About Ocean City's Northend

Open House this Weekend ... in Ocean City, New Jersey

I will be at 809 St Charles Place 1st Floor in the great "Northend" of the island in Ocean City, New Jersey on Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM both days.

This 4BR/2BA on a large 45x100 foot lot is on the "800" long beachblock just a few minutes from the beach and boardwalk. It has a large interior space with a large front porch, a great room, a second side entrance to the garage and back alley, and four bedrooms, two full baths, a laundry area, and a back deck.

There is a rental history with the property as well ... and it is priced to move along.

Come across the causeway into Ninth Street, take the last left before the Boardwalk at Atlantic Avenue, continue north until you reach St Charles Place (between Second and First Streets going north).

dap

Finishing Touches for the Property Closing ... from Ocean City, New Jersey

I live on an island at the Jersey Shore ... near the tip of New Jersey ... in a barrier island location called Ocean City, New Jersey. It's a smaller island with about a 4 mile by 9 mile area at its widest point ... but much more narrow in many parts of the island. We expand to about 100-150,000 population in the summer depending on the months of June, July, and August. And we move slowly down to about 10,000 (or even less with a winter element heading south to Florida) for the rest of the year. We have a shoulder season before and after the summer, but that is mostly a weekend experience.

So the population tends to be a number of locals and a lot of second home owners and far more absentee owners who rent their properties for part or all of the year. It's a much different market down here ... a lot of "hands-on" effort to assist owners, a solid summer rental market with every renter being a potential and future buyer, and most buyers starting out down here as "absentee landlords" who travel from 2-3 hours to their home base to as far away as Iowa, Arizona, and California. I was working with an American living in London, England this summer.

And what does this have to do with the above title ... well, I have a closing this Friday - a property that I have had listed for well over a year. So we locked it up a few weeks ago, but we had sill plate issues and an above ground oil tank that had to be removed from the crawl space which is where the real world has its cellars.

The good news was that it all came out quite well environmentally ... so it appears to be a solid closing. But the buyer wanted the property" broom-clean" with just the kitchen cabinets and appliances and the window treatments. And the problem was a lot of furniture plus a complete attic of everything. The Seller was able to arrange for an organization to pick up some of the good stuff to take out. But a lot of stuff remained. And the problem was that it became part of my job to arrange for it all to disappear.

I tried a few local guys, but no one really wanted to get it done in the two-week time frame that we had. So I used "1-800-Got-Junk" for the first time. They did a great job ... on time, very professional, etc. I was impressed. So I wrapped it all up by taking our second hand vacuum cleaner over to the house and did a darn good job with the 1930s, 3BR/1.5BA with a living room, dining room, and kitchen, gas heat and central air about a 2-3 minute walk to the beach and all on a 30x65 foot lot. I also carried the vacuum up to the attic and did a once over up there as well. That part of the job down here ... and I was finished by about 9AM this morning waiting for the fire inspection which is our city's inspection of the sale property before closing. By the way ... the buyer is from Texas.

So Ocean City is on the map ... with a lot of notice all over the country. And the sale figure was $468,000 after an original $520,000 contract because of the sill plate issues and the oil tank situation. Now this might not be a "real world" experience ... but then again, Ocean City, New Jersey isn't the real world. Hang in there!!!

dap

Two Sale Listings Now Priced to Sell in Ocean City, New Jersey

IN THE NORTHEND ... that area of Ocean City (NJ) north of Sixth Street and south of North Street running from the Bay to the Ocean

We are going to focus on two sale properties on the "800" long beach block, the area from Atlantic Avenue to Corinthian Avenue ... with only about 6 to 8 additional properties in the "900" short beach block to the Atlantic Ocean.

839 St James Place ... just north of First Street and just south of Stenton Place about half way up the "800" block ... maybe a 2.5 minute adult walk to the beach.

