Posts Tagged ‘Middle Township’
Monday, January 4th, 2010
The little borough of West Cape May, like other towns in New Jersey, has to provide affordable housing thanks to the Mt. Laurel decision back in the late 1970’s. But unlike most municipalities, West Cape May has come up with a novel plan that is offering incentives and fewer building restrictions.
The Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) was created out of that controversial court ruling that mandated a required number of low and moderate income units for each of New Jersey’s 566 municipalities. West Cape May needs to provide just two units by 2018, but they’re offering breaks for those creating the first 10.
Called “accessory apartments”, they can be in garages, above stores, in existing homes, or even new construction, as long as they’re in an area of the town where public sewer and water already exist. No planning board approval would be necessary, just the usual construction permits. The landlord would have to sign an agreement stipulating that the unit be rented below the market rate for 15 years. But the town’s $25,000 to $75,000 incentive would help make up the difference. After 15 years, the landlord is free to charge the usual market rate.
The borough will create a pool of tenants after determining their eligilibility based on income. Landlords can ban smoking or pets or such, and do criminal backgrounds and credit checks, plus charge a security deposit. The rent can’t be raised as unless a tenant leaves and a new one moves in.
In an expensive shore resort area like the Cape Mays, rentals are beyond the financial scope of many young families. City officials hope that this will allow more to stay in the area and not move on to less pricey locales.
While West Cape May is just two units short of its COAH goal, two other Cape May County municipalities have a rougher road ahead. Middle Township is mandated to provide 934 units and Upper Township 566 by 2018. That would overcrowd the schools and burden the two towns’ services, not to mention the added real estate property taxes that residents would be forced to shoulder. The towns have minimal areas of infrastructure and over 50% of each municipality is either federal, state or preserved land and not buildable. Providing this absurd number of units definitely would promote sprawl and change the character of the towns.
Perhaps Governor-elect Christopher Christie, who has spoken out against COAH, will do something to abolish this forced build-up of semi-rural communities.
- Mountain Man and City Girl
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: Cape May County, Cape May real estate, COAH, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Middle Township, New Jersey blog, real estate blog, Upper Township, West Cape May
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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
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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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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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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
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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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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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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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Monday, November 30th, 2009
The popular homebuyer tax credit program, which was due to expire November 30, 2009, has been extended to April 30, 2010. Adding to the good news is the fact that it is no longer confined to just first-time homebuyers.
The rules are that the first-time homebuyer can not have had interest in a principal residence for three years prior to the purchase. A current homeowner must have used their existing home as a principal residence for five of the previous eight years. The first-timer gets an $8,000 credit ($4,000 if married filing separately), while the existing homebuyer gets a $6,500 credit ($3,250 if married filing separately).
All other provisions of the Tax Credit are the same for both first-time homebuyers and current owners.
The prospective property must be put “under contract” before May 1, 2010 and the transfer must take place by July 1, 2010. The income limits are $125,000 for a single person and $225,000 for a married couple (up from $75,000 and $150,000) for a full tax credit. A partial tax credit is given for $125,000 to $145,000 for singles and $225,000 to $245,000 for married couples. Above those incomes is no tax credit.
The maximum price of the property being purchased is $800,000. The property transfer can not be between dependents (parents and child or grandchild) and documentation of the purchase must be attached to the tax return. Parents can still, however, co-sign on the mortgage and the child gets the tax credit.
All in all, the homebuyer tax credit is a good deal. If only it was permanent.
- Mountain Man
Tags: Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Middle Township, North Wildwood, ocean, Real Estate, real estate blog, townhouse, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
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Saturday, January 10th, 2009
Happy New Year Everyone! Jewell Real Estate Agency had a good 2008, and we are looking forward to an even better 2009. The year started off with a bang on January 2. Our office was so busy and crowded you couldn’t move. Both Douglas and I had people in our office looking to buy and there were people in the front office waiting to talk to us. Instead of all the doom and gloom that you read in the newspaper, the people we talked to were upbeat and felt it’s the right time to buy. We couldn’t agree more. Interest rates are at an all-time low.
I received a rate sheet today from Wells Fargo that had a 4.75% 30 year fixed mortgage rate with 0 points. Other rate sheets I received were slightly higher but in the same range. How long will this last? No one knows.
Here’s some stats for Cape May County that may interest you. Last year (2008) there were over 1900 properties sold. The year before had over 2200 properties sold. Properties available now in the Wildwoods (Wildwood, North Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, and West Wildwood) number around 1192. Other areas: Avalon – 297; Lower Township – 386; Middle Township – 425; Upper Township – 83; Dennis Township – 137; Cape May – 300; Sea Isle City – 252; Stone Harbor – 149.
If you’re considering whether to buy, now is a good time to see what’s out there. There are some great properties to be had. If you’re looking to sell, it’s still a great time because the low interest rates are helping to get a lot of people off the fence and making an offer.
If the past week is any indication of what’s to come, it’s going to be a good year. Check out our Featured Listings and the entire MLS on our website. Give us a call or send us an email. We’d love to hear from you.
City Girl – Joyce Jewell, GRI, ABR, ePRO, ASP
Tags: interest rates, Middle Township, North Wildwood, Real Estate, sale, sold, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest
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Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
The American business system is based on free enterprise. You get an idea, then implement whatever is necessary to make that a successful business. Hard work and ingenuity have their rewards, right?
Here in New Jersey, that’s not the case when it comes to starting a restaurant that serves liquor. You see, the Garden State has quotas on liquor licenses. Each municipality, if they allow liquor and many don’t, is permitted one restaurant liquor license per 3,500 residents. In my town of 18,000 yearround residents, that’s five restaurants that can serve liquor.
The only exception is the towns that had more liquor licenses than that before the quota took effect, which I believe was in the late 1970’s. In the island town of Wildwood, winter population 4,400, there are probably 30 liquor licenses.
Back to my municipality, Middle Township, which is one of the five towns on the mainland in our county (the other 11 are island towns). Our town is the county seat, and center of shopping, medicine, and the legal profession. Plenty of restaurant chains would love to locate here – the one’s like TGI Fridays, Applebees, Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesday, Chili’s, Red Lobster, etc. Nice family restaurants that serve liquor. They can’t, of course, because there’s no liquor licenses available.
To get a liquor license in New Jersey, there are only two ways – your town’s population increases enough to hit that next 3,500 person plateau or you buy an existing license from another establishment that has closed.
When a town’s population does go up, the town auctions the new license. The last one in my town sold for $660,000. Yikes! You gotta sell alot of beer to make that back. A neighboring town auctioned one last year for $1.1 million.
Buying an existing liquor license is either possible or not depending on the town. I bought one of two licenses in West Wildwood in 2001 for $110,000. That was considered a bargain, but the location wasn’t great. I sold the bar and license in 2004. The license went for $200,000.
In West Virginia, where our second home is located, the liquor license system is fair. It costs $1,150 to get a full license, payable to the state, allowing you to sell beer, wine, and hard liquor. Anyone with enough gumption can get a license. It’s free enterprise at its best. To the victors go the spoils.
The whole process in New Jersey is un-American. Anyone who wants to start a restaurant or bar should be able to. Then it’s survival of the fittest. That’s the American way!
- Mountain Man
Tags: Cape May Court House, liquor license, Middle Township, restaurant, West Wildwood, Wildwood
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