December 29th, 2010
It has always been a given in our lifetimes that there is great value in home ownership. It’s a concept in which we heartily agree.
Recently, there has been a small voice in Americana that is extolling the virtues of renting a home rather than owning. Poppycock! Perhaps it is a reaction to the government’s threat of revoking the mortgage interest deduction (MID) that makes home ownership less attractive. That is an ill-conceived idea and it will definitely stall the real estate market just as it’s poised for a recovery.
Let’s look at the MID. The average 35-45 year old gets a $13,829 deduction off their gross income. Ages 45-55 get $12,374 deducted, and 55-65 write off $11,099. The reason it drops with time, obviously, is because at the beginning of a mortgage the principal is a smaller amount of each payment. Farther into the loan, the interest becomes smaller as the principal increases. Keep in mind, the amounts mentioned are NOT how much less they pay in taxes, just how much is deducted from their gross income.
The “let’s rent” folks are ignoring several facts. Renters, by and large, do not exhibit the pride in ownership that results in nice landscaping, replacement of shrubs and pruning of trees, and minor repairs to broken fixtures, windows, etc. “It’s not mine” is their mentality, and it shows. There are exceptions, but for the most part their properties are not as well kept as a homeowners. Folks who own also tend to be more involved in their community and schools. I can go on and on.
If the MID is revoked, it’s a clear sign that the government has an interest in hamstringing the U.S. economy. There can’t be any other reason. Let’s hope that’s not the case!
- Mountain Man
Tags: Cape May County blog, Jewell Real Estate Agency, mortgage interest deduction, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey real estate blog
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December 28th, 2010
City Girl’s surgery took place on Sunday morning, the day after Christmas. “The surgery went well,” said Dr. TJ, who performed the operation. “The new ball snapped right into place and fit snug. We didn’t have to bond it at all.”
That was good news. The only trouble they had was resusciating her from the anesthesia, but they injected some drug and she soon regained consciousness. I got to visit her about 2 o’clock in the afternoon and her spirits were high. She was groggy, but she knew the operation was a success and we shared our relief. They had her legs strapped together with a large padded block in between. That would deny her any chance to twist her hip during sleep or while awake.
The next day they got City Girl up out of bed and she used a walker – with help – to travel a couple steps to a special chair. She sat in the chair for a couple hours before needing to stretch out again in a bed. They also removed her intravenous drip and oxygen hose. Today, they gave her more rehab and at 4 o’clock this afternoon they are moving her to Court House Convalescent Center from her three day home at Cape Regional Medical Center. The staff at CRMC was professional and friendly and we have no complaints. Even the food was okay.
So now she’ll be spending a few days in “an old folks home” receiving physical therapy. In Cape May County, New Jersey, there are no locales that do strictly physical therapy. The only option, without traveling 40 miles up the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic County, is to spend time in a nursing home.
Typical of City Girl, she has turned this chapter in our lives into a positive. With me now charged with overseeing the daily operations of Jewell Real Estate Agency, she will be free from the responsibility of showing properties, writing contracts, arranging inspections, and attending closings. She is looking forward to being at home with her laptop computer and cell phone, tools which will enable her to follow up with contacts and prospect for new clients.
Leave it to City Girl to turn lemons into lemonade!
- Mountain Man
Tags: Cape May County blog, Cape Regional Medical Center, Jewell Real Estate Agency, lifestyle blog, Middle Township, Mountain Man and City Girl, The Free Meal Center
Posted in Lifestyle | 1 Comment »
December 26th, 2010
“No good deed goes unpunished” is the old expression. Now we know exactly what it means.
We woke up Christmas morning and I had an idea in keeping with the seasonal spirit of love and charity. City Girl & I would go down to Rio Grande and find the homeless guys who live outdoors near the railroad tracks and take them out for a hot meal, or at the very least see if we could bring them some warm food and coffee. We knew they lived there in the warm months and had been recently told they were still there. We felt an extra incentive to do this kind deed because the soup kitchen we founded, The Free Meal Center, was still undergoing renovations and not yet open to the public.
We parked our truck near the railroad tracks and proceeded to walks the tracks north to find the down-on-their-luck guys. After a couple hundred feet, City Girl fell and landed with a thud. She couldn’t get up. She couldn’t even move. She is in top shape, exercises every day, and weighs barely over a hundred pounds, so we knew her injury was for real. Her upper right leg was in agony.
I called the Middle Township police and in just minutes two police cars and an ambulance were on the scene. They brought in a gurney and took her back to the ambulance. The ride to the hospital was quick and she was in the Emergency Room right away. For hours we shared a concern about how severe was her injury? Hopefully it was just a bad bruise or maybe a sprain. Unfortunately, the worst case scenario played out. The hip was broken. The hip ball was so far out of the socket that hip replacement surgery was necessary. Since it was Christmas day, they scheduled the operation for the next day, Sunday, December 26th.
So now, just five hours before the operation, I spent an almost sleepless night worrying about my life partner, my best friend. I’ll give an update on her condition later today or tomorrow.
In lieu of flowers or cards, City Girl asks that you send a donation to The Free Meal Center, PO Box 863, Cape May Court House, NJ 08210.
- Mountain Man
Tags: Cape May County blog, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Middle Township, Mountain Man and City Girl, The Free Meal Center
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December 18th, 2010
We are what we think we are.