This is an older duplex property with 3BR/2BA on each floor with two great porches catching the ocean breeze and providing you with a cool location. There is also a 3rd Floor which goes with the second floor providing another 1BR/1BA location for about 4 additional people. Before you ask, this is a duplex ... and the third floor can not be a separate residence.

"839" is being sold "as is" in that it has a lovely interior with a decent living room, large dining room, smaller kitchen which needs improvements ... but with 3BR and 2BA, an usual arrangement for an older house configuration. There is "no heat" in the building ... and obviously some additional work required to get full use of the property. But the present owners have utilitzed it as a summer residence for many years. They are now ready to give someone else an opportunity.

828 North Street ... located on the most northern section of the Northend, just before one ventures into the Gardens, the residential area going the rest of the way to the end of the island. "828" is also about a 2.5 minute adult walk to the beach on the "800" long beach block crossing Corinthian Avenue where it ends and the beach begins.

This is a 3BR/1.5BA rancher with a lot of history ... and it has been in the family (present owner) for some time. They have used it as a summer residence and have also rented it (now having a rental history). It has the standard single family layout of a living room, dining room and kitchen on the one side and the three bedrooms on the other. A full bath is also on the bedroom side and a half bath at the back of the house.

This interetsing rancher also has a screened front porch, off street parking for one car, and gas heat and central air conditioning. It has a lot to offer the interested buyer who wants to be close to the beach!!

"839" has just been reduced to $529,000 ... "828" was recently reduced to $549,000. Both can be seen on our web-site at www.FrenchSales.com ... we plan to have an "open house" at 828 North Street this weekend on Saturday and Sunday ... 9AM to 1PM

More questions: contact Dustin at 888-215-9935 or <Dustin@BeachNotes.net> ... dap

Probably the Final Closing of the Year ... from Ocean City, NewJersey

You reach this point every year ... the final closing of the calendar year. During the past five years, that closing was often in October or November. But I recall a year, when I had five closings in the month of December. What that really meant was that I had a busy September, October, and November. So we close one more sale listing on Monday, the 13th of December. It's an important one, a 4BR/2.5BA newer condominium, and the Sellers plan to purchase a single family ... they have been looking for about 3-6 months, so the search continues in 2011.

I enjoy December closings: the festive nature of the calendar time frame, the decorations in the closing office, the plans for some coffee or tea with a special scone or pastry. This one should be a winner since it is an in-house sale with the other agent being a friend in our office. That also means that we pick up just a bit more income due to our contract arrangements for in-house sales. Of course, so does our agency.

I had one additional sale listing set to close on December 30th ... that's about as close as one gets to the end of the year. But it appears that we have had some "home inspection issues." The Seller has offered some credit to the Buyer, but we have not reached an agreement on that issue as yet. We are still hoping to close in 2010 ... but I'm not counting on it.

That provides me with one final comment. You can never count on the closing until you walk out of the title company with the check in your hand. Just getting into the title company is often a challenge, but getting out with the check in your hand can often be difficult too. So it appears that I will have at least one closing in December ... probably my last one for the calendar year ... 2010 ... and a good year it was for me, my best one since 2005 and my best "fall buying period" since 2004. Let the good times roll again!!! dap

2 Great Condominium Sale Listings JUST REDUCED ... in Northend in Ocean City, New Jersey

Both "809 St Charles Place 1st Floor" and "884 Park Place 1st Floor" on two streets in the Northend that are much wider than most of the others on the "800 long beach block" were both reduced in listing price last week.

809 is now listed at $730,000 for a 45x100 lot, 4BR/2BA "newer construction model" close to the beach with an excellent rental history, sold furnished.

884 is now listed at $799,000 for a 40x100 lot, 4BR/2.5BA "again newer construction model" close to the beach with an excellent rental history, also sold furnished.

Both are Robert Coste built condominiums, built to last with all of the expected refinements and more. Check them out in greater detail on our agency website at www.FrenchSales.com or contact me at 888-215-9935 by phone or Dustin@BeachNotes.net by email. dap