Joyce Jewell, GRI, ePRO, ASP, ABR, SFR, RSPS

Our 10th Anniversary

January 30th, 2011

Looking back at our beginnings on January 29, 2001, it seems like such a long time ago. We opened our Wildwood Crest real estate office that day. We didn't know what to expect. We had no idea if our "Modern Technology, Old-Fashioned Service" philosophy would work. Would people even care? Could we compete with the chain franchises in a decidedly down market?

Well, Jewell Real Estate Agency was a success right away. The combination of the local vacation home real estate market taking off in 2001 and people really appreciating the personal service of a mom-and-pop realty company was a hit. We doubled our anticipated sales earnings the first year and by 2005 City Girl herself sold $27 million worth of real estate properties.

Our laid back demeanor and knowledge of the market, land use, zoning, and latest trends gave us a very loyal client base. Because we so enjoy meeting people and establishing lasting relationships, we lived up to our motto "...Where you're more than a customer, you're a friend".

Then the hard times hit. In 2006, it was like turning off a water spicket. Our entire vacation home market went from very busy to totally dead. The phones stopped ringing at our agency and every agency in the Wildwoods. What just happened?

While local real estate agencies began to go out of business, close satellite offices, or shrink their staffs, we adopted a business plan to keep our advertising at the 2005 levels. Perception is everything in our business and we had to maintain our presence. Our plan was sound and we survived the devastating years of 2006 through 2009. Additional keys were undoubtably our continuing to answer our phones 6am to 9pm, 365 days a year and our popular newsletter, composed by Mountain Man (a retired writer) and published six times a year. We mail out about 5,000 a month, plus over 900 are sent free by email to subscribers.

In 2010, the real estate market turned around. Folks who had been sitting on the sidelines the past four years seemed to lose their apprehension, much of it induced and prolonged by the media. They figured that they had survived the recession and now it was time to live out their dream to own a second home. Prices were about 40% less than the highs of 2005 and interest rates were under 5%, giving added incentive.

Now, in 2011, with buyer traffic like we haven't seen since 2001, we are expanding our Wildwood Crest office. We are currently hiring sales agents, enlarging our rental department, and have opened a cleaning company - all housed in the building next door that we've purchased.

With 10 years under our belts, we look forward to the next 10 years. We're excited. That's living the American dream!

Optimism on the Horizon, Part II

Back on December 18, 2010, about 4 1/2 weeks ago, we wrote on this blogsite about our optimistic outlook on the local vacation home real estate market here at the shore in Cape May County, New Jersey. We talked about expanding our business, but purposely left you in the dark about how it would be accomplished.

Well, here it is.

We have a signed agreement to purchase the property next door. A former upscale home decor business, the owners were forced to close their lucrative business due to health issues. They listed the 100′x60′ property for sale with us, Jewell Real Estate Agency. The building has about 1,900 square feet on both the first and second floors, plus a third floor for storage. There are also eight parking spots in the asphalt parking lot, a valuable asset in the busy summertime.

The first floor of the new building will house four full-time real estate sales agents, plus our rental department. There is also a stockroom with a separate outside rear entrance that will accommodate our cleaning company, Timber Lane Cleaning Service. The second floor will undergo a makeover next year that will see the two bedroom apartment transformed with the carpet replaced by hardwood floors and the vintage 1980 wallpaper steamed off and replaced with a more modern look. Then we'll have room for four more desks for agents, plus a large conference room and full kitchen.

Our current building, a cramped 800 square feet, will continue as the offices for City Girl and Mountain Man - the two broker/owners - and our secretary and right-hand woman, Chris. With just three of us in the building, we'll no longer feel squeezed into a small space. Adding our 50′x60′ property into the mix, we will have 150′ frontage on the main thorofare through the Wildwoods - New Jersey Avenue - with ample parking. Our current concrete driveway will be utilized as a deck, hosting two outdoor tables with colorful beach-themed umbrellas and chairs. We will also have an information kiosk there, loaded with maps and pamphlets about local tourist attractions. The landscaping will feature plenty of flowers and color.

We're excited. You should be, too, because when a realtor expands their business capacity, it means good times are right around the corner. As we've said before, the real estate market was the first to collapse in 2006 and it's leading the resurgence in 2011. Isn't that great news?!!!

Temperance Still Alive

Ocean City, a seashore town located at the north end of Cape May County, New Jersey, was founded in 1879 by four Methodist ministers. The town is a popular resort, with plenty of beaches, a Boardwalk, amusement rides, restaurants, retail stores, etc, even the Ocean City Pops. The year-round population of about 15,000 swells to 150,000 on any given day in the summer.