That’s a bit profound, but definitely true.
That’s why depressed people are depressed and chronically sick people are chronically sick. It’s also why lively people are lively and upbeat people are upbeat. It’s mind over matter. It’s the vibes you put out to the universe that steer your mindset.
The same holds true for the recession of the late 2000 decade. People who go around moping about how bad things are typically find that things remain bad for them longer. While they whine about the economy, jobs, real estate, the stock market, etc, others are going out and making a good living and seizing the opportunities at hand. Insightful folks, those with vision, aren’t complaining about the present but instead are setting themselves up for a prosperous future. It’s that simple.
Since City Girl and I are realtors, let me run through the real estate gauntlet. When the Cape May County, New Jersey shore vacation home real estate market went south in 2006, many realtors went into a funk. Not all, but many. They were all doom and gloom and that attitude prevailed in their offices. They sat around and played cards all day, bemoaning the fact that the phones weren’t ringing and no prospective customers were walking through the door. In the next four years, many offices closed up shop and the ranks of licensed realtors in the county board shrunk by one-third.
Meanwhile, Jewell Real Estate Agency took a different approach. We saw it as a break from doing so many real estate deals and an opportunity to focus on the future and to tweak our operation. In the boom years of 2002 through 2005, we didn’t have a chance to step back and analyze our business. The money was flowing so we were content. Our inward look began by us realizing that we couldn’t cut back on advertising. In the hard times you have to maintain your presence. The offices that cut back or even cut out advertising were amongst the first to go belly-up.
By mid-2008, we decided to expand by adding a second floor to our Wildwood Crest office. We were positioning ourselves to be ready for the next boom. It wasn’t until the final day of 2009 that we received our final approvals to go forward with the construction. The winter of 2010 delayed us further and it wasn’t until late in the summer that the complicated concrete footing and block work was completed. A busy autumn, with a renewed flush of real estate sales and prospective buyers gave us the same feeling we got in 2001 – the local real estate market was coming back.
Buoyed by the surge in activity and our own optimistic outlook on real estate and life, we decided to undergo a full-fledged business expansion. The time was right. We would catch the real estate wave while it was still far from shore rather than wait for the wave to nearly break at the beach. Too many folks jumped into real estate near the end of the 2002-2005 boom and missed the ride to the top. They crashed and burned.
We would take our philosophy of personal attention and unbridled integrity and select a few top-notch local agents to join our real estate family. We would offer four desks for sales agents, two for rental agents, plus house our new Timber Lane Cleaning Service and its 10 employees.
So how are we expanding without completing the construction of our second floor? Stay tuned. The answer comes in a couple days.
- Mountain Man
Tags: Cape May County blog, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey real estate blog, Timber Lane Cleaning Service, Wildwood Crest
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December 16th, 2010
Cape May County, New Jersey is known for its beaches, the Atlantic Ocean, fishing, boating, golf courses, the zoo, and a myriad of other leisure venues. Cape May, Avalon, and Stone Harbor are known for their multi-million dollar homes – McMansions, actually – that are second homes to the rich and famous. Ocean City, Sea Isle, and the Wildwoods attract a mix of wealthy and middle class, all pursuing a relaxed escape from the hectic pace of their everyday lives in metropolitan Philadelphia or New York City.
To many, the county is shangri-la, a place to attain nirvana. They associate it with “the good life”.
Unfortunately, year-round residents see past that illusion. They know the ugly truth. Of 42,000 year-round households, over 4,000 families live below the poverty level, which is an embarrassingly-low $22,050 for a family of four. Can you imagine trying to make it on $22,050 per year?
Recently released statistics show that the worst conditions are in Woodbine, where 24% of families live in poverty. Wildwood is next at 20% under the poverty line, with the median income just $30,974. To extrapolate, that means that another 30% of year-round families in Wildwood make between $22,050 and $30,974. Yikes!
Families are also struggling in Wildwood Crest with 11% in poverty, West Cape May with 10%, West Wildwood with 8%, and North Wildwood with 6%.
Here’s another telling statistic. Cape May County had 317 homeless people in 2010. That number includes 54 families totaling 157 people. Another 160 individuals were labeled homeless and nine more were classified chronically homeless, meaning they’ve gone a full year or more without a home.
So where do they all live? Why don’t you see them pushing around a shopping cart with all their possessions, like in Philly or Atlantic City or any big city? The answer is that the NJ Social Services Department uses a half dozen local motels to house the homeless. Since most don’t have a vehicle, driving past one of these motels gives the illusion that the rooms are mostly vacant, but they’re not. Families, couples, and individuals are living in these motel rooms, with little more than a couple beds, a bathroom, microwave, and old TV. But, at least they have heat. Some other families are put up in temporary housing provided by churches. Sadly, some live in the woods, under the Boardwalk, or in dilapidated abandoned homes. These poor folks don’t have heat in the winter, and stay warm by piling on layers of clothes.
It’s a shame, a disgrace, that our country with so much has so many folks with so little. Our government “by the people and for the people” isn’t exactly for all the people. We need to change that. As individuals, we have compassion. But as a nation, we have less compassion than we should. When will we all truly care?
- Mountain Man
Tags: blog, Cape May County, Cape May County blog, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, poverty, poverty in Cape May County, The Free Meal Center
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December 13th, 2010
Go ahead and snicker. This Mountain Man guy is full of bull, you’re thinking.
