Posts Tagged ‘Real Estate’

Newer Entries »

Open House

Saturday, January 26th, 2008

Real estate markets are quite localized.  While one area of a state may have a stagnant market, 50 miles away the market can be going along just fine.  The reasons are varied.  Vacation home markets, suburbs of cities where jobs are plentiful, or desired features like mountains, lakes, a river, or the ocean tend to make an area more immune to extended downside markets.

Here at the southern New Jersey shore, “vacation homes” and “the ocean” have fueled a real estate market rebound.  While some areas of the country are three full years into tough times and still struggling, our Cape May County region had 24 months of sluggish sales and now it appears to be headed back up.

Another distinction that the real estate market here has that other markets may not is that Open Houses don’t work.  Nope!  They’re a waste of time.

Statistics show that two-thirds of potential buyers do their research for a home on the internet.  With 121 million Americans having internet access, I suspect that number from my experience is more like 80% to 90% here in the Wildwoods.

People don’t come to the shore to search for a second home unless they are armed with MLS sheets detailing the properties that have caught their interest.  Their day is planned out – first a two hour drive to get here, then two properties to see, then lunch, then four more homes or condos to tour, then back on the road home.  They had appointments to view all six units.

corb6754.jpg

Meanwhile, a realtor is sitting somewhere in an open house.  There’s little or no legitimate traffic through the home.  The only visitors you get are nosy neighbors, folks who already own a vacation home here but are looking for ideas to improve that place, builders checking out the floor plan and extras to incorporate in their next project, or bored non-buyers walking to or from the beach.

At our real estate agency, we have discouraged our sellers from requesting open houses.  We try to explain to sellers that our time is better spent on Saturdays and Sundays in the office, where we attract more potential buyers.  We work the phones, show properties, and have a much better shot promoting that property.

The only open houses that work here are those in large tracts of new construction.  Locally, K. Hovnanian, Ryan Homes, Beazer Homes, amongst others, have projects with 15 to 200 units.  They staff an on-site office with their own sales people, and are generally open seven days a week.

Realtors, of course, can’t justify spending that much time in one condo or townhome.  So, obviously, being at an open house 11am-3pm on a Saturday or Sunday is hit or miss.  No, it’s miss!

- Mountain Man

To learn more about the real estate market in the Wildwoods, visit our website at http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off

Bubba

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

I was hitchhiking in northern Georgia back in 1976 with my then wife, Mel, and dog, Osha.  Heading north, we got picked up by a 30-something Southern business man, named Drew, in a two-door Ford Galaxie.

A half hour into the ride, after he’d felt us out and decided we were decent folk, Drew offered to take us as far as Kingsport, Tennessee, in the northeast corner of the state.  Further, he proposed that we’d paint two interior rooms in his health spa in exchange for two nights in a motel, free food the whole time, $50, and a ride back to the interstate when we were through.  We liked him, so we agreed.

About 30 miles before Kingsport, he mentioned that he wanted to jump off the interstate to stop and see a friend.  We were fine with that, especially because we were on no particular time schedule.  When hitchhiking, you often gotta go with the flow.

Getting off the highway, he pulled into an Arby’s.  He fed us and himself, plus he bought two big roast beef sandwiches for Osha.  She was in doggie heaven.

We travelled up a bunch of back country roads before coming to an old-style saloon bar.  He said he’d be inside for 10 or 15 minutes and be right back.  So we sat and passed the time, with Mel riding shotgun in the front passenger seat and Osha and me in the back seat.

Out in front of the saloon were a bunch of good old boys, in their 30s and 40′s, looking like they were rode hard and put away wet.  I joked that they were probably all named Bubba and Junior.

untitled.bmp

As we conversed, Mel had her head turned toward us in the back seat.  Over her shoulder, I noticed one of the Bubba’s heading toward the car.  I saw that he was sporting a holster and gun, as if he was part of Jesse James’ gang.  He walked between our car and the car next to us.

Suddenly he pulled the passenger door open, drew his gun, and put it to Mel’s head.  She turned her head to see who had opened her door, unaware that it was a gun that was pressed against her head.

Upon seeing her face, Bubba pulled back.  “I’m sorry,” he said apologetically.  “I could only see your long hair.  I thought you were my ex-wife.”  He holstered his gun, stuttering, “I saw you were in Drew’s car.  I thought he had taken up with my ex.  I’m really sorry, maam.”

- Mountain Man

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Hitchhiking | Comments Off

Curiosity

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

Now that I’m in my late 50s, I find myself more often reflecting on life.  I sometimes flash to parallels between my actions in early life and how that influenced my later life.

I grew up in Wyckoff, a suburban town in Bergen County, the northernmost county in New Jersey that’s nestled next to and just west of New York City.  It’s there that I attended public school from kindergarten through the 10th grade, my “formative years”, so to speak.

