Posts Tagged ‘opinion’
Saturday, January 15th, 2011
I’ve got an idea. I know how to put America and the world economies back on solid ground.
First of all, it’s hard to not agree that the demographics do not support our weak economic state. We have more and more people on Planet Earth. In fact, the world’s population increases by nearly 80 million people each year. That’s equivalent to over 1/4 of the USA’s current population, which is 310 million. Today’s world population of 6,868,724,935 will hit the 7 billion mark before 2011 is over. That’s a lot of consumers, a lot of people who need housing, clothing, and everyday staples of life.
The biggest needs in the world are potable water, food, health care, education, and alternative energy. Incredibly, an estimated 1.7 billion folks in the world live off the grid, meaning they have no electricity or other utilities we take for granted.
Okay, that’s a lot of numbers, but what do they mean? Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
Our world economies can gear up by providing water, food, health care, education and alternative energy to the world. Just imagine if the 14 countries with the biggest economies turned their production toward meeting these needs. The world leaders I’m talking about are the US, China, Japan, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Brazil, Canada, Russia, India, Spain, Australia, and Mexico. The unemployment rates in these countries would drastically drop, putting perhaps 50-100 million people back to work. That would create boom times not only in these 14 countries, but all countries.
The standard of living in the 50 poorest countries would rise to unthought of heights. Since these 50 countries also have the highest fertility rates, health care and education would result in a “zero growth” population gain. Couples would be subsidized and forced to have just two children, just like some countries already do. We need to stabilize our population and make predictions of 11 billion people by 2050 mute.
Sure, you’re thinking how are we gonna pay for this? Who’ll pay the farmers to grow more crops, the manufacturers to make windmills and solar cells and water pumps and desalination plants and medicine and so on?
That’s where capitalism comes in. The infusion of new jobs saving the world would fuel the growth of everything from more restaurants and retailers to the manufacture of more cars and TVs. Production would boom. Personal wealth would skyrocket. Everyone would get a piece of the pie. Including the tax man, who could use the tenfold or more increase in tax revenue to fund the manufacture startups.
The only variable is timing. Everything has to start at once. “Instant Prosperity” I’ll call it. So let’s pick a day. I nominate Monday, June 4, 2012 as Prosperity Day. That’ll give us over a year to get ready to gear up. The night before, the world sets off fireworks. On Monday morning, we roll up our sleeves and get to work.
- Mountain Man
Tags: Cape May County blog, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, opinion, political blog
Posted in Humor, Politics | Comments Off
Friday, January 7th, 2011
It used to be that spam was a kind of lousy meat in a can. And a scam was when some college-aged person came knocking on your door selling alleged magazine subscriptions to put themselves through school.
Times have changed.
With the advent of the internet age, spamming and scamming have taken on a new life. Yesterday on this blogsite there were 73 spams and this morning another 40. Some take the line of supposedly commenting on a particular blog article. But wouldn’t you get suspicious when some talk about a blog I wrote about City Girl breaking her hip and they say something like, “Informative article. It made me feel good.”?
The last two days of spams have included dozens promoting on-line gambling, sexual enhancement pills (I refuse to print the names), weight loss miracles, wonder drugs, sporting goods, horny housewives and Russian brides, and on and on. How do these people sleep at night knowing they are being underhanded? Do their kids know that Daddy is unscrupulous and not really a role model? Hey kids, Pops is a sleazeball!
Scammers take it to a different level. If I was to believe every shifty email I get, I have relatives in China, India, Hong Kong, the Phillipines, England, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and yes Nigeria – let’s not forget Nigeria – that have left me fortunes ranging from $2 million up to $16 million. Boy, I must have quite a family tree.
And then there’s those who claim that some deceased prince or rich businessman has picked me from the world’s 6.9 billion people to be the lucky recipient of his mass fortune. Wouldn’t they turn over in their grave if they knew I’d spend all the money on feeding and housing the needy folks in our country, instead of Rolls Royces and luxurious palaces. Oh yea, I would set aside some money for beer.