Not so fast, my friend.
Sure, the national unemployment numbers are still tough to swallow. And yes, we are still seeing more vacant store fronts popping up. Discretionary spending is off, too, though you have to wonder when you see folks descend on a mall and drop hundreds of dollars on trivial junk for Christmas.
But here in Cape May County, New Jersey at the shore, the tide has turned in the real estate market. Pun intended. With interest rates hovering around 4% and prices nearly half of what they were in 2005, sales have been brisk. We’re also seeing that folks are tired of sitting on the sidelines and after five years they ackowledge the opportunity is there to finally purchase and own a vacation home at the Jersey Shore. If they were 55 years old back in 2005, they’re now 60 and not getting any younger. I call it the “now or never” syndrome. If they waited much longer to buy a second home, some would probably just say forget it.
Back in 2004, we began telling our clients that the days of buying pre-construction condos, then flipping them a year later the day after closing, were over. We saw an overabundance of new construction and sensed that the market was shifting. Unfortunately, we were right. We are getting that same feeling again, except this time it’s a turn in the other direction.
We believe that the vacation home market leads the way. Our real estate market was the first to fall apart, and it is the first to recover. And why not? Folks who can afford second homes usually own their own business or they are high enough up on the corporate ladder to have a solid income. When the national media began their gloom and doom predictions, the frugal upper and upper-middle class folks pulled back and stopped spending. Now that they’ve endured five years of a recession and the sky hasn’t fallen in, they’re back.
Here at Jewell Real Estate Agency, we have sold 2.5 times more properties this year than in 2009. We’re not bleeding greenbacks anymore. Not only are we relieved, we’re very optimistic. No doubt, it will take the primary home market another two years to catch fire. But when it does, all will be well in Whoville.
- Mountain Man
Tags: Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey real estate blog, North Wildwood, ocean, real estate blog, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | 1 Comment »
December 10th, 2010
The companies that extract natural gas quickly realized that they needed to put a positive spin on their dirty deeds or the public wouldn’t be swayed to their side. So, they started organizations like the “American Clean Skies Foundation” and they came up with videos like the 30-minute “Shale Gas and America’s Future”. Propaganda, every bit of it.
Let’s back up and give some background on this hot topic.
The energy companies that extract natural gas from beneath the ground used to only drill vertical wells. Problem is, most of the natural gas lays in horizontal pockets. To maximize profits, the companies came up with a way to drill horizontally, called directional drilling. But that wasn’t enough. The gas was hard to get out from the countless fissures that deep underground, so they came up with an extraction process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for short.
Fracking involves shooting pressurized water, sand, and a host of nasty chemicals designed to hold the fissures open so the gas can flow freely. These chemicals and compounds include formaldehyde, benzene, ammonium chloride, acetic anhydride, methanol, hydrochloric acid, propargyl alcohol, and even diesel fuel. In all, 65 of their substances are labeled hazardous by the EPA. But here’s the kicker. Thanks to former VP Dick Cheney and his 2005 coup called the Halliburton Loophole, the energy bill passed by the Republican-majority Congress that year exempted fracking from laws regulated by the EPA, i.e. the extractors do not have to tell what chemicals they use, or comply with clean water rules. Hmmm.
What’s this all have to do with people. Simple: water.
No one knows how the chemical brew affects underground water supplies. Check out the movie “Gasland”, available on the internet, to see how some families have seen their water supply contaminated. Also, the average fracking well consumes on average 4 million gallons. Halliburton contends that 98.5% of their fracking mixture is water and sand, leaving 1.5% a mystery fluid. That comes to 40,000 gallons per well, at least half of which is lost into the ground and never recovered. Where does it go?
Natural gas extraction in the eastern US is targeting the Marcellus Shale, an underground deposit that runs from Ohio and Kentucky through West Virginia and Pennsylvania all the way to New York state. It’s the second largest gas field in the world. Some locals, driven by greed and ignorance, have been signing leases with the extractors for as much as $5,000 per acre, plus royalties on the amount of gas taken. The prediction is that unless derailed by long-needed regulations, as many as 100,000 wells will dot the 54,000 square mile landscape by 2030.
So the question lingers: Where will the 4 million gallons of water per well come from? Can local streams and acquifers handle the withdrawals? Obviously not. And what effect will injecting this toxic mess into the ground have on water supplies? We can’t risk finding out!
- Mountain Man
Tags: American Clean Skies Foundation, blog, Cape May County blog, fracking, Green Bank West Virginia, Halliburton, hydraulic fracturing, Marcellus Shale, Mountain Man and City Girl, nature blog, Pocahontas County WV, West Virginia
Posted in Environment, West Virginia cabin | Comments Off
December 9th, 2010
With winter firmly entrenched here in South Jersey, it’s time to focus on writing articles for this blogsite. As you may have noticed the past two years, we make many additions to this blogsite December through March, but with the warm weather comes other more-pressing responsibilities.
This past year, our thoughts in the warm months turned to many other diversions. First up was The Free Meal Center, Cape May County’s first-ever daily soup kitchen. We formed a non-profit organization on January 25, 2010 and took possession of the 4,275 square foot building situated on 2.38 acres on March 15th. We spent the next eight months gutting the interior and improving the grounds and exterior of the building, thanks to the hundreds of dedicated volunteers who pitched in to make it a reality. We received our building permit the day before Thanksgiving and now the renovations can proceed.
