Posts Tagged ‘Diamond Beach’
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
Here at Jewell Real Estate Agency, we sell mostly vacation homes at the Jersey shore. Condos, townhomes, single family homes – they are all elements of the dream families have of owning a second home in the Wildwoods.
Being a second home market, our yearly calendar of sales activity is fairly predictable. By that I mean that just like a school year starts and ends around the same time each year and school vacations are scheduled about the same weeks each year, our business also has regular busy and quiet times.
Our real estate market usually cools off each year about 10 days before Thanksgiving and that semi-hibernation lasts through New Years Day. That’s a time when local realtors takes cruises and warm weather vacations or work shorter days and cut to a minimum of floor time. In the past, some real estate agencies even closed from Christmas Eve through January 1st, though not us.
Because that six week period is fairly predictable, any decrease or increase in potential buyer volume is a good barometer of the condition of our local real estate market. We can gauge fairly accurately what type of year we are about to have by how many email and phone inquiries, plus walk-in traffic, we get during that time period. It’s sorta like the Groundhog predicting more winter or not, if you get my drift.
Which brings us to this year’s prognostication.
We were busier than usual leading right up to Thanksgiving Day, then the trend continued right up through Christmas Eve. The day after Christmas (yesterday), the phone and email inquiries were brisk. We’ll be juggling property showings all week long. Hurray!
While perhaps not very scientific, our real estate business indicator is predicting a good 2010. What more can we ask?
- Mountain Man and City Girl
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Diamond Beach, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey real estate blog, North Wildwood, opinion, real estate blog, Seapointe Village, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
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Saturday, December 26th, 2009
You probably have seen the 1993 movie Dave, which starred Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver. To refresh your memory, Kline plays Dave Kovic, an unassuming and likable man who heads a “temp” agency in Ohio.
Dave is hired by White House bigwigs as a one-time only stand-in for President Bill Mitchell, who has identical looks. When the President has a paralyzing stroke, the White House chief of staff retains Dave to impersonate the President to keep the political power in his court.
As Dave assumes the role of the President, he increasingly realizes that he can do much good for America and his humor and vitality energizes the country. After Dave and Mrs. Mitchell, played by Weaver, visit a homeless shelter that has a surprising number of kids as clients, Dave is touched. He is soon shocked to learn that the chief of staff removed a $650 million portion of the federal budget that was designated to fund homeless shelters. Mrs. Mitchell, who already hates her husband, is really upset.
Long story short, Dave rolls up his sleeves and really assumes the position of President instead of being a puppet stand-in. He eliminates fluff from the budget in restoring the $650 million homeless shelter funds. Now Mrs. Mitchell realizes that Dave is not her real husband, and together they conspire to change America for the better. Dave announces a plan to “give a job to every American who wants one.”
And that’s why I would like to be Dave for a month or so, just like in the movie. A common man got a chance to make a difference, to cut through the government bureaucracy of patronage and waste. To restore American’s faith in America, to bring common sense and doing what is right back to Washington, DC.
The movie was pure fantasy. But the dream of giving back our country to the everyday person and being led by someone with compassion and common sense is too much to ignore. It’s the way things should be.
Don’t you agree?
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Diamond Beach, Jewell Real Estate Agency, lifestyle blog, Mountain Man and City Girl, North Wildwood, opinion, political blog, Politics, Real Estate, real estate blog, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
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Friday, December 25th, 2009
Joining their fellow banking CEO cohorts, the heads of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were approved for $6 million in pay each for 2009. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to refresh your memory, purchase bundles of mortgages to ensure that money is always available to lending institutions which give loans to homebuyers. They are quasi-private companies backed by the federal government.
Fannie CEO Michael Williams and Freddie CEO Ed Haldeman each received $900,000 in salary and another $3.1 million in salary with payments deferred to 2010. That’s $4 million apiece. Each also is eligible for another $2 million in performance incentives. Considering that Fannie and Freddie needed a combined $111 billion, yes billion, in federal bailout money, one wonders exactly what their performance bonus was contingent upon. Perfect attendance? Turning their homework in on time? Spelling their names correctly?
The argument by their cheerleaders is that the former CEO’s of the two companies, who were both fired in September, 2008 when the bailout money was proposed, made a lot more money. The Fannie CEO received $10.2 million in 2008 and the Freddie guy nailed $13.1 million. It practically took an act of Congress to stop them from awarding themselves another combined $24 million in termination pay.
The case for Williams and Haldeman continues that each would command up to $10 million in yearly pay in the private sector. The argument typically concludes with, “No one else would do the job for less money.”
Bullfeathers!
I’ll do the job for one year for a measly $500,000. I’ll move to Washington, DC for one year, rent a condo, and work 365 straight days. A lot of qualified people would do the same thing. And I’ll donate $100,000 of that money to DC soup kitchens for the homeless. That would make my take home pay about $250,000. Not extravagant, but fair!