I figure that adding up all the vast sums of money I have been offered amounts to about 1 billion dollars. With 43.6 million Americans living in poverty, I could give each of them about $23 worth of food. You know what? I will take that money!
- Mountain Man
Tags: Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, opinion, scams, spam
Posted in Humor, Lifestyle | Comments Off
Sunday, January 17th, 2010
The death of US Senator Ted Kennedy last August 29 marked the end of a long political career. The Massachusetts Democrat was first elected in 1962 and it was his first of nine consecutive election victories. He served in the US Senate for 46 years, giving him the fourth longest service in Senate history. It was the only elected position he ever held.
Once upon a time, after the assassinations of brothers John (1962) and Robert (1968), it seemed logical and highly possible that young Teddy would one day became President of the United States. But the Chappaquiddick incident in July, 1969 derailed any aspirations for being Commander in Chief. Who can ever forget photos of that car sitting in the water?
Tuesday is election day in Massachusetts, when voters will decide between Democrat Martha Coakley, the state’s attorney general, and Republican Scott Brown, a relatively unknown state senator. Coakley, who at one point held a 15% advantage in the polls, has seen her lead shrink to 4%. With a margin of error of 4%, it’s just about a toss up. Undecided Independents will no doubt decide this election.
President Barack Obama made a quick change in plans and will campaign for Coakley today in Massachusetts, a typically Democrat state. On Friday, former President Bill Clinton campaigned for Coakley in Massachusetts, while New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was stumping for Brown.
So why do all these heavy hitters care so much about Ted Kennedy’s old seat? Health care.
If Coakley wins, Obama will presumably still have the 60 Senate votes needed to approve a health care reform bill. If Brown wins, the opposition gets its decisive 40th vote to shoot down any health care bill put up to a Senate vote.
How does a Republican even have a chance in the staunchly Democratic Massachusetts? Obama.
When Obama was elected and took office last January, he was supposed to be an agent of change. But now many who supported his election are disappointed and disenchanted with his presidency. Independents, especially, are leaving his camp. There is an anti-incumbent, anti-establishment undercurrent amongst the masses. This could well work to Brown’s advantage in the Massachusetts election. But is it enough to derail Coakley?
Whoever wins, they certainly have a big pair of shoes to fill.
- Mountain Man and City Girl
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: Jewell Real Estate Agency, Martha Coakley, Massachusetts Democrat, Massachusetts election 2010, Mountain Man and City Girl, opinion, political blog, Scott Brown, Ted Kennedy
Posted in Politics | 2 Comments »
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Maybe it’s me. But I’m really amazed at how the majority of the American public has no sense of correct spelling and grammar.
Since you are reading this blog instead of sitting home on the couch watching Jerry Springer or hanging out in an alley sipping some Boone’s Farm Apple Wine and puffing on a cigarette, you are also probably confounded by how the English language is being butchered.
As a realtor, I am actually getting used to the fact that so many people spell realty as R-E-A-L-I-T-Y. Duh! Isn’t reality one of those dumb shows where people eat maggots or get stranded together on an island?
And how about people who say, “I ain’t got none.” Gee, I didn’t learn not to use double negatives until I was in the fourth grade. Or was it sooner? (Did you notice my use of a double negative?)
I guess our educational systems are to blame. Teachers become babysitters to half the kids, while the other half actually learn and excel. I was always in the “accelerated” class growing up in progressive North Jersey, so I was separated from the dummies after kindergarten and apparently forgot they existed. Perhaps that’s why I’m perplexed by their lack of English fundamentals.
Yet, you would think that after 10 or 12 years of school people would have retained some elements of grammar and spelling. Some people come from the worst possible environment or home life, but somehow they work hard and get college degrees and end up with high-paying jobs. They show that anyone can excel.
So how come some people can’t even fill out a job application or handle a job interview? The answer may be that they concentrated on being “cool” when they were in school, instead of toeing the line. I guess that once again lays the blame on the schools.
I’m not sure what the solution is. More compassion from teachers, smaller classrooms, more individual attention? Maybe more direction from parents, but if they’re half-literate that’ll be tough.
