The Weather Report for the weekend of February 6-7, 2010 in Ocean City, New Jersey
And the headline reads: "Foot or more of snow expected as weekend storm approaches" from THE PRESS of Atlantic City (2/4/2010). So what does this have to do with real estate in Ocean City (NJ). Oh, not much ... just everything!
We no longer depend on perspective rental tenants coming down to see properties now that we have our interactive web-sites with properties, comments, pictures, etc. When I started in the business back in 1993 ... part-time for 3 years as I finished my public education career, I recall working about 46-48 weekends a year at one point because very few agents wanted to come into the office on Sundays. During that time frame, I must have picked up more tenant names, numbers, later emails that has taken me along during the next 15 years.
Today most perspective rental tenants email or phone after reviewing their choices. Yes, agents can assist and explain and help out ... but it is not that close working relationship that I started with in my first years. So the snow storm won't impact perspective rental tenants that much.
For this particular snow storm which will arrive on Friday, the prediction will be 8-10, or even more. So all plans for people coming down Saturday for sale property showings are history. What impact could a snow storm have on sales? The result will be that a number of possible transactions will not take place this weekend. They will be delayed with the time limit not being able to be measured. Buying a resort property in South Jersey requires taking time off of one's "real world" life and commitments ... work, family, etc.
Actually very cold weather, snow storms, and even heavy rains and flooding can be a cause for potential changes in schedules for sale activity. I recall some winters where an entire month went bye without a lot of buyers here at the shore. So "the weather report" tends to mean a lot more here in South Jersey, and particularly for me here in Ocean City (NJ). Our little barrier island is battening down the hatches ... stay tuned.
A short footnote: I gave my large snow blower to a close friend when I left PA, but I purchased a 24 inch wide electric one which can be attached to a long cord ... it usually works quite well for most of the Jesey Short type snow storms. Let's see what happens this time. dap
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