Posts Tagged ‘Wildwood’

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Lower Township tax assessment

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

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Recreation Subsidies

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

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Tax Credits for Homebuyers

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

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Real Estate Looking Up For 2009

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

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Wildwood Moving Forward

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has granted a CAFRA permit for the first of six Wildwood high-rise hotels which have already gained city approvals. 

The CAFRA permit, which stands for Coastal Area Facilities Review Act, is necessary for any new project which proposes 24 or more units, 49 or more parking spaces, or is located near water.  It normally takes a minimum of two years – sometimes much longer – to satisfy NJDEP that their stringent conditions will be met.

The Starlight Resort Hotel became the first to gain the nod from NJDEP.  That project is located between Juniper and Glenwood Avenues on the east side of Ocean Avenue and would offer spectacular views of the ocean, beaches, and island.  BMF Investments, which is now expected to sell the property to a developer with big bucks and building experience, received approval for a 23-story, 255-foot tall building consisting of 264 residential units (about half sold as condos but all available for hotel rental), a 200-seat restaurant, 654 parking spaces, a spa/swimming pool/fitmess club, and some upscale retail shops.

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One condition of the CAFRA permit was that the City of Wildwood create a parking authority and BMF contributes $442,000 to that authority.  The city is already in the process of creating that authority.  The city previously placated NJDEP by implementing a comprehensive municipal plan, which designated which areas of the city’s eastside could accommodate high-rise construction.

Many interested observers expected the Nouveau Wave, a 25-story high-rise to be located between Rio Grande and Andrews Avenues at Ocean Avenue, to be the first to receive the coveted CAFRA permit.  They were turned down over a year ago and needed to make a few changes to their application before gaining approval.  Reportedly, they’ve made a few project alterations by adding more hotel units so their application had to be redrawn prior to being resubmitted.

As the high-rises come on line, which should begin by 2011, the convention center should boom and the island will ascend into the next level of its renaissance.

- Mountain Man

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Wildwood’s SENSATIONAL 60s WEEKEND

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

The Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce is presenting a fabulous weekend of fun at the shore.  Starting with Friday, April 25th, Jerry Blavat will be hosting a ’60s Record Hop.  What a great way to start the weekend.  Grab your honey and dance the night away!

Then on Saturday afternoon there is a Street Fair with free live entertainment featuring “TRU” and The Mahoney Brothers, contests galore, all kinds of street  vendors, the Classic Car Show, a Doo Wop Back to the ’50s Tour and so much more.  How can you resist?

Saturday night is the Sensational ’60s Concert featuring The Temptation Review, The Miracles, The Family Stone Xperience, and “Tru”.  I’ve been to the show every year, and it keeps getting better and better!

The festivites wrap up on Sunday with free entertainment in North Wildwood.  For more information, visit www.GWCOC.com or call 609-729-4000.

You won’t want to miss out on this great fun-filled weekend.

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Second Homers

Saturday, March 1st, 2008

The real estate market in Cape May County, New Jersey is based on second homes – vacation homes - whatever you want to call them.  The county is evenly divided – 50% of residences are primary homes and 50% are second homes.  At our real estate agency, both our island office in Wildwood Crest and our mainland office in Swainton sell about 90% second homes.  Primary homes are a small part of our business.

Cape May County has a lot going for it to attract families with the financial ability to afford a vacation home.  There’s the beaches, the boardwalks, fishing and boating, 12 golf courses, a great free zoo, bird-watching, restaurants, state parks, museums, and shopping.  Eco-tourism alone accounts for $522 million per year.  With low crime, no industry, and tolerable traffic, it’s the recipe for an inviting vacation destination.

While much of the country still suffers from a stagnant real estate market, here at the shore the market is back on the rise.  Perhaps analyzing a few numbers will help us understand not only why we are doing okay, but also why we’ll flourish in the future.

There are 6 million households in the United States that own a second home.  Numbers released from a 2007 poll indicate that 22.8 million American households (out of 105 million total US households) expect to purchase a second home in the next 10 years.  Wow, that’s a staggering number.  Let’s postulate, being very conservative, that two-thirds of those families will not realize that dream.  That still leaves 7.6 million families that will purchase a second home, more than doubling the number of vacation homes nationwide.

