Ocean City is New Jersey's "Top Beach" ... Ocean City, New Jersey   In the "State of the Shore Report," Ocean City (NJ) received top honors for "the best beach in New Jersey.  Our well kept, but well known, secret about our little island so close to everything, but also just far enough away, has received another honor and recognition.  It will continue to happen because Ocean City has quite a bit to offer the visitor, the rental tenant, the second home owner, the full time resident, the retiree, and the investor.  I know this because at one point in my life I was every one of those categories mentioned in the previous sentence. The City was also identified as "#1 day-tripper destination" and #1 "eco-tourism site" throughout New Jersey as well.  As James Rutuala, City Administrator, says... 05/21/2009

Tearing Down an Old House on our block in the Gardens (Ocean City, New Jersey)   A single family on a corner lot was sold about four or five months ago, and the rumor was that the building was going to be torn down.  As a real estate agent, I had been in that building while it was "for sale."  The land value was probably ten times the value of the building.  Now many people say that you should protect the older buildings, but the fact is that the ongoing owner has that responsibility.  Too often they are neglected since the real value for that owner is the land.  "Why should I do it," they say.  Clearly, I certainly agree that we should preserve as many older properties as possible.  But the two major parties responsible for this are the owner who just lets it go, and in some cases (not... 05/21/2009

Missing Days ... random thoughts about what I've been doing in the past few days here in Ocean City, NJ   I've had some confusion in the past few days due to a lot of different real estate tasks that have all arrived about the same time.  To make that more complicated, it is the weekend when my newsletter editorial duties for the Ocean City Yacht Club arrive (where you must put all the incoming material into a readable "Microsoft Publisher" format) between Friday and Monday ... although Monday is a holiday this issue. I also have to "pending contracts" that have gotten just a bit more complicated this week resulting in a lot of time spent with the buyer's agent in both of them, and in conversations with the Sellers in both of them.  Both should make it to closing ... one in late May, th... 05/20/2009

Memorial Day Closing In ... here in Ocean City, New Jersey   So I've had that kind of week where I have far too much to do, not enough time to do it, a bit unhappy about how I'm feeling about most of everything, and last evening at home ... I suddenly figured it out.  MEMORIAL DAY IS CLOSING IN.  The rhythm of the island is changing ... slowly, but changing.  A bit more traffic every day.  Different kinds of telephone calls.  More problems with the telephone calls.  And that's not even counting some of the "contract pending situations" that I have as problems.  But I figured it out.  And I had a good night's sleep. Our son, Nick, called at 8AM this morning from Singapore.  It was 8PM ... 12 hours ahead for him.  Now Nick lives with his wife, Cori, in California about an hour north of Sa... 05/20/2009

Ocean City Gazette ... Ocean City's Only Locally Owned Newspaper ... Ocean City, New Jersey   This represents a follow-up to a recent posting where I went into some detail reviewing my favorite local papers, and magazines and other material where I tend to get most of my local information.  Well, I forgot one ... i.e. the Ocean City Gazette ... and it's always good to know that you have readers reading your writing.  So I was called on the spot for not mentioning this one.  A big mistake.  Indeed, it is the one I read every Thursday (and not Friday) which is the day I mentioned reading all the other ones.  There are usually three important articles on the front page of each weekly issue.  I always read them and often followup with similar material (paying notice from where it came) in m... 05/17/2009

Keys, Lockboxes, Tenant-Occupied, Owner-Occupied, & Agent-Must-Show Sale Listings in Ocean City, NJ   Did I miss any?  Maybe "unable-to-show due to repairs" or "no-keys-available as yet."  If you can think of others, let me know.  The life of a "Listing Agent" often revolves around one, more, or all these possible factors, or arrangements, or problems.  Add to that "working in a resort community" with about 600 real estate agents and almost no owners around (which can be both a good and bad situation), and one can see ongoing issues.  Plus I forgot salt air from the ocean which causes most good keys or locks to eventually not work.  And bad weather with wind, heavy rain, even hurricanes; and one can see a "listing agent" has a lot of things on his or her mind. The key and lock box arran... 05/17/2009

Summer 2009 Rental Season ... Ocean City, New Jersey   We have only 36 days to go before we start the "Top 10 Rental Weeks of Summer, 2009."  But the entire time from May 1 through October 1 (and sometimes before May 1st or after October 1st) represent activity here in Ocean City, New Jersey.  The spring and fall shoulder seasons represent important times for the resort because second home owners are out and about, investment property owners are down to either open up their rental properties or close them up accordingly.  It's also a good time for adults without children (or pre-school children) to spend time here before "the main event" begins ... or after "the main event" is over.  Let's document the calendar for 2009 here in Ocean City, New Jersey: May 1 through May 21, 2009 ... the ... 05/15/2009

