Dustin Peters

Resort Real Estate and the differences from "real world" real estate ... in Ocean City, New Jersey

We "resort realtors" know we're a bit different ... with many of us along the coastal locations next to oceans, or in the mountains at the ski areas, or along lake locations all over the place, or in other warm and cold areas that tend to attract seasonal people. Wherever the resort, you will find resort realtors. And there is an obvious difference in what they do, where they do it, etc.

This is particularly true in "South Jersey coastal communities along the Atlantic Ocean. Most of our property owners live one, two, three, or more hours from our location here in Ocean City, New Jersey. Weather is always the major area of concern for owners, more so when they are not here at the time of said weather problem. In recent years, the most damaging weather has been nor'easters.

So one significant aspect for a resort realtor is to work with owners, rental owners, and others to communicate what has been happening here, how long the significant weather situation may last, and any property problems that the owner should be notified about.

Here is the northern part of the barrier island of Ocean City, the Northend and Gardens, those sections north of Sixth Street to the end of the island ... we have a much better handle on because many of the agents at French Real Estate, Inc. both live, work, and play in this particular part of Ocean City, New Jersey. That makes it that much easier to check on properties, to get around a much smaller residential section of the island, and to be able to communicate with owners much faster.

So reflecting on our recent storm which is slowly coming to a close today or tomorrow, these things have been on my mind. For example, on my particular two-block section in the Gardens; there are only about 7-8 owners living year round here. There are one or two of them who are much older than the norm so everyone watches out for them. We also have many vacant "second home properties" here as well. So many owners phone or text me about what has been happening. In the office it is more of the same including many more emails.

The important thing is that I represent many of these owners from past sales, recent connections, sale listings, and rental listings, etc. That is part of our, and many other agency, responsibilities as we continue to make things happen in Ocean City, New Jersey. dap

Rain, Wind, High Waves, Shore Erosion ... in Ocean City, New Jersey

It's that time of year where a spin-off of the Gulf storm heads up the coast providing South Jersey with another weather incident. Now when you come from northern Lancaster County in 3-Mile Island territory you always carefully try to understand the meaning of "incident." In our case, it may not be "as serious, but it can be "very serious." Overall, weather is always the critical ingredient on a barrier island.

So my first recommendation for potential buyers here in Ocean City, New Jersey would be to always try to visit your perspective property at some point during the rain. Water has a funny way of accumulating in many different locations throughout the community. Knowing about this is an important aspect of being able to deal with the weather by knowing what happens during a heavy rain.

Another factor with weather is that many buyers (who often live 2 or 3 hours away from Ocean City, New Jersey) don't make the trip in bad weather. That fact alone can be a cause of some alarm when working with buyers. Indeed, the buyers who happen to venture down in the bad weather often are in the position to make the best deal.

So what does a real estate agent in a bad weather day do. First of all, they determine that they can make it to the office ... in my case, only 2-3 blocks away ... I make it. Second, you check emails and phone messages, etc. Three, you determine at some point that you can get off the island to pick up things for your wife. Most important. Finally, you double check tide charts and other items so that you know when things might be happening on the island. A short day is always nice in this kind of weather, but I'm on duty until 5PM today.

dap

2010 Rentals in the Northend & Gardens ... Ocean City, New Jersey

The rental process in a resort community such as Ocean City, New Jersey is a continuing one throughout the calendar year. So from about Labor Day each calendar year we have two different years in action ... the concluding shoulder season and holiday periods in the present year as well as the beginning of summer rentals in the next year.

Part of the rental process during the late summer months involves obtaining "rental rates" from owners for the next calendar year. Mostly, we find that the rental properties and rates are up and running by September or October in most agencies.

As a smaller office agency in Ocean City, New Jersey; we tend to focus the majority of our rental efforts in the Northend and Gardens ... that area from north of Sixth Street to the end of the island at the Longport Bridge. Having spent 17 years in the real estate business here in Ocean City after a 32 year career in public educaiton in Pennsylvania, I have been quite familiar with the changes in that time. Before the internet the majority of efforts were made by would-be tenants driving down to Ocean City to look at rental properties in the off-season. Some would simply rent the property that they had from the past year. And others, who were much further away for Ocean City, would carefully work through the individual agent to find the right property.

