Dustin Peters

A Bicycle Built for Two ... in Ocean City, New Jersey

So a realtor can accomplish a lot in a given day! Here I was wrapping up some notes from a listing meeting with an Owner who will be leaving the country for several weeks in about two weeks. We spent about an hour covering all details and getting things ready so that the Owner could leave the property and Ocean City (NJ) in peace knowing full well that everything would be all right.

As we wrapped things up, he said: "I'll be having a garage sale over the weekend."

I said: "What are the hot items?"

He responded: "A bicycle built for two."

"Hey, I'd like to see that," as we moved out toward the garage. "What are you selling it for?" I inquired.

"Twenty Bucks," he answered, "but you can have it for free."

"No ... if I want it, I'll pay you the $20.00," I answered.

Now I only live about three blocks from this Owner so I told him I would ride the bike home and come back for my car. He even put air in the tires. Now I had never been on "a bicycle built for two" as I hopped on the front seat and drove down the driveway.

"Remember to take a wide turn with the bike ... and you both must be balanced when riding."

"I shouted back ... thank you" ... and managed to make the short bike trip in one piece.

My wife, Leslie, was out of town so I managed to park it in our outdoor bike rack for her return the following day. Upon her return I'm not sure she was as happy with my purchase as I was ... storage problems I believe. But "she'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two ..." I hope. dap

2009 Rental Season Analysis ... Northend/Gardens Only in Ocean City, New Jersey

This continues from the last blog posting which highlighted the twelve summer weeks from 6/20/2009 through 9/12/2009. Please reference that blog if you have not read it earlier.

This was an unusual rental season in that July 4th fell on a Saturday "change-over day" and Labor Day was on September 7th, the latest possible date for the first Monday in September. The Labor Day date, in particular, probably had the most impact on the summer rental period in 2009.

Because we had so many rental tenants rent the week of 6/20-27/2009 (probably due to a lower rate) than 6/27-7/3/2009 (which had its worst showing ever in 11th Place), I moved from 10 to 11 rental weeks in my analysis. Later in the summer I also added the 9/4-11/2009 week because it was almost as strong as the earlier 8/29-9/4/2009 week. These considerations are important as one considers rental rates during the summer.

The last two weeks in July and the first two weeks in August have always been four of the top five summer rental weeks for the past 17 years that I have done this analysis. But 8/15-22/2009 (in 4th Place) turned out to be a strong contender for the second year, and 8/22-29/2009 (in 6th Place) also had its second strong year. This would indicate that August may be much stronger overall than July at least for the past two years. It also means that owners may want to have the same rental rates for the weeks from 7/18 through 8/29 for coming years.

Finally, the 4th of July week which was 7/4-11/2009 will shift to 7/3-10/2009 which may be better ... but overall the week with the 4th has never been a great rental week ... making it only as high as 3rd Place one year in the total 17 years of review. It was in 8th Place this year.

It also appears to be quite important to monitor your rental prices in light of your rental property competition which can be difficult if you are looking across the entire Ocean City, but much easier if you are only looking at the Northend and Gardens. In that light, Owners should go to www.FrenchRentals.com to see their rental property competition on occasions. I would also suggest that rental price adjustments might be considered.

Hopefully the last two blog posting have been of help to all readers, but rental owners in particular. Being both a rental and sales agent, as all agents are in French Real Estate, gives me an understanding of property value beyond owner usage to include rental history and/or potential. dap

2009 Summer Rental Update ... Northend/Gardens Only (Ocean City, New Jersey)

French Real Estate, Inc. rents predominantly in the Northend and Gardens ... almost nothing south of 6th Street. This update is designed to provide Owners, Rental Tenants, and Others an analysis of how the season went in terms of the best rental weeks as well as other details for the 2009 season.

Here is a fast rrundown for the "top 12 weeks of the Summer, 2009:"

8/1 - 8/8/2009 1st Place - Most Rented Week These 2 weeks were very close in totals ...

