Highly likely to recommend
5/27/2023 - jaimeaguirre0920
Bought a Single Family home in 2015 in Millburn, NJ.
We have worked with Monica in 3 occasions. First buying our home in 2015 and renting it in a couple occasions (2019) and (2023). In all instances Monica did an outstanding job in listening to our needs and helping us navigate the processes. We highly recommend Monica due to her reliability, sense of urgency and great ability to make the process seamless and easy. In all occasions, we had very positive outcomes and will welcome the opportunity to work with her again.
Highly likely to recommend
12/7/2022 - capederose
Sold a home in 2022.
Debbie Rybka Howard and Monica Alpert did an amazing job selling our home. They gave us great options and assisted every step of the way. They helped us maximize the value of our home. We would highly recommend the DRH Team to anyone selling their home.
Highly likely to recommend
10/21/2022 - annypena00
Bought a Single Family home in 2022 in West orange twp., NJ.
Monica Alpert & Debbie Howard are truly an exceptional team! Throughout the competitive market where it is almost impossible for buyers to purchase a home, Monica & Debbie made it happen for us! The process was smooth, literally stress-free, and fast. Not only are they knowledgeable about the market, but they were on top of their work, even while away on vacation! We cannot be any happier with our experience. I highly recommend both, amazing experience. Top Tier team!
Highly likely to recommend
8/20/2022 - zuser20161030095326466
Bought a Single Family home in 2022 in Wharton, NJ.
My wife and I recently purchased a home (June 2022) with Monica as our realtor. We found her to be very informed, transparent and responsive to our needs in an especially demanding market. Moving from Chicago, we were not familiar with the area and Monica did an excellent job matching our needs for both home and location. Beyond the home itself, Monica was able to provide excellent references for other critical parts of the home buying process, such as lenders, real estate lawyer and even contractors after the purchase of the home. Her relationships with these partners provided us an important advantage in the home purchase process. We would strongly recommend Monica and the Debbie Rybka Howard firm for your home purchase needs.
Highly likely to recommend
6/20/2022 - zrl2122
Bought and sold a Single Family home in 2022 in West orange twp., NJ.
Monica helped us finally buy a home after a 1+ year-long search in a highly competitive market and then sell our previous home afterward. She's razor-sharp in her knowledge of many towns, the home buying and selling processes, local code ordinances, and the key inspections. She recommended a sewer line inspection when we bought the home, and we're very fortunate that she did because the inspection found a very costly issue that the seller subsequently addressed. On the selling side, she provided great advice on what improvements were necessary or worthwhile, and collectively they helped attract lots of interest and multiple offers. The realty group that she's a part of is also fantastic and very supportive, and they have a select network of professional references from attorneys to contractors, all of whom that we worked with were also great. Monica also has keen instincts for pricing homes well (both as buyer and seller), how competitive offers for a home will be, and how a home could/would present many years down the road in a potentially different market (something that could be easily overlooked in the rush to buy). We're very choosy, but Monica is super patient, genuine, caring, friendly, flexible, and responsive, and always has a positive outlook and attitude. With Monica, you get a true professional of the highest integrity who works tirelessly and faithfully for her clients. In short, Monica is exceptional!
Highly likely to recommend
3/22/2021 - genriyetta lund
Bought a Single Family home in 2021 in Florham park boro, NJ.
We could not have asked for a better real estate professional then Monica to help us with our home purchase recently. We started working with Monica during the summer of 2020 to find our new home. Aside from the knowledge, expertise and responsiveness, Monica is personable, approachable and incredibly patient. Monica guided us through the process effortlessly and ultimately brought us to our dream home. Monica has impeccable attention to detail which was invaluable to my husband and I. Monica is the best, whether you are looking for your first home or your fourth.
Highly likely to recommend
1/25/2021 - bchesler12
Sold a Condo home in 2020 in West orange, NJ.
Monica is highly professional. Fall 2020 she helped me sell my condo and really was extremely helpful and guided me through the entire process. She understands the region and the industry so the advice she gives is spot on. I would definitely use her again!!!
Highly likely to recommend
10/15/2020 - zuser20170924195019060
Bought a Single Family home in 2020 in Berkeley Heights, NJ.