We also began the second story addition to our real estate office in Wildwood Crest. The complicated footing is now in place, with a three-foot concrete block foundation above. When the warm weather returns, we’ll begin building skyward.
We also began site work on our restaurant/sports bar in Green Bank, West Virginia. We purchased the seven-acre bottom land on July 1st. The beautiful property has 750-foot frontage on Routes 28 & 92 and 1,050 feet along Deer Creek, a 50-foot wide river that takes water from the Allegheny Mountains to the Greenbrier River. The site work is just about done and the riverfront has been transformed into a beautiful setting.
As you can see, we keep ourselves pretty busy. And so, you’ll excuse us if we only find the time to relax and write blog posts in the winter. Sit back and enjoy the next four months of opinions and observations on real estate and life in general.
- Mountain Man
Tags: blog, Cape May County blog, Cape May real estate, Green Bank West Virginia, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey blog, New Jersey real estate blog, real estate blog, The Free Meal Center
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March 3rd, 2010
As realtors, we get inside a lot of homes during the course of a year. Sometimes, what we see is appalling. Senior citizens subsisting on Saltine crackers the last few days of the month and financially-strapped families bulking up on white bread and big generic bags of potato chips and cookies, so called “feel good” nutrition-deficient foods.
Three Cape May County, NJ realtors decided to do something about it and formed a non-profit corporation called “The Free Meal Center”. The goal is to serve lunch Monday through Saturday, plus breakfast on Saturdays. The double meal on Saturdays is targeted at kids, who often don’t have a decent meal after school lunch on Friday until returning to school for free breakfast on Monday.
TFMC takes possession of a 4,000 square foot former restaurant on March 15th, just 12 short days away. We’re still $4,000 short. We hope to be open to the public by Memorial Day.
Check out our website at http://www.FreeMealCenter.com . Perhaps you can see it in your heart to make a small donation.
Thank you for caring.
- Mountain Man and City Girl http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: Cape May County blog, charity blog, feed the hungry, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey blog, soup kitchen, soup kitchen blog, The Free Meal Center
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February 19th, 2010
Sometimes a municipality in New Jersey actually shows foresight and at the same time saves itself a lot of money. Such is the case recently in Lower Township, Cape May County.
The township completed a full-blown revaluation in 2007, raising the total value of all properties from $1.5 billion to $4.73 billion. While the new figure was more in line with reality, it came at the time when the real estate market was in a deadfall. Property values were dropping about a half percent per month.
A petition signed by 1,500 property owners against the new valuations put the township on notice to expect plenty of costly tax appeals. It would also cause an imbalance in values, since those folks out of a total of 15,930 property owners in the town that didn’t bother to appeal would unfairly be picking up the new burden.
Township Tax Assessor Art Amonette undertook an in-house reval in 2009, which cost just $25,000 instead of the $1 million price tag associated with a full reval. Smart thinking, big savings!
The completed revaluation shows that the value of the township did indeed decline, from the previous $4.73 billion down to $4.1 billion, a drop of about 15%. About 15,500 properties had their values reduced, while another 400 saw increases.
The range of change had some properties dropping 30%, as opposed to a high of a 10% increase. Anyone who’s value dropped more than 15% will see a lower tax bill. A reduction less than 15% will see the owner’s tax bill increase accordingly.
So once again, the playing field appears to be leveled for Lower Township property owners. Town officials being proactive was a wise decision all around.
- Mountain Man and City Girl http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: Cape May County, Cape May County blog, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Lower Township, Lower Township reval, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey blog, New Jersey real estate blog, real estate blog
Posted in Real Estate | 1 Comment »
February 12th, 2010
The big blizzard of February 5-6th, 2010 dumped about 22 inches of snow on Cape May County, New Jersey. The wet, heavy snow paralyzed a peninsula that rarely receives more than 7 or 8 inches of snow in an entire winter. February 9-10th, another blizzard blessed us with another half-foot of sleet/rain/snow mix.
While at one point in the first storm there were 80,000 people without electricity and roads were impassible, we had our own drama. Yes, we also went 34 hours without power, unlike 4,000 less-fortunate that still don’t have power a week later. But that’s not our story.
We saw Fluffy, our 11-year old long-haired orange & white neutered male cat, at the food bowl on the back porch Friday afternoon of the first storm. It snowed through the night and all day Saturday and we never saw him or Rusty, his 11-year old and lifelong best buddy cat. But, heck, it was whiteout conditions so who could blame them for not coming out from under the safety and security of our garden shed.
Sunday afternoon, as we shoveled out, a weary Rusty appeared. We happily greeted him and quickly got him a bowl of catfood and a bowl of warm water. But where was Fluffy, the chowhound of the pair? That boy loves to eat. It wasn’t like him to miss a meal.
By Monday, we were real concerned. Rusty was acting strange, as he had on Sunday. He was standoff-ish, even maybe afraid. He seemed to be sending us a message: Fluffy was dead. We were despondent.
Tuesday afternoon the second storm hit. Rusty had been around all morning and we assumed he sought out his sanctuary under the garden shed to sit out the storm. But Wednesday Rusty never appeared. We called and called for him, but no reply.
