Sea Isle City Reflections

I recently ate at the Bonefish Grill in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. on Fire Road. What a pleasant surprise. I had heard that it was owned by Outback, so I figured it was going to be a typical “chain” food restaurant. After eating there, I would highly recommend it. The first thing I noticed when you walked in was that it did not seem like a chain restaurant. The decor was very nice. It had a large bar for patrons to wait until their table was ready. Everything inside was upscale. I would not have thought it to be anything less than an individual restaurant.
My wife had one of the specials which was salmon with a cream sauce and spinach, while I had the scallops and shrimp in a creamy butter sauce. For an appetizer we shared the “Bang Bang” shrimp which was very good. We were too full to try dessert, but it looked incredible. Our bill came to $50.00 with each of us having a coctail w/dinner, and the food was excellent. I would highly recommend this everyone.

On Friday March 24, 2006, my wife and I went to a restauarant in Avalon called the Sea Grill. We have been going there for several years. The meals can be pricey, but we’ve always had good meals. Unfortunately, this was not the case. My wife had scallops w/bacon and horseradish sause, and they were extremely rubbery. I had flounder w/ mustard sauce, and it tasted dry and bland.
We both walked out of the restaurant very disappointed. We decided that it was the last time we would be going there. We do not mind spending the money if the meals are good, but for both of us not to like our meals, we’ve decided that the quality of the food has gone down.

When I’m asked to sell a home, I like to provide the seller with as many tips as possible to get them the best possible price for their home. Recently, I compiled a list of these tips into an article that I’ve posted on my main page called Selling Your Home: Tips from the experts

First, I give suggestions on how to improve curb appeal (the first impression matters!). Next, I give tips for how to make the inside of your home as neat and clean as possible. Finally, I suggest that you pay special attention to the two most important rooms in the house: kitchen and bathroom.

Check the article out here.
http://www.sea-isle.net/selling-your-home.html

A common question that I get from prospective buyers looking to buy an investment property at the shore is whether or not the current market can provide a profit. The answer is almost always no…unless, you buy at the low-end.

The low-end of the shore market provides a great opportunity for several reasons. First of all, there will always be a market for low-priced properties in a beach town. The lower the price, hte more people there are who can afford beach properties And since everyone wants to be at the shore, you’ve always got a great market. Second, even if there is a market correction at the high-end, it normally doesn’t affect the low-end, so your investment has a sturdier foundation. Third, there is much more room for appreciation, even after a run up in prices like we’ve seen lately. Fourth, you are more likely to cover expenses and even mortgage for cheaper properties than for expensive properties. The range of rental rates during the summer is smaller than the range of prices for purchase. So, with a $200,000 property you cover a larger percentage of your costs through rentals than a person would with a million dollar home. You may even make a profit.

So, the next time you’re looking for an investment beach property, consider looking at the lower end of the market. It makes better investment sense.

I’ve sold real estate in Sea Isle City for the past ten years and everyone is now questioning if Sea Isle, along with every other city, is in a “Boom” or “Bust” in terms of Real Estate? The media is creating the “Bust” mode by all the attention it is giving it. This morning on “Good Morning America”, Diane Sawyer was doing a segment on “The tricks of the trade” when it comes to Real Estate Agents, and at the very beginning, she mentioned that Housing Sales across the nation has been the highest ever the past few months. She immediately went into the segment and had nothing else to say about this very strong fact.

Had the housing sales been low or the lowest in the past few months, I can say without hesitation, that this would make the headlines and have several segments about it.The media creates the situations that happen because of their sensationalizing a topic. The media knows this will get the attention of their viewers and therefore get sponsors and advertisement.

Sea Isle City has a lot of properties for sale, and I believe the reason is because people panic over what they hear from the media. Many owners of properties that would have normally not been ready to sell are now putting their properties on the market because the media states that the bubble has busted and the real estate market is in for a bad time. Had the owners not heard this, the market would not be flooded with inventory.

