Posts Tagged ‘Cape May Court House’
Thursday, 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
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Back in 2006, Dennis Township auctioned its first-ever liquor license for a retail store, known as a Plenary Retail Distribution License. In New Jersey ABC lingo, it’s known as a “44″ license, meaning the liquor is for off-premises consumption only.
With just two bidders, the license went for $1.1 million. The township set a minimum bid of $700,000, and the other bid was unsuccessful at $756,000.
The winning bidder sold the license to the Gleeson family earlier this year and they will be building their liquor store in Oceanview at the busy and highly-visible corner of Route 9 and Sea Isle Boulevard.
Plans include 4,000 square feet of retail space and an additional 4,700 square feet for storage space and offices. The family, which owns Gleeson Contractors, will be constructing the building themselves. The business is slated to be open for sales by Memorial Day.
Dennis Township has been “dry” since it was incorporated in 1826. In 2001, voters approved a referendum to allow liquor. Dennis auctioned one of its two permitted restaurant liquor licenses in 2002 to Shore Gate Golf Club, which bid the minimum set price of $300,000 to acquire the coveted license.
Of Cape May County’s 16 municipalities, only Ocean City, Wildwood Crest, and Cape May Point remain “dry” towns.
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: Cape May Court House, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Clermont, Dennis Township, Dennis Township real estate, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, liquor license, Middle Township, Mountain Man and City Girl, Oceanview, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Let’s face it. If the economy is to recover quickly, the bottom line is jobs, jobs, jobs. Put people to work and everything else falls into place.
Businesses, of course, are the key to creating jobs. And two-thirds of jobs are with small and medium size businesses. So to get businesses to hire more employees, the economic climate must be favorable.
New Jersey, unfortunately, ranks last or near the bottom of every business-friendly list generated, based on several factors. New Jersey ranks well in transportation, easy accessibility to large markets, having an available labor pool, and having the third lowest gasoline tax in the nation. That’s the end of the good news.
New Jersey has the second highest individual capital gains tax and sixth highest corporate capital gains tax. Property taxes are amongst the highest in the United States. Wading through the multi-levels of government and environmental bureaucracy adds to the negatives. Why would a business relocate to New Jersey with the high cost of doing business, plus the time delays in getting construction completed due to getting bogged down in permitting?
New Jersey – and newly-elected Governor Chris Christie – need to make some changes to spur business. Tax rates on corporations and small businesses must be reduced. The state will make up the loss in revenue by gaining more businesses, which in the long run makes a more stable tax base.
And as we all know, real estate property taxes must drop dramatically. With six out of every 100 workers in New Jersey actually employed by the state, it’s not hard to figure out where the first cuts should be!
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: blog, Cape May, Cape May Court House, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Diamond Beach, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Middle Township, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey blog, New Jersey politics, New Jersey property taxes, New Jersey real estate, New Jersey real estate blog, New Jersey taxes, North Wildwood, opinion, political blog, real estate blog, Seapointe Village, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), a consumer protection statute enacted in 1974, will have a new face beginning January 1, 2010. RESPA was basically designed to give effective disclosure to homebuyers and sellers prior to initiating the real estate purchase process, so there were no “surprises” at the closing table.
The new RESPA reforms are aimed at giving the consumer better information earlier in the process and the ability to shop for the best deal by comparing service providers.
Potential buyers need only give six pieces of information – name, monthly income, social security number, property address, sale price, and loan amount desired. They can do this with several banks or lenders and get a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) within three days. The GFE results can then be compared side-by-side so the consumer then can make an informed decision on which scenario and providers to use.
The GFE has three parts – charges that can not increase, those that can only increase a maximum of 10 percent, and those that can change at settlement if you don’t use the service company identified by the lender.
That said, here’s the downside of the new RESPA.
There will need to be a huge increase in communication between the lender and whoever is doing the closing – either a title company or attorney. That’s a scary thought, especially when a lawyer is involved.
The other concern we have as realtors is that lenders – who are often located 100 or 200 miles from us here in Cape May County – are going to be supplying names of home inspectors, termite inspectors, etc., to the prospective buyers. The only way we can sidetrack a potential logistic fiasco is to give these buyers a list of reputable local puveyors to submit to the lender upon first contact.
The new HUD-1 Settlement Statement used at closing, which is now three pages instead of two, also has two drawbacks. Closings will take longer and the HUD-1 is less detailed and more about total costs.
The federal goverment received 12,000 public comments prior to designing the new RESPA and its GFE and HUD-1 forms. Once realtors, title companies, lenders, attorneys, sellers, and buyers get used to the new format and procedures, hopefully all the parties concerned will be pleased.
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: Cape May, Cape May Court House, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, condo, Diamond Beach, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Middle Township, mountain man, Mountain Man and City Girl, nature blog, Real Estate, real estate blog, realtor, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Saturday, December 12th, 2009
Most people would agree that the real estate market of the last 15 or 20 years has been fueled by the Baby Boomers. As you know, that’s the 80 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964, and now ages 45 to 63 years old. They’ve had careers and saved money and invested in real estate, stocks, and retirement plans, amongst other things.