By Thursday morning, we were beginning to figure that maybe Rusty was so upset over the death of Fluffy that he too had perished. Kinda like an old couple where one dies, then the other goes a few days later. After all, they were best of friends since they were kittens. They were all they knew, the constant in their lives, along with us two humans.
Late Thursday morning we returned to our house and a couple minutes later Rusty appeared. We were so relieved. We petted him and fed him and loved him. He loved us back. It had been 48 hours since we’d seen him and that had never happened before.
And so Friday morning, as we settled into life with just one feline friend, a miracle happened. Fluffy appeared. It had been seven days. We petted and petted him. He reveled in the attention. We quickly got him a bowl of catfood and twenty minutes later he still had his head in the bowl chowing. Just like old times.
Our drama came to a fitting conclusion. Fluffy and Rusty were back. All was well. And we appreciate them more than ever.
- Mountain Man and City Girl http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: Fluffy the cat, Jewell Real Estate Agency, lost cats, Mountain Man and City Girl, Rusty the cat
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February 11th, 2010
We just couldn’t stand by any longer and do nothing about the hunger and nutrition problem here in Cape May County, New Jersey. It was time to act.
In a county that has hundreds of multi-million dollar vacation homes overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay, there is a flip side to the coin. Of 42,000 yearround families, nearly 4,000 households live under the poverty line ($22,050 for 4) and another 9,500 have social security as their sole source of income. The unemployment rate is around 13%, and when you add in those who have basically given up ever finding gainful employment the jobless rate approaches 30%.
As realtors, we get the opportunity to go into a lot of people’s homes every year. In one home we had listed last year, we noticed that the five kids had different colored lips. We soon discovered why. The only food in the house was those frozen sugar-water ice pops that come in tear-away plastic tubes. The refrigerator was empty except for condiments and the freezer was full of different flavored ice pops. It’s sad. In the homes of the elderly, we have seen them subsist on Saltine crackers the last days of the month. They are proud and they don’t complain.
While so many have so much, these others have so little.
This month, we organized “The Free Meal Center” with a volunteer Board of Directors and incorporated as a New Jersey secular, non-profit, charitable organization. By the way, the politically correct term nowadays is “meal center” and no longer is “soup kitchen”. We found a 4,000 square foot former restaurant centrally located in the middle of the county on the main highway, Route 9, and negotiated a purchase price. It has four dining rooms, four restrooms, a large kitchen area, and parking for 40 cars on the 2.2 acre property. We will be able to seat 100 or more at a time.
We take possession of the building March 15 and hope to be up and running by Memorial Day. We will serve lunch Monday through Saturday, plus breakfast on Saturday. Meals will be free and open to anyone who walks through our doors. We won’t even ask their names. Our volunteers will treat everyone with respect and dignity.
The building does need a bit of work. Part of the roof needs repairs, the interior needs painting, the bare kitchen needs equipment, and we need tables and chairs. A few other repairs may become evident once we’re in the building, but its all no big deal. We can do it.
We’ve undertaken becoming a 501(c)(3) tax deductible entity and expect to be approved in the spring. Our website, http://www.TheFreeMealCenter.com should up on-line by next Tuesday, February 16, 2010.
If you’d like to help us help these less-fortunate folks, you can donate through our website next week, or mail a check to The Free Meal Center, PO Box 863, Cape May Court House, New Jersey 08210. We’ll mail you back a tax deductible receipt.
Thanks for caring.
- Mountain Man and City Girl http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ 08260 http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: Cape May County, Cape May County blog, Cape May Court House, Feeding the Hungry, Jewell Real Estate Agency, meal center, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey blog, soup kitchen, The Free Meal Center
Posted in Lifestyle, Real Estate | Comments Off
February 2nd, 2010
A New Jersey State Senate bill recently introduced would abolish the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), taking implementation of low and moderate income housing standards from the state and putting it in the hands of municipalities. It’s about time.
COAH came into existence in the late 1970′s as a result of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Mt. Laurel Decision, which basically said that municipalities cannot zone against low and moderate-income housing and must supply affordable housing. COAH set quotas for each of the state’s 567 (now 566) municipalities.
The quota system was unfair to many municipalities, setting unrealistically high numbers for some towns. Here in Cape May County, Middle Township is still required to offer 932 more affordable units by 2018 and Upper Township still owes over 500. It’s unrealistic and puts a heavy burden on taxpayers, who must fund new schools and services to meet the demand of so many new residences.
Senate Bill S1, sponsored by Raymond Lesniak and Christopher Bateman, and its companion State Assembly bill A2057, would abolish COAH. It would also do away with State-imposed calculations of affordable housing needs. Instead, it would permit municipalities to determine their own needs. The State Planning Commission would assist towns in facilitating opportunities for affordable housing.
The bill would require municipalities to re-examine their master plan and adopt an ordinance that provides an opportunity for an appropriate variety and choice of housing. They must show that they have complied with their obligations under the Fair Housing Act. Any municipality not enacting ordinances by December 31, 2011, would be required to have any developers set aside 20% of their project for low or moderate or work force housing.
What does all this mean? COAH and its assigned numbers of affordable housing units will be put to rest. But municipalities aren’t off the hook. They must still offer affordable housing, but on their own terms, not Trenton’s.