Monica helped us find the perfect home! She never gave up and always tried to find a home that fit our ever changing needs. I can safely and happily recommend her to any one that is looking for a home.
Highly likely to recommend
08/19/2020 - Taylor Carroll
Bought a Single Family home in 2020 in Cranford, NJ.
Monica was so wonderful to work with! As first time home buyers we really needed some extra hand holding throughout the process and Monica did just that. She answered any and all of our questions throughout the process, she was reliable, honest and very responsive. We highly recommend Monica!
Highly likely to recommend
10/22/2019 - Britnunez19
Bought a Single Family home in 2019 in West Orange, NJ.
We found Monica entirely accidental. My boyfriend and I were spending a random Sunday afternoon going around to open houses. He wanted to start looking into buying homes; I was not really into that idea. I love living in NYC, and moving to NJ was never in my line of “dreams.” We went into this one open house, and we met Monica. From the first greet, you could tell how much of a warm personality she had. She was extremely friendly and open. I right away felt that if I met her anywhere else, we could have been friends. We told her what we were doing and how the condo she was showing was out of our budget. We stated that we needed a yard for our dog and needed to be in travel distance to NYC. We gave Monica our information, not thinking anything of it. We had also given a lot of other people our information. We did go out with another realtor, and we were not feeling it. The realtor we first went with was not showing us anything on our list, was also out of our budget, and far away from the City. After this, I expected all relators to be this way; I was proven wrong. We ended up meeting with Monica, and right away, we knew she was on our team. Monica never showed us anything out of our budget; she respected that we have a budget and wanted to stay in those lines. She worked extremely hard to meet everything that was on “our wish list.” She never once pushed us on any house, never once hurried us through. Monica would send us emails of houses that she thought we would like. She would always text us and answer any questions we may have had. Monica knew a lot of inside information about the town we wanted to live in and suggested other towns we might want to look into. She looked into other stuff about the area the house was in as well, like schools. Even though we don’t have children, she told us it was something to think about. Things we didn’t know to look for, Monica did. The process of bidding on a house was straightforward because of Monica. She told us exactly what to do and what to expect. In total, we put two bids in on two different houses. If it wasn’t for Monica, I don’t know if we would have continued looking for homes. I felt very at ease with her guidance and knowledge. We completely trusted her with everything we did. Our process of buying a house was unusual because of the sellers’ requirements. We had 11 people also bid on the house that we ended up getting. Monica was the one who got us our home. She was the one that told us exactly what to do. Monica went through everything with us step by step. She never once got annoyed with us; she answered every single call and text message. She gave us recommendations on which companies to use when doing the walk-thru of the house. We ended up having to wait two months to move into our house because of the seller’s requirements. During those two months, Monica would still call us and text us updates on what was going on. I 100% know if Monica weren’t our person, I would have given up looking for houses. From June to October, we were in contact with Monica for the process of searching, bidding, and buying our home. Which is unusual, but that is what you get when 11 other people bid on the same house. Monica made this process incredibly stress free for us. The whole process of buying a home, moving, biding is extremely taxing. Having Monica made everything easier for us. She was always at our side and looking out for our best interest. I would 100% still go to Monica or recommend her to our friends who are looking to buy homes
Highly likely to recommend
06/26/2019 - petsche daniel
Bought a Single Family home in 2019 in Springfield, NJ.
Primary point of contact: Monica Alpert
We worked with Monica Alpert of the Debbie Rybka-Howard team. As first time home-buyers we started out in a world of confusion. As soon as Monica came along, all of that went away. She was not only upfront about how things work but also provided amazing insight to both the market and housing needs. Monica was available to us at any point in the day and she made sure to take the time out to explain every little detail. Without Monica and her team, we would have been lost and for sure lead down the wrong path. We cannot give a better recommendation than to work with Monica and the rest of the team
Highly likely to recommend
06/20/2019 - zuser20190320173750524
Sold a Single Family home in 2019 in Berkeley Heights, NJ.
