Laura Dunlap

Time To Get Ready For The 2009 Rental Season

Laura Dunlap — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:19:00 GMT

The sooner you are prepared to rent your property, the better the chances of getting the maximum number of weeks rented at the highest price....(read more)

LBI Mayors Drum Up Support for Beach Replenishment

Laura Dunlap — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 03:28:00 GMT

Three of the islands mayors, Long Beach Township’s Mayor Diane Gove, Harvey Cedars’ Mayor Jon Oldham and Beach Haven’s Mayor Tom Stewart, traveled to Washington, D.C. this month to meet with senators and members of congress to gain support for ongoing and future funding for the beach replenishment project. Mayor Gove brought photos of Surf City’s newly replenished beaches with her to show the congressmen. According to Mayor Gove, since the project started in Surf City the...(read more)

Beach Haven to Hear Public Comments on Expanding the Historic District

Laura Dunlap — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 03:14:00 GMT

On April 9 th Beach Haven Borough will be considering an ordinance to extend Beach Haven’s historic district from 5 th Street to Chatsworth Aveune. The Historic District currently runs from 2 nd St to Pearl Street from Bay Ave. east to Atlantic Ave. There will be a public hearing on the issue at the Borough meeting. If the ordinance is passed property owners who want to make renovations or improvements to their homes on these blocks may need approval from Historic Preservation Advisory Committee...(read more)

Best Kept Secret

Laura Dunlap — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 02:17:00 GMT

My birthday was this month and one of the things I had to do to celebrate the day was to take the long drive to my absolute favorite spot on LBI… Lighthouse State Park. (It’s true, to us ‘south enders’; Barnegat Light is a long drive.) I am reluctantly sharing my best kept secret in spite of my fear that my millions of readers will converge on my favorite spot and ruin it forever! However, my desire to share LBI is greater than my wish to keep it all to myself. If you haven’t...(read more)

LBI Named Among The "100 Most Popular Places to Retire"

Laura Dunlap — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:40:00 GMT

Long Beach Island is a popular spot not just for vacationers but retirees as well. LBI was ranked 59 of 100 of the most popular places to retire in America by Where To Retire magazine (January/February Issue). LBI was the only NJ area to make the top 100. Phoenix, AZ. Ranked number one and Fort Walton Beach, FL. was last. Many retirees relocate to LBI and spend the late spring through the fall at their LBI home and the winter months at second homes in warmer climates like Florida. Many of my clients...(read more)

Beach Haven Considering Expanding Historic District

Laura Dunlap — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 02:19:00 GMT

The grand historic homes of Beach Haven are among the things that attract visitors and make Beach Haven such a unique and beautiful place to live and vacation. The Beach Haven Historic Preservation Advisory Commission is concerned about Beach Haven’s historic significance and preserving the town’s history and architectural integrity. It is seeking to expand the historic district in Beach Haven. On March 5 th , The Beach Haven Land Use Board will consider a proposal to expand the historic...(read more)

Triathlon Coming To Beach Haven

Laura Dunlap — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 04:59:00 GMT

A Triathlon is scheduled to take place in Beach Haven this Fall. The Endless Summer Triathlon is slated for September 23, 2007 and will accommodate 400 contestants. Go to http://www.lin-mark.com for more details. This event will certainly help extend the tourism season and give a boost to the local economy on the LBI, like the now famous Chowder Fest and 18 Mile Run.

Shore Protection and Beach Replenishement Project

Laura Dunlap — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 04:39:00 GMT

The federal budget proposal for 2008 reportedly contains no money for LBI shore protection. This means that any our representatives in Congress must fight for the money. The Board of Commissioners in Long Beach Township passed a resolution at its last meeting renewing a contract with a lobbying firm, Winning Strategies, which lobbies for shore protection. The cost is shared by Long Beach Township, the Boroughs of Beach Haven, Harvey Cedars, Ship Bottom, Surf City and Barnegat Light each paying its proportionate share based on beach frontage. In a recent article published in the SandPaper (02/07/07), Long Beach Township reportedly pays 53 % as it has the largest beach frontage on all of the municipalities covering 12 of the 18 miles of LBI. The cost for all municipalities was reported to be $60,000 per year.

Meanwhile, the LBI Beach Replenishment Project is at a standstill for now and its future uncertain on the island. Long Beach Township is still short on easements. Beach Haven Borough reports that while still short it is optimistic that it will have the number of easements necessary for the project to begin there next November. Public access and public accommodation issues i.e., available restroom facilities are not as problematic for Beach Haven as in other island municipalities given Beach Haven's size, 1.9 miles, and the availability of public restroom facilities and access to beaches.