I was in the advanced class from the first grade on.  We were the ones that were pushed, that the most was expected of.  We were to be the future businessmen, doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc, the educators felt.

In the 5th and 6th grades, our entire class subscribed to the New York Times, which was handed out as we entered our class in the morning.  In those days, except for lunch and gym, we never left that one classroom and we had one teacher.  Our first subject of the day was always “Current Events”.  In it, students would raise their hand, then begin a discussion based on an article in that day’s NY Times.

I loved Current Events.  I was the first to raise my hand, covering subjects from the space race to President Kennedy to the United Nations to famines in Africa.  Little did I realize that my voracious appetite for reading the newspaper would 30 years later lead to me becoming a newspaper sportswriter, then sports editor, and even publisher.

corb6796.jpg

I also was crazy about Geography.  I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the states, then all the countries of the world.  Give me a blank map and I could fill in just about every state and country and most of their capitols.  Later in life, this curiosity would lead me to live as an adult in Florida, California, Oregon, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, and St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.

The other subject that I excelled in was Mathematics.  I’m almost embarrassed to say that I put little effort into it because it came so easy.  I was a wiz, but I can’t take credit due to hard work.  I guess my brain was just set up for math.  I ended up majoring in math in college, and my abilities in math have been a major factor in my life.

Needless to say, I usually got “A’s” in the three subjects I mentioned.  The credit goes to my curiosity.  I wanted to know more and more.  “How?” and “Why?” drove my brain to dissect subjects, dig further, learn more.  Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it pushed me to excel.

- Mountain Man

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Lifestyle | Comments Off

The Mysterious Red Rag

Monday, January 21st, 2008

In 1976, I was hitchhiking east on Interstate 10 from San Diego, California with my then wife and dog.  It was about 85 degrees on this May 1st day.  East of San Diego, we got a ride in the back of a pickup truck from two guys in their 20s.  They would take us over the Alpine Mountains and let us off in Ocotillo Wells, a small desert town. 

By the time we hit the upper elevations of the Alpines, the temperatures had dropped into the 40′s.  Dressed in tee shirts, jeans, and sandals, we were quickly freezing our butts off.  As the truck hauled along at 75 mph, we pulled warmer clothes out of our backpacks and slipped them on.  We were shivering.

Eventually, we dropped out of the mountains and into the desert.  Before we knew it, the thermometer hit 100 degrees.  As we stripped down, I glance into the cab of the pickup truck and noticed it was filling up with smoke.

The driver swerved into the breakdown lane.  The passenger jumped out, then reached back into the cab under his seat.  He pulled out a red rag, like the kind that mechanics use, that had spots of oil on it.  It was smoldering and smoking like crazy.

mvc-004f.JPG

He threw the rag onto the side of the highway, stomped out the fire, left the rag, and we got back on our way east.  Soon we would reach Ocotillo Wells and the ride would end. 

Four hours and three rides later, we were in a van with a guy with long hair and a real long beard.  He asked us if it was alright if he got off the highway and went into a small town to buy milk and bread and a few other groceries to take home to his wife.  No problem.

He got off the interstate and headed to the general store.  A few miles later, just as we approached the store, the van began to fill up with smoke.  The driver urgently pulled to the gravel shoulder.  We jumped out of the van and I leaned back into the passenger side and reached under the seat. 

I yanked out a smoldering, red rag.  In fact, it looked like the exact same red rag that caught fire a couple hundred miles ago.  Same oil spots, same everything!  Was it the same red rag that we left by the side of the highway?  Was it deja vu?  I’m not sure, but we all had goose bumps!

- Mountain Man

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Hitchhiking | Comments Off

Never Felt So Alive

Monday, January 21st, 2008

In listening to former soldiers give accounts of their battle experiences in World War II, Vietnam War, etc, I was always struck by a statement that was echoed by many.  “I never felt so alive”, they’d claim.  “I lived every moment.”

I didn’t really understand the meaning behind that sentiment.  Then, in 1976, I undertook my first long distance hitchhiking trip.  It would last  two and a half months, in which time I covered 9,000 miles along with my then wife and dog.

I’m not saying I was shot at (guns were pulled on us three times though), so my comparison is not that life hung in the balance at any moment.  Still, there were similarities.

Hitchhiking makes you vulnerable.  You’re traveling without the security of a vehicle.  You’re susceptible to weirdos, rain and lightning, biting insects, and that desolation feeling after spending four hours or so on a lonely road in the middle of the southwestern desert.

Evey morning when you wake up, you have no idea who you’ll meet that day, how far you’ll travel, and where you end up sleeping that night.  That anticipation is exhilarating, even exciting.

corb8021.jpg

Your awareness level becomes intensified.  Standing by the side of the road, your eyes lock on every approaching vehicle.  You pick up their “vibes”.  Are they good people, or do they have bad intentions, a certain darkness about their character?  If your senses are hyperactive, you become a good judge.

