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OT: Expanding my NJ real estate business and curious on location opinions

Look for towns along the rail lines that are trying to improve. One that comes to mind is Bound Brook. They are building apartments at breakneck speed right now, trying to be the next Somerville.
Same with Raritan.
 
Look for towns along the rail lines that are trying to improve. One that comes to mind is Bound Brook. They are building apartments at breakneck speed right now, trying to be the next Somerville.
That and other small ones with their own high school...always a chance they can come back too as the community aspect shouldn't be overlooked.
 
Perth Amboy I have given thought to, we already do some business there. Under rated city.

I haven’t been there for years. Used to go to a few restaurants there.
I cut thru there to beat the Outerbridge traffic and while the area right on 35 is just okay, the "downtown" part seems to have improved overall. At least that's how it looks to my eyes.
 
I cut thru there to beat the Outerbridge traffic and while the area right on 35 is just okay, the "downtown" part seems to have improved overall. At least that's how it looks to my eyes.
We go there once in awhile. The downtown has some interesting/funky shops and good little restaurants (Troy - very good Turkish and Sciortino's reopened there several years ago), while the waterfront area is quite nice with some more upscale restaurants (the Armory and Barge are still there).
 
Margate is a great town, not so sure there is any area left though to develop other than a few homes here and there.
You are right about Brigantine. I live down there and there are amount of housings being torn down and triple deckers being built is crazy. There are 3 main local builders in the city.
 
Perth Amboy I have given thought to, we already do some business there. Under rated city.
You may want to consider Belmar and Lake Como.
There are still opportunities for mixed commercial/residential redevelopment on Main Street. New projects in the works. Also, some of the middle teens streets can use some rehab/redeveopment. It is the remaining frontier of redevelopment in Belmar.

Suggest subscription to The Coast Star, which covers Avon, Bradley Beach, Belmar, Spring Lake, Belmar, Sea Girt and Manasquan. Lots of info on local real estate, and big real estate advertising section. You will get flavor for what is going on. You can get an online subscription that gives you a pdf of the weekly paper. It is cheap.

For example:


 
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You are right about Brigantine. I live down there and there are amount of housings being torn down and triple deckers being built is crazy. There are 3 main local builders in the city.
And that’s why some Shore towns have a ceiling on how high you can actually build.
 
You may want to consider Belmar and Lake Como.
There are still opportunities for mixed commercial/residential redevelopment on Main Street. New projects in the works. Also, some of the middle teens streets can use some rehab/redeveopment. It is the remaining frontier of redevelopment in Belmar.

Suggest subscription to The Coast Star, which covers Avon, Bradley Beach, Belmar, Spring Lake, Belmar, Sea Girt and Manasquan. Lots of info on local real estate, and big real estate advertising section. You will get flavor for what is going on. You can get an online subscription that gives you a pdf of the weekly paper. It is cheap.

For example:


I can see the man’s concern in the article about what’s planned for the Belmar Inn spot. On one hand something like that was already there, on the other the permanence part of the condos is different.

Also, maybe other towns do this but I love the banners Lake Como puts up on Main Street for all the graduating HS seniors who live there. Has their picture, the HS they went to and where they are going to college (if known). A nice little slice of small town America. 🇺🇸
 
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I can see the man’s concern in the article about what’s planned for the Belmar Inn spot. On one hand something like that was already there, on the other the permanence part of the condos is different.

Also, maybe other towns do this but I love the banners Lake Como puts up on Main Street for all the graduating HS seniors who live there. Has their picture, the HS they went to and where they are going to college (if known). A nice little slice of small town America. 🇺🇸
Lake Como should merge with Belmar and be done with it. They built that existing town hall not that long ago, and IIRC, it had structural issues. Now they want a new town hall? And they finally caved to have all of their emergency services provided by Belmar. So what is the point of having a Mayor and Town Council? Just seems unnecessary for a town that stretches from N Blvd South to 16th Ave, bordered by the tracks and B Street East-West. 🤷‍♂️
But there seems to be a push to develop Main Street in Belmar, which seems to extend into Lake Como with more and more mixed use storefronts on ground and apartments above. I'm kind of surprised they are all filled or filling up with tenants. That project by the Belmar train station was quite large. It is mind boggling that some people commuted (and still do) to NYC from Manasquan, Spring Lake and Belmar daily for 9-5 jobs.
 