The next generation has been called “Generation X”, originally called the “Baby Bust” due to the low birthrate in America. They were born from 1965 to 1979, with the latter half mostly children of early Baby Boomers. They are now 30 to 44 years old, but they are just 48 million strong. With the average age of a first-time homebuyer pegged about 33 years old, they are filling that niche right now while the Baby Boomers upgrade to add vacation homes or downsize to smaller homes as “empty nesters”.
The next group to arrive was Generation Y, those born between 1980 and 1995. Now 14 to 29 years olds and children of the latter half of the Baby Boomers and the early Gen X’ers, they will be the next group to arrive on the real estate scene. The exciting news for the real estate industry and the economy of the United States in general is that there are 74 million of them. They should eventually have the economic impact equal to that of the Baby Boomers. Tattoos and piercings and all, this generation will soon enter the first-time homebuyer market and take their place on the economic ladder until they are perhaps 60 years old or so.
As the population demographics shift from one group to another, there will always be a new generation to carry the day. Isn’t that why we reproduce?
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: blog, Cape May, Cape May Court House, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Middle Township, Mountain Man and City Girl, North Wildwood, ocean, opinion, Real Estate, real estate blog, realtor, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Friday, December 11th, 2009
Nearly a year into the Obama administration I think Americans can see that the No.1 issue in the nation’s mind – the economy – is still sputtering. Bank bailouts and all that stuff just aren’t working fast enough.
As Mighty Mouse used to say, “Here I come to save the day!” So here’s my simplistic approach to ending the Recession.
The United States of America has the highest bond rating possible – AAA. That rating means that the U.S. is not likely to default on debt. Thanks to the Bretton Woods Accord back in the 1970s, the U.S. dollar is no longer backed by the gold in Fort Knox. The American dollar – of which there are 829 billion – is backed by the government’s ability to generate revenue to pay down it’s debt.
New dollars are issued when the Federal Reserve elects to fund the purchase of debt, which is usually through U.S. Treasury Bonds. Done in excess, this can cause inflation, but bear with me.
The net worth of Americans is currently $53.4 trillion. Prior to the Recession, it was $64.5 trillion. In other words, we’ve lost 17.2% of our worth. By the way, $348 billion of our collective $53.4 trillion is household real estate holdings, i.e. your house.
That’s the background, now my proposal.
Let’s give each American household $10,000 tax free. With 105,480,101 households, that’s $1.05 trillion.
There are 7.7 million businesses in America. Let’s give them each $100,000 tax free. That’s a mere $770 billion.
So add it up and the American government can print and distribute $1.82 trillion. This isn’t money raised by taxes. We’re just gonna print it and give it out. There’s just one stipulation – the money can’t leave the country. It can’t be sent to relatives in Nicaragua or used to hire workers in China. It has to be spent in the 50 states.
Think of the ramifications. The boost to the economy will be incredible. Some people will pay down debt or save their homes, while others will buy TVs, cars, and yes, useless junk. Some might even use some of the money for booze, cigarettes, and methamphetimines, but that can’t be helped.
All this will turn into many of the 7 million people laid off from work since the beginning of the Recession getting gainful employment again. For every dollar currently in circulation, there will now be three dollars. Banks will start lending again and the good times will roll. States will see an increase in sales taxes collected, easing their budget pains.
The nay-sayers will yell that my plan will cause inflation. Sure, it will. But it’ll be manageable, maybe 10% at most and it will be a one-time thing, just like my giveaway windfall. But the trade-off of jobs and reduced personal debt is well worth it. The American economy will have the jump-start it needs.
Some might call my plan crazy. But at least I have a plan.
And I bet you’re smiling and already thinking about how you’d spend your $10,000.
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: blog, Cape May, Cape May Court House, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Diamond Beach, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, lifestyle blog, Middle Township, mountain man, Mountain Man and City Girl, North Wildwood, ocean, political blog, Real Estate, real estate blog, realtor, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
“Surprise, Surprise, Surprise”, as Gomer Pyle used to say.
To the surprise of many, including this ardent Cape May County observer, voters successfully recalled City of Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano and Commissioner Bill Davenport in Tuesday’s special election.
The first part of the ballot asked whether voters wanted to recall the pair. Voters went 624 to 487 to recall the mayor and 649 to 470 to unseat the commissioner. Apparently there was enough dissent within the community to overcome the regular party machine.
The second part of the ballot then asked to vote for two of the six candidates. With only about a dozen or so provisional ballots not yet counted, the vote went:
Ed Harshaw 600, Al Brannen 577, Troiano 496, Davenport 453, Ernesto Salvatico 45, and John Roat 42.