The relationships you form with folks who give you a ride, though they last only a few hours, are inspiring.  There’s a feeling of “I’ll never see you again”, so they blurt out personal things about their life that they’d never tell a spouse or friend.  You’re a sounding block, an impartial ear.

Long distance hitchhiking isn’t for everyone.  It takes someone who is confident in their abilities and self assured.  But if you’ve got those ingredients and give it a try, you’ll find that you never felt so alive.

- Mountain Man

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Hitchhiking | Comments Off

Free as a Bird

Saturday, January 19th, 2008

Remember as a kid when an adult would tell you to enjoy life now because plenty of responsibility would be on your shoulders in the future? 

In those days, few of us youngsters could fathom the upcoming burden of a job, mortgages, taxes, maintaining a vehicle, marriage, relationships, health care, or raising kids.  Jeez, I thought the adults were talking about high school or maybe college being tough, not life itself.

Now as baby boomers in our 50s and 60s, we look back to those innocent days of the 1950′s almost with envy.  Back then, life almost was like Leave it to Beaver or Ozzie & Harriet.  We had one black and white television, five channels, one car, and Mom was always home to greet you with cookies and milk when returning from school.  The call to the dinner table was a chorus of “Dad’s home” from us kids.

corb5597.jpg

At times, I’m sure we all long for those carefree days.  Catching lightning bugs, playing tag or hide and seek, walking barefoot through a meadow, climbing a tree, playing kick ball or dodgeball, laying in the grass looking at the clouds or night time stars.

As you progressed to being a teenager, new priorities emerged.  Your first date, your first kiss.  Your worries about hair, clothes, even pimples.  At the time, it was so important.  Tomorrow was always the biggest day of your life.

Now we look back and smile.  “That was nothing”, we think.  But, as full grown adults we still do get caught in the same frame of mind where we “sweat the little things”.

Maybe we should take a clue from the birds.  They take care of getting food, shelter, and security.  And they cheerily sing all day long as they accomplish those tasks.

- Mountain Man

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Lifestyle | Comments Off

Second Homes

Thursday, January 17th, 2008

At one time or another, just about everyone in our country dreams about owning a second home.  For many it is just that – a dream – but for others it becomes a reality through hard work and frugality.

We realized our dream of a second home in the autumn of 2006.  We fell in love with Pocahontas County, West Virginia during a late summer vacation.  On the fifth and final day of our stay, we decided to visit a realtor to look at vacant properties.  Two days later, back in New Jersey, we bid on and had an accepted offer for 19 acres.

We went to closing on October 4, and our custom built, 2300 square foot log cabin was completed on April 4, 2007.  It was done in a remarkable 6 months.

We make the 404 mile trip together once a month.  Many months, I go alone another time to cut trees, clear brush, gravel our roads, etc.

There are many parallels between our second home in WV and the second homes that we sell here in the Wildwood area of the southern New Jersey shore.  But the biggest similarity is “getting out of your daily routine”.

At our cabin, we never turn on the television unless it’s been raining for a while.  We have a library of a hundred books and 575 National Geographic magazines, including every issue since 1956.  I read a half dozen NG’s every time I’m there, so it should take me at least eight years to finish.  I relish that thought.

We take walks down the many old logging roads on our property.  We built a corn feeder that holds 50 pounds of corn at a time.  Our dinner guests include 6 whitetail deer, 4 grey squirrels, 1 red squirrel, 2 chipmunks, a half dozen bluejays and a dozen crows.  We spend hours everyday sitting at our kitchen table watching them chow down just 25 feet away.

We also built a bird feeder that holds 20 pounds of feed and hangs 14 feet in the air (so it’s bear-proof).  Our friends there include nuthatches, black-capped chickadees, bluejays, tufted titmice, hairy woodpeckers, juncos, white-throat sparrows, and more.  This bird feeder is in close proximity to the corn feeder, so sitting at our kitchen table often offers a view of so much wildlife that we feel like we’re in a Disney movie.

My point?  Breaking out of your daily routine re-invigorates you.  It clears your mind of clutter, gives you a renewed perspective on life.  It washes away your worries, puts the bounce back into your step.

The Wildwoods offer wide sandy beaches, a world class boardwalk that is 38 blocks long, and countless opportunities to go boating or fishing.  There’s restaurants, shopping, a great free county zoo, and a dozen golf courses.  You can bike, hike, comb the beach for seashells, or go bird watching. 

West Virginia is our sanctuary, our private corner of the world.  Don’t you deserve one, too?

- Mountain Man

Our Cabin

To find out more about property in Cape May County, NJ, visit our website at http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off

Doom and Gloom

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.

dsc03836.JPG

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: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Real Estate | Comments Off

Newer Entries »