New Or
Vintage?

Jeff and Michelle
Bortnick, left,
and Louis Bitove,

right, with the
filming crew of
HGTV's House

A local couple debates

Hunters

the merits of each during

their search for the

perfect home on HGTV's

House Hunters.

I

Stacy Gittleman

Detroit area's Jewish community. So the couple narrowed their focus
to neighborhoods in Huntington Woods, Berkley and Royal Oak.
Because Michelle grew up watching her father and grandfather
constantly tackling projects around the house, Michelle had her heart
set on an older home that she could customize with a bit of TLC.
"I love older homes," says Michelle, 30. "I love the wood floors, the
character and the charm. I'm not scared of taking on a fixer-upper."
"I love new:' says husband, Jeff. As a co-founder of New Home
Experts Realty, a realtor for buyers of new construction homes, Jeff
and his partner, Louis Bitove, know their way around an architec-

Special to the Jewish News

eff and Michelle Bortnick were quickly outgrowing their
Northville condominium.
For the first years of their marriage, Jeff's former bach-
elor pad suited the couple nicely, and it was walkable to many of the
town's trendy amenities. But now they were a family with a toddler
taking her first steps and needed a home with a backyard in a neigh-
borhood with other kids.
Michelle, who grew up in West Bloomfield and is a teacher at
Hillel Day School, wanted to move closer into the nexus of the Metro

NEW OR VINTAGE? on page 50

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1984280

March 12 • 2015

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