And so Harshaw, a real likable high school history teacher, and Brannen, who’s been a thorn in the administration’s side, take over a city with the highest tax rate in Cape May County and a mountain of debt. They join Commissioner Gary DeMarzo, the controversial third commissioner.
The trio will decide amongst themselves who will be mayor and they haven’t hinted publicly yet whom they each will vote for.
The outgoing mayor took a parting shot, not indicating whether or not he knows exactly who will be the new mayor. “The only thing that bothers me is you’ll have an absolute nitwit for a mayor now.”
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Diamond Beach, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, mountain man, Mountain Man and City Girl, North Wildwood, ocean, opinion, Politics, Real Estate, real estate blog, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
If you have credit cards – and who doesn’t? – you probably got a notice in the last few days from Bank of America. The letter said that your credit line has been reduced to a few hundred dollars. The tens of thousands of dollars of available credit or cash you had the week before is suddenly gone! Merry Christmas.
Chase Bank and Bank of America, which merged with Merrill Lynch in 2009, pretty much have the credit card business all to themselves. These two giants of the financial world control the credit destiny of tens of millions of Americans.
So why would Bank of America suddenly cut off five or ten million hard-working American families from having credit lines?
This past Tuesday, December 8, Bank of America paid back the $45 billion it got from the U.S. Government in the big bank bailout. It did it with about $19 billion in cash and the balance by selling off securities. To make sure they had the cash on hand, B of A apparently needed to make sure you couldn’t borrow any of it.
Here comes the kicker.
Bank of America paid back the $45 billion to the U.S. Treasury so that they would no longer be bound by the rules that were instituted as a condition of using the bailout funds. Since the CEO of B of A recently announced his resignation as of December 31, the board of directors has been searching for a new CEO. It seems they feel that they can’t offer “proper incentives” to attract a quality CEO and accepting the government grant money limited the bonuses allowed to be paid to the company’s top management.
So, to make sure they can offer their new CEO $50 million or $100 million in bonus incentives, they cut off the credit of millions of American families!
Where’s the public outrage?
- Mountain Man
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, North Wildwood, ocean, opinion, political blog, Real Estate, real estate blog, realtor, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
I read a Letter to the Editor in today’s Press of Atlantic City that addressed one of my many pet peeves – not getting a real, live person on the phone when you call a business.
Isn’t it annoying? Especially when you know there’s a bunch of slackers sitting there probably drinking coffee and eating doughnuts and listening to the phone ring.
Automated answering systems are impersonal and make you feel like your business is not appreciated. As the Press letter states, the worst scenario is when your first prompt is “Press 1 for English”. Arrrgh!
And this all brings me to mention Jewell Real Estate Agency. We don’t have an automated system. We ALWAYS have a live person answer the phone. I’m not talking just during business hours, but 6am to 9pm every single day of the year. That’s 15 hours a day that one of us is there to actually take the receiver off the hook and say, “Good morning (or afternoon or evening), Jewell Real Estate Agency, Joyce (or Chris or Douglas or ….) speaking”.
We will NEVER, NEVER, EVER have an automated system. You’ll never hear “Choose from the following menu options” or “If you know your party’s extension, dial it now”. It upsets me just thinking about the idiot companies that do this.
In this fast-paced world, isn’t it nice to know that somewhere out there you can speak to a real live person. If you ever call 609-729-8505 or 609-463-8423 and you get an automated system with extension options, then guess what? You missed my funeral!
- Mountain Man
Tags: Cape May, Cape May Court House, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, condo, Diamond Beach, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Middle Township, North Wildwood, ocean, opinion, Real Estate, real estate blog, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
In the October 2009 issue of New Jersey Realtor, the magazine did a typical pre-election article asking the governor candidates – incumbent Jon Corzine and challenger (now Governor-elect) Chris Christie – a series of position questions.
Their answers were mostly, well, carefully worded non-answers or non-commitals.
The first question asked was, ”what steps will you take to reform our property tax system?”
Gov Corzine gave a long-winded eight paragraph account of his accomplishments in office, but sidestepped the actual question. Christie gave a better answer, but limited his solution to “a smaller, leaner, more efficient government” and that he would keep the property tax rebate in place.
The second question dealt with repealing the Realty Transfer Fee, which averages $2,958 for each transaction.
Christie called it “one of the best examples of a tax that was imposed to capitalize on a booming real estate market that has now proven to be incredibly damaging”. Good answer, but he stopped short of proclaiming he’d repeal it. Corzine again completely avoided directly addressing the question.
The next question asked, “Do you support efforts to partially eliminate the property tax deduction?” and would they support “imposing a sales tax on rentals or professional services?”
Corzine basically said, “Leadership is about making difficult choices” and “I cannot guess what actions we will be required to take”. Typical incumbent evasiveness! Christie did step up by saying, “I do not support either the further elimination of the property tax deduction or expansion of the sales tax or any other tax.” He stopped short of saying he’d veto such attempts.
