2009 Sold & Pending Properties ... Ocean City, New Jersey   It has been a rough last quarter of 2008 in the real estate market, and it has been another interesting four months in 2009.  A review of statistics in terms of real estate sales to date can often be misleading when you only factor in the "sold properties."  Clearly, "pending sales" really aren't sold, but most of the time they eventually get into that category.  So it is always important to cover both parts when you look at the "stats" ... sold properties and pending sale properties. With one day shy of four months, or one-third of the calendar year, we find some interesting information:  single family to date (4/29/2009) has 30 sold and 15 pending for a total of a probable 45 for the year with about 1/3 of them closing later ... 04/29/2009

More on Weather ... and Open Houses (Ocean City, New Jersey)   Along with a variety of other names, I am an "open house" man.  It's what I do to promote my sale listings which are usually in the Northend and Gardens, that area north of Sixth Street in Ocean City, New Jersey.  I am part of a small agency in the Northend and Gardens, French Real Estate, Inc.  We have been here since the 1920s.  I bought my first house, a 1920s 2BR cottage, from French before I was an agent.  I have moved several times, but we have remained in the same general Northend and Gardens locations.  I have always been able to walk or bike to work since I'm only several blocks from my home.  A great job!! All of our agents do both sales and rentals.  And all of us have a certain amount of "up time" during the week... 04/29/2009

A lovely Saturday in a Shore Community ... how does your agent handle your showings? Ocean City, New Jersey   I've spent almost the entire day inside, in 80 degree sunny weather outside.  It was my weekend to man the agency ... two of us are up for the entire weekend.  I think everyone coming inside seemed to be enjoying the outside.  Maybe I will catch an hour when I leave at 5PM. But what is my posting about today.  I have several showings tomorrow.  That is why we always have two of us for "up time."  It allows an individual agent to do a showing, etc. during that time frame.  So I will show one of my own listings which is fine.  I have the key ... I'm ready to go on that one.  But the other one will be four or five showings later in the day.  So I began the process of phoning agents... 04/26/2009

Late Spring Activities and Events ... Ocean City, New Jersey   It's all about the Spring ... everything happens starting in the spring in a resort community.  Why?  Because you tend to wait out the early, colder, wetter spring weather in hopes that it is dryer and warmer later in the spring.  So generally the kick-off for the spring is the "Doo Dah Parade" which was held last weekend.  Our next event doesn't take place in Ocean City ... but nearby in Somers Point (across the bay) this weekend with the "Bayfest."  And, of course, the big event is next weekend with the "Spring Block Party." Obviously, we are in what many call "our shoulder season," the spring leading up to Memorial Day when the season kicks off (to some degree).  We also have a second "shoulder season" in the fall after L... 04/24/2009

Buying in the Spring ... Buying in the Fall ... Ocean City, New Jersey Opportunities and Strategies ... Part 2 or 2   Continuing with part 2 or a 2-part posting, let's highlight the "spring buying period" which still has about eight or nine weeks to go in 2009.  Not all, but many of the sale listings have a "rental history" and a number of rental leases for the coming summer rental season.  The rental lease signed by the tenant and current owner represents a legal document that will travel with the sale of the property.  In other words, the new owner is required to rent the property according to the leases, and the new owner can receive initial payments already made and future payments as per the signed leases. Let's assume that a property owner (and seller) has collected about half of ... 04/18/2009

Buying in the Spring ... Buying in the Fall ... Ocean City, New Jersey Opportunities and Strategies ... Part 1 or 2 (because I got carried away with other thoughts)   When is the best time to buy?  That's always a question on the minds of Buyers.  Obviously, the answers vary with the number of people asking the question.  I often ask them a question back:  When did know you were a buyer?  You can some funny, crazy answers ... but most have specific responses to the question.  I always say:  "if you were a rental tenant, the first time you rent for two straight weeks; or if you are a tenant who comes back more than one time during a given season ... I know you are probably a potential Buyer before many of you know. I also talk about "the real world" where most of you are living right now... 04/18/2009

Rental Property Update ... Northend & Gardens Only ... Ocean City, New Jersey   This is the first of a continuing update of the top 10 (this year - top 11) rental weeks of Summer, 2009 in Ocean City, New Jersey ... reviewing only rental properties in the Northend and Gardens.  Since this update is an early one in April, these figures will change as the rental season gets closer.   We review the "top ten rental weeks of the 2009 season," but this year I have included an 11th week because Labor Day does not arrive until September 7th (a late arrival). 1st Place     8/1 to 8/8/2009       this is almost always the most rented week of the summer 2nd Place    7/25 to 8/1/2009     this is also either first or second most years 3rd Place    8/8 to 8/15/2009      this second full week of August ... 04/18/2009