I really get tired of hearing how top company management and all government workers – federal, state, and municipal – feel justified in making a lot more money than their small business and working stiff counterparts because, “No one else would take this job.” And the benefits they receive, including health insurance and retirement packages, are way beyond reasonable and equitable.
Is anybody mad yet?
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Diamond Beach, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey blog, North Wildwood, political blog, real estate blog, realtor, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
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Thursday, December 24th, 2009
The legendary battles between developers and environmentalists are well documented, but the two aren’t always polar opposites. The Tejon Ranch is a good example of the two marrying and having a happy ending.
Tejon Ranch is the largest private land holding in California, measuring around 270,000 acres, or over 400 square miles. The massive Kern County tract had not been viewed by the public for 140 years. The property is located along the main north-south route on the West Coast, Interstate 5, situated 60 miles north of Los Angeles and 30 miles south of Bakersfield. It is at the confluence of four ecosystems – the Mojave Desert, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Central Valley, and South Coast, so it is a wildlife corridor of magnificent proportions.
Last May, the Tejon Ranch Company penned an agreement with five of the most important environmental groups – including the Sierra Club and Audubon Society – to set aside permanently 90% of the property. So far, 178,000 acres have been established as Open Space or a conservancy, with an option on 62,000 acres more at fair market value.
What the Tejon Ranch gets is the unhindered ability to develop part of the remaining land, which is all located along I-5 at the western edge of the ranch. They already have tenants in parts of the 1,450-acre Tejon Industrial Complex, including IKEA with a 1.7 million square foot warehouse. Oneida and Famous Footwear also call the complex home.
Tejon Mountain Village, which developers hope will eventually contain 23,000 homes and 70,000 people in 18.4 square miles of newly-hatched city, was just approved October 5th by the Kern County Board of Supervisors. There will also be resorts and golf courses, plus hiking and equestrian trails in this “environmentally sensitive mountain resort community”.
Within the preserved portions of Tejon Ranch the bears, bobcats, mountain lions, pronghorn antelope, and more will be able to continue to roam free amongst the many diverse habitats. The Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from the Canadian to Mexican borders, will shift 39 of its miles to the breathtaking Ranch, something previously only dreamed of.
The Tejon Ranch concept, which will create 1,500 additional permanent jobs and 1,600 construction jobs, appears to be a win-win for everyone concerned. Isn’t it great when there is intelligent compromise that both spurs the economy and preserves our precious earth?
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: california, california real estate, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, developers, Diamond Beach, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, nature blog, opinion, political blog, Real Estate, real estate blog, realtor, tejon mountain village, tejon ranch, Wildwood real estate
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Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
New Jersey Governor-elect Chris Christie fired a warning shot across the bow of state government this week. The message is refreshing and offers a glimmer of hope that the sinking ship that is New Jersey may be rescued after all.
The state’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, on behalf of Christie’s transition team, sent out a three page memo via email to all state department heads. It warned of three upcoming scenarios: a cut to their operating budgets of either 15%, 20%, or 25% in the upcoming new year.
In a state with an anticipated $8 billion budget shortfall, those cuts in real dollars equal $3.8 billion, $5.1 billion, or $6.4 billion. And departments can’t achieve their cuts by shifting payments on outstanding debt. It has to be tangible cuts to services and labor force. All this means no magic tricks, no slight of hand. Also, cost-of-living (COL) increases will not be automatic.
Department heads have until January 6th to make their initial recommendations for budget cuts. Meanwhile, groups who receive state funding are sweating out the results. Everyone is going to lose something. But it has to be that way.
Congratulations to Governor-elect Christie for not keeping the status quo. To use a quote made famous nearly 60 years ago, “Give ‘em hell, Harry!”
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Diamond Beach, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey blog, New Jersey politics, New Jersey property taxes, New Jersey real estate blog, New Jersey taxes, North Wildwood, opinion, political blog, real estate blog, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
As any active realtor knows, banks are more tight-fisted with loan money now than in the past decade. In the spirit of this Christmas season, you could even call them Scrooge.
The tried and true banking tradition is that banks took deposits from customers, paying a certain interest rate, then lent money to borrowers at a higher rate. The difference in the interest rates was their profit.
The model has changed since the number of bank failures rose from three in 2007 and 25 in 2008 to 140 in 2009.
Banks are now borrowing at near-zero percent interest rates to get short term loans for themselves and putting the money into Treasury notes and other higher-yielding government securities. They make a profit with no risk (unless the United States collapses). This practice is called playing the yield curve, or carry trade.
Loans given out to consumers and businesses in America have dropped 8% in the last year. The banks claim that less people want loans. Our experience as realtors tells us a different story. We’re seeing people with solid credit and income getting turned down for loans in this vacation home market here at the South Jersey shore. At our agency, we’ve put a lot more properties in 2009 “under contract” than in 2008, but we’ve closed on fewer than last year.
Right now only FHA-backed loans, which account for 30% of home loans compared to just 3% in 2006, seem a sure thing. Loans for second homes and businesses are tough to obtain. Banks literally want no risk when giving a mortgage.