Is it me or does this seem a bit ironic? - paying to lobby for federal funding for shore protection and yet possibly losing federal funding for beach replenishment project...

LBI Summer Rental Season Looks Promising

Laura Dunlap — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 03:48:00 GMT

Strong Start to 2007 Rental Season

The island has seen a busy rental season so far, busier than in the past couple of years. Renters are committing to properties earlier and choice weeks and properties in choice locations are booking up quickly. This is the way it used to be; at least it was when I began renting properties on the island ten years ago. Back then, the majority of properties where booked by early spring. However, during the last 3 years, the rental season (by this I mean the time when people search for and reserve rental property) has extended into the summer months. In May, June and July rental customers were visiting me looking for rentals that were available the following week and sometimes the same day!

Renters want properties with modern amenities like air conditioning and well equipped kitchens. They are less willing to rough it on vacation, especially when it comes to air conditioning. Many people say it is because “years ago”, it was cooler at the shore and you did not need air conditioning. It may be getting warmer but I think more people want air conditioning now because more people have air conditioning in their own homes.

Renters generally prefer properties that are bright and with décor that makes them feel that they are at the shore. Of course properties that are clean and well cared for are in demand as are ocean side locations. On LBI the boulevard, the main thoroughfare running north to south, is the mark that is commonly used to separate oceanside and bayside homes. Property that is located east of the boulevard is considered oceanside, property located on the west side of the boulevard is bayside. Some areas of the island are wider than others. In Beach Haven for example, there are certain sections where there are 5 blocks between ocean and bay, in other areas the ocean and bay are separated by two blocks. What some people don’t realize though is that depending on what area of the island they rent, they can be closer to the beach choosing a home that is located “bayside” than in some “oceanside” locations where the island is wider. Confused? That is why it is important to consult an experienced real estate professional when searching for a summer rental.

While ocean side locations are preferred, many people will sacrifice location for a nice home that is located on the bayside because properties on the bayside tend to be less money compared to property on the ocean side. Renters who chose bayside locations are wise to the fact that besides getting more for their money on the bayside, bayside locations can be quieter.

There is an increasing demand for properties with internet access. It seems that more people can not get away without being in touch with their work place. Can you remember the days when families would rent a home for the summer and Dad would leave for the week to work and return to the island to spend time with the family on the weekends? Now people are lucky they can get away for one week and I get more requests for 3 and 4 day rentals. Children’s sports, camps and other activities extend into the beginning of July and students often must return to classes or sports practice before the end of August leaving a small window for families to get away. This is one of the reasons why the last two weeks in July and the first 2 weeks in August are the most popular weeks for rentals and are requested most often.

Properties that take pets are also increasing in demand. No one wants to leave their beloved Fido or Boots at home anymore – after all they are part of the family.

Along with the sale prices of homes, rental prices have risen steadily each year. Though many owners who have rented their properties for years, try to keep the increases to minimum or offer special rates to tenants who have rented in the past to encourage the return of loyal tenants.

Visit me at www.YourLBIRealEstateSource.com where vacation home owners and renters can find information and resources. Check out the Rental Owners Toolkit for 10 Tips for Vacation Home Rentals and LBI Summer Rentals to find a property to rent and FAQs.

Future of LBI Beach Replenishment Project Uncertain

Laura Dunlap — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Future of LBI Beach Replenishment Project Uncertain

The future of the LBI Beach Replenishment Project is still uncertain as the work in Surf City is just about finished and the State’s appeal of the lawsuit filed by the oceanfront owners who refused to sign easements in the Surf City has yet to be decided.

In a recent article published in the Beach Haven Times (1/03/07) the LBI project manager for the Army Corp of Engineers, Keith D. Watson, reported that there are no plans for the work to continue in Ship Bottom. Ship Bottom was slated to be the next town after Surf City to start work but due to the lack of easements there the project will not continue.

The future of the project; when, where and if the Beach Replenishment Project will continue on LBI, will depend on whether a sufficient amount of oceanfront property owners sign easements allowing access to their property and on whether State and Federal funding is available. Money for the project is allotted each fiscal year by the State and Federal Government. According to Watson in an article in the SandPaper (1/24/07) p 23, http://www.thesandpaper.net/ money had been set aside to complete Ship Bottom this year.

Since the Beach Replenishment Project is in limbo, Ship Bottom Borough is considering adopting an ordinance much like Surf City’s which requires private property owners to pay for the maintenance and repair of the dunes in front of their homes.

Beach Haven, where there are plans for a geotube on the shore at Merivale, Leeward and Nelson Avenues, an area where there has been significant beach erosion over the past couple of years, is having easement troubles of its own.