Ocean City gained notoriety for its idiotic Blue Laws, which designated Sunday as a day of no driving, no ocean bathing, no retail sales of any kind, no recreational activities. I guess the only thing you were allowed to do was go to church ...oops, walk to church. In 1985 and ‘86, most of the remaining Blue Laws were finally repealed. Amazingly, it was a very close vote.

Ocean City does still carry the torch outlawing liquor. The town is "dry", meaning no restaurants can serve alcohol and naturally there are no packaged goods stores. Heck, you can't even be seen in public drinking a beer.

So imagine the the gall of restaurant owners this winter in proposing permitting BYOB, which stands for Bring Your Own Booze. They weren't asking to sell beer, wine or liquor, just to allow customers to bring a bottle of wine to consume with dinner. The nerve!

The backward temperance folks were outraged. "Not while I'm mayor," said the reigning mayor. I was waiting for him to add, "You'll have to pry the gavel from my cold, dead hands." The argument, of course, is that Ocean City is America's "Greatest Seaside Family Resort" and the town would shrivel and die if alcohol of any sort is allowed. How dare we subject little Johnny and Susie to have to sit in a restaurant while the adults at the next table each sip a glass of wine. Blasphemy!

The debate will carry on this winter, but by spring no doubt the temperance clan will prevail. In Ocean City, BYOB will still mean Bring Your Own Bible.

- Mountain Man

Daydreaming

January 19th, 2011

The human mind is a funny thing. You can play tricks on it, even though your mind knows you're playing a trick. More simply put, you can divert your mind to thoughts of pleasant things to help blot out the unpleasant and your mind will go along with the deception.

Case in point is City Girl. On Christmas day, she laid in tremendous pain in the hospital with a broken hip. The ball of the femur (thigh) bone had totally pulled out of the hip socket. The pain was constant, excruciating. I mentioned that perhaps we should delay purchasing the building next door to our real estate office for a few months. "No," she replied. "Thinking about the building is all that's getting me through this pain." She was focusing on a positive to try to lessen a negative.

We all do the same thing, except when there isn't physical pain involved it's more appropriately called daydreaming.

I daydream often. In fact, I guess I actually daydream daily. My mind is taking itself to somewhere in the future that is pleasant, soothing, idyllic.

Right now, in mid-January of a colder than average South Jersey winter, my mind is working overtime. My mind is thinking of spring, of planting flowers and vegetables. This fantasy has been helped along by the half-dozen seed catalogs that have arrived since January 2nd. As I pour through the catalogs in my reading room (okay, bathroom) looking at tomato varieties, zucchini, spinach, hot pepper, and a host of other vegetable seeds, I envision these plants growing in my dozen raised beds behind the house. I decide what varieties I'll grow again this year and which new ones deserve a chance. I think of the mistakes I made last year, like not planting enough zucchini plants to get proper pollination. My zucchini crop was a total flop in 2010. My peppers arrived late and my spinach bolted too early. And I planted too many cucumber plants. I'll cut back on cukes this year.

With new flower beds to deal with as our real estate office expansion comes to fruition, I am debating which flowers to plant. I want continuity so that the two side-by-side properties will become one. Should I use impatiens, which always give a colorful display? No, they get stressed too much in the hot July and August days because they need some shade, not full sunlight. How about marigolds or asters or chrysanthemums? Maybe I should start with cold-hardy pansies in March, then replant summer flowers Memorial Weekend?

My mind wanders to envisioning myself in a tee shirt and jeans, on my knees, with flats of flowers ready to find their summer home. I think about all our customers and even folks walking down New Jersey Avenue who will be complimenting my choice of yellows, pinks, oranges, reds, whites and purples. The compliments bring satisfaction, a feeling of accomplishment.

I feel good. Isn't daydreaming great?!!

- Mountain Man

A COLD START

Forget about autumn. Winter got off to a roaring start in early December, completely ignoring the fact that winter was still a couple weeks away. Temperatures through Christmas day were averaging six degrees below normal for December in Cape May County. But there is some good news: less than an inch of snow had fallen until the 17" that arrived the day after Christmas. Let's hope that's all we get.

The snowbirds have good reason to head south to Florida for the winter. For the rest of us, we can at least have some satisfaction knowing that the daylight hours are already getting longer and we have a good excuse to become couch potatoes for a few months.

WEST WILDWOOD RECALL

Let's get the latest West Wildwood recall news out of the way.

The December 11th recall vote failed to unseat Mayor Herb Frederick by a narrow vote of 177 to 171 and Commissioner Gerard McNamara by a slimmer 176 to 174 tally. And yes, there was a recount and those are the final totals.

From our prospective, the bottom line is that such a close election shows how divided the borough is and this election won't change a thing. The Hatfield's and McCoy's bickering will continue.

