holds an MFA from Rutgers University and degrees in Fine Arts and Political Science from Stanford University.
Stefanie Lachenauer is a middle school teacher, mindfulness educator, author, and speaker whose work centers on supporting young people's well-being, self-awareness, and agency. As the 2025 New Jersey State Teacher of the Year, she presents and consults nationally and internationally, translating research in neuroscience, social-emotional learning, and trauma-sensitive practice into practical, accessible strategies, and is the author of Let the Glitter Settle: Mindfulness for Teens, an Amazon bestseller.
Victor Limjoco serves as Executive Director, Content &amp; Partnerships for Comcast NBCUniversal Brand &amp; Digital Production, overseeing editorial content strategy, operations/partnerships, and off-site live events. Before Comcast, Victor was a journalist at NBC News for more than a decade, earning 3 Emmys as a producer for NBC Nightly News. He previously worked at the production company ScienCentral News, NPR/PBS station, and NJN&rsquo;s &ldquo;State of the Arts&rdquo;. He earned an MBA at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, later serving as adjunct faculty, and his BSJ from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Gita Varadarajan is the acclaimed author of multiple Scholastic publications, including Save Me a Seat, My Bindi, and its companion book, My Saree. Gita is a sought-after guest author and speaker at schools across the country, inspiring children to create stories in their own voices. Gita has more than two decades of teaching experience. She currently teaches 4th graders at Riverside Elementary School in Princeton. Gita has a Master's in Literacy Instruction from Teachers College, Columbia University, served as a student teacher supervisor at Teachers College in the Literacy Specialist Program, and as an adjunct faculty member at the School of Education at The College of New Jersey.
&ldquo;We welcome our four newest trustees,&rdquo; shared Stacy Mattia, Board Chair. &ldquo;They bring a wealth of experience and new perspectives and join a talented group of trustees who are working to further our mission to inspire young people and expand their learning through the arts.&rdquo;

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