Friday Morning Activities at French Real Estate (Ocean City, New Jersey)   If you read a series of my postings, you know I enjoy reading, writing, watching films, playing tennis, walking and biking throughout Ocean City, making wine, and selling and renting real estate to those who venture down to our barrier island.  You may also know that I was a high school principal for seventeen years and had a total of thirty-two years in public eduction in Pennsylvania with our administrative roles and teaching history, psychology and sociology.  I will start my 17th year in real estate sometime later in 2009.  Now I am a man of mixed styles ... I can be quite organized, making lists, checking twice, etc. ... but I'm also a real right-brain type who has a style that can certainly upset my wife, a... 05/15/2009

The "Comparative Market Analysis" ... for Ocean City, New Jersey   Many different agents and agencies call the "CMA" a lot of different names, but I have tended to stick with the title, CMA or Comparative Market Analysis.  Although not everyone understands what you are talking about, almost everyone has a degree of knowledge at what you are trying to do.  Now many of the larger agencies direct agents to utilize their in-house system ... many of them being quite interesting and useful.  They certainly have a professional look and quality to their cover and format.  Being in a smaller agency, we do not have any particular required or recommended form.  In fact, over the years (16 of them to date), I organized, revised, and improved my own personal "CMA" arranging it in both an email versi... 05/14/2009

Northend & Gardens Single Family "New Construction" Sale and Rental Properties in Ocean City, New Jersey   If you are looking for a family vacation with all the bells and whistles, and a short drive from almost anywhere in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Virginia, and several other states nearby ... look no further than OCEAN CITY, NEW JERSEY. We have something for everyone here ... from small efficiency and 1-BR condo units, to 3-4-5BR condominiums in multiple locations, to 1920 & 1930 summer cottages, to just about everything else in between.  But for the second year in a row, we also have the 4-5-6BR single family properties with great furnishings, a modern and lovely kitchen, all kinds of extras from great window locations, views, decks and porches, and in the back yar... 05/13/2009

South Jersey Golfing Now it seems a bit strange for a tennis player to be talking about "Golf in South Jersey;" but if the truth were told, I do enjoy golf.  I played for about eight years when I started to teach back in the mid-1960s.  I recall one summer when I was footloose and fancy free when I took one graduate class, studies out at the local city pool, and played golf several times a week.  I still enjoy watching the professionals play golf on television.  But it takes too much time ... and the second issue, I need to take some lessons if I would ever be satisfied with my golf game.  Because as I recall, on any given hole I could shoot a par, a stroke or two over par, or even more.  But my problem was that I didn't know what I did when I did well ... and didn't know what I did poo... 05/12/2009

"BEACH READING" in Ocean City ... 2009 Summer Season   I have three great locations for my summer reading in Ocean City ... on the front porch after 5PM with the ocean breeze coming up the street, in the back yard under a tree anytime, on under a beach umbrella on Surf Beach in a light rain when most people are leaving the beach.  By the way, for that third location my toes get wet but the book stays dry.  And I'm working on a 4th location on our third floor back deck looking out at the Longport Bridge.  No one knows you're there.  I have a secure lamp, and I'm looking for a beach deck chair in this location. So I just read the USA Today (5/7/2009) and their "SUMMER BOOK PREVIEW" ... and here is the abbreviated list of my personal choices for summer reading and the date they are due to ... 05/09/2009

Isolated & Unusual Realtor Skills ... Ocean City, New Jersey After 17 years in my second career, with another 32 years in my earlier teaching/administrative career; I am constantly amazed by the varied backgrounds and skills brought to the real estate business by new and experienced agents.  This will be another continuing "posting topic" which I think other real estate agents (and even Buyers and Sellers) might find interesting maybe as much as I do.   I'm a writer ... I write every day.  Often I do better an original writing on some days, but I always write.  I'm also a major reader which causes me to take notes, make journal entries, and do more writing.  Some how, writing tasks eventually arrive in my basket ... from the real estate agency, from several organizations I'm associated ... 05/09/2009