Lake Como should merge with Belmar and be done with it. They built that existing town hall not that long ago, and IIRC, it had structural issues. Now they want a new town hall? And they finally caved to have all of their emergency services provided by Belmar. So what is the point of having a Mayor and Town Council? Just seems unnecessary for a town that stretches from N Blvd South to 16th Ave, bordered by the tracks and B Street East-West. 🤷‍♂️
But there seems to be a push to develop Main Street in Belmar, which seems to extend into Lake Como with more and more mixed use storefronts on ground and apartments above. I'm kind of surprised they are all filled or filling up with tenants. That project by the Belmar train station was quite large. It is mind boggling that some people commuted (and still do) to NYC from Manasquan, Spring Lake and Belmar daily for 9-5 jobs.
They also have a Board of Education with no school(s).
 
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You are right about Brigantine. I live down there and there are amount of housings being torn down and triple deckers being built is crazy. There are 3 main local builders in the city.

I’ve only been frequenting Brigantine for about 3 years (wife introduced me - her family basically grew up summering there for the past 50 years).

It’s definitely changing and changing fast. COVID and the real estate market has accelerated it for sure. Stone Harbor, Avalon, SIC have become so overpriced that people have realized what a hidden gem Brigantine was. It’s so quiet and laid back and I love that it’s a straight shot down the Expressway/Route 30/Backroads and I don’t have to deal with the Parkway traffic (coming from Marlton).

Hoping to eventually buy property there before it gets out of control.
 
I’ve only been frequenting Brigantine for about 3 years (wife introduced me - her family basically grew up summering there for the past 50 years).

It’s definitely changing and changing fast. COVID and the real estate market has accelerated it for sure. Stone Harbor, Avalon, SIC have become so overpriced that people have realized what a hidden gem Brigantine was. It’s so quiet and laid back and I love that it’s a straight shot down the Expressway/Route 30/Backroads and I don’t have to deal with the Parkway traffic (coming from Marlton).

Hoping to eventually buy property there before it gets out of control.
Spillover happens when you run out of room.

And I hope you get what you want down there.👍
 
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You may want to consider Belmar and Lake Como.
There are still opportunities for mixed commercial/residential redevelopment on Main Street. New projects in the works. Also, some of the middle teens streets can use some rehab/redeveopment. It is the remaining frontier of redevelopment in Belmar.

Suggest subscription to The Coast Star, which covers Avon, Bradley Beach, Belmar, Spring Lake, Belmar, Sea Girt and Manasquan. Lots of info on local real estate, and big real estate advertising section. You will get flavor for what is going on. You can get an online subscription that gives you a pdf of the weekly paper. It is cheap.

For example:



If a listing stays on the market in any of those towns for more than 5 days or so it's likely either dilapidated and/or too much of a flood insurance risk. The market is insane there at the moment.
 
I’ve only been frequenting Brigantine for about 3 years (wife introduced me - her family basically grew up summering there for the past 50 years).

It’s definitely changing and changing fast. COVID and the real estate market has accelerated it for sure. Stone Harbor, Avalon, SIC have become so overpriced that people have realized what a hidden gem Brigantine was. It’s so quiet and laid back and I love that it’s a straight shot down the Expressway/Route 30/Backroads and I don’t have to deal with the Parkway traffic (coming from Marlton).

Hoping to eventually buy property there before it gets out of control.
If something becomes available jump on it, there is no inventory. Hopefully more homes come on the market. There is still a ton of knockdowns here so the development of this island is going to continue for the foreseeable future.
 
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