jewell real estate agency: Our 10th Anniversary - 01/29/11 09:54 PM
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 … (5 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Optimism on the Horizon - 01/25/11 12:42 AM
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 … (2 comments)

jewell real estate agency: $201,343,605 - 01/25/11 12:38 AM
$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 … (0 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Temperance Still Alive - 01/20/11 09:43 AM
 
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 … (3 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Daydreaming - 01/19/11 12:15 PM
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 … (0 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Early Winter Newsletter - 01/19/11 12:09 PM
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 … (0 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Finding the Price Point - 01/17/11 10:47 PM
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 … (0 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Martin Luther King Day - 01/17/11 10:43 PM
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 … (0 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Late Winter Newsletter - 03/11/10 09:05 PM
ENOUGH ALREADY
The winter of 2010 is being called "Terrible Ten" here in Cape May County. The record has been set as this being the most snowfall ever, with 48" on the ground as of February 11th. At one point in the February 5-6 blizzard - which dropped 20" of wet, heavy snow - 80,000 folks were without electricity in the county.
A week later, there were still thousands without electricity. Hundreds of utility trucks from throughout the East Coast were in Cape May County to help restore power. They've had to replace over a hundred power poles and nine miles … (1 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Help Us Fight Hunger - 03/02/10 09:43 PM
Help Us Fight Hunger
March 3rd, 2010
As realtors, we get inside a lot of homes during the course of a year.  Sometimes, what we see is appalling.  Senior citizens subsisting on Saltine crackers the last few days of the month and financially-strapped families bulking up on white bread and big generic bags of potato chips and cookies, so called "feel good" nutrition-deficient foods.
Three Cape May County, NJ realtors decided to do something about it and formed a non-profit corporation called "The Free Meal Center".  The goal is to serve lunch Monday through Saturday, plus breakfast on Saturdays.  The … (2 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Lower Township's Revaluation - 02/18/10 09:14 PM
Lower Township's Revaluation
February 19th, 2010
Sometimes a municipality in New Jersey actually shows foresight and at the same time saves itself a lot of money.  Such is the case recently in Lower Township, Cape May County.
The township completed a full-blown revaluation in 2007, raising the total value of all properties from $1.5 billion to $4.73 billion.  While the new figure was more in line with reality, it came at the time when the real estate market was in a deadfall.  Property values were dropping about a half percent per month.
A petition signed by 1,500 property owners against the … (1 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Our Blizzard Drama - 02/12/10 05:41 AM
Our Blizzard Drama
February 12th, 2010
The big blizzard of February 5-6th, 2010 dumped about 22 inches of snow on Cape May County, New Jersey.  The wet, heavy snow paralyzed a peninsula that rarely receives more than 7 or 8 inches of snow in an entire winter.  February 9-10th, another blizzard blessed us with another half-foot of sleet/rain/snow mix.
While at one point in the first storm there were 80,000 people without electricity and roads were impassible, we had our own drama.  Yes, we also went 34 hours without power, unlike 4,000 less-fortunate that still don't have power a week later.  … (2 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Feeding the Hungry in Cape May County - 02/10/10 08:52 PM
Feeding the Hungry in Cape May County
February 11th, 2010
We just couldn't stand by any longer and do nothing about the hunger and nutrition problem here in Cape May County, New Jersey.  It was time to act. 
In a county that has hundreds of multi-million dollar vacation homes overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay, there is a flip side to the coin.  Of 42,000 yearround families, nearly 4,000 households live under the poverty line ($22,050 for 4) and another 9,500 have social security as their sole source of income.  The unemployment rate is around 13%, and when you … (4 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Snow in the Wildwoods - 02/10/10 04:11 AM
Well, we are certainly having our share of snow this year.  I've seen more snow in the last 2 weeks than I've seen in the 32 years I've lived in this area.  Actually, I bought a hotel in Wildwood in 1978 during a big storm that dropped over 2 feet of snow and the agent had to carry me over the drifts so I could get in the door.  Maybe that means something big is about to happen in my life.
I wasn't too upset about not being able to get to work over the weekend because I brought everything home, and I can access … (2 comments)