In the other areas of LBI not enough oceanfront property owners have signed easements allowing access to their property for the Beach Replenishment Project to begin in their towns. Reportedly in Long Beach Township, which covers 12 of the18 miles, only 30 of 433 necessary easements have been signed.

For more information and views about this very important topic check out

Beach Haven Mayor Tom Stewart's Monologue and Major Issues tabs on Beach Haven's official website at http://www.beachhaven-nj.gov/

For an in depth article about views for and against beach replenishment check out an article written this past summer 2006 on nymag.com http://nymag.com/guides/summer/17404/index.html

Offering status of easements and opinons from residents of Ship Bottom. Asbury Park Press On Line 01/19/07

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070119/NEWS02/701190405/1070/BUSINESS

Those are fighting words...Remarks from Kenneth Porro, attorney for oceanfront property owners who oppose the Beach Replenishment Project. Posted by the Times-Beacon Newspaper 01/17/07

http://www.ocobserver.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070117/BEACON/701170358/1045

It's a Good Time To Buy on LBI

Laura Dunlap — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 01:46:00 GMT

It’s now a level playing field between buyers and sellers on LBI. True, it has been long in coming. Not long ago listings went under contract just days after they were listed (sometimes in less) and multiple offers and bidding wars among buyers competing for the same house were the norm.

Times have changed and we have returned to what most regard as a “normal market”. It is definitely more “normal” than it has been in the past 4 or 5 years. Prices have flattened and we have seen more of the “soft landing” than the crash that has been talked about so often. But many buyers are concerned about prices dropping further.

Buyers – listen, now is a great time to buy. Interest rates are still relatively low. And while 30 year fixed rates are expected to rise to 6.7% in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to NAR (National Association of Realtors) forecasts, rates are still not bad if you remember when rates were up around 9%. Speculators have essentially dropped out of the market and inventory of homes on the sale market is up. For now, the pressure is off buyers to make quick decisions and on sellers to negotiate.

The second home market is expected to double in 2009 which will put pressure on the most desirable locations. According to the 2006 Second Homes and Investment Property NAR survey the most popular second home locations are near bodies of water or mountains and locations that are less than a day’s drive from buyer’s primary residence. LBI, with its close proximity to densely populated areas like New York, Northern New Jersey and Philadelphia and with the finest beaches on the east coast continues to be a very desirable location to own a second home.

While one half of the second home buyers surveyed by NAR use their homes for recreational use, nearly all of the remaining second home buyers purchased their home as investment property to generate rental income. For all buyers considering purchasing rental property, the vacation market on LBI is still strong.

So, LBI buyers, what are you waiting for? Take advantage of this window of opportunity. Summertime is just around the corner and renters are down looking for their summer vacation rentals now. Visit me at http://www.YourLBIRealEstateSource.com to see my featured listings.

Say Farewell to the Quarterdeck - Ship Bottom

Laura Dunlap — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 02:24:00 GMT

Plans to replace the Quarterdeck Inn, located at the entrance to LBI in Ship Bottom by a 54 unit condominium complex where approved in October by Ship Bottom Borough's Land Use Board. Chris Vernon recently purchased the property and is currently waiting site approvals from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the NJ Department of Transportation.

LBI Beach Replenishment Project Begins In Surf City

Laura Dunlap — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 02:56:00 GMT

The 71 million dollar LBI beach replenishment project, designed to reduce erosion and property damage from hurricanes and northeaster storms is finally underway in Surf City. It remains to be seen whether or not the project will continue up and down Long Beach Island’s beaches. The project has met with a great deal of opposition from ocean front property owners whose permission is needed to allow project workers to access their ocean front property and do the work. Ocean front owners must sign an easement allowing such access, without the easements the project can not commence in other areas of Long Beach Island or continue in Surf City.

To be fair, oceanfront property owners are not the only people who have opposed the project. There are conditions attached to the beach replenishment project funds which include creating public restroom facilities where they do not exist, increased public access to beaches and public parking. Why is this problem? There is concern on the part of LBI’s property owners about how the State will accomplish this and where the public facilities will be located. These conditions must be met in order for the beach replenishment project to be funded by the government.

There are other concerns as well such as how the LBI beach replenishment project will change the beach and shoreline and that it may create unsafe conditions for swimmers’ and surfers’. Also, there is the concern over funding, whether it will cost more than what is projected, who will pick up any additional costs associated with the beach replenishment project and its maintenance.

However, since it is up to the ocean front property owners in each of the boroughs and in Long Beach Township to sign easements they may be the only people who have any say about whether the beach replenishment project will continue.

