Millman-style cottage at 140 Utah Ave in Villas, NJ

The Villas NJ Cottage That Almost Got Away

Engaged in Cape May in 1993. Homeowners in Villas in 2026. Here's the house that finally said YES!

Kim walked into the Sea Haven office one day and told me she was looking for something very specific: a Millman-style cottage with access to the bay at the end of the street.

I kept that in the back of my mind.

A few months later, I saw a house come on the market that made me think of Kim right away. I reached out, and I met Kim and her husband Joe in December. Pretty quickly, we found ourselves in a highest-and-best situation. The home was priced a little higher than what they were comfortable with, so we knew it wasn't the right fit. But we kept looking.

Over the next several months, we toured homes and talked through options. Eventually, they decided to pause their search while their daughter finished college. Then in June, the kind of house we'd been waiting for finally came along: a super cute Millman-style cottage at 140 Utah Ave in Villas, just a few blocks from the bay.

We went to see it right away and, of course, we found ourselves in another highest-and-best situation. This time, though, we had some room to work with. We put together a thoughtful offer, used a few strategic pieces to strengthen our position, and came up with a strategy that helped us stand out.

And this time, we got the call we were hoping for:

Offer Accepted

But what makes this story even more special is that Kim and Joe's connection to Cape May goes back more than 30 years. They got engaged in Cape May in 1993 and have spent almost every anniversary here ever since.

Kim and Joe in Cape May, NJ in 1993, the year they got engaged

Now, they have their own little piece of the shore.

And I couldn't let them become official Villas homeowners without a proper welcome gift.

Kim and Joe with a Villas hoodie in front of their new cottage in Villas, NJ — *Kim and Joe with a Villas hoodie in front of their new cottage*

A Villas hoodie, their new cottage, and two very happy homeowners.

Some transactions are about buying a house. Some are about finding the right home, at the right time, for the right people. And sometimes, along the way, you gain friends, too.