THE WORST IS OVER

Knock on wood, the worst weather that winter has to offer has already been served up. The daylight hours are longer now and the smell of spring is in the air. Even a few daffodils are popping up.

Winter did get off to a horrendous start here in Cape May County. The average temperature in both December and January was about six degrees below normal. Brrrr! After getting hit with 17 inches of snow the day after Christmas, the future looked bleak. Surprisingly, that was it. The next six snow-storms basically started as rain and left a one or two inch crust of snow near the end of the precipitation.

So now our thoughts turn to the forsythias blooming their yellow flowers, the spring peepers singing in harmony, the grass starting to green up, and baseballs and golf balls in flight. Can Memorial Day be that far away?

WEST WILDWOOD RECALL

Let's keep this short. The January 11th recall election saw the borough's electorate vote 164 to 156 to not recall commissioner Scott Golden. If that vote had gone the other way, Golden would still have kept his seat by virtue of a 161 to 156 tally over challenger Louis Sottnick.

Now maybe voters will get a little peace before the 2012 election, when all three commissioner seats come up and the civil war continues.

SENIOR EXPLOSION COMING

Of Cape May County's 97,127 year-round residents, 20,346 are senior citizens ages 65 and older. That's nearly 21 percent. While that was a 2% decline since 2000, local municipalities such as North Wildwood, with 31% seniors, West Wildwood with 29%, and Wildwood Crest with 27% bucked the trend. Leading the figures was Cape May Point at 67% and Stone Harbor with 40%. The imminent aging of the baby boomers will now increase those numbers. The median age of Cape May County residents is 46.3 years old. Just a decade ago, the median age was 42.3, a difference of four years.

We're getting older. Once invincible baby boomers with flowers in our hair and a full life ahead of us, the reality is that now we are on the slippery slope to becoming senior citizens. What happened?

ERMA TRAFFIC PATTERNS

For decades, Lower Township officials have touted eliminating two cross streets that connect Seashore Road to Route 9, while adding two more that will offer safer passage. It looks like that day has finally come.

A $10 million project will commence soon to eliminate Sally Marshall's Crossing, located near the old Wawa, and Bennett's Crossing, which is just north of Lower Cape May Regional High School. Both roads are only about 200 feet long and bisected by railroad tracks. That leaves waiting cars in peril to railroad trains and sticking out into Seashore Road traffic.

The two new intersections will be located at Tabernacle Road, about a quarter mile north of Bennett's Crossing, and Breakwater Road, about a half mile south of Sally Marshall. Both roads carry a lot of vehicles from North Cape May and Villas trying to get to Route 9. The new intersections make that task easier, plus they have longer connectors, hopefully giving cars the ability to get completely out of the Seashore Road intersections.

OCEAN CITY BEACH TAGS

Ocean City has raised the price of beach tags. Despite earning $3.4 million last year from the sale of 125,000 seasonal tags. 59,000 weekly tags, and 173,000 daily tags, the city wants more to close its budget gap. Seasonal passes will now cost $20, up from the previous $15.

ATLANTIC CITY FACELIFT

It's been busy winter for Atlantic City. And it's all good, not only for AC but the entire South Jersey region.

In January, Governor Christie created a Tourism District in AC, with the goal of helping the city realize its goal of being a tourist destination. The edict included improving infrastructure, public safety, and marketing. He also shifted oversight of the casinos from one state agency to another, disbanded the former, and cleaned house of the leadership.

Three casinos got more good news. Resorts sold for $31.5 million on December 6th. The owners had defaulted on a $360 million mortgage, showing just how much the market has dropped. Under the new leadership of Dennis Gomes, the oldest casino in the US outside Nevada will take on a Roaring 20s theme.

Trump Marina was bought for an equally bargain price of $38 million. The purchaser will be doing $150 million in renovations and rebranding the casino as the Golden Nugget, the name of Landry, Inc's other casino in Las Vegas.

Finally, thanks in part to the new confidence in Atlantic City via the state's taking oversight of operations, the half-completed Revel casino received a $1.15 billion loan to finish construction. That will put 2,000 tradesmen to work immediately, and create 5,500 jobs once the Revel is open to the public.

JREA EXPANDS

Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of opening our Wildwood Crest real estate office, Jewell Real Estate Agency acquired the property next door and has expanded operations.

The old building, at 5602 New Jersey Avenue, will act as the administrative center, with Broker/Owner's Joyce and Douglas Jewell and their secretaries staying put in familiar surrounds. There's no place like home.

Next door at 5606 New Jersey Avenue, the JREA sales staff, rental department, and cleaning company will be based. The new property is 100' x 60', with eight off-street parking spots and a 3,800 square foot building. Added to our 50' x 60' property, that gives JREA 150-feet of frontage on busy New Jersey Avenue, the commercial hub of the island.