The most recent development regarding the beach replenishment project involves Surf City. The project was initiated there in November and only covers beaches from South Third Street to North 18^th Street. In November, the State sued five ocean front owners who refused to sign easements needed for the project to continue in the northern part of the borough of Surf City. A Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of the ocean front property owners However, the State appealed that decision this month. The oceanfront home owners argue that the State can’t take their land without just compensation. The State's response is that ocean front homeowners are being compensated as they are receiving the benefit from the beach replenishment project.

I became aware of the opposition surrounding the beach replenishment project several months ago when I attended a Joint Taxpayers Association meeting. Opinions for and against the project were passionately represented at the meeting. It was pretty alarming, learning that there was funding available for beach replenishment but that we may lose the funding if easements weren’t signed. My first reaction was, this is a no brainer, sign the easements already, has anyone looked at the beaches lately!? I have spent the last 30 summer seasons on LBI and I can remember as a kid how big the beaches were. (Of course I was a lot smaller then.) I don’t think anyone can deny that we have a beach erosion problem. Also, as a LBI resident, I have a great affinity for the island and for my house (which is located behind the oceanfront homes). I grew up here and want LBI to be around for my kids to enjoy. And, of course as a LBI real estate agent selling and renting property, my livelihood is here, as is the case for many of my friends and relatives who live here and in the surrounding mainland communities.

Since attending that meeting I have asked property owners I’ve encountered, “Are you for it or against it?” (Beach Replenishment that is.) Remember, I am the one who isn’t real good at small talk. I am surprised by a lot of peoples’ opinions. I was even more surprised that many people were still not aware of the beach replenishment project, the controversy that surrounds the project and that they didn’t sense the urgency of the issue.

In my conversations I have heard from some ocean front property owners that they are concerned about granting an easement to their land because the easement is not specific to the LBI beach replenishment project. In other words, once the project is complete, the government still has an easement to their property. They are also concerned about how the State will use the easement in the future. I get it; no one wants to give up the rights to their property. Can you really trust the government to do what it says it’s going to do? But aren’t ocean front property owners granting access to public works to clean and maintain the beaches without easements now? I saw bulldozers up on the beach this Fall pushing the sand up on the dunes.

Other people have a problem with the fact that the project calls the a dune height of 22 feet at its top elevation (depending on the location of the beach on the LBI) above sea level and the construction of a 300 to 400 foot wide berm with an elevation of 8 feet above sea level. I have taken this from official reports, frankly, I am not sure if I understand what it means. But the concern here is that it would interfere with ocean front property owners’ views and may impede on their ability to enjoy their property and devalue their property. I understand this too, ocean front property is a very big investment and asset. But if your home washes away then....

Still others are worried about the State taking their property to erect public restrooms or create public parking. I can think of a lot of publicly owned land on the Island where public restrooms and parking could be located. However, I don't know how the State will be able to satisfy the condition that public restrooms be placed every quarter mile in certain sections of the Island.

What hasn't helped matters is that property owners feel that they haven’t had their questions and concerns addressed adequately by the DEP, Army Corp of Engineers and local government officials and that the DEP and Army Corp wasn't particularly receptive to their requests for information.

I spoke to a friend recently about this issue. She is very informed on environmental issues and she wasn’t convinced that the beach replenishment project is a good thing or that it would work in the long run. I have my doubts as well. While it may be a temporary solution, it’s all we got right now until someone comes up with something better. And, the funding is available now. I think I’m willing to take the risk, but then again it’s really not up to me. Geotubes anyone?

For those of you who want to know more especially regarding the technical issues related to the beach replenishment project and stay informed I came across a very informative website recently; http://www.beachreplenish.com/ I would be interested if anyone knows of any alternatives to this type of beach replenishment project that have worked in other coastal communities. In any case, I would love to hear your opinion on this issue.

So...what brings you to LBI?

Laura Dunlap — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 21:50:00 GMT

I have never been very good at small talk. I have no problem discussing subjects like real estate, politics, the trials and tribulations of raising children. Unfortunately issues such as these aren't exactly great topics for casual conversation at the playground or outside the grocery store. People are often reluctant or downright afraid to get dragged into such weighty discussions.

I have found though that whenever I ask the question; "What brought you to LBI?” people easily open up and share some pretty interesting stories of how and why they came to buy a home here or move to the island. I have been a full-time resident of the island on and off (now on again) for the past 15 years and I know very few people my age that were born and raised here. The few island natives that I do know well have parents who made their living on the island, like my sister-in-law, whose father was a commercial clammer, or a close friend whose father was a builder. Most of the homeowners and residents I know are transplants, like me, from other areas.

So, for my first posting to my blog, I thought it appropriate to ask the question;

What brings you to LBI?