Maybe we better just play taps for the English language and bury it with honors.
- Mountain Man and City Girl
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: blog, education blog, English language, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, opinion, real estate blog
Posted in Humor, Lifestyle | Comments Off
Monday, December 28th, 2009
I’m stubborn, I admit it. I have embraced modern technology, but only as far as needed to be the owner of a successful real estate agency.
I’ve had a cell phone for 10 years, and now 85% of Americans do too, according to statistics. Judging from my older friends, I think I personally know many of the 15% who don’t.
I bought my first computer in 1993, just months before launching my own weekly all-sports newspaper. I didn’t know how to do much, other than type articles into Microsoft Word that I would later cut and paste. By cut and paste, I mean scissors and wax onto camera-ready full newspaper-size sheets.
I got my first email address in 1999, just prior to opening the main office of Jewell Real Estate Agency. A year later we purchased three more computers for our new branch office, run by my broker wife Joyce. While my wife jumped into the computer age with vigor, I still hung around on the outskirts. She was busy inputting data on our website, local MLS, and many other websites used to sell real estate. I stuck to writing material and articles into Word, then letting her cut and paste them (yes, computer cut and paste this time) into our various advertising venues.
Now as the “ought decade” comes to a close, I write a blog regularly and I do my research on many topics on the Internet. Wikipedia is great, and I can read online the newspapers from the many places I’ve lived. I’ve even abandoned the Weather Channel on TV for Weather Underground on the Internet. And I can get instant sports scores. Yee-haa!
But that’s where I draw the line.
I don’t even know what a BlackBerry is, nor an iPod. I don’t own a DVD player or DVR, and in fact don’t know the difference, if there is one. I don’t Facebook or Twitter or YouTube or Wii. Heck, the last video game I played was Pacman on a Commodore 64, circa 1984.
And don’t even think of sending me a text message. I don’t know how to read one or write one. The only thing I can do is delete the one you sent me, unopened. If you have something important to tell me, pick up the phone. I do answer the phone.
I don’t have a GPS. I’m a guy. I use a map, or else I’ll Mapquest first and compare it to my real live map. Okay, I do have a radar detector in my vehicle. That baby has saved me a lot of bucks, not to mention points on my license.
While I’m ranting, I don’t have tattoos and I think they’re degrading (spelled S-T-U-P-I-D). Same with piercings. I don’t watch reality shows – never. My TV is never tuned to ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox. I watch nature shows, movies, and occasionally college sports. Don’t even think I’d watch the Simpsons or Beavis & Butthead. I don’t do Pay-Per-View and I don’t download movies or music.
Also, I’ve never been in a Starbucks. I don’t have (or need) a life coach. I think cougars are desperate. And what’s this thing all the “under 30s” are doing with holding up different fingers? Does that mean something?
One last thing. You’ll never see me going around with one of those Mr. Spock things in my ear. What’s with that? I own three businesses and I’m a successful author, yet I hardly think I’m so important as to walk around needing 24/7 instant access to my phone.
Okay, I’m done. I feel better now.
You can perhaps see why they call me the Mountain Man.
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, lifestyle blog, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey real estate blog, North Wildwood, opinion, real estate blog, technology blog, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
As realtors, we have found that the main factor in whether a family can buy a second home here at the Jersey shore is job stability. If a family has a solid income that will not be affected by a cut in salary or loss of job, they seem willing – even anxious - to take advantage of the incredibly low real estate prices and interest rates.
But should their job be iffy, it’s better to sit this one out. Why buy a vacation home if in the next year it becomes too much of a financial burden and they end up in foreclosure. Not only will their credit be ruined, but their shore experience will leave a lasting negative impression and they may never enter the second home market again, even in good times.
Their are currently 15.4 million unemployed Americans and the jobless rate is hovering around 10%. As always, these numbers do not include folks who have literally given up on ever getting a job and dropped out of the work force. A record 5.9 million Americans have been out of work at least a half year as 7 million jobs have disappeared since the recession began.