-Mountain Man and City Girl http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: affordable housing, Cape May County, Cape May County blog, COAH, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Middle Township affordable housing, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey COAH, New Jersey Senate Bill S1, political blog, real estate blog
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January 30th, 2010
The phone call yesterday went something like this:
“Your boy got accused of cheating,” I said, speaking of PGA Tour golf icon Phil Mickelson who also happens to be City Girl’s favorite golfer.
“That’s impossible,” she replied. “There’s no cheating in golf.”
You be the judge. The PGA Tour outlawed golf clubs with square grooves, effective this year. They reasoned that they give the golf ball more backspin, hence lessening a player’s necessity to actually make a skillful shot. So at the PGA Tour’s fourth stop of the year at Torrey Pines GC outside San Diego, tour player Scott McCarron accused Mickelson of cheating by using a square-grooved wedge. At least three other players have used the same square-grooved club this month – John Daly, Hunter Mahan, and Dean Wilson.
The golf club in question is a Ping-Eye 2 wedge. It seems that in settling a court case brought by Ping against the United States Golf Association (USGA), any Ping-Eye 2 iron built before April 1, 1990 was deemed legal. The PGA Tour agreed to abide by the USGA’s concession in 1993. The Ping irons in question were manufactured from 1985-1989. No other golf club company manufactured square-grooved clubs.
So knowing that square-grooved clubs would be illegal on the PGA Tour this year, some savvy tour players scrambled to find the still-legal vintage Ping wedges. While at least Mickelson, Daly, Mahan, and Wilson succeeded, most tour players weren’t even aware that the obscure rule existed. Technically, the four did nothing wrong. They stayed within the rules.
But, golf is known as a gentlemen’s game. What other sport has players call penalties on themselves, even if no one else saw the infraction? They – in most cases – could get away with it, but it’s an honor system. “Gentlemen, honor” – that’s a heavy responsibility. It’s not the type of lingo you’d associate with the NBA or NFL.
Did Mickelson and the others cheat? Mickelson says, “No.” McCarron says, “Yes.” In question perhaps is the spirit of the rules versus some technicality.
Perhaps tour pro Robert Allenby’s take is appropriate. “I think cheating is not the right word. But it’s definitely an advantage,” Allenby said of the Ping-Eye 2. “There’s only a certain amount of players that can find them and I think it’s not right if you’re using them.”
The entire controversy may soon be a moot point. Don’t be surprised to see the PGA Tour find a way to outlaw the Ping-Eye 2 in the next week or so.
How are the players mentioned doing at Torrey Pines? After two rounds McCarron and Daly missed the cut and were sent packing. Maybe that’s a factor in McCarron’s strong accusation? Allenby is three shots off the lead, Mickelson four, and Mahan six shots behind the leaders.
Don’t worry, City Girl. Your boy still has a chance to win again this week.
- Mountain Man and City Girl http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: Jewell Real Estate Agency, John Daly, lifestyle blog, Mountain Man and City Girl, PGA Tour, Phil Mickelson cheating, Ping-Eye 2, Robert Allenby cheating, Scott McCarron cheating, square-grooved golf clubs, Torrey Pines Golf Club
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January 30th, 2010
The movie ‘Avatar” doesn’t have enough “curb appeal”, as we realtors say, to get us to go pay $12 apiece to see it. It’s just not the kind of movie we like.
So when the Vatican gave the movie a thumbs down, it piqued our curiosity. This morning we read a Letter to the Editor in the Atlantic City Press by Sharon Hutchinson of Buena Vista, NJ. Here’s her take on the Vatican’s reaction to the movie:
“As a nontheist, I am amused at the Vatican’s condemnation of the movie ‘Avatar’ as nature worship. A respect for and communion with nature is one of the most positive experiences that a person can undergo.
“The fact is, we depend upon nature for all the necessities of life. The religions that worship land – yes, those awful pagan religions – develop a respect and appreciation for our planet that is sorely lacking in our modern society. The belief that Earth’s resources are put here solely for man’s benefit has led to not only an estrangement from the natural world around us but also the plunder and devastation of the world.
“If I were to choose a religion, it would make the most sense to worship that which provides the necessities of daily living, rather than some ephemeral being who has supposedly placed man above all creatures. The destruction of the Earth and its resources is the result of such mythical and arrogant thinking.
“It is no surprise to hear this protest from the Vatican, as Catholicism and other forms of Christianity continue to lose ground as science and reason grow. That ‘Avatar’ has struck such a nerve is but another sign that religions are aware that more people are coming to the realization that it is the ground under our feet, not some spirit in the sky, that helps to sustain our very lives.”
- Mountain Man and City Girl http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: Avatar, Catholicism, Jewell Real Estate Agency, lifestyle blog, Mountain Man and City Girl, nontheist, religion, Vatican
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January 29th, 2010
We realtors can talk all we want about our local real estate market, but there’s nothing like good, hard numbers to bring out the true picture. So here are the numbers for the Cape May County, New Jersey market since 2005. These statistics are for properties sold through our local Multiple Listing Service and don’t include private sales. They also don’t include Ocean City, which belongs to the Atlantic County Association of Realtors and MLS.
In 2005, there were 3,628 properties sold. The asking price total was $2.01 billion and they got $1.92 billion, meaning sellers got 95.5% of asking price on average. The average property was listed at $555,000 and it sold for $530,000. (All prices are rounded off).