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What do people look for in a vacation home?  Good question.  The answer is either water – an ocean, lake, or river – or mountains.  Not too many families want their getaway to be in rural Iowa or downtown Cleveland.  Naturally, Cape May County has the Atlantic Ocean, along with wide, sandy beaches, moderate temperatures, and it’s easily accessible by car from anywhere in the middle Atlantic states.  We’re not Maine, we’re not Florida, in weather extremes or distance.  Thank heavens!

Obviously, affluence has a lot to do with where second home families originate.  The highest median home price is in California, so that would be the best market.  Hawaii and Washington, DC are second and third, but they’re too small for the home prices to mean much.  The next “real” market is Massachusetts in fourth place, then New Jersey is fifth. 

Metropolitan New York City with 18.7 million people, Philadelphia and its suburbs with 5.8 million people, along with all of New Jersey, are the primary sources for folks interested in buying second homes at the South Jersey seashore.  All are within a two and a half hour drive, the accepted norm.  That is a tremendous pool of families from which to draw potential vacation home owners.

The demographics are a strong argument why Cape May County’s real estate market will continue to grow and prosper.  One figure still sticks in my mind – 22.8 million households expect there’s a good chance they’ll buy a second home in the next 10 years.  Kinda gives me goosebumps.

- Mountain Man

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Developers Know

Monday, February 25th, 2008

Many folks are fooled by the lack of new construction activity here in the Wildwoods and throughout the island communities of Cape May County.  “I knew it would never happen,” the backseat drivers shout about new 20+ story hotel/resort projects touted in the newspapers but not yet started.  They are wrong.

In the state of New Jersey, any new construction project that is within 300 feet of water, has more than 24 units, or more than 48 parking spots, needs a CAFRA permit.  This Coastal Areas Facility Review Act, administered by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, is a thorough and lengthy process.  It takes a minimum of two years to two and a half years to obtain the CAFRA permit, and in the case of the seven high-rise hotels in Wildwood, can take four years.

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So while developers are exerting an inordinate amount of effort and $100,000 or more in fees for their environmental attorneys, engineers, architects, and endless environmental studies, an uneducated Joe Public sits on the sidelines and proudly pronounces the project DOA.

Unfortunately, these uninformed zealots are given a public forum to make their opinions widely known.  In the local weekly county newspaper there is a gutless section called “Spout Off”.  In it, anyone can basically say anything and push it off as fact.  Right or wrong, it is printed.  The authors don’t have to sign their name.  It’s a disgrace!

The newspaper is owned by a far right, ultra-conservative snob who labels wind power and solar power band-aids, global warming a left-wing hoax, and promotes the drilling of the arctic and nuclear power.  He’s a small town version of William Loeb and his Manchester Union Leader.  You can see why he not only allows this journalistic embarrassment, he’s proud of it.

Anyway, Spout Off perpetuates the so-called decline of the real estate market and the county in general by letting these ”doom and gloom” know-it-alls have their say.  Then more naive citizens read it and believe it.  Soon they talk about it in public as if it was fact.  After all, they read it in the newspaper so it must be right.  Right?  Wrong.

The truth is that these projects, along with large hotel complexes in Cape May, North Wildwood, and Diamond Beach are moving along, slow but sure.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.

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As realtors, we see more and more developers in the area looking for tracts large enough to host more hotel or condominium projects.  At our agency, we have several conglomerates with upwards of $100,000,000 to invest in the shore area of Cape May County.  We are constantly calling them with leads on new vacant properties, along with faxing and emailing tax maps, lot descriptions, comparative market analyses, and more.

Large projects don’t happen overnight.  From concept to completion is about an eight year process.  Unknown to most local residents, that concept faze is already underway!  The developers are busy shaping the county’s future, secure in the belief that the real estate market is on the brink of another boom.

- Mountain Man

To learn more about the Cape May County real estate market, visit our website at www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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It’s in the Numbers

Monday, February 25th, 2008

Having been a mathematics major in college, I’m understandably enamored with numbers.  Talk is talk, but numbers give substance.  There’s nothing like good, hard numbers to bring a topic into focus, to cut down on speculation and misleading conclusions.

