"The Month of July in Ocean City, New Jersey"   We are now entering some of our largest rental weeks of the summer here in Ocean City, New Jersey.  The lines of traffic coming into town on Friday nights and particularly Saturday much of the day cause backups from the turnoff at the Gardens Parkway all the way to the first traffic light entering Ocean City on Bay Avenue. The last two weeks of July and the first two weeks of August have traditionally been the four largest rental weeks of the summer.  Much like a bell-shape curve ... it goes up, levels off a bit, and goes down.  So we start to have the initial climb here in July.  It's a good time not to be leaving the island over the weekend during this time. So what do all the real estate agents in Ocean City do during this time frame.  ... 07/03/2013

First Half of 2013 - "Sold Property Information" (Northend/Gardens) ... Ocean City, New Jersey   This is the first half of the 2013 calendar year  ... January 2-June 30, 2013 ... "Sold Property Information" ... and it is part two of a two-part posting on this topic.  This part will follow-up the "All Ocean City Sold Information" for the first half of the year with a review of the "Northend/Gardens sold property for that same time frame.  Since most of my sale listings and sold property takes place in the Northend and Gardens, I always like to break all of this out as described. Looking at the single family property category (just in the Northend/Gardens), we find 35 sold single family properties in this area to date.  That represents an increase of 4 properties since the same time frame... 07/02/2013

First Half of 2013 - "Sold Property Information" - Ocean City, New Jersey   This is the first half of the 2013 calendar year ... January 1-June 30, 2013 ... "Sold Property Information" ... and it is part one of a two-part blog posting on this topic. Looking at the single family property category, we find 74 sold single family properties in Ocean City to date.  That is a change from 92 sold singles in 2012 during the same time period.  31 of these sold single family properties were from $500,000 down.  The average list price was $837,543, and average sold price was $751,425.  The median list price was $599,000, and median sold price was $567,500. Looking at the multi-family property category, we find 19 sold multi-family properties in Ocean City to date.  That is a change from 24 sold mu... 07/01/2013

Happy July 1st ... "Let's Celebrate America" ... from Ocean City, New Jersey   Being an old history major and teacher of United States History, my what a history we have here in the United States.  And I think that we don't know enough about it as a population, celebrate enough about it when we can and should, and we are missing the opportunity to get closer as Americans from the review and study of our history. So I'm starting on July 1st and building up to July 4th.  There were five sons in the Peters family to which my father belonged.  He was the second oldest ... and three of them are now gone.  But I have one of the great keepsakes still with me ... a picture of the five of them in order of birth all in uniform back in the late thirties or early forties.  And I have a second pictu... 06/30/2013

Island Life #19 - "Sailing on the Bay or Ocean" ... off Ocean City, New Jersey   Seeing that first sailboat out on Egg Harbor Bay in the spring tells one the entire story ... by just watching it slowly move along the water.  Not having had that opportunity when I was young, I thought I might be able to pick it up later ... but I'm still working, and there is a great deal of time involved.  Of all the things I might be in life, I am not a sailor.  But that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy watching the sailing races, participating as a crew member on occasions, or even taking a couple of lessons. The Ocean City Yacht Club has sailing races on Friday evenings on the bay ... and on Sunday afternoons on the ocean.  This is an accomplishedd and talented group of participants.  Overall, some of... 06/27/2013

Island Life #18 ... "Tennis is the Game" - In and around Ocean City, New Jersey   This is just a small barrier island town ... one small town on one small barrier island.  We have 8 tennis courts on the other side of Atlantic Avenue next to the high school.  I think it is the same number out at 35th Street off West Avenue (maybe 6, I only played here one time).  And there are 8 more courts out off 18th Street behind the Intermediate School.  There are also two courts out at the Ocean Reef Condominiums along the Bay off Tennessee Avenue.  And I've playe on the only private court in someone's back yard on Surf Road. That's 27 tennis courts folks for a year-round population under 10,000.  It gets the most action during the summer months ... a lot of "doubles" tennis during this time frame.... 06/27/2013

ShoreRealEstate:  "WhereDoWe GofromHere?" ... Ocean City New Jersey   As they often say:  "what goes around, comes around."  It certainly looks like that could fit into the mold for shore real estate in the next few years.  And you ask:  what are you talking about?  I believe we can see a great deal of potential for the shore real estate market to go higher.  Let's call it a return to the early and mid-2000s.  What a great time for real estate mostly everywhere, but for us ... particularly at the Jersey Shore. Well, the real question to be asked would be:  "how did you arr rive at this position?"  Low interest rates have been an important motivator ... as is the slowly rising interest rates as well.  The shift in the shore real estate market with a reduce number of sale listings in both... 06/27/2013