JREA also acquired Gallagher Real Estate, completing the expansion and hitting the ground running. Besides our main phone number of 609-729-8505, we also have Gallagher's former 522-5757. Eight Gallagher agents have joined JREA.

JOYCE JEWELL RECOVERING

In case you hadn't heard, Joyce broke her hip Christmas morning. She broke it attempting to locate and feed some homeless people. She's back to work now and cheerful as ever. Little episodes like this help us appreciate what we have - our health!

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.

Stop by our office at 5602 New Jersey Avenue and chat. Or give Joyce or Douglas a call at 609-729-8505. We answer phones 6am to 9pm EVERYDAY and you always get a real, live person. That's service!

www.JewellRealEstateAgency.com

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?!!!

$201,343,605

Catchy title, huh? 

So what does $201,343,605 mean?  Unfortunately, it's not how much money we won in the MegaMillions or Powerball lotteries.  It's not our national debt, it's not New Jersey's budget deficit.

It is the total value of all properties sold in the Wildwoods in 2010 by realtors belonging to the Cape May County Association of Realtors.  That amount includes sales in Wildwood, North Wildwood, West Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, and Diamond Beach.  Just think, $200 million changed hands.  Dreams were realized for some, while broken dreams were a reality for others.  For others, it was business as usual.

In all, 673 properties changed ownership.  Let's break down the numbers:

148 single family homes sold at an average price of $338,950 and were on the market an average of 242 days. 

14 lots sold at an average of $216,817 and were on the market for 243 days average.

15 commercial properties sold for an average of $386,500 after being on the market an average 323 days.

38 multi-family properties sold for an average of $253,318 and were on the market an average of 234 days.

Now the big one.  458 condos and townhomes sold for a total of $137 million plus, with the average price $301,173 after 245 days on the market.

To summarize, 673 properties sold in 2010, or slightly less than two every day of the year.  They were on the market about eight months.  And condos and single family homes averaged over $300,000 apiece.  That's not bad, and after the market conditions we saw in 2006-2009, it's quite encouraging. 

As you no doubt noticed, the media finally acknowledged - or most of them did - that the real estate market was making a comeback in 2010.  Here at Jewell Real Estate Agency, our sales were up 205% as compared to 2009.  And guess what.  We have set our goal at again doubling our business in 2011  compared to 2010.  A bold prediction, sure, but we can do it!  The numbers don't lie.

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.

Finding the Price Point

January 18th, 2011

Shows what I know.  If you told me back in 2005 that we'd ever be selling properties in the $100,000's again I would have laughed in your face.  After all, real estate prices in Cape May County, New Jersey had escalated at 3% per month for a year and a half.  Even as the market cooled slightly, they were still going up one percent a month.

Well, here it is 2011.  It's a brave new world.  We currently have 14 residential listings available to buy that are priced under $200,000.  And that doesn't include vacant lots.

The market determines the price.  Okay, the owner actually decides what price to ask after weighing - and sometimes discarding - the pricing advice of their realtor.  But if there's no action after two months, it's time to lower the price.  After another two months of minimal interest in the unit, it's time to reduce the price again.  It's called "finding the price point".  Once you arrive at the price point, the unit typically gets an offer within 21 days.  Real estate, for the most part, is no longer "location, location, location".  It's "price, price, price".

Several of our lowest priced units are seasonal, meaning the water is shut off from November 1 to late March or April.  There is too much chance of water pipes freezing and bursting in the cold winters for the complexes to take the risk.  Leaking pipes can do hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage in a short time in a two or three story multi-unit building.

Our lowest priced unit is in a campground complex, complete with swimming pool, basketball courts, tennis courts, a game room, and organized activities day and night for both kids and adults.  The 35-foot long trailer, built in 2004, is cute and homey.  The property is listed at just $59,900.

We also have three units in a complex on the 300 block east in Wildwood, just a half block from the beach and famous Boardwalk.  All three units are one bedroom, one full bath, and the complex has an inground pool.  Sold as a short sale, the 336 square foot unit is going for $99,000 and the two 450 sq ft units are priced at $120,000.  They have both price and location going for them!

We have two units a couple blocks away also in the 300 block east and a short walk to the beach and Boardwalk.  Both of these short sale units are 633 sq ft, two bedrooms, and priced at $112,000.  The remodeled units, featuring new carpets and new wood laminate floors and tastefully decorated, rent for $975 per week.

We just listed a 15′x25′ efficiency unit in the 400 block east in the heart of Wildwood Crest for $124,900.  It is totally remodeled, with new refrigerator, stove and range top, cabinets, countertops, etc.  The Caribbean theme really makes you think you're on vacation and the swimming pool, barbecue grills, etc make life easy.  Can you say, "Pina Colada"?