When the economy finishes turning around and businesses begin hiring, maybe banks will feel comfortable again lending money. Until then, many realtors and consumers will have to continue treading water.
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: banks, blog, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Diamond Beach, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, North Wildwood, opinion, Real Estate, real estate blog, realtor blog, Seapointe Village, West Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
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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
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Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Shortly after new Wildwood commissioners Ed Harshaw and Al Brannen were sworn in Monday night to join sitting commissioner Gary DeMarzo, the three picked the new mayor.
Envelope, please.
And the winner is Gary DeMarzo.
Maybe winner isn’t the correct term, considering the tough road ahead. Wildwood is beset by having the highest tax rate in Cape May County, $1.83 per hundred dollars of assessed value. The portion that is directly attributed to Wildwood’s budget is $1.11 per hundred, with the balance the county’s tax levy.
The first act of the new commission was to name attorney Daniel Gallagher of Atlantic City as interim city solicitor. The current solicitor, Wildwood attorney Marcus Karavan, is still under contract to the city so that will have to be ironed out. This appointment of Gallagher is apparently a pay back for being the attorney representing the recall committee.
They next named former Ocean City business administrator Richard Deaney as interim administrator. The house cleaning continued by voting to solicit bids for a new municipal auditor, which is now covered by Ford, Scott, Seidenburg & Kennedy of Ocean City, and new municipal engineer, which is currently handled by Remington Vernick of Wildwood.
DeMarzo kept on as commissioner of revenue and finance, while Brannen became deputy mayor and head of public safety. Harshaw became commissioner of public works. The trio changed the two monthly commissioner meetings to the evening, instead of one being at 3:30pm.
The easy part is over for the new commission. Collecting petition signatures, campaigning for election, and getting out the voters is in the rear view mirror. Ahead lies the pitfalls of a small, mostly seasonal city with a $26.1 million budget and 225 employees.
And May, 2011, just a brief 18 months away, is the next election. The pressure is on this new trio to reduce spending and cut the tax rate, an unenviable job. They will now be in the crosshairs.
They wanted a shot at running the city. Reminds me of the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for.”
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, condo, Diamond Beach, Jewell Real Estate Agency, mountain man, Mountain Man and City Girl, political blog, real estate blog, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Let’s face it, some people just love to bring bad news. We all had our first experience with this type of individual when we were still kids. They were the brats that let you know that your fly was down, your cat was up a tree, your bicycle had a flat tire, etc, and they seemed to thoroughly enjoy conveying that bad news.
As adults, those grown up brats are called “Doom and Gloom” people. Same modus operandi; your car is being recalled, your hair’s thinning out, your belly’s getting bigger, your stocks are taking a dive. They regale in seeing you squirm, feel embarrassed or downright depressed.
Unfortunately for us as realtors, we seem to attract an excessive amount of doom and gloomers. They started surfacing in late 2004, letting us know that the real estate market was just a boom and a big bust was to follow. They were partly right, but their smugness put an ugliness to their message.
Now that the overpriced market has dropped prices to more reasonable levels, the doom and gloomers have picked up on the mortgage foreclosure aspect of real estate. That’s their new whipping boy at the company coffee pot.
Three recent phone calls from clients in the Philadelphia area and North Jersey suburbs had a familiar ring. “I hear there’s 1500 condos being foreclosed on in Wildwood.” Another said 2000, and the other claimed 2200. Their source is always, “Somebody said …” or “I heard it from a reliable source”.
Here’s the facts. Our island consists of the vacation destinations of Wildwood, North Wildwood, West Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, and Diamond Beach. In those communities, as of today (Jan 16, 2008), there are 1147 condominiums and townhomes for sale. Of those, nine are bank owned, meaning they’ve already been foreclosed on. In addition, the county sheriff’s website lists 16 more properties currently in the foreclosure process. So these five beachside towns have a whopping 25 foreclosures. Not 1500, not 2000, certainly not 2200.
So what makes some folks so intent on repeating such blatantly false numbers to anyone who will listen? The result of their tattling is that the word soon gets out that the Wildwoods are crumbling. “It’ll become a ghost town”, they say.
The truth is that they aren’t making anymore seashore or beachfront. It’s in demand. Baby boomers have worked hard all their lives and know they want to enjoy the fruits of their labors. What better way than a home at the shore.
Our real estate market is 95% second homes. They are mostly folks who own their own business or have a high paying corporate job. They can afford to buy a $400,000 to $700,000 vacation home. They don’t need sub-prime loans, they don’t need interest only loans.
New Jersey holds the distinction of having the most millionaires – 7.12% of households, and that doesn’t count equity in their primary home. That’s a lot of affluence, and a lot of them find their way to our island.
So to the doom and gloomers: The real estate market here is just fine, thank you! By the way, is that your real hair color?
- Mountain Man
Tags: condo, Diamond Beach, North Wildwood, Real Estate, townhouse, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest
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