8/8 - 8/15/2009 2nd Place always in the top 3 o4 weeks of the summer

7/25 - 8/1/2009 3rd Place Normal location in top 3 or 4 weeks each year

8/15 - 8/22/2009 4th Place 8/15 week has done well for the past 2 years,

7/18 - 7/25/2009 5th Place 7/18 week is always in top five week area

8/22 - 8/29/2009 6th Place 8/22 week again had its second very strong year,

7/11 - 7/18/2009 7th Place 7/11 week was very close in totals

7/4 - 7/11/2009 8th Place Having the July 4th holiday on check-in day hurt ...

but 4th of July week is never that strong

6/20 - 6/27/2009 9th Place 6/20 week had its best year ever beating out 6/27

8/29 - 9/5/2009 10th Place In its normal 10th Place location

6/27 - 7/4/2009 11th Place 6/27 is usually in 9th Place most years

9/4 - 9/11/2009 12th Place 9/4 week was very close in totals

More on what this all means in the next blog posting ... dap

It's the 1st Day of September, 2009

The resort community of Ocean City has six more days to go ... that's until Labor Day. So we have a fairly slow week of rentals with quite a big shore party this weekend. They start to return on Friday (all day long). The second home owners, friends, their children (school and college types), and others complete the-end-of-the-summer ritual,"Labor Day Weekend."

Before I was living full time here in Ocean City (NJ), and still working in the "real world;" I was one of those second home owners wrapping up the end of the summer here in Ocean City. But it's quite a difference now for me. September and October are the months that I enjoy going to the beach. I like the warmer weather that arrives in August and continues for a time. I like the uncrowded beaches that one finds on a quiet mid-week afternoon. I enjoy a 4:00 walk with my wife, Leslie, from the Longport Bridge around to Morningside Road. I like biking at any time of the day or night on the boardwalk which begins in mid-September. I even like the young couples with pre-school children or the older couples with children all grown-up who tend to discover the joys of September and October here in Ocean City.

As my Broker's father always told him, "You can shoot a cannon off in the middle of the street on the day after Labor Day ... and no one will hear it." Well, it's not quite like that anymore; but it still is quite different from the rest of the summer.

So what is our before and after Labor Day activities? Well, we close the Ocean City Yacht Club's regular season this weekend on Saturday evening with a closing social hour and a dinner and dance ... always a great end-of-the-season affair. On Sunday, we relax a bit with the lack of a great many rental tenants in town. On Monday we often have a Labor Day party or attend one some place in town. And in the evening, Leslie and I take a bike ride checking the street in the Northend and Gardens to see how many parking places are now available. We also tend to stop at 4th and Atlantic Avenue for a milk shake which has become a tradition for us ... my only milk shake of the calendar year ... but it is a great one. And I sit on the bench and tell my stories of "Labor Day Pasts" here in Ocean City, New Jersey!!! dap

Hurricane Bill passes by the South Jersey Shore in Ocean City, New Jersey

When you live along the coast on the Atlantic Ocean, and on a barrier island as well; one learns to watch the weather reports very carefully. We, here in New Jersey in general, and South Jersey as well, but in Ocean City (NJ) in particular, have been quite fortunate in not having had direct hits with hurricanes traveling up the coast in the south-to-north tracking (knock-on-wood!). But we have had just as many problems with nor'easters hitting the shore line, er roding the beach, and causing flooding throughout the bay side of town and beyond. Often the flooding after a heavy storm can do quite a bit of damage in our community.

So I'm thinking of this as Hurricane Bill passes by our area "right about now" heading north. We're not getting any rain, the weather is quite hot, and you wouldn't know "Bill" was out there unless you ventured up to the beach to check on much higher than normal wave action and tide knocking the heck out of our narrow beaches. Although people can get up to the beach, in some locations no one is allowed on because of the tide covering the beach area. Obviously, swimming is not happening much at all. But we have the surf guys and gals checking things out right now.

But the point that my posting is trying to make would be that in an island community, one surrounded by the ocean and the bay, you are always aware of the potential for issues here. You track the up-and-coming tropical storms, watch its direction, etc. The importance of being aware, alert, helpful, and prepared are simply factors that make sense in our present location.

This is another changeover day ... and the rental tenants are arriving as usual. It's fairly clear and calm here at the office. And as that film goes: "after all, tomorrow is another day." Dap