The fourth question was “What actions will you take to encourage stabilization and growth of the real estate market?”
Christie spoke of “restoring the vitality of our cities” and “an elimination of the outrageous quotas and requirements of the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH)”. Good answers, but they don’t really address stabilization and growth. Corzine talked about business development and his Economic Stimulus Act of 2009, but it fell short of being reassuring.
The final query was concerning the government’s right of eminent domain, especially seizing a person’s property and giving to another private property owner for redevelopment purposes.
Both candidates gave “feel good” two sentence answers, but no concrete proposals. Hmmm.
I must admit that I voted for neither of these candidates but instead voted for an alternative choice, which pollsters interpret as a dissenting vote. I guess I’m becoming increasingly disenfranchised from the system. Can you blame me?
Governor-elect Christie has inherited a giant pile of chicken manure. Let’s see if he can turn it into chicken salad.
- Mountain Man
Tags: Cape May Court House, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Real Estate, real estate blog, realtor, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Monday, December 7th, 2009
While most folks are struggling to make ends meet in this depressed economy, New Jersey government and municipal retirees are cleaning up. In fact, 428 retirees pull in over $100,000 per year in pension money.
In 2008, the median pension in New Jersey was $61,800 for police and fire retirees, $81,700 for State Police, and $43,200 for teachers. These figures are more than the salary – yes, salary – of the average New Jersey worker, which is $37,900.
In a state with an $8 billion budget deficit this year, the $5.7 billion in pensions is an unfair drain on taxpayers. To add insult to injury, the state and many municipal governments have failed to keep up with fully funding these pension funds, meaning the public will get increasingly larger bills each year.
So what to do?
Obviously, the system needs to be changed. The thought that a fireman or policeman can work from age 21 to 46 and collect substantial sums of pension money after this 25 years, then start a second career, is unconscienable. Newly hired state employees, who could retire at age 55 as of 2001, have seen outgoing Governor Corzine increase that back to age 60.
It appears that legislators are fearful of reigning in the money grab by retirees. So taxpayers will continue to fund this act of greed through real estate taxes, which are already the highest in the United States.
There is one group that won’t be funding the pension through real estate taxes. Did I mention that one-third of these pensioners have moved out of New Jersey?
- Mountain Man
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Diamond Beach, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, North Wildwood, ocean, Real Estate, real estate blog, realtor, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Saturday, December 5th, 2009
Lower Township, which includes such areas as Diamond Beach, North Cape May, and Villas, has decided to do an in-house reassessment of properties. No, not to increase the value of properties, but to lower them.
It seems that when Lower did its last assessment in 2007, the implications of this recession were not fully evident. But now three years of a down market in real estate have seen these assessments appear to be 20% or more too high.
That 2007 assessment tripled the township’s ratables from the 1992 figure of $1.5 billion to over $4.5 million. The new reassessment will be done by the municipal tax department, meaning there will be no on-site inspections. It’s strictly a numbers crunch. It also means that the cost will be just $25,000, instead of the million dollars for a full-blown reassessment by an outside company.
Properties expected to see the biggest drop in values are those near the water, i.e. the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Hopefully Diamond Beach owners, who have historically been a cash cow for Lower despite fewer services and no fire station, will get a fair shake this time around.
Speaking of Diamond Beach, the new Grand condominium complex, located beachfront on Atlantic Avenue, was originally touted by developers and officials as bringing as much as $6 million in new property tax revenue to Lower Township. With one of three buildings completed, just $400,000 is being added to the coffers this year.
The Grand may someday make a big difference in the tax rate, but for now, with Lower this year paying an extra $289,000 in pensions plus a 3.7 % salary increase to municipal employees, that $400,000 from the Grand property taxes has been negated.
Seems like no matter what townships throughout New Jersey do to lower their budgets, the greedy, whiny employees – current and retired – milk the taxpayer far beyond the limits of reason. That, sadly, will never change in our current political climate of patronage and deal-making.
- Mountain Man
Tags: Cape May, Cape May Court House, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, condo, Diamond Beach, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Middle Township, North Wildwood, ocean, real estate blog, Seapointe Village, townhouse, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Monday, November 30th, 2009
When the recent “Veterans Day Storm” slammed the east coast November 11-15, some Cape May County island homeowners suffered water damage and wind damage to their properties. For most, it was business as usual and they cleaned up the mess and moved on. It’s life at the shore for those in the few scattered low-lying streets in Wildwood, North Wildwood, and West Wildwood.
The beaches are another story. So that local governments could score Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money, New Jersey Governor Corzine obligingly declared a state of emergency. The damage to Cape May County, originally ballparked at $89 million, was determined to actually be $27.3 million. Those beach erosion figures are based on $10.40 per cubic yard of sand to be replaced. Sand for dunes is calculated up to $20 per cubic yard.
The bigger question here is whether the U.S. government should be subsidizing beaches. Is it fair to someone living in Iowa to pay for beaches in Avalon rimmed with $4 million vacation homes?