Single Family Sale Listings ... Ocean City, New Jersey   (Part 1 of 2)   There are 255 single family sale listings throughout Ocean City, New Jersey at this time.  Let's do a breakdown by the various "areas" thoughout Ocean City: Area          # of Sale Listings         Average Price Range          Median Price Range          Location Gardens             58                                   $1,870,932                            $1,595,000                   North of North Street Bay Area           46                                   $1,462,621                            $1,174,450                   On/Near the Bay ... broad                                                                                                                        area covering Ocean City Northend           37... 04/17/2009

Spring Buying Period ... in full swing here in Ocean City, New Jersey    And all we need now is some warmer spring weather, less rain, and a few more Buyers beating a path to our door, or any door here in Ocean City, New Jersey.   The 1st Quarter of 2009 (January 1st to March 31st) had a total of 111 sold properties ... 22 single family, 5 multi-family, and 78 condominium properties.  That was not a good start to the 2009 calendar year.  However, the above figure does not reflect "pending sale" properties during that time frame ... so when we look at the numbers for both "pending and sold from April 1st to the Present (April 16th), we find the following information ... 7 additional sold single family and 10 pending sale single family properties for a total of 17 in the second quarter to... 04/16/2009

Driving in New Jersey ... Ocean City, New Jersey  (Part 2 of 2)   This is the second part of this posting on "driving in New Jersey" and our efforts to obtain licenses and license plates (covered in part 1) and car inspections (in part 2). So we drove out about 6:15 AM one morning to the inspection station outside of Mays Landing ... I was in the first car, my wife in the second one.  Arriving at 6:45AM, we were 5th and 6th in line for inspections.  It took about thirty to forty minutes, and we were in and out.  The inspection goes quite quickly depending on your placement in the line.  We passed, and we failed.  Our cars passed the inspection, but we had not obtained our insurance cards for New Jersey as yet, which resulted in a failure.  So we now had another 45 days to get them.  Act... 04/16/2009

Driving in New Jersey ... Ocean City, New Jersey  (Part 1 of 2)   Although we have owned shore property since 1988, and I have worked with French Real Estate since 1993; we have been PA residents until January 1, 2009.  A lot of that time my wife was working in PA, and I was doing the "back-and-forth" as many shore property owners do.  But here we now are.  Let me tell you (hopefully with some humor) how we went about obtaining our New Jersey licenses, our New Jersey car titles of ownership, our New Jersey license plates, and our free New Jersey automobile inspections. One of the major differences between PA and NJ is "the centralization issue."  Clearly NJ is far more decentralized with the county level handling most of this work for the state.  In PA, everything tends to go through th... 04/16/2009

Ponderings ... Newspapers in and around Ocean City, NJ This word is tailor-made for me ... for I reflect often and sometimes in-depth about too many things.  I also maintain a daily journal which enables me to reflect back on occasions.  So look for this type of posting once a week or so ... it just may cause you to "ponder" as well. Having a son working in the technology field has certainly helped to ground me a bit, but the reality is that I'm a paper-product guy.  As newspapers run into trouble, and often out of business, it remains an important and consistent means of communication above and beyond so many other ways that technology has brought to us.  So let's get on with my topic. It may have been the end of an era, but as we sold our house in Pennsylvania recently; the home town ... 04/16/2009

The Doo Dah Parade & Earth Day Celebration ... Ocean City, New Jersey  - April 17-19, 2009   This is certainly the "Spring, 2009" kickoff for Ocean City, NJ ... "a weekend of comedy and conservation" as described by the City of Ocean City.  It also appears that we may be in for our best spring weekend of this calendar year.  Make a run for it, or a drive, and spend some time in my favorite neck of the woods, or is it my favorite barrier island off the Atlantic Ocean. The actual history of the "Doo Dah Parade" is not entirely known to me, but I do know that it is always hosted by a comedian who serves as the Grand Marshall.  I also know that the parade of the "basset hounds" is another one of the more significant draws.  So as I tell you a bit about the weekend, remember that I have as y... 04/15/2009

It's Tax Day in Ocean City, New Jersey & all over the United States   It's a time of celebration, a time of relief, a time of promising to work out a new and improved budget for next year at this time, a time for developing a better "saving" strategy, and maybe a time for looking for better and meaningful deductions for the future. It's also a time for many account parties as they breathe a sigh of relief that the season is over.  For others, it may be that same sigh with the understanding that they have "extended"providing them just enough of a breather to last for a few months. Regardless, it may also be a great time to take a careful look at your total financial pages, your financial future, and even lifestyle changes as they might relate to all of these financial matters.  Look out:... 04/15/2009