Let’s see if the demographics support that the real estate market in Cape May County will see another boom.  Not just a rebound, which is already happening, but a boom!  It’s an interesting prospect, one that many insiders like myself support and others just can’t fathom.

The state of New Jersey has a population of 8.724 million people.  The median age is 38.2 years, with 12.9 percent of folks 65 or older.  The median household income is $64,470 and the homeownership rate is 67.3 percent, meaning two-thirds live in a home they own.  Of adults, 33.4% have a college Bachelor’s degree, and 12.4% have even higher degrees.

What this all means is that New Jerseyans, on the whole, are pretty well off.  The median household income in the entire country is $48,451, so we’re a third higher.  New Jersey has the highest percentage of millionaires in the USA.  Throw in metropolitan Philadelphia and suburban New York City, and there’s a lot of affluence in our region.  All this fuels the second home market, which comprises half of all properties in Cape May County.

Experts keep tossing out that 40,000 new employees will be needed in the Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland county region.  Most of this is centered on Atlantic City, whose 11 casinos already employ 40,788 people.  Several casino expansions are in the works, with at least three new casinos slated. 

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MGM Mirage will be breaking ground within a year on its $5 billion megaresort, located on 72 acres next to the Borgata.  This largest resort in AC, scheduled to open in 2012, will feature 50 stories, 3,000 hotel rooms, a 7,500 seat concert arena, and a half million square feet of space for retail, restaurants, and entertainment.  Revel Entertainment has already broken ground on a $2 billion casino complex, located on the strip next to the Showboat, slated to open in 2010.  Pinnacle Entertainment, which tore down the aging Sands Casino last October, should have their new $1.5 billion casino in operation by 2012.

With 128-acre Bader Field going out to bid in the next year, the possibility of another mega-casino, or up to four smaller casinos, will add to the need for new employees.  So where will all these new employees live?  Rounded off, the current yearround populations of the three counties are Atlantic 250,000, Cumberland 150,000, and Cape May 100,000.

Let’s suppose that keeping with the statistics, two-thirds of the 40,000, or 26,680 will purchase their own home.  Forget the island communities, where summer folks have driven up prices.  I’m talking about Longport, Ventnor, Margate, Ocean City, Sea Isle, Avalon, Stone Harbor, Cape May, etc - places where a single family home would be prohibitively expensive for a working family employed by casinos, retail, or restaurants.

That leaves the mainland towns.  Arguably, Egg Harbor, Galloway and Hamilton townships, all Atlantic County towns situated in the Pinelands “growth zone”, would pick up the brunt of the new residents.  But many families will look to live a little farther from the hustle and bustle of the AC area. 

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Cape May County, just a 20-35 mile commute, fits the bill.  The mainland communities – Lower, Middle, Dennis, and Upper townships, plus Woodbine – currently have 822 single family homes listed for sale.  With the number of housing developments already approved in those towns doubling the number, that’s about 1,600 available homes.  An influx of 40,000 people over the next half dozen years or so will surely result in most of those homes being snapped up.

In the world of supply and demand, especially in real estate, this demand will create more building and higher prices on the mainland.  Doesn’t that add up?

Throw in the seven 20+ story hotel/resort projects on the books in Wildwood now awaiting NJDEP approval, and a couple big resorts upcoming in North Wildwood and Diamond Beach, and you have the recipe for another real estate boom.  Numbers don’t lie.

- Mountain Man

To learn more about the Cape May County real estate market, visit our website at www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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A Good Realtor

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

Once in a while, I’ll get into a philosophical discussion with someone concerning “what makes a good realtor?”.  Sometimes it’s a client, sometimes another realtor, or sometimes someone you happen to meet that initiates this dialog and shares their thoughts.  Let me share mine.

The first criteria of a good realtor is honesty and being ethical.  Without those two ingredients, you can end this discussion.  We try to treat everyone as if they’re lifelong friends, almost kindred spirits.  I guess it’s a little of that “do unto others” thing, too.  As we are both hovering around 60 years old, we have reached the point in our lives where everything is about friendships.  It’s a certain bond that says, “I care about you”, and will look out for your best interests.