What would homeowners who cry for FEMA beach funds in their communities think if the federal government started funding ski resorts? Heck, they want snow by Thanksgiving to have a good year. Should we be subsidizing snowmaking operations at the hundreds of ski slopes throughout the U.S.? Let’s take it a step further and put refrigeration lines under each ski slope. That’ll make the millions of American skiers happy.
While we’re at it, why not have FEMA subsidize all the golf courses in America? In a drought, ship in tanker trucks of fresh water from the Great Lakes and major rivers. That would please the 24 million Americans who play golf. They want lush green golf courses, not those spotted with burned out patches of grass.
Do you see my point?
With oceans rising as the Arctic, Greenland, and Antarctic melt, the beach erosion problem has intensified. Many local shore towns will be doing two beach replenishment projects this year. Ten years from now, it may necessitate three or four a year, which isn’t going to happen. FEMA will finally say, “No Mas”.
So it’s time to be proactive.
Where beaches habitually wash out in storms, it is time to rip rap with massive walls of boulders, much like the seawalls recently constructed at the north end of both North Wildwood and Avalon at the inlets. FEMA should offer to pay for the rip rapping of the ocean. Sure it means less beaches, but once the seawalls are built, the beaches will come and go. After all, beaches are always in transit. It’s just in the last 100 years that civilization decided they’d try to tame Mother Nature.
There will always be plenty of beaches in Cape May County, but people will have to search them out. Here today, gone tomorrow, but another beach pops up a mile away. And certain beaches, like Wildwood, which is over 1,000 feet in depth, will always be there.
Like it or not, the days of FEMA beach handouts are numbered. As they should be.
- Mountain Man
Tags: Cape May, Cape May Court House, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Diamond Beach, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Middle Township, North Wildwood, ocean, real estate blog, realtor, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
When people think of Cape May County, New Jersey they focus on the fabulous beaches, fishing and boating opportunities, world class boardwalks, great restaurants, the laid back atmosphere and low crime rate. Let’s face it, these are the attractions that swell the yearround population of 100,000 up to 750,000 in the summertime.
But Cape May County offers the accessibility to much more. Millville, just 20 minutes up country roads, unveils its new 700-acre Thunderbolt Raceway this August. A 2.3 mile road course, plus a 1.7 mile road course, will assure that sports car and grand prix car racing will be a regular weekend venue.
Just 30 miles to the north of Cape May County is Atlantic City, which as their slogan says, is “Always Turned On”. As you may know, gambling came to Atlantic City in 1978. There are now 11 casinos, with many touting expansions and new ones are on the drawing board.
How big is the casino business? There are a total of 35,603 slot machines, and they paid out 3.46 billion dollars last year. Note, that’s billion, not million. There are 1,612 table games, which forked out $1.45 billion in 2007. The casinos currently employ 40,788 folks. That’s a lot of impact.
The 11 casinos, with the year they were opened are: Resorts (1978), Caesars (’79), Bally’s (’79), Harrah’s (’80), Hilton (’80), Tropicana (’81), Trump Plaza (’84), Trump Marina (’85), Showboat (’87), Trump Taj Mahal (’90), and the Borgata (2003). A new downtown oceanfront casino, plus a 140-acre mega-casino at the edge of town, appear to be the next to add to the city’s appeal.
The future of AC looks bright, so expansions are in the works. The Borgata, which is AC’s first Las Vegas style mega-resort, completed an expansion in 2006, and a new hotel tower nears completion. Harrah’s new digs open next month. Donald Trump’s Taj Mahal will be opening its new addition this fall. Resorts pushed skyward in 2004, the Tropicana expanded in 2004, Showboat added in 2005, and Trump Plaza remodeled in 2004.
The casinos have realized that to expand their patron base, non-gaming activities had to be implemented. Restaurants, spas, and retail stores were the answer. The Borgata has many restaurants, with three featuring celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Wolfgang Puck, and Michael Mina. Harrah’s has 172,000 square feet added for restaurants, retail, and entertainment. The Showboat added the 2,380-seat House of Blues music club. The Tropicana opened The Quarter, a sprawling ground floor retail, restaurant, and entertainment mall. Several upscale non-casino shopping malls, catering to Boardwalk and casino foot traffic, have brought hundreds more name outlets into the fold.
Nightlife is what Atlantic City is all about. All the casinos have showrooms, bringing the biggest names in comedy and music to the public every night of the year. There are also Broadway musicals, holiday spectaculars, and specialty events, like the popular Mummer’s bands. Bally’s, Borgata, Tropicana, and now the Showboat regularly host boxing cards, highlighting some of the biggest names in the sport. Caesars hosts boxing at the AC Boardwalk Hall, also a venue for everything from Andre Rieu to college basketball to midget car racing and monster trucks. AC has minor league baseball with its Atlantic City Surf.