In 2006, there were 2,386 properties sold, a volume drop of 34% from 2005. The total asking price was $1.43 billion and sellers received $1.34 billion, or about 94% of asking price. The average asking price was $601,000 and the selling price averaged $563,000. Did you just notice that the 2006 price average was up 6% over 2005?
In 2007, there were 2,279 properties sold, a slight drop of 4% from 2006. The asking price total was $1.33 billion and sellers received $1.28 billion. The average asking price was $583,000 and sellers averaged $539,000. So even in 2007, prices were still higher than in the benchmark year of 2005. Of course, sales were off 37% in volume in 2007 from 2005.
In 2008, there were 1,901 properties sold, a drop of 16.5% from the previous year. The total asking price was $1.07 billion and they got $978 million, or about 91% of asking price. The average property listed at $564,000 and sold for $514,000, which is still in the ballpark of 2005.
In 2009, there were 1,879 properties sold, a 48% drop from the gold rush era of 2005, but still close to 2008 totals. But here’s where the numbers dive. The total asking price was $889 million and sellers received $813 million. The average listing price of $473,000 went for $432,000. Selling prices dropped 16% from 2008. That’s substantial. Hopefully the market found the bottom and will now level off. Short sales were a big part of 2009, driving down price averages.
Here at Jewell Real Estate Agency, our figures for sales and commissions from 2001 to 2009 tell our story. Our most sales, in order, were 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2003. Those four years had double – and sometimes triple – the sales volume of 2001, and 2006 through 2009. Our best year of gross commissions was 2005 (no surprise there), followed by 2004, 2002, and 2003. Again, 2001 (our first year in business, so it might not be a fair comparison) and 2006 through 2009 were the dog years.
We do expect 2010 to be our best year since 2005. In January, we’ve already had 25% as many transactions closing as in all of 2009. And the phones are ringing and the offers are coming in. Yeee-haaa!
- Mountain Man and City Girl http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: Cape May County blog, Cape May County real estate, Cape May County real estate sales, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey real estate blog
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January 29th, 2010
The Coastal Redwoods are a sight to see. Ranging along the fog-shrouded California coast from Big Sur to just over the border into southwestern Oregon, these giants can live up to 2,200 years. There are 137 of these behemoths over 350 feet tall, with the tallest living redwood measuring in at a whopping 379 feet. The largest redwood girth is a mind-boggling 26 feet across.
The battle between environmentalists looking to preserve the trees and loggers looking at profits and jobs has been going on for a century, and the fight intensified beginning in the 1960s. It’s an emotional issue, with both sides resorting to vandalism or violence at times to protect what they believe is right.
National Geographic ran a feature article in October, 2009 about the redwoods and their future. It was a politically-correct, safe article. As is NatGeo’s philosophy, they strongly presented both sides while not taking a stand.
Here is an interesting Letter to the Editor that I just read this morning in my new February issue of NatGeo, written and submitted by John Ruch of Boston, giving his views of the validity of the redwood article’s points.
“Regarding your paean to capitalist “forest management” as the solution to saving redwoods, forests already have a manager. It’s nature itself, which has a head start of hundreds of millions of years on our wisdom. Conservation has become hubristic meddling, capitalism still is barely tamed greed, and the unholy alliance of the two is a scam masquerading as hipster realpolitik.
“Here’s the truth: Redwood lumber is not a vital resource. It is a luxury item that no one has any need or right to cut. The key to an ecological future is reducing our own population by three-quarters, not turning even more people into luxury-slurping consumers. The key to ending global warming is paying people who don’t drive cars at all, not paying forest companies. And anybody who kills any living thing more than a thousand years old is simply a jerk. Your article used the word “cut” a lot. What it meant is “kill”.”
- Mountain Man and City Girl http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: California Redwoods, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, National Geographic, nature blog, political blog, redwood trees, Redwoods
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January 28th, 2010
It’s kinda sad that so many “twenty-somethings” in America have no clue about how to manage their lives. They make bad decisions when it comes to the financial aspects of surviving and thriving. However, they’re not entirely to blame.
We were both excellent students in school. We did our homework, got good grades, and didn’t cause trouble. What more could a school expect from us. We did our part.
But in retrospect, the schools didn’t hold up their part of the bargain. Upon graduating from high school (City Girl in Philly, Mountain Man in a Boston suburb) it was time to strike out into the great, big world awaiting us. We weren’t prepared.
Like most our age, we had never been taught in school how to manage our lives. We had never been schooled in how to rent an apartment, buy a house, finance a car, pay our utility bills, and set ourselves on a monthly or weekly budget. We hadn’t been taught how to apply for a job, do our taxes, or raise a family. Through 12 years of school, we had never been offered a course on LIFE.
Fortunately for us both, we were quick learners and we each navigated the bumpy road of life. Like every twenty-something, we still made our share of mistakes.
Today’s post-school young adults have had a different experience than us. The majority can’t form a complete sentence. They were more interested in MTV and video games and texting than what we called “book learning”. Much of that can and should be blamed on the parents.