Island Life #17 ... "Night in Venice" Boat Parade ... in Ocean City, New Jersey   Ocean City will celebrate the 59th Anniversary on July 20th ... the boat parade which began back in 1954 to mark the Diamond Jubilee (75th Anniversary of Ocean City.  You can expect 75 plus boats and over 250 decorated homes around the bay.  Seating will be along the bay with grandstands set up along Bay Avenue from Battersea Road to 16th Street plus Tennessee Avenue for free viewing of the Parade.  The Bayside Center on 520 Bay Avenue will also be open with entertainment, food, and grandstand seating ... tickets go on sale on July 1st. We rented in Ocean City for about 25 years during my first career, and we purchased a small cottage back in 1988.  We did get to a couple of "Night in Venice" parades watch... 06/25/2013

"When it's Hot in Philadelphia, the Phones will Ring in Ocean City, NJ"   There's an old expression among the rental departments throughout Ocean City (NJ), and it goes like this:  "when it's hot in Philadelphia, the phones will ring in Ocean City (NJ) for summer rentals."  The idea behind this is that "the real world" more or less forgets about this little barrier island off the coast of New Jersey ... the closest part of Cape May County to the areas further north.  Throughout the winter months and even much of the spring, they don't give us much thought.  But when it gets hot ... that's when it changes.  And, of course, it will be in the 90s for most of this week all over the eastern part of the United States, and it will get hot down here as well ... but we have the ocean breeze.  An... 06/25/2013

"It's All About Driving Around" ... Ocean City, New Jersey   So I'm picking up a husband and wife, and her sister-in-law ... and we will be "driving around" the Northend and Gardens areas one day this week in the afternoon.  Obviously, I must ditch my little VW Convertible which can go anywhere and park anywhere during these busy summer days ... but now I'm looking for comfort.  So my older Volvo Wagon Cross Country with air should do the trick.  "It's all about driving around" ... and I have about 35 different scripts that might work and I know each of them by heart.  So it should be a good introduction for these potential buyers. I have found that buyers tend to enjoy the "drive-around" because it accomplishes a lot in a short amount of time.  It also give them some insight to "locati... 06/24/2013

"Debriefing the Buyer - A Critical Component" from Ocean City, New Jersey   You have a Buyer coming down to see some sale properties next week.  You review with him/her the properties that they want to see.  You might suggest another one or two for the list.  You organize the showing process, pick up the keys, or make arrangements for the showing.  The Buyer arrives, and you sit down for a few minutes and review your plan again.  You hop into your classic automobile and drive around the world.  You are off and running with an important Buyer. It all goes well.  You take the necessary time for the Buyer to see everything.  You answer questions, take notes, and offer some good ideas as well.  You are getting to the last property.  It's taken about 2.5 to 3 hours.  You drop them off, and t... 06/21/2013

Property Showings - "Organize & Organize Again" ... Ocean City, New Jersey   I've been getting ready for an "afternoon and the following morning" Buyer Meeting to show them about 11 different sale listings.  They had a few more, but since the rentals have started here in Ocean City (NJ), they can't get into some of these properties.  I generally like to keep the number below ten sale properties ... because after that figure, one tends to forget what they have seen. I recall earlier in my real estate career that I handed out the MLS forms and away we went.  I now spend a bit more time getting the buyers involved with the selection process, giving them more "early information," and trying to be as organized as possible but still not appear to be "directing the entire process."  There is c... 06/20/2013

Island Life #16 - Part 2 of 2 "The Summer Season on the Island" - Ocean City, New Jersey   So we start the Summer Season in full swing on the day after the start of summer (this year) ... because the first bigger rental week of the season begins on June 22 - 29 (always Saturday-to-Saturday here in Ocean City).  There  will be nine more weeks concluding in 2013 on August 31st ... the 10th week with Labor Day Weekend to Monday that long weekend. The first thing you should know is that Friday evenings are always busy from Philadlephia to the Jersey Shore with Owners driving down for the long weekend.  Or some rental tenants who book weekends doing the same thing.  But the real traffic begins about 9am on Saturday morning with the last week's rental tenants packing up and headingout of town... 06/19/2013