As you can see, Cape May County life offers a lot more than the county itself. If you can’t find something to do here within a half hour’s drive, you’re not trying.
- Mountain Man
To learn more about Cape May County, visit our website at http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: Cape May Court House, real estate blog, Seapointe Village, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
Once in a while, I’ll get into a philosophical discussion with someone concerning “what makes a good realtor?”. Sometimes it’s a client, sometimes another realtor, or sometimes someone you happen to meet that initiates this dialog and shares their thoughts. Let me share mine.
The first criteria of a good realtor is honesty and being ethical. Without those two ingredients, you can end this discussion. We try to treat everyone as if they’re lifelong friends, almost kindred spirits. I guess it’s a little of that “do unto others” thing, too. As we are both hovering around 60 years old, we have reached the point in our lives where everything is about friendships. It’s a certain bond that says, “I care about you”, and will look out for your best interests.
The second criteria is sincerity. Nobody likes a phony. Be real. When we tell someone something, we truly believe it. Sometimes it’s not what they wanted to hear or expected to hear, but it’s what we perceive to be true. If one of us is showing a prospective buyer a property and we don’t like it or think it matches their needs, we say so. We don’t whitewash it, we don’t go along and keep silent just to get a sale. We help you weigh the positives vs negatives.
The third criteria is enjoying what you do. We both love being realtors, especially City Girl. We both bounce out of bed in the morning anxious to get on with our day. Our job is not a burden, but a pleasure. And a challenge. As baby boomers, we thrive on challenges. It’s a generation thing, I guess. Retiring just doesn’t seem to be in our future because we’re already doing the thing that makes us happy and gives us peace.
The fourth criteria is enjoying looking at properties. We can both look at houses all day long. My mother always jokingly told me, “Someday you’ll make someone a good wife.” She was right, by gosh. I appreciate kitchens, furniture, home decorating, flooring, etc - not typically “guy things”. Curiosity also fuels our desire to see what a home looks like inside and out.
The fifth criteria is being proficient at the technical aspects of a real estate transfer. Is the buyer’s mortgage process progressing?, is the home in a flood zone?, what expansions will zoning law allow?, does the roof need replacing? There’s a hundred facets of a transaction that we must examine and successfully complete.
The final criteria is experience. City Girl has been a realtor since 1978, me since 1996. We are both brokers, a level above salesperson that required extra schooling. We both have our GRI designations, again requiring extra schooling. City Girl also has three more designations, all of which were earned through increasing her knowledge of the real estate business.
Experience also means practical experience. City Girl once owned a hotel. We once owned a bar/restaurant. We both have been in retail and owned investment properties, and have a second home. We’ve done renovation projects, I’ve worked for a surveyor, she’s been on the local zoning board for 20 years. My point? We’ve learned a lot of things in the real world that can’t be taught in books.
No matter where you live in the country, a good realtor is a good realtor. With one, you’ll make a friend for life.
- Mountain Man
To learn more about our agency, visit our website at http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: Cape May Court House, good realtor, real estate blog, Seapointe Village, Wildwood
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Sunday, January 27th, 2008
Earlier this month, January 2008, I traveled to our West Virginia cabin to spend a few days. I needed to meet with our builder, our excavation guy, and cut a few trees to open up a mountain vista to the east.
When I arrived at 9am on a Friday morning, the temperature was 6 degrees. It had been 1 degree a few hours prior. I worked throughout the weekend and accomplished my tasks. By Monday, my last day, it was a balmy 62 degrees. I decided to spend the day hiking and exploring. I felt like a school kid skipping class!
There is a couple hundred acre parcel behind our 19 acres that leads up to the crest of the small mountain. I had never explored it, so I headed up the mountain on our road. Soon I was climbing over the gate onto the neighbor’s property. There were no structures on the land, and only hunters ever went up there.
I traveled up the dirt road, gradually gaining elevation. Meadows opened up to the north, a sight I don’t see on our heavily wooded parcel. Soon I was to an area where thick pine trees clustered along the north side of the road, but they grew from a 20-foot lower creekside area, so only the top 10 feet were exposed to me. They shown brilliant light green in the full winter sun.
Suddenly, a large bird the size of a crow burst from one of the pines and landed in another 100 feet ahead. Was that a pileated woodpecker? Could it possibly be?
I proceeded slowly up the road, knowing that I would come upon him again. Sure enough, as I got close, he launched out of the tree. His wings beating made a definite noise, almost a thumping. They were so powerful that I swore I felt the vibrations.
His large size and pronounced red pointed head confirmed that it was a pileated woodpecker. If indeed the ivory-billed woodpecker is extinct, then the pileated is now the largest woodpecker in North America.
He and I continued our hide and seek game. Twice more he flew 100 feet at a shot, landing in the pines ahead of me along the road. When he tired of my presence, he flew away from the road to the edge of a dense forest. Each time, his wings beating foretold that he was airborne again.