Primary point of contact: Monica Alpert
Debbie Rybka-Howard was recommended to me by a friend. When I met her and team member Monica Alpert, I knew immediately it was the right fit for selling my home. Debbie and Monica worked with us to determine the best price for the house (and in the end, we got our asking price!). Then they helped have the home prepared for sale, and it looked amazing. Whenever I needed to speak to them, they returned my calls or texts immediately. Communication was excellent. And I was continually impressed with their positive and enthusiastic attitude. I was grateful for their support. They went above and beyond in their efforts to sell my home. I would whole-heartedly recommend them to anyone selling a home!
Highly likely to recommend
08/22/2018 - ranadip guha
Bought a home in 2018 in Livingston.
My wife and I worked with Monica to purchase our first home and really can’t say enough good things about her. She is knowledgeable, approachable, personable, endlessly patient, and incredibly generous with her time including weekends over the course of two months. As a first time home-buyer, we were not familiar with the terminology or the best process people to involve. She answered every question and explained every form and every part of the process clearly and thoroughly. She even recommended an attorney in the area, inspection folks and also Mortgage lenders. We ended up using every one of them and greatly appreciated. Buying a home in this market is challenging, but working with Monica made it as painless and straightforward as possible. We highly recommend her.
Highly likely to recommend
08/04/2018 - andilind
Bought a Condo home in 2018 in University Heights, Newark, NJ.
This is the second time Monica helped my husband and I buy a property in NJ. A townhouse we can turn into our urban dream place. With all the liens and ramifications associated with the estate, we would have given up without Monica managing everything, from the initial purchase offer, negotiations with the seller, inspection, appraisal, communications with attorney, insurance, mortgage and title companies, to closing and beyond.
We first worked with Monica in 2015 when we were looking to move from Manhattan to NJ. We were perfectly clueless as to what buying a house meant. She carried us through and we ended up buying a beautiful house in West Orange, NJ.
There is more to Monica than local knowledge, process expertise, responsiveness and negotiation skills. She listens, understands and has her clients’ interests at heart. She is never pushing for a quick sale. She actually dissuaded us from pursuing certain properties we liked because of structural damage, location, or other considerations. And at 34 Richmond she negotiated and secured a sale price that was well below the reservation number we had given her.
My husband's input is "Monica is awesome!" - a man of few, but precise words :)
Highly likely to recommend
06/28/2018 - Igor
Bought a Single Family home in 2018 in Maplewood, NJ.
Monica was a fantastic broker to work with. She knew the market well, took the time to understand our unique needs, was very patient throughout the long home search process. She was also excellent in terms of offer strategy, as well as shepherding us through a smooth close. It was a wonderful experience working with her and we would strongly recommend her for any search in the Midtown Direct adjacent area of NJ
Highly likely to recommend
06/25/2018 - Pritha
Bought a Condo home in 2018 in Morristown, NJ.
Monica was super patient and always available to show us anything that popped up. She knows about many areas and all the different strategies to get our offer accepted. She was very pleasant and full of real estate and general location knowledge. I would definitely recommend her.
Highly likely to recommend
02/15/2018 - Brent
Bought a Single Family home in 2017 in Stirling, NJ.
First of all, we cannot say enough about how much we loved working with Monica! We came to Monica with what could be described as an Agent's "perfect nightmare" of issues.. We wanted to purchase a home, but... 1. Had a non-urgent timetable, process eventually went on for two plus years, with a few pauses in the search due to busy schedules. 2. We wanted to live in Northern NJ, but were not initially locked down to any one area or town. 3. Husband and wife had differing ideas on what our "perfect home" consisted of. 4. Final budget/purchase price for home was $200K more than initially presented. Add in the busy schedules of two professionals with two young kids and I think you get the picture of what Monica was dealing with!! Through it all she was a kind, understanding, and completely levelheaded when the seller raised their sell point AFTER agreeing to a deal(unheard of!). It all worked out in the end.... We love our home! Thank You Monica!
Highly likely to recommend
06/21/2017 - velocisportwagen
Bought a Single Family home in 2017 in Summit, NJ.
Background: When my wife and I started our home search, we had very little idea of the competitiveness, NJ real estate buying process and just general area / local knowledge outside of knowing we wanted to look in the "78 corridor" for our forever home. This would be my 2nd foray into home buying and the first for my wife who was already starting off with cold / frigid feet.