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The second criteria is sincerity.  Nobody likes a phony.  Be real.  When we tell someone something, we truly believe it.  Sometimes it’s not what they wanted to hear or expected to hear, but it’s what we perceive to be true.  If one of us is showing a prospective buyer a property and we don’t like it or think it matches their needs, we say so.  We don’t whitewash it, we don’t go along and keep silent just to get a sale.  We help you weigh the positives vs negatives.

The third criteria is enjoying what you do.  We both love being realtors, especially City Girl.  We both bounce out of bed in the morning anxious to get on with our day.  Our job is not a burden, but a pleasure.  And a challenge.  As baby boomers, we thrive on challenges.  It’s a generation thing, I guess.  Retiring just doesn’t seem to be in our future because we’re already doing the thing that makes us happy and gives us peace.

The fourth criteria is enjoying looking at properties.  We can both look at houses all day long.  My mother always jokingly told me, “Someday you’ll make someone a good wife.”  She was right, by gosh.  I appreciate kitchens, furniture, home decorating, flooring, etc - not typically “guy things”.  Curiosity also fuels our desire to see what a home looks like inside and out.

The fifth criteria is being proficient at the technical aspects of a real estate transfer.  Is the buyer’s mortgage process progressing?, is the home in a flood zone?, what expansions will zoning law allow?, does the roof need replacing?  There’s a hundred facets of a transaction that we must examine and successfully complete.

The final criteria is experience.  City Girl has been a realtor since 1978, me since 1996.  We are both brokers, a level above salesperson that required extra schooling.  We both have our GRI designations, again requiring extra schooling.  City Girl also has three more designations, all of which were earned through increasing her knowledge of the real estate business.

Experience also means practical experience.  City Girl once owned a hotel.  We once owned a bar/restaurant.  We both have been in retail and owned investment properties, and have a second home.  We’ve done renovation projects, I’ve worked for a surveyor, she’s been on the local zoning board for 20 years.  My point?  We’ve learned a lot of things in the real world that can’t be taught in books. 

No matter where you live in the country, a good realtor is a good realtor.  With one, you’ll make a friend for life.

- Mountain Man

To learn more about our agency, visit our website at http://www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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The Excitement is Back in Wildwood

Monday, January 28th, 2008

Well, folks.  It’s back.  What’s that you ask?  It’s a feeling in the air, it’s that spring in your step.  Things are once again happening in the Wildwoods.  Our phones have been ringing since the start of the new year with people calling for information on our properties and wanting to make appointments to view them.  And, we’re not the only Realtors feeling that way.  The island is abuzz with activity. 

Remember back in 2001 when people were just starting to realize that the Wildwoods was the place to buy?  The prices were low, and you could buy a small one bedroom condo in the Crest for just $23,000.  Then prices started going up, and the crowds came and had to buy something before there wasn’t anything left.  We even had people come into our office and say, “I have to buy something today!”  Wow!

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As time went on we heard people say they missed the boat.  “I waited too long.  Property is out of my price range”, they moaned.  Well, you have another chance.  The time to buy is now.  Prices are stabilizing.  Interest rates are low and expected to go lower.  Inventory is going down.  Many of the best properties are being scooped up.  Fortunately, new listings are always coming onto the market. 

I took a client around to look at property last week.  Of the five properties we looked at, three went under contract in the next 2 days.  My client didn’t even have time to think about them before they were off the market.

A lot is happening in the Wildwoods.  Investors are once again putting money into the area.  Now is a great time to buy.  Don’t miss the boat again.

- City Girl

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The Neighbor

Sunday, January 27th, 2008

Earlier this month, January 2008, I traveled to our West Virginia cabin to spend a few days.  I needed to meet with our builder, our excavation guy, and cut a few trees to open up a mountain vista to the east. 

When I arrived at 9am on a Friday morning, the temperature was 6 degrees.  It had been 1 degree a few hours prior.  I worked throughout the weekend and accomplished my tasks.  By Monday, my last day, it was a balmy 62 degrees.  I decided to spend the day hiking and exploring.  I felt like a school kid skipping class!