The normal unemployment rate is about 5.5%. Experts expect that the rate won’t return to that range until 2015 or so. Job creation is the key. In the last 10 years, from 1999 to 2009, the net gain in jobs is only about a half million, thanks to the loss of those 7 million jobs. The previous 10 years, 1989 to 1999, saw 21 million jobs created.
Another factor in the job market is that many Baby Boomers are not retiring, but instead are staying in the work force in order to afford to live more comfortably. This leaves the younger and less-skilled workers on the short end of the stick.
So what to do?
The federal government needs to create jobs. The recent infusion of money into infrastructure, mostly highways, really didn’t employ that many people. Material costs – asphalt, concrete, steel, heavy equipment, etc. – ate up much of that cash infusion.
Roosevelt had his Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which pulled many through the depression by creating labor-intensive jobs (meaning more people than machines). Why not get something like that rolling, where people of all skill levels can clean up roadsides, do much-needed maintenance work at state and national parks, thin underbrush in the forest fire-prone West.
Let’s prioritize solar, wind, and water power, offering generous subsidies and tax breaks to companies that manufacture and install these alternative power sources. And let’s clean up urban blight, by demolishing abandoned buildings and clearing vacant lots. That could be followed by building urban housing – but not “housing projects” – that would not only create jobs but upgrade people’s living standards.
When the government coordinates with private enterprises to create jobs, our economy will turn around in a heartbeat. It’s that simple. Are we asking for too much?
- Mountain Man and City Girl
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, jobs, Mountain Man and City Girl, North Wildwood, opinion, real estate blog, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
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
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Saturday, December 26th, 2009
Since Atlantic City, New Jersey approved legalized gambling back in the late 1970s, the city has always been in the shadow of Las Vegas. Everything the tarnished city did to revitalize and rebuild and build a world-class casino atmosphere drew comparisons to Vegas. And frowns.
Meanwhile, the “Little Engine That Could” plodded on, eventually erecting 13 casinos. The first, Resorts Atlantic City, opened in May, 1978. A year later Caesars debuted, then in December 1979 Bally’s opened. The Sands, Harrahs and the Hilton each opened in the latter half of 1980 and the Playboy Casino and Tropicana were ready for business in late 1981. Atlantic City now had eight casinos.
The recession of the early 1980s (sound familiar) halted construction while prospective casino companies sat out the downturn and waited for the economy to get going again.
Trump Plaza got things moving again, opening in May, 1984, then Trump Marina debuted a year later. The Showboat opened in 1987 and the Trump Taj Mahal in 1990 and then new construction came to a halt. Time to once again wait for better times.
In 2003, the first modern mega-casino, the Borgata, opened to grand revues and it continues to this day to be the top earner in the city. The Playboy Club Casino, of course, has long since been closed, then torn down.
The Sands was torned down in 2007 by Pinnacle Entertainment after purchasing the obsolete casino and its 20 Boardwalk/oceanfront acres for $400 million. Pinnacle has not begun construction and the company refuses to comment if the $1.5 billion megaresort will ever be built.
Meanwhile, MGM and Boyd Entertainment purchased a 72-acre lot next to the Borgata, envisioning a 3,000 hotel room, 280,000 square foot casino resort to be called the MGM Mirage. Plans for that project are “on hold” until the economy improves and funding becomes available.
One new Atlantic City hotel casino, the Revel, is about two-thirds through the construction phase. They broke ground in November, 2007, but in January, 2009 had to lay off 400 workers, leaving 500 to get the steel work and exterior completed. They need another $1 billion in funding to finish the $2.5 billion project, which is still hopefully scheduled to open in the summer of 2011. The Revel is 53 stories high, with 1,800 rooms, 20 restaurants, 40 retail stores, and a 5,000-seat theater, plus 150,000 square feet of gambling.
Atlantic City reacted to gambling being legalized in many more states by improving its non-gambling options for visitors. Shopping opportunities within walking distance of the casinos include the 27-store The Quarter, The Walk with 47 stores, and the Piers at Caesars with over 50 stores.