Island Life #15 "The Summer Season on the Island" Part 1 of 2 - Ocean City, New Jersey   The island changes season by season ... so let's explore the differences as we take a look at "the Summer Season on the Island." Although the summer season only starts on June 21st, it is very connected to the spring season which often brings some warmer weather that arouses everybody's ideas about the coming summer.  But some spring seasons do just the opposite with a lot of colder weather and extra rain.  That can be a downer for the coming summer. Another factor relating to all of this is the real change taking place across the island as we leave our slow, quiet manner of living during the winter to a bit more open and rushing type of conduct during the spring.  The major factor here is that week... 06/19/2013

"Summer Rental Stats" ... In Ocean City, New Jersey (as of 6/18/2013)   I've been keeping rental stats since about 1993 when I first started in real estate here in Ocean City, New Jersey.  They don't change too much from year-to-year.  But sometimes the calendar impacts on a particular week.  But mostly it does not.  And on occasions, a week surges ahead for one reason or another.  Here is where we are "as of 6/18/2013.  There will be some changes as we move through the summer rental weeks. We have a 10-week summer rental schedule ... from June 22 through August 24 (the starting dates for the ten weeks) ... but it actually extends from June 22 through August 31, 2013.  Some will say that we start on Memorial Day and end on Labor Day ... but the fact is that we have a lag after Memorial ... 06/18/2013

"Buyer Planning Sessions During the Summer, 2013" ... Ocean City, New Jersey   There is a lot happening all over the place right now.  And a great deal of all of this can be quite complicated and messy.  And then, of course, it is the summer when no one wants to sweat over all of these consequences.  High finance can be hotter than some of the "temps" here at the shore.  But there is one thing every interested buyer can do this summer, and they can combine it with some lazy, crazy days at the beach.  Meet with your real estate agent and do a bit of "Buyer Planning" during a relaxed time in your life.  Too often buyers tend to want to do it alone.  They aren't sure that they are ready to work with a particular agent.  They don't want the continuing phone calles, emails, mail, whatever th... 06/18/2013

What's the Best Way to meet a Buyer and Give Them your Message ... from Ocean City, New Jersey   An Agent meets Buyers in many different ways ... walking into the agency office, coming into an open house, phoning or emailing to make an appointment to see a particular property, or even being referred to an agent by another client.   All of the ways presented certainly work, and there may be many others as well.  But I have a favorite that you may not have thought about.  If given a choice, I like taking the Buyer out in my car to drive around the neighborhood ... which in my case is normally the Northend and Gardens sections of Ocean City, New Jersey.  Now I have done this in the right ways and the wrong ways.  I recall taking two people out in my new two-door Saab convertible with the t... 06/17/2013

Showing Property after June 22nd - Very Difficult ... in Ocean City, New Jersey   Well, it has been an interesting spring here in Ocean City, New Jersey.  The weather was the news throughout the spring ... cold, damp, and wet a good bit of the time.  And the "Spring Buying Season" suffered during that period.  Call it what you will, and I might call it the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy ... it was a difficult time to get buyers down here.  And although June has been wonderful, it did get warmer and attracted more people on to the island.  So our "spring buying period" continues to attract buyers as it comes to a close.  And what causes that abrupt closing ... why it's "the summer rental season" which officially kicks off on June 22nd with the first bigger week ... but it has been going al... 06/17/2013

The "Active Rain" Reach ... over to Europe and Beyond ... from Ocean City, New Jersey   About a week ago I received an email from a lady in Belgium, an American transplant who at one time had lived in the central Pennsylvnaia area - Dauphin County to be more accurate.  She sent me two pictures of a semi-professional baseball team from Middletown, PA named the Olmsted Flyers where her father had played first base back in the later 1950s.  On one of the pictures was my father (out of uniform) who had also played first base back in the 1940s and early 1950s.  How did she ever find me, I wondered as I read her email. She indicated that her father had worked at the Olmsted Air Force Depot just as my father had worked in that location.  They were both first basemen for the team probably at di... 06/14/2013

Having the "Right Attitude" for Mind, Body, & Business ... from Ocean City, New Jersey   You know we all know about these kinds of things ... like the magic word is "attitude."  We are all familiar with a good speaker, a great book, or some other type of interaction where all of this comes up.  Even better, we often have that "floating high" that comes upon us ... we are unbeatable.  I'm trying to maintain a "high level of positive thinking" during a particularly less than great time in real estate for me.  And, you know, it has paid off for me in several different ways.  I had some strong sale listings that just weren't moving ... but they should have been.  I kept at it:  open houses, talking with agents, informing potential buyers, etc.  And in June, 2013 two of them are now under co... 06/14/2013