What Makes A House A Home in the Pascack Valley

For this Husband and Wife Realtor Team What Makes a House a Home in the Pascack Valley area of Bergen County, NJ is defined by our personal histories here.

To quote Dorothy in a popular classic movie The Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home”.

For us that says it all! Unlike Dorothy, we don’t have to follow a Yellow Brick Road or click the heels of our Ruby Red Slippers together – not even ONCE – to be home!

Both natives of the Pascack Valley area, we simply love all that it has to offer but mostly it’s that hometown feel we love about it.

Amidst all the hustle and bustle of everyday living, we like the fact that you can chose to stay home and putter in your garden (New Jersey is the Garden State) or visit one of the numerous Parks the area has to offer.

Or you can pick one of the many local restaurants to take a break. There are so many great places to go both locally or a half hour ride to NYC, if you’re looking for a special night out.

But the things that make the Pascack Valley home for us is things like shopping at the local Shop Rite and running into the familiar faces of people we graduated from High School with. Or even working with former classmates in the real estate industry.

Growing up in River Vale, Lisa remembers walking to the Four Corners (downtown River Vale) where I landed my very first job working in a family owned drugstore, called A & H Drugs. I also did alot of babysitting as a young teen for the children on my block. One of those children is now the new Mayor of my home town!

Bob grew up in Hillsdale and had his first job delivering newspapers to the local neighborhood families. He also has many memories of Hillsdale since his father was a Councilman and his grandfather built many homes in his home town.

We first met in High School when the children from the Southern side of River Vale joined the children from the town of Hillsdale to attend Pascack Valley High School on Piermont Road in Hillsdale. Although similar interests introduced us to many of the same circle of friends, it wasn’t until years later that this love story became the HammersTeam!

Working together as full time real estate agents we have met many Sellers who have displayed true pride of ownership in their homes. Many were sad to leave the homes they’d spent so much of their lives working to make a home with their families.

There’s a little saying that goes: “A house is built of wood and stone but a home is built from love alone”. So when a Seller leaves a home, they take their memories with them and the home is left broom swept. The home is then ready for new memories to be built by the new home owners.

Although we feel so comfortable living in the area where we both grew up, we know that the home we found was with each other. We truly enjoy helping families find a special place to call home. When we were searching for our own home, we had some very specific criteria such as the need for a Fireplace.

I always felt that a fireplace was the heart of the home since I grew up in a house with a Fireplace. Bob wanted a Basement that was dry. We didn’t require a lot more than that and although we kept our criteria simple, it took over 100 houses before we found just the right home at the right price.

Sure we compromised but we filled the rest of the peices in as we went. Wherever you may wander, wherever you roam – be it ever so humble – there’s no place like home! What makes a house a home is the memories! Those you take with you wherever you go!