Wrapping up my look at "too good to be true"  properties is a  cute, year-round single family home in Villas, Lower Township.  Situated on a 60′x86′ lot, the two bedroom, 1 1/2 bath home has an attached garage, fenced yard, and inside there's a dining room, living room and family room with electric fireplace.  Originally, $149,000, two price reductions have brought the price down to its price point of $132,000.  It's a great place to retire, vacation, or start a family.

There are bargains galore at the shore in Cape May County.  Maybe now is the time for you to take advantage of price, price, price.

On MLK Day, Let's End Violence

January 16th, 2011

It's Martin Luther King Day.  Last year, I wrote a blog on this website titled, "I Have a Dream".  You can scroll back to January 17, 2010 to read it.

This year, rather than racial equality, I want to address violence.  They go hand in hand at times, but in reality violence is the downfall of mankind.  Maybe shortcoming is a more appropriate term.  Or both.

In my 20's, when part of the back to the land movement, I bought a few dairy goats and started getting my own goat's milk and cheese.  One thing always bothered me - the goats fought until they established a pecking order.  Then the alpha doe always picked on the rest, the beta doe picked on all but the alpha, and on and on down the line.  Why couldn't they get along?  After all, they're all dairy goats and they're all in this together.

Then I had a revelation.  They're just like humans.  We're always fighting to establish dominance.  Except, sometimes we kill.  Goats, along with most mammal species, fight to establish dominance, but they rarely kill and then its usually accidental.  Humans kill with vigor, with purpose.

In 2009, there were 15,241 murders in the United States.  Sure, that was down from over 24,000 in both 1991 and 1993, but it's still despicable.  The US also had a total of 1,313,398 violent crimes in 2009.  Are we that prone to acts of violence?  Are we a nation of people who are so far from the norm of a peaceful society that hurting another human being is no big deal?  Do we have so little value for someone else's life?  Are we, as a society, totally insane?

In the world recently in one year India led with 37,700 murders.  Russia had 28,904, Colombia 26,539, South Africa 21,553, the US about 16,000, then Mexico with 13,144.  Good old Iceland was one of the most peaceful with just four murders.  There are currently eight wars in the world that record over 1,000 fatalities per year.  There are 24 other wars taking place, with ten of them registering between 10,000 and 200,000 deaths each since their inception.

I won't throw any other numbers at you, since I think I've gotten my point across.  We are a violent species.  We kill indiscriminately.  We kill for power, we kill for profit.  Sometimes, we kill because we don't like somebody's looks, religion, color, or politics.  People beat up their spouses, their kids, their neighbors, their rivals, or someone who possesses something they want.  Sadly, sometimes people even kill just for kicks or to prove they're macho to their peers.

So on MLK Day, I ask that violence end.  Only then, can we truly be called "human".  Dr. King would agree.

The Vacation Home Real Estate Market is back!

Go ahead and snicker.  This Mountain Man guy (and City Girl) is full of bull, you're thinking. 

Not so fast, my friend.

Sure, the national unemployment numbers are still tough to swallow.  And yes, we are still seeing more vacant store fronts popping up.  Discretionary spending is off, too, though you have to wonder when you see folks descend on a mall and drop hundreds of dollars on trivial junk for Christmas.

But here in Cape May County, New Jersey at the shore, the tide has turned in the real estate market.  Pun intended.  With interest rates hovering around 4% and prices nearly half of what they were in 2005, sales have been brisk.  We're also seeing that folks are tired of sitting on the sidelines and after five years they ackowledge the opportunity is there to finally purchase and own a vacation home at the Jersey Shore.  If they were 55 years old back in 2005, they're now 60 and not getting any younger.  I call it the "now or never" syndrome.  If they waited much longer to buy a second home, some would probably just say forget it.

Back in 2004, we began telling our clients that the days of buying pre-construction condos, then flipping them a year later the day after closing, were over.  We saw an overabundance of new construction and sensed that the market was shifting.  Unfortunately, we were right.  We are getting that same feeling again, except this time it's a turn in the other direction. 

We believe that the vacation home market leads the way.  Our real estate market was the first to fall apart, and it is the first to recover.  And why not?  Folks who can afford second homes usually own their own business or they are high enough up on the corporate ladder to have a solid income.  When the national media began their gloom and doom predictions, the frugal upper and upper-middle class folks pulled back and stopped spending.  Now that they've endured five years of a recession and the sky hasn't fallen in, they're back.

Here at Jewell Real Estate Agency, we have sold 2.5 times more properties this year than in 2009.  We're not bleeding greenbacks anymore.  Not only are we relieved, we're very optimistic.  No doubt, it will take the primary home market another two years to catch fire.  But when it does, all will be well in Whoville.