Our connection with Monica really happened by chance through one of the omnipresent online home buying tools and this connection turned out to be probably the most valuable in getting us a home, making the process as stress-less as possible and let's be honest, home buying cannot be without stress.
IF it were not for Monica, her patience, knowledge and diligence, we would not be extremely happy homeowners today.
- Good ole in-person interaction: The apps and sites are great to get sense of what you want, price point, etc. but do yourself a favor and get a local agent. especially if you are looking in the high demand areas on the 78 corridor. odds are the home you are looking at is already gone. if you are seriously looking, meet an agent and get working. we recommend Monica.
- Power in connections: she knows other agents, especially the listing agent for the home we wanted. She got the connects and this proved to be valuable.
- Reputation: She works for a team that is highly regarded and this only adds to her already valuable connections - this is VERY important in a competitive bid situation. And to the point above, the towns are well connected physically and people wise, word gets around quickly.
- Partnership: She never pressured us into one home. We looked at a # of different homes, some more than once and we never felt pressured to make a decision, she was always willing to address our concerns and she is realistic and just has a very pleasant way she goes about business and discussions that made this super easy for us. She also gave us peace of mind by being a partner in the process, walking us through what we should be thinking of, questions we need to think of, recommendations respective to the homes we were looking at...hard to describe exactly, but we felt she was buying a home with us...not trying to sell a home to us...if that makes sense...
- Responsive: Her responsiveness is uncanny - take some time off Monica! - this is critical when can things move fast in a market - plus it just worked really with our personalities and expectations
- End to end expertise: It can be a "long" process to find a home and can be what appears to be a "longer" process to close. Monica guided us all the way through end to end, setup/scheduled/coordinated what was needed, and was there every step of the way providing her expertise, input and insight. There will be a # of different parties involved in this long process and having an excellent agent and referrals goes a long way to make things go as smoothly as possible.
- Just contact Monica. She is awesome!
Highly likely to recommend
01/28/2017 - user9057371
Bought a Single Family home in 2016 in South Orange, NJ.
We would highly recommend Monica Alpert as an agent in Essex County. We were moving from Brooklyn and spent 4-6 months looking for a home. Our primary focus was Montclair, Maplewood and South Orange. She was extremely helpful, accommodating, patient and resourceful throughout our process. We ended up in South Orange and are very happy with our decision. She went above and beyond at our closing which was to say the least an interesting experi BCE with sellers. We would 100% recommend her.
Highly likely to recommend
01/11/2017 - zuser20150725094448695
Bought a home in 2016 in Brantwood, Short Hills, NJ 07078.
Monica is a star. She is not only a truly fantastic broker but an amazing person who made the house search and purchase process wonderful for us first time home buyers. She is patient, kind and generous with her time.
I have never seen anyone who cares so much about her clients and it didn't end after we got the house. She made amazing recommendations and everyone we interacted with during the process was top notch. We value her advise, her help and most importantly her friendship. You won't regret it. She's a star.
Highly likely to recommend
07/29/2016 - mooreweddingbells
Bought a Single Family home in 2016 in West Orange, NJ.
Monica worked with us for years -- literally, 2 years -- to find our perfect home! She was on top of every new listing that matched our criteria even when she was out of town or on vacation. She is kind, thoughtful and above all honest, a rarity in this business. She is straight forward and creative when it comes to submitting offers and making her clients package more attractive to the seller. She's also extremely thoughtful; we were blessed to become parents during our search and once ready to go out looking at homes again she came to our first appointment with a gift for our daughter. Likewise, upon arrival at our closing she gave us an amazing personalized gift for our new home. She in punctual for every meeting and has fantastic recommendations for all the vendors and services one ends up needing over the course of buying property. Throughout this process we came to view Monica less as our realtor and more as our friend. I cannot recommend her more highly for any prospective buyers looking for a phenomenal and dedicated realtor!!
Highly likely to recommend
07/27/2016 - macd1995
Bought a Single Family home in 2016 in West Montrose, South Orange, NJ.
We would not have been able to get our place without Monica. From discovery to Seller relations - to last minute visit, she was a pleasure to work with. Our process took ~ 3 weeks in a very competitive market. If not for Monica, we would still be looking and our dream home that we purchased would have been in someone else's possession