The recall of the other commissioner, their political opponent Scott Golden, is slated for January 11th. Golden is still trying to have that election overthrown. Stay tuned.

ROUTE 52 CAUSEWAY

Talk about backpedaling.

Just 48 hours after the New Jersey Dept of Transportation announced that the Route 52 Causeway that takes traffic from Garden State Parkway Exits 31 and 30 and Somers Point to Ocean City at 9th Street would be closing for a two or three months, they changed their minds. Business owners in the north end of Ocean City voiced their displeasure and the state listened.

With the $400 million project behind schedule to replace four antiquated, low bridges - one a draw bridge - with two two-lane bridges spanning 55 feet above the water, the closing of the Causeway was a chance to catch up and not impact summer traffic. They planned to divert traffic to the Ocean City-Longport Bridge and the Roosevelt Boulevard/34th Street bridge to get on the island.

So now the new plan is to reduce traffic to three lanes through July. With 40,000 cars per day using the Causeway in the summertime, the traffic congestion should be a real headache. The construction is supposed to be completed in late 2012. We'll see.

MORE TRAFFIC CONGESTION

You don't normally think of traffic congestion in Cape May Court House in the fall and winter. This year is the exception.

With sewer lines being run parallel to Route 9 on Goshen Road, Dias Creek Road, and Shunpike, the back-road route that the locals use instead of Route 9 was closed. This forced locals onto Route 9 and traffic backed up at every traffic light for up to a half mile each afternoon.

Locals put up with traffic congestion from Memorial Day to Labor Day, with the rest of the year a refreshing breather. Here's hoping that the sewer project will end soon.

ONLY IN WILDWOOD

When the Wildwood City Commissioner team became Gary DeMarzo, Al Brannen and Chip Harshaw, DeMarzo took the mayoral reins. In a prearranged deal, Brannen was to get the mayoral post in August, 2010. Well, that didn't happen.

Then in the fall, Brannen and Harshaw voted to have Brannen become mayor as of December 15. DeMarzo also voted for the move. But, in a recent last minute turnabout, DeMarzo and Harshaw turned the tables and voted to keep DeMarzo as mayor.

Aren't politics great?!!!

CAPE MAY ENERGY TUSSLE

Cape May is a world renowned tourist destination. The draw, obviously, is the 800 Victorian buildings. It gives folks a sense of a bygone era at the turn of the 20th century, when horse-drawn carriages, gas lights, and no show bathing suits ruled the day.

The city has so many Victorian homes because in 1878 a large fire consumed 30 city blocks. The rebuild was almost exclusively Victorian architecture.

Fast forward to 2010. Solar panels and wind-mills are America's answer to curtailing its destructive addiction to oil and coal. But in historic Cape May, solar panels are only permitted when they can't be seen from the street.

The city's National Historic Landmark status, plus tourist dollars, has residents and officials trying to find a common ground. As the Historic Preservation Committee and the Environmental Commission - which are at odds over the issue - position themselves to each plead their case, the city's residents will line up on the side they most agree with. It should make an interesting winter of debate.

STONE HARBOR WATER RATES

The Borough of Stone Harbor has plenty of irate residents complaining about their latest water bills. It seems that the water utility approved retroactive rate increases and many folks weren't prepared.

One resident received a quarterly bill of $1,250. Another got hit for $1,064, which was just $64 less than she paid for the entire year of 2009. The topper was the Villa Maria seaside resort, which was blindsided by a $5,900 quarterly water bill.

All's not well in Tinseltown. Sure, Stone Harbor is affluent, but these bills are exorbinant even for them. We'll have to see how this plays out.

WILDWOOD REJECTS VETERANS

The city of Wildwood's planning/zoning board wisely rejected a plan by 411 Taylor LLC to use seven four-bedroom homes on West Taylor Avenue to house five or six US veterans each. The neighborhood is zoned residential, under which a household must have one or more people related by marriage or blood.

Residents objections to the plan were based on the fact that these veterans, who are dealing with health, social and economic problems, would not find the help they need in Wildwood or the county.

OUR CLEANING SERVICE

We have found that the most difficult facet of renting units in the summer season here at the shore is finding a reliable company to get the cleaning done between 10am and 3pm on Saturdays. That window of opportunity - between check-outs and check-ins, is inflexible. It's gotta get done.

We have started Timber Lane Cleaning Service to fill that important role. We have a good, experienced staff on board and will continue to hire more to ensure quality, fast, dependable service. Give us a call if you'd like to learn more about Timber Lane Cleaning Service.

JEWELL REAL ESTATE AGENCY

We love to talk about real estate and our island. We're always glad to share our insights, observations, and vision with you.