There is a couple hundred acre parcel behind our 19 acres that leads up to the crest of the small mountain.  I had never explored it, so I headed up the mountain on our road.  Soon I was climbing over the gate onto the neighbor’s property.  There were no structures on the land, and only hunters ever went up there.

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I traveled up the dirt road, gradually gaining elevation.  Meadows opened up to the north, a sight I don’t see on our heavily wooded parcel.  Soon I was to an area where thick pine trees clustered along the north side of the road, but they grew from a 20-foot lower creekside area, so only the top 10 feet were exposed to me.  They shown brilliant light green in the full winter sun.

Suddenly, a large bird the size of a crow burst from one of the pines and landed in another 100 feet ahead.  Was that a pileated woodpecker?  Could it possibly be?

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I proceeded slowly up the road, knowing that I would come upon him again.  Sure enough, as I got close, he launched out of the tree.  His wings beating made a definite noise, almost a thumping.  They were so powerful that I swore I felt the vibrations.

His large size and pronounced red pointed head confirmed that it was a pileated woodpecker.  If indeed the ivory-billed woodpecker is extinct, then the pileated is now the largest woodpecker in North America.

He and I continued our hide and seek game.  Twice more he flew 100 feet at a shot, landing in the pines ahead of me along the road.  When he tired of my presence, he flew away from the road to the edge of a dense forest.  Each time, his wings beating foretold that he was airborne again.

Now he hung to the edge of the forest, heading parallel to the road and back where we started.  My view of his trajectory was unobstructed, so I continued to follow his progression.  I didn’t move a muscle except for the slight turning of my head.

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After 10 or 15 minutes, he finally flew deep into the woods.  I had seen him in flight six times.  I heard him fly three other times.

My hike continued another couple hours, but all the time I kept thinking about him.  How magnificent he was!  How fortunate I was to share some time with him.

I will be going back up the mountain the next time I’m in West Virginia.  I expect to visit my feathered friend again.  It’s the neighborly thing to do!

Mountain Man

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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Trickle Down

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

Even as a realtor, I never fully grasped the implications of the real estate market’s influence on so many other occupations.  With the downturn, which here in Cape May County, New Jersey began in mid-2005 and seemed to turn the corner and head back up in mid-2007, the realization really hit home.

The slowdown in real estate sales affected, first, those who build new homes.  I’m talking about masons who put in the concrete footing, followed by a few coarses of block to get the home away from the ground and any possible flood situations.  Then there’s the framers, who frame out the house and cover it in plywood.  Then there’s the roofers to get the shell waterproof, followed by the siding guys to put up vinyl siding.

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Then there’s carpenters to install the windows and doors, and do other wood work.  Now the inside of the home is buzzing with electricians, plumbers, and heating and air conditioning crews.  After those tasks are completed, the drywall guys can enclose the inside walls and get them spackled.  Painters do their thing on the new walls in turn.

The kitchen requires installers of cabinets and countertops.  The kitchen and bathroom floors need a tile guy, and the bedrooms need a carpeting crew.  A carpenter lays down hardwood floors.

Finally, a landscaping crew sets irrigation lines and heads in the yard, then grass and shrubs are planted after the driveway is asphalted and concrete sidewalks are added. The house is ready.  It has used 17 different trades, employing about 40 workers.

The real estate industry also fuels title companies, attorneys, home inspection companies, termite inspectors, septic tank inspectors, water test companies, mortgage companies and bankers, and those professions called to fix a deficiency in the home revealed by one of those inspections.

The other aspect is all the companies who produce lumber, tile, carpet, concrete, block, roofing shingles, sheetrock, cabinets, granite and corian countertops, toilets, sinks, washers, dryers, refrigerators, ovens, microwaves, dishwashers, windows, doors, heating and air conditioning systems, and even televisions and such.  Wow!  If new home building is off from the previous year, that’s a lot of manufacturing income and jobs lost.

Now that the real estate market recovery has begun here at the southern New Jersey shore, it’s nice to know that so many folks will be getting back to work.

- Mountain Man

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

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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.

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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

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It’s un-American

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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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