With the internet we arrived at a process where the individual perspective rental tenant could simply go on our web-site to determine what they might want by looking at exterior and interior pictures, determining possible dates and rental rates, etc. I continue to tell perspective rental tenants to phone me before, or after, going to our site so that I can answer questions and go into more detail on each rental property they might be interested in.

So here is how to get started: go to www.FrenchRentals.com to check out our properties, send me an email at Dustin@BeachNotes.net with any questions that you may have, or phone me toll-free at 888-215-9935 if you want to talk about any particular rental properties or questions.

The majority of our rentals, and those of other agencies, run from "Saturday-to-Saturday" checking in after 2PM and checking out by 10AM the following Saturday. Payment arrangements are usually divided into three payments if rents are made before the 15th of January of the rental year ... after that date, we usually request the first half of the rental monies right away.

Condominium Sale Listings in the Northend and Gardens in Ocean City, New Jersey

As of this posting, we find 139 of the 718 total condominium sale listings throughout Ocean City in the Northend and Gardens. That represents about 19% of the listings in our particular area from "north of Sixth Street to the end of the island.

It certainly represents quite a diverse grouping of condo listings ... although one will not find a single efficiency and only five 1BR units in the mix. Let's review the numbers in more detail: 3 under $200,000, 9 more under $300,000, and 13 additional ones under $350,000. Of the first 25 listed condominiums, only one is to be found in the Gardens.

We find an additional 14 more under $400,000 and 13 more under $450,000 ... again only 2 additional units in the Gardens. We identify 10 more under $500,000 with one more in the Gardens.

That means we have 62 of the 139 sale listings in the Northend and Gardens under $500,000 ... that being about 45% of the total in that price range. So we have found that the Northend, in particular, has quite a number of available condominium properties out there under $500,000. We also found about 33% of that total in the rental areas from Atlantic Avenue and into the "800" and "900" long and short beachblocks of the Northend.

We won't go into too much more detail for the other remaining 55% of the sale listings except to say that there are quite a lot of interesting sale properties in the "condominium property category" in the Northend and Gardens sections of Ocean City, New Jersey.

If interested in reviewing any of this detail, feel free to contact me at Dustin@BeachNotes.net or 888-215-9935.

dap

Looking for a Single Family in the Northend or Gardens ... in Ocean City, New Jersey

If you are a dedicated reading of my blog postings, you are truly an amazing person. Thank you. But continuing on, you might realize that I have been talking "a bit de'negative" in my last few postings. I've been saying that it is not the end of the "South Jersey Shore Revival," but it does appear to be knocking off a bit early here in November, even before Thanksgiving. I'm no longer going to try to explain it ... why ... I have no real concrete answers.

But I do have some interesting single family stats that might be useful for any buyer out there trying to find a single family right now. There are 97 single family sale listings in the Northend and Gardens as of this posting date ... 33 of them come in under $700,000. And you say: "I can't afford that." 23 of them come in under $600,000. I hear it again: "I won't go that high." 14 come in under $500,000. Ah, we're getting better, and 5 come in under $400,000.

And there is more: 3 of the 4 under $400,000 have 40x115 or higher foot lots ... a great size for Ocean City.

Another stat going back to the total 33 singles mentioned above ... 21 are found in the Northend, and 12 are located in the Gardens.

Consider this statement that I have used all of 2009: "It's a good time to buy." Or this one: "if you plan to buy in the next 5 years, it might be better to buy in the 1st year.

Overall, 2009 appears to be about the same as 2007 and 2008 ... improving, doing better than the overall national housing stats, but clearly not back to where all of us want it to be. But that "all of us" doesn't include "buyers." Because right now is exactly the way you want it to be. Wait too much longer, and you may continue to be sitting on the sidelines.

Don't accuse me of trying "to sell you" ... because you have the advantage because I have no real clue who is reading this posting. There is still time in 2009!!! dap