Sea Isle City Reflections

Only 35 minutes from Sea Isle City, Millville offers a great variety of food, fun, and art. Every third Friday of the month, the Arts District in Millville opens up its galleries, restaurants, antique shops, and specialty shops for a Friday Evening of enjoyment. You can choose one of many new restaurants such as Olivers Twist, Winfields, and The Next Oar, or you can go to Jim’s Lunch that has been an institution for many decades.

Afterwards you can walk around the galleries and shops and stop in to The Oar House or BoJo’s to listen to live bands. In the warmer months there are bands and artisans on the streets for your enjoyment. Come to Millville and see what it is all about!!!

The Sea Isle City tourism held a special event on Friday April 28th at the S.I.C. Yacht Club to raise money for summer events this summer. The “Night at the Races” was a charitable fundraiser where guests watched horse races and bet on them according to the odds. If they won, the guests were given raffle tickets where they would place their tickets in bags for prizes they wanted. At the end of the event, a ticket was drawn from each bag, and the winner received the prize. Many local businesses were generous and donated great prizes.

The proceeds from this event will be used for the Thursday night at the movies that will be free to all. The movies will be held at JFK Blvd and the beach and everyone is welcome to bring their beach chairs and watch a family fun movie. We thank the Tourism department for all that they do for this town.

The Ocean Cove, located in Sea Isle City at 85th and Landis Ave. is a private community of single-family homes located in the quiet south end of Sea Isle City. Each home features upgraded amenities and has a shared private pool, which is new to Sea Isle. These units start at $999,000.00, and are a great investment at the Jersey Shore. Call Joe Prato for more information and a brochure at 609-602-5147.

Gleeson Contractors, who has been building in South Jersey for over 30 years just launched a new web site with many custom built homes they have recently completed. The homes at the Jersey Shore are not like they use to be. What once was a Stone Harbor/Avalon era of magnificient custom built homes has now spread up the coast to Sea Isle City and Ocean City, and Gleeson Contractors have been a part of this new development.

Check out Gleeson Contractors web site at www.gleesoncontractors.com. You will be pleased you did.

We locals on the Island of Sea Isle are spoiled by the fresh seafood that can be purchased almost year round. Mike’s Seafood located at 42nd and Park Ave. has the freshest seafood around. As the weather gets warmer, the tables start to show up on the outside deck at Mike’s. Soon there will be dining on the outside dock, and everyone will enjoy seafood cooked to order. Whether you are cooking yourself, ordering take out, or dining on the dock, Mike’s Seafood is the place to go.

This weekend was almost a rainy washout in Sea Isle City, but even with the bad weather, the Springfield Inn’s outdoor bar, “The Carousel”, cam alive. On Saturday, they had a few die hard fans, but on Sunday, after the rain, the sun came out and so did the locals. The Carousel had all the bar seats around it full and a few tables with happy customers ready for the summer season.

The weather is getting warmer and there is more and more life starting to surface in our great town of Sea Isle. Every weekend we see more visitors, owners, and businesses with their smiling faces and eagarness for the summer season to arrive.
In just six weeks we will be kicking off our summer season and Memorial Day Holiday. Everyone can not wait to get to the beach and start their summer fun. As a local, I always welcome the noise, crowded streets, and everything that the summer brings. That is part of this wonderful town’s personality. BRING IT ON!!!

Spring is in the air, and spring also brings on the thought of having a summer home at the shore. Investors are starting to look at the Jersey shore once again for a property that will give them income, offer appreciation, and on the down times allow them to have the time of their lives relaxing at the beach.

Investing in Real Estate has been a proven positive for many, many, years. Many think that real estate is over priced. This is not the first time or the last we will see this trend. But no matter how and what is said, history proves that real estate always becomes a wise investment.

Renting a Pet Friendly property in Sea Isle City is a tough task since there are very few owners who will rent to tenants with pets. There is definitely a market for this since many people consider their pets as part of the family. Although there are few, there are some out there. My advise is to rent as early as possible because they go very fast.

As a real estate agent, one question I get on rentals more than any other is how the rentals are priced. We as an agency have no control on the pricing of the rental units. Every owner decides on the price according to location, ammenities, decor, newness, bedrooms, etc. They choose the prices based on what they think the supply and demand will be. You could find a side by side townhouse that have both units available for rent and the price difference could be several hundred dollars, if there are two owners involved.

Many renters will wait until the last minute to rent, thinking they will get an extremely great deal. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn’t. I feel that the properties that are left at the end to be rented were already overpriced, otherwise they would have rented. So if the owner reduces the price a few hundred dollars, you end up with something that should have been priced lower in the first place.

My suggestion to tenants is to find a place as early as possible. This gives them the best selection, and the best prices.