Now he hung to the edge of the forest, heading parallel to the road and back where we started. My view of his trajectory was unobstructed, so I continued to follow his progression. I didn’t move a muscle except for the slight turning of my head.
After 10 or 15 minutes, he finally flew deep into the woods. I had seen him in flight six times. I heard him fly three other times.
My hike continued another couple hours, but all the time I kept thinking about him. How magnificent he was! How fortunate I was to share some time with him.
I will be going back up the mountain the next time I’m in West Virginia. I expect to visit my feathered friend again. It’s the neighborly thing to do!
Mountain Man
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House, Green Bank, Real Estate, West Virginia, Wildwood
Posted in West Virginia cabin | Comments Off
Sunday, January 27th, 2008
Every now and then we see that little red sign sitting in the window of somebody’s home. “For Sale By Owner” it proclaims. Occasionally, a person can pull off selling their home without the help of a real estate professional. Just like sometimes a person can figure out what’s wrong with their car’s engine and fix it themselves. But most of us leave that to a mechanic – an experienced professional! He’s got the computer diagnostics and the right tools and knowledge.
A seller tries to sell their home without a realtor for one main reason. They want to save on the commission. The problem with that is that most buyers immediately deduct that same commission amount from what they feel the real price is. If the property is listed at $500,000, the buyer already has the real asking price pegged at $470,000. They’ve subtracted the 6% commission from the price.
So eight months later, a prospective buyer, the third to view the home, offers $420,000. The seller feels somewhat insulted. In negotiating face to face, it will be difficult for the seller to mask his annoyance with the buyer.
Let’s say the two, somehow, eventually reach a verbal agreement on price. A week or so later, the buyer submits his written offer that he has had prepared by his attorney. The agreed upon price is there, but the contract is asking for the seller to take care of any repairs or treatments necessary due to termite inspection, septic inspection, water test, and home inspection. The seller finds he could be on the hook for an unexpected $10,000 of possible remediation.
More tense negotiations, more animosity, veiled threats, more stress. You get the picture. The seller never saw it coming.
Let’s back up and suppose the seller started by listing his property with a local, licensed real estate agent. Upon signing the listing, the agent goes room by room and tells the seller what needs to be addressed to make the home more attractive to warrant the $500,000 price tag. It’s just cosmetic stuff mostly, maybe touching up some woodwork with paint. Outside, the leaves might need to be raked and that doggie poop cleaned up.
The agent now advertises the property in a number of effective Cape May County homes magazines. Plus the realty’s internet site, which is also widely publicized and linked to chamber of commerce and other popular sites. The realtor also puts the property on a half dozen other high viewer websites. This will lead to many potential buyers viewing the property.
Once negotiations begin with a buyer, the agent does your bidding. You’ll often never meet the buyer until closing, so no hard feelings. The agent can advise the seller as to contract conditions, inspections, down payments, etc. Once the contract is signed, the agent oversees many details such as inspections, is the mortgage process progressing, survey, deed, the title company, etc. You’ll even know your approximate closing costs before you ever sign the contract.
In the end, the price realized may be exactly the same, though it’s often more. But consider the ease with which the transaction was completed. No sleepless nights, no big surprises, no agata! Wasn’t it worth it?
- Mountain Man
To find out more about what realtors do for you, visit our website at http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House, for sale by owner, Seapointe Village, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Saturday, January 26th, 2008
Real estate markets are quite localized. While one area of a state may have a stagnant market, 50 miles away the market can be going along just fine. The reasons are varied. Vacation home markets, suburbs of cities where jobs are plentiful, or desired features like mountains, lakes, a river, or the ocean tend to make an area more immune to extended downside markets.
Here at the southern New Jersey shore, “vacation homes” and “the ocean” have fueled a real estate market rebound. While some areas of the country are three full years into tough times and still struggling, our Cape May County region had 24 months of sluggish sales and now it appears to be headed back up.
Another distinction that the real estate market here has that other markets may not is that Open Houses don’t work. Nope! They’re a waste of time.
Statistics show that two-thirds of potential buyers do their research for a home on the internet. With 121 million Americans having internet access, I suspect that number from my experience is more like 80% to 90% here in the Wildwoods.
People don’t come to the shore to search for a second home unless they are armed with MLS sheets detailing the properties that have caught their interest. Their day is planned out – first a two hour drive to get here, then two properties to see, then lunch, then four more homes or condos to tour, then back on the road home. They had appointments to view all six units.
Meanwhile, a realtor is sitting somewhere in an open house. There’s little or no legitimate traffic through the home. The only visitors you get are nosy neighbors, folks who already own a vacation home here but are looking for ideas to improve that place, builders checking out the floor plan and extras to incorporate in their next project, or bored non-buyers walking to or from the beach.
At our real estate agency, we have discouraged our sellers from requesting open houses. We try to explain to sellers that our time is better spent on Saturdays and Sundays in the office, where we attract more potential buyers. We work the phones, show properties, and have a much better shot promoting that property.
