NorthJersey.com
PARSIPPANY The unremarkable, red-brick home along a busy stretch of Parsippany Road had been empty for more than six months. The interior walls and flooring are worn and the kitchen covered with floral wallpaper, highlighted by dated oak cabinetry.
The four-bedroom Cape Cod in Morris County was being offered in an estate sale after the owner died. The listing agent, Lou Ann Fellers of KLS Sotheby s International Realty of Mendham, priced it at $200,000, in as-is condition.
As soon as the listing went on the market in January, the bids rolled in. Within a few days, 31 offers were presented, with the winner due to close next month.
Angelys Ocana-McFarland was a bit overwhelmed, like a frazzled mom in a holiday movie.
Besides the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has been escalating and Christmas was right around the corner, the young photographer and her husband, Christopher McFarland, have been attempting to purchase their home in the Poconos.
“If I would have known how difficult this would be, I wouldn’t have done it,” she said, jokingly.
The truth, though, is that she most certainly would have made the move from Brooklyn to Effort, Pennsylvania, a small but cozy enclave about 100 miles from Manhattan that commuters and former New Yorkers call home.