jewell real estate agency: RIP New Jersey COAH - 02/01/10 08:52 PM
RIP New Jersey COAH
February 2nd, 2010
A New Jersey State Senate bill recently introduced would abolish the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), taking implementation of low and moderate income housing standards from the state and putting it in the hands of municipalities.  It's about time.
COAH came into existence in the late 1970's as a result of the New Jersey Supreme Court's Mt. Laurel Decision, which basically said that municipalities cannot zone against low and moderate-income housing and must supply affordable housing.  COAH set quotas for each of the state's 567 (now 566) municipalities.
The quota system was unfair to many municipalities, setting … (0 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Phil, Say it Ain't So - 01/30/10 08:55 AM
Phil, Say it Ain't So by Mountain Man (Douglas Jewell)
January 30th, 2010
The phone call yesterday went something like this: 
"Your boy got accused of cheating," I said, speaking of PGA Tour golf icon Phil Mickelson who also happens to be City Girl's favorite golfer.
"That's impossible," she replied.  "There's no cheating in golf."
You be the judge.  The PGA Tour outlawed golf clubs with square grooves, effective this year.  They reasoned that they give the golf ball more backspin, hence lessening a player's necessity to actually make a skillful shot.  So at the PGA Tour's fourth stop of the year at Torrey Pines GC … (0 comments)

jewell real estate agency: The Majestic Redwoods - 01/29/10 09:35 PM
The Majestic Redwoods
January 29th, 2010
The Coastal Redwoods are a sight to see.  Ranging along the fog-shrouded California coast from Big Sur to just over the border into southwestern Oregon, these giants can live up to 2,200 years.  There are 137 of these behemoths over 350 feet tall, with the tallest living redwood measuring in at a whopping 379 feet.  The largest redwood girth is a mind-boggling 26 feet across.
The battle between environmentalists looking to preserve the trees and loggers looking at profits and jobs has been going on for a century, and the fight intensified beginning in … (4 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Teaching Life Lessons - 01/28/10 08:34 PM
Teaching Life Lessons
January 28th, 2010
It's kinda sad that so many "twenty-somethings" in America have no clue about how to manage their lives.  They make bad decisions when it comes to the financial aspects of surviving and thriving.  However, they're not entirely to blame. 
We were both excellent students in school.  We did our homework, got good grades, and didn't cause trouble.  What more could a school expect from us.  We did our part.
But in retrospect, the schools didn't hold up their part of the bargain.  Upon graduating from high school (City Girl in Philly, Mountain Man in a … (0 comments)

jewell real estate agency: My Toyota - 01/28/10 08:29 PM
My Toyota
January 28th, 2010
After owning three successive Dodge Dakotas, we bought a new Toyota Tundra last May.  It is a 2009 4-wheel drive pickup truck with the full-sized backseat.  We asked the dealer to make three modifications as a condition of purchasing the vehicle.  They agreed, then did none of them.  No wonder car dealers have a reputation for "say anything to make a sale."
Anyway, our Tundra was one of over four million Toyotas recalled last summer because of a reported problem with the driver's floor mat slipping underneath the pedals.  Our mat is secured by a big plastic clip … (4 comments)

jewell real estate agency: Special Interests Win Again - 01/26/10 05:13 AM
Special Interests Win Again
January 26th, 2010
It's sure tough to be the little guy - the common US citizen - isn't it?  Despite all the guarantees put forth in the Constitution, our government is still controlled by special interests.  Not us peons.
The Supreme Court set us back a few decades last week when a 5-4 decision okayed companies and unions ability to spend freely on ads that promote or target particular candidates by name.  It also lifts a ban on corporate and union-paid issue-based ads in the final days of a campaign.
How easy is it now going to be for a politician … (1 comments)