The only open houses that work here are those in large tracts of new construction. Locally, K. Hovnanian, Ryan Homes, Beazer Homes, amongst others, have projects with 15 to 200 units. They staff an on-site office with their own sales people, and are generally open seven days a week.
Realtors, of course, can’t justify spending that much time in one condo or townhome. So, obviously, being at an open house 11am-3pm on a Saturday or Sunday is hit or miss. No, it’s miss!
- Mountain Man
To learn more about the real estate market in the Wildwoods, visit our website at http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House, open house, Real Estate, Seapointe Village, Wildwood
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
I was hitchhiking in northern Georgia back in 1976 with my then wife, Mel, and dog, Osha. Heading north, we got picked up by a 30-something Southern business man, named Drew, in a two-door Ford Galaxie.
A half hour into the ride, after he’d felt us out and decided we were decent folk, Drew offered to take us as far as Kingsport, Tennessee, in the northeast corner of the state. Further, he proposed that we’d paint two interior rooms in his health spa in exchange for two nights in a motel, free food the whole time, $50, and a ride back to the interstate when we were through. We liked him, so we agreed.
About 30 miles before Kingsport, he mentioned that he wanted to jump off the interstate to stop and see a friend. We were fine with that, especially because we were on no particular time schedule. When hitchhiking, you often gotta go with the flow.
Getting off the highway, he pulled into an Arby’s. He fed us and himself, plus he bought two big roast beef sandwiches for Osha. She was in doggie heaven.
We travelled up a bunch of back country roads before coming to an old-style saloon bar. He said he’d be inside for 10 or 15 minutes and be right back. So we sat and passed the time, with Mel riding shotgun in the front passenger seat and Osha and me in the back seat.
Out in front of the saloon were a bunch of good old boys, in their 30s and 40′s, looking like they were rode hard and put away wet. I joked that they were probably all named Bubba and Junior.
As we conversed, Mel had her head turned toward us in the back seat. Over her shoulder, I noticed one of the Bubba’s heading toward the car. I saw that he was sporting a holster and gun, as if he was part of Jesse James’ gang. He walked between our car and the car next to us.
Suddenly he pulled the passenger door open, drew his gun, and put it to Mel’s head. She turned her head to see who had opened her door, unaware that it was a gun that was pressed against her head.
Upon seeing her face, Bubba pulled back. “I’m sorry,” he said apologetically. “I could only see your long hair. I thought you were my ex-wife.” He holstered his gun, stuttering, “I saw you were in Drew’s car. I thought he had taken up with my ex. I’m really sorry, maam.”
- Mountain Man
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House, Hitchhiking, Real Estate, Wildwood
Posted in Hitchhiking | Comments Off
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
Even as a realtor, I never fully grasped the implications of the real estate market’s influence on so many other occupations. With the downturn, which here in Cape May County, New Jersey began in mid-2005 and seemed to turn the corner and head back up in mid-2007, the realization really hit home.
The slowdown in real estate sales affected, first, those who build new homes. I’m talking about masons who put in the concrete footing, followed by a few coarses of block to get the home away from the ground and any possible flood situations. Then there’s the framers, who frame out the house and cover it in plywood. Then there’s the roofers to get the shell waterproof, followed by the siding guys to put up vinyl siding.
Then there’s carpenters to install the windows and doors, and do other wood work. Now the inside of the home is buzzing with electricians, plumbers, and heating and air conditioning crews. After those tasks are completed, the drywall guys can enclose the inside walls and get them spackled. Painters do their thing on the new walls in turn.
The kitchen requires installers of cabinets and countertops. The kitchen and bathroom floors need a tile guy, and the bedrooms need a carpeting crew. A carpenter lays down hardwood floors.
Finally, a landscaping crew sets irrigation lines and heads in the yard, then grass and shrubs are planted after the driveway is asphalted and concrete sidewalks are added. The house is ready. It has used 17 different trades, employing about 40 workers.
The real estate industry also fuels title companies, attorneys, home inspection companies, termite inspectors, septic tank inspectors, water test companies, mortgage companies and bankers, and those professions called to fix a deficiency in the home revealed by one of those inspections.
The other aspect is all the companies who produce lumber, tile, carpet, concrete, block, roofing shingles, sheetrock, cabinets, granite and corian countertops, toilets, sinks, washers, dryers, refrigerators, ovens, microwaves, dishwashers, windows, doors, heating and air conditioning systems, and even televisions and such. Wow! If new home building is off from the previous year, that’s a lot of manufacturing income and jobs lost.
Now that the real estate market recovery has begun here at the southern New Jersey shore, it’s nice to know that so many folks will be getting back to work.
- Mountain Man
To learn more about our real estate market, visit our website at http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com
Tags: Cape May Court House, real estate blog, Seapointe Village, Wildwood
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