Ocean City & Nearby Restaurant Recommendations - Steve & Cookies   This is an occasional update and recommendation of my favorite restaurants in and around Ocean City ... going as far south as Cape May and further north to Atlantic City.   Steve & Cookies (9700 Amherst Avenue, Margate NJ) has been my favorite South Jersey evening dining location since I was introduced to it by Craig French about fifteen years ago.  You drive down Ventnor Avenue in Margate and turn at the Channel 6 Action News sign (Amherst Avenue) and head to the bay.  It has always been an excellent restaurant in-season and off-season ... although it does tend to get a lot more crowded in the summer. If you enter through the front door on Amherst, you see a long crowded bar which tends to attract almost as many visitor... 04/05/2009

Ocean City, New Jersey Official Visitors Guide 2009   The OCEAN CITY NEW JERSEY OFFICIAL VISITORS GUIDE 2009 is now available for those interested in receiving a compete copy of what's happening in "America's Greatest Family Resort."  You can make contact with the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce by at 1-800-BEACH-NJ or at www.oceancityvacation.com The 146+ pages has everything that a visitor or returning veteran would need to get along here during the summer.  There is also a pop-out map of the island which represents the city of Ocean City. You can also a quick response from me via my BEACH NOTES newsletter to get a print-out of the 2009 Calendar of Events (which is also in the booklet mentioned earlier) by sending me an email requesting same at Dustin@BeachNotes.net The entire... 04/04/2009

Real Estate, Weather, Sales & Rentals & the Resort Market Ocean City, New Jersey   Weather can impact real estate everywhere ... even in "the real world" where most of my readers reside most of the time.  I remember "the real world," but the more time I spend in Ocean City (NJ) on island time, in an isolated barrier island, and out of the real world the more difficult it is to remember details.  Now I remember everything about real estate in Ocean City ... nothing to worry about there. Back to weather ... weather indeed impacts a resort real estate market in every way.  First of all, you have the trip at whatever the mileage and time to get here from the real world.  That could be an hour to three or four hours.  If weather is bad at their location, they won't come.  If weather is bad a... 04/03/2009

Ocean City, NJ Market goes wild in one early Spring Day   Yes, it was just a normal day.  I stopped for my morning paper at Bakley's Deli and went to the 4th Street Cafe on 1st Street for a cup of tea and a blueberry scone.  The headline in the Atlantic City Press was my first indication of what the day would be like.  It read:  "3.5% Mortgage starts today with about 50+ sale listings reduced in a March Madness gala."  I hurried out of there and quickly drove a few short blocks to French Real Estate, my home away from home for the past 16 years.  It was only 8AM, but the office was active already.  Our bookkeeper, Bill, said:  "The phones have been ringing for the past half hour."  "Who has the reduced listings?" I asked.  "Everybody," he said.  "The RXM County Bank in Cape May County i... 04/01/2009

  About 3 Months to Go ...   That's 3 months to go in terms of the "Spring Buying Period."  We lost a month due to the cold, wet, damp, (unfriendly to buyer and rental visitors).  Clearly, the weather always plays a role in getting people "down to the shore."  All we need is a hot day in Philadelphia to get the phones working with perspective rental tenants calling for summer rental property.  It just takes a nice weekend to see the cars hitting the Atlantic City Expressway and Garden State Parkway in order to turn off at Exit 30 to reach their intended destination:  Ocean City, New Jersey.  Why are they coming down?  It's the spring Buyers cruising up and down the streets not unlike "American Graffiti," the old film showing a small town in the 1950s in America. The Spring Buying Period... 03/31/2009

A Condominium Sale Listing Update ... Ocean City, New Jersey   The largest property category in terms of sale listing inventory is the "condominium."  It provides a wide range of purchase options for perspective buyers.  One can find condos as efficiencies (converted motels), one or two bedroom, and three-to-five bedroom types.  They are available all over the island ... close to the beach, on the bay, downtown, on the beach blocks, and back from the beach.  They can vary in listing price range.  The new construction duplex condominium as a 3,4, or 5 bedroom has been the product that started the resort market building boom five or six years ago.  The condo is often viewed as "the starter property" for many buyers coming down to Ocean City, New Jersey. There are (at this posting) 820 con... 03/28/2009