However, the approval of gambling in Pennsylvania poses a new threat. The casinos in AC once employed 40,000 people, but that’s now down to 36,000. Gambling competition also comes from nearby Delaware, New York, and the Indian casinos in Connecticut.
Atlantic City must once again reinvent itself. The more non-gaming options the better. The city owns 140-acre Bader Field, a former small airport, just outside of town but practically in the shadow of the casinos. Maybe a theme park or something similar is the answer. Whatever, it has to be a FAMILY destination.
If the casinos are to prosper, they must break their long-standing tradition of not supporting anything outside walking distance of their establishments. Minor league baseball didn’t fly, and pro hockey and basketball were also financial flops. The casinos must get behind some sort of grand family entertainment at Bader Field. If not, their market share will continue to drop and Atlantic City, within a four hour drive of 30 million people, will be the punchline of many a joke.
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainManandCityGirl.com
Tags: atlantic city casinos, atlantic city revel casino, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Jersey shore, Jewell Real Estate Agency, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey blog, New Jersey real estate blog, ocean, opinion, real estate blog, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
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
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
Friday, December 25th, 2009
Everyone is blessed at Christmas, whether they are aware of it or not. And you don’t have to be a Christian for Christmas to have an effect on your spirituality.
I’m a perfect example. I’m not a Christian. I don’t buy Christmas gifts or have a Christmas tree. Bah humbug. The materialism of Christmas turned me off nearly a half century ago. And a lifelong examination of my religious beliefs and the religious philosophies of the world has pretty much made me conclude that I’m perhaps an atheist.
But I am blessed with a great wife, who happens to be my best friend and business partner. Her unbridled enthusiasm for Christmas makes that a time of year that I especially appreciate all she’s done for me and all that she means to me.
I recall a quote, “Love is the soul’s recognition of its counterpoint in another.” That wraps up my feelings toward our special relationship.
So I ask on this Christmas day that you not dwell on what things you did or didn’t find under your Christmas tree. Instead, think longingly of the ones you love. For it is that love that carries you through the other 364 days of the year.
- Mountain Man
http://www.MountainmanandCityGirl.com
Tags: blog, Cape May Court House real estate, Cape May real estate, Christmas blog, Jewell Real Estate Agency, lifestyle blog, Mountain Man and City Girl, New Jersey blog, New Jersey real estate blog, North Wildwood, opinion, Real Estate, real estate blog, West Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Wildwood real estate
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
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
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
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
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off
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
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
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
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
Thursday, January 17th, 2008
Most people get into politics for all the right reasons. They want to make a difference, give back to their country (or town, county, state), stand up for the common man, put common sense back into government, affect positive change, lower taxes. Blah, blah, blah.
But once they get into office, their psyche changes. Sometimes gradually, sometimes overnight. They fall into the trap of us (government officials and backers) vs them (interfering citizens). They segregate and insulate themselves from the very electorate that thrust them into office.
Politicos feel that they know what’s best for everyone, so their will must be done. They have some “vision” that is unequivocally correct, and it must be implemented despite any objections. The infidels just don’t know what’s good for them.
Of course, the “good old boy” network also comes into play. That means not only business as usual, but business trumps the environment, fair play, and the will of the people. Decisions must always consider first how it affects business. After all, it’s affluent businessmen who make campaign contributions.
Our system needs to be cleaned up. No, … disinfected! First step, get rid of the two party system. We need a 10 party system (or whatever). We need all campaigns to be on equal footing, which means the government will subsidize elections and no private contributions will be allowed over $500 (or whatever).
We need accountability. We need local and county government meetings to all be televised. Why do most politicians so adamantly oppose televising their meetings? The answer: Because they don’t want too many opposing voices. If Joe Public has to actually get off the couch and come to the meeting, he’ll opt to stay home and mind his own business.
Until real change takes place in our system, we’re no better than the tyrannical British we expelled over 200 years ago.
- Mountain Man
Tags: opinion, Politics, realtor
Posted in Politics | Comments Off