We had three young men – 18, 19 and 20-years old – working for us a few years ago. None were married, but each had at least one infant kid. One had an apartment but was constantly behind in rent and facing eviction. The other two had their kid and girlfriend living with them and their maternal unit - one a mother and the other a grandmother. They had no financial responsibility for house bills as the mother and grandmother – both only semi-literate - had become “enablers”. Only one of the three young men even owned a vehicle.
One particular week, the guys worked long hours and on payday each received about $600. As we paid them, each was warned to spend it wisely. “Don’t blow it,” we said in a big brother-type way. Each had children to feed and clothes to buy.
Monday morning, they each returned to work with big grins. “Guess what we did?” they said proudly. Unbelievably, each rolled up their sleeve to reveal their new $300 tattoo. “You mean you each spent half your paycheck on tattoos?” was our heartbroken reply.
And so it goes. Each is trapped into a life of underachievement and wasted potential and hardship. The parents didn’t have the intellectual tools to give proper guidance. That said, didn’t our educational system drop the ball on several generations?
- Mountain Man and City Girl http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: education, family finances, Jewell Real Estate Agency, lifestyle blog, Mountain Man and City Girl, schools, twenty-somethings
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January 28th, 2010
After owning three successive Dodge Dakotas, we bought a new Toyota Tundra last May. It is a 2009 4-wheel drive pickup truck with the full-sized backseat. We asked the dealer to make three modifications as a condition of purchasing the vehicle. They agreed, then did none of them. No wonder car dealers have a reputation for “say anything to make a sale.”
Anyway, our Tundra was one of over four million Toyotas recalled last summer because of a reported problem with the driver’s floor mat slipping underneath the pedals. Our mat is secured by a big plastic clip and it can’t be moved even with force, so we filed the recall notice in the “if it ever becomes a problem” folder.
Now Toyota has begun a recall of over one million vehicles – again ours is on the list – because the accelerator sticks. An advocacy group, Safety Research and Strategies, has said that since 1999 Toyotas have had 2,274 incidences of “sudden unintended acceleration” leading to 18 deaths in 275 crashes.
We haven’t received the recall notice yet, but even when we do there is no hurry to get out Tundra back to the dealer. Toyota hasn’t yet come up with a solution to the problem. It’s some sort of multiple problem concerning interconnected linkage. It’s not just spraying it with WD-40 or replacing a single part and everything is okay.
Our Tundra is our third vehicle, so we don’t drive it often. We use it to get from our home in Cape May County, New Jersey to our vacation log home in mountains of Pocahontas County, West Virginia. It’s 396 miles each way.
We needed the 4-wheel drive in case of snow or ice going through the mountains, and the large size gives us plenty of room to bring along all the tools, supplies, etc that we always seem to need. But other than those trips (about 12,000 miles a year), our Toyota stays parked under cover in New Jersey. We each drive smaller, more economical vehicles in our everyday New Jersey life.
Toyota has put out some warnings of what symptoms to look for in advance of your gas pedal sticking. They say the pedal may gradually become harder to depress, and there may be a roughness or chattering when pressing or releasing the gas pedal. It that happens, call your Toyota dealer.
If the pedal does stick at full acceleration, follow these steps: Brake hard, but don’t pump the brakes, just depress the brake pedal enough without going into a skid. Then throw the engine in “neutral”. While the engine will still be running at excessive RPM’s, it won’t be pushing you along anymore. Don’t turn the engine off until you’re safely stopped and off the road. Got all that?
We’re sure Toyota will figure out a solution to the problem soon, then we can all take our vehicles to the dealer for the repairs. We’re just sorry that we have to go back to the incompetent dealer that we bought it from.
- Mountain Man and City Girl http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: Cape May County, Cape May County blog, Jewell Real Estate Agency, lifestyle blog, Mountain Man and City Girl, Pocahontas County WV, Toyota recall, Toyota Tundra recall
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January 26th, 2010
It’s sure tough to be the little guy - the common US citizen - isn’t it? Despite all the guarantees put forth in the Constitution, our government is still controlled by special interests. Not us peons.
The Supreme Court set us back a few decades last week when a 5-4 decision okayed companies and unions ability to spend freely on ads that promote or target particular candidates by name. It also lifts a ban on corporate and union-paid issue-based ads in the final days of a campaign.
How easy is it now going to be for a politician to climb into bed with special interests? Quite. If not, their opponent just might and then steal the election. It’s a field day for graft.
President Obama lashed out at the decision over the weekend. “We don’t need to give any more voice to the powerful interests that already drown out the voices of everyday Americans,” he said. “And we don’t intend to.”
The White House will attempt to legislate away the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision, which basically used the First Amendment’s “freedom of speech” as the reason to allow these transgressions against decency. The House of Representatives and Senate must approve any bills on the subject before Obama could sign it into law.
The White House has a number of measures it is proposing: require the approval of a majority of shareholders before a corporation can run a political ad; require the CEO to appear at the end of the ad; limit the ad spending of corporations who received bailout money; and/or limit privileges that come with corporate status concerning political ads.
If this Supreme Court ruling is allowed to stand, any candidate that stood for environmental or social issues would likely be squashed by the big businesses whose profits would be trimmed.
Isn’t democracy grand?
- Mountain Man and City Girl http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
The blogsite of Jewell Real Estate Agency, Wildwood Crest, NJ http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: Corporate interests, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, political blog, President Obama, special interests, Supreme Court, Supreme Court decision
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