43 Days To Go ... Ocean City, New Jersey   We are on the final spring season march from now until the start of the "top ten rental weeks of the summer."  What kind of March are we talking about?  It's the Spring Buying Season that still has a way to go.  And when you think of sunshine (or lack there of), damp wet weather, and simply a colder spring ... that describes our 2009 weather.  That hasn't helped us to get Buyers down here the past month or so.  And although it has not improved all that much, here they come again.  That's right ... we are seeing much more activity and more Buyers in town, particularly on the weekends.  I have four or five barometers that I use to give me a sense of "Buyer Activity."  Note:  that "BA" and not "BS."   One factor is just my observation walking, bik... 05/08/2009

Peaks & Valleys ... Reflections on the ideas from this book to help all of us in our real estate careers (Ocean City, New Jersey)   Spencer Johnson, the author of WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?(1998), recently wrote any interesting book  entitled Peaks & Valleys ... Making Good and Bad Times Work for You - At Work and In Life (2009).  These are always short, highly readable books.  And Johnson always adds a handout at the end as a way for the reader to keep something around for future reference.  A great idea!!   As I did in the last posting, I would like to review the short summary with you and connect the dots a bit for us in the real estate field.  Here is the card for "PEAKS & VALLEYS" entitled To Manage Your Good & Bad Times: Make Reality Your Friend ... Whether you are temporarily up on a P... 05/07/2009

Who Moved My Cheese? ... Reflections of the ideas from this work to help all of us in our real estate careers (Ocean City, New Jersey)   Spencer Johnson writes great books with only a limited number of pages.  Now it is one thing to write a long excellent book; quite another to do it in only a 100 pages more or less.  Johnson is one of the best.  I've been wanting to read his latest book, Peaks and Valleys:  Making Good and Bad Times Work for You - At Work and in Life (2009).  And I found it in the Ocean City (NJ) Library, one of the best libraries I've ever been in, last night.  With my wife out of town for an evening, I read the 100 page book between innings watch the Phillies lose a close one to the Mets.  But the real winner was Johnson's new book. But let's return to his first and ... 05/07/2009

2009 Cape May County Tourism Conference ... Part 3 of 3 Postings   The 2009 CMCDOT Booklet was produced by the Cape May County Department of Tourism under the direction of Diane Wieland.  At the back of the booklet, the following notice appears:  "This informational handout is produced by the Cape May County Department of Tourism by Diane Wieland, Kathryn Tomlin and Deborah Bass; additional copies are available by calling 609-463-6415.  Some data will be listed on the county web-site at capemaycountygov.net and www.thejerseycape.com My summary and observations after listening to Diane Wieland and reading the 2009 booklet follow.  What I did was take some careful notes and not do my normal underlining of the booklet so that the rest of French Real Estate could also enjoy it accordingly. ... 05/06/2009

2009 Cape May County Tourism Conference ... Part 2 of 3 Postings   This represents the summary of my notes taken at the conference.  Part 1 reviewed the conference details, the speakers, the agenda, and some initial highlights.  Part 3 will cover a review of the booklet covering statistics for Cape May County. 30 million people are a tank of gas away from South Jersey ... 90 million people are five hours or less from the same location.  During the past year, tourism people from South Jersey traveled to Canada for several programs and presentations ... and people from Canada came to Cape May County. Secretary of State (NJ), Nina Wells, emphasized the impact of events on other businesses ... economic impact.  She continued that $1,400 in property taxes for each person in New Jersey withou... 05/06/2009

2009 Cape May County Tourism Conference Just returned from the "tourism conference" held in Cape May Courthouse today, May 5, 2009.  This conference, "a forum for the tourism industry" (which real estate happens to play an expanding role due to sales and rentals ... and its impact on just about every other tourist-related business), had as its theme this year"  "Is Cape May County's Tourism Industry Recession Proof?" The keynote speaker for the conference was the New Jersey Secretary of State, Nina Mitchell Wells who shared the state's latest research.  Diane Wieland, Director of the Cape May County Departmet of Tourism (CMCDOT) provided attendees with a booklet containing the county's current visitor research obtained through surveys conducted in-house.  The 2009 CmCDOT Booklet also in... 05/05/2009

May 1st & Some Thoughtful Comments for Your Consideration ... Ocean City, New Jersey   The first thought always on the 1st of May is that "outdoor showering begins today."  Well, that would have been true for a few days during the past week and weekend when we hit the 80s and 90s.  But it's raining on the island today and much colder than the past few days.  We'll hold on the showers for just a bit more time ... unless we use a good bit of hot water. Another realtor and myself were off the island yesterday for an event.  I wore a light jacket because it was getting cold here in Ocean City.  When we got on the mainland, maybe only three or four miles away as the crow flies, as I got out of the car I took off my jacket.  The weather must have been about ten plus degrees warmer.  That's of... 05/01/2009