On the flip side, the potential buyers are listening to the media and either deciding that it is not a good time to buy a property, or that there are bargains to be had and coming in with ridiculously low offers on properties. Either scenario results in properties not being sold and inventory being high.

I compare this situation to many years ago when the media told their viewers that there was going to be a shortage on toilet paper, so everyone went out and stocked up on toilet paper, which created a shortage. The media has a lot of power in influencing their viewers.

In conclusion, I feel that the market in Sea Isle City is still strong, and once the buyers and sellers realize that property values are not going to “Bust” down at the Jersey Shore, buyers will once again start to purchase their “Dream Beach House”, and both buyers and sellers will be happy with their real estate investments. Everyone wants to own a part of the Jersey Shore!!!

Here’s a press release about the new wireless internet business in Sea Isle City that just started up this year:

Sea Isle City beachgoers rejoice! Gone are the days of spending a week at the beach without high-speed broadband internet service. Now you can check your email and browse the web without the inconvenience of a slow dial up internet connection.

SeaWaves was born out of real world needs: many people are not able to sacrifice an entire week of high-speed data communications. Business people vacationing at the beach need regular communication with their co-workers and customers. But up until now, a trip to Sea Isle City effectively meant a compromise: no high broadband internet in exchange for a vacation. But now you can have both!

SeaWaves technology, a leader in South Jersey internet and computer technology, has launched a new wireless internet service in various locations throughout Sea Isle City. All you need is a wireless enabled device such as a laptop or PDA and you’re all set to hook up…wirelessly!

SeaWaves employs Sputnik’s state of the art wireless internet technology to securely provide service to all WiFi enabled devices within range. Sputnik’s architecture will enable SeaWaves to grow its network transparently as demand increases.

Due to limitations in wireless technology, not all areas in Sea Isle can receive service.

SeaWaves Technology was formed in January of 2006 as a complete computer technology company. In addition to wireless internet service, SeaWaves Technology provides custom web development, web hosting, web promotion, and a variety of other computer and internet related services.

Here are some Sea Isle memories from my sister

Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s our family time was spent during the winter months going on long car rides (gas was cheap then) and in the summer packing up to go to Sea Isle City. We would get up early and start packing everything except the kitchen sink. My mom would pack a lunch and make a large thermos of ice tea or lemonade. We would load up our old black and white rambler station wagon with blankets, towels, beach umbrella, and thermos, only saving enough space for my brother and I to sit in what we called the way back. Seat belts were unheard of at that point in history.

On our way I anxiously awaited smelling the ocean as we approached Sea Isle. Sea Isle was not as big or bustling back then as it is now. We went to 5th or 6th St. and it was pretty much deserted-of course we were there about 8am and it is pretty much deserted anywhere at that time of the day at the shore. The beach seemed much larger back then, most likely due in part to the fact that I was small and also the fact that much of the beach has been eroded. We would spend the whole day there making sand castles, finding sand crabs, playing ball, swimming and eating.

We would pack up about 3pm to head home, all red as lobsters (suntan lotion was not used back then-we used iodine and baby oil to enhance those dangerous rays to burn our skin) except my mom who kept covered as she was fair skinned, freckled, and red haired. I always felt a little sad as we left Sea Isle but knew that we would be back again. I’m over 50 now and I still make my way to Sea Isle at least twice each summer.

This is a brief note that my nephew sent about his Sea Isle City Memories:

I have a lot of fond memories of Sea Isle City. Every year my mom would take us to the beach for 1 week. Often times we’d go with another family and all the kids would play together, making sand castles or jumping the waves, or, as we got older, riding boogie boards.

However, there is one thing in particular that I always anticipated with great excitement: The Sea Isle City Arcade. I couldn’t wait to get the red tickets that came flying out of the Ski Ball machines. And there were always at least two days of the week when my mom would give us each $5 (it went a long way back then!) to play whatever we wanted. I know it sounds wierd, but as a child, that’s one of the things I always wanted to do when I was in Sea Isle.

Even now, everytime I see the big brown and yellow sign, my heart jumps a beat!