Home Repairs and Maintenance

Seasonal Maintenance & Repairs

Spring has finally sprung so it’s time to give your property a bit of TLC by  performing some Preventative Maintenance. (PM for short)

For in-depth articles on PM, both inside and out, click on the Prevenative Maintenance link for articles on property maintenance and care. Also, you can watch a short 3 minuite video below.

Inflation Up, Sales Down, Jobless Claims Up…yet again.

Round and round we go…when the pain stops…nobody knows…

Twenty five months into the worst recession since the Great Depression- still no relief on the horizon.

In case you were confused by the pompous distortion coming from Washington (especially the left) RE will clarify the FACTS for you. The Department of Labor stated that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% last month, after increasing 0.4% in November. This mainly due to a RISE in food and energy costs. Great, gasoline prices are double of what they were a year ago and now food prices are climbing. Just what the American public needs right now.

Well, maybe we can offset the inflation with that raise we are all expecting, right? Oh no, that’s right. Wages have DECREASED, as real hourly earnings fell in December.

Some more sobering news,  retail sales in December fell 0.3% and excluding autos, sales decreased 0.2 percent. This was the biggest yearly sales drop on record. How about auto sales? Oh yes, they are falling just as predicted- once the CARS program ended.

Now to the employment scene, or lack thereof. Jobless claims INCREASED by 11,000 last week. Gee, only 440,750 persons applied for initial jobless benefits. What? What? What? How is that possible (asks a dumbfounded pelosi, reid, obama and the rest of the peanut gallery on the left)

Oh but wait. The rhetoric claims that even though unemployment CONTINUES, it’s slowing. Oh, I  s e e. Wow, that must be great news for the nearly 35 million total unemployed (U-6) workers in the U.S. Whew, what a relief.

Well how about housing? There must be some good news in the housing sector, no? No. Foreclosures for 2009 hit an all-time  record high with 2.8 million properties seized. For 2010, most predictions are even worse as a new crop of homeowners will fall into delinquency- because of a LACK of JOBS. Simply put, the unemployed are not going to be able to avoid impending foreclosure.

So while the left attempts to distract the public with health care and such, making outrageously false claims about adding two million jobs, etc. America keeps declining. Slowly but steadily, further declining. Folks, there is no good news at all, economically and/or socially. Things are very bleak for the majority of the country, without an immediate end in sight.

A Falseness will always bring a falling away…

The latest housing data shows that U.S. home sales have risen about 21% from October 2008, while the median price has fallen another 7%- to about $173,000. While the news may appear to be good, don’t be fooled by the mirage in the desert.

The rhetoric of a “housing recovery” or “the worst is over”  that is coming from a contingent of agents/brokers, bankers, politicians and economists are simply lies. Their principles are false and their arguing deceptive, there is no recovery of the housing market- yet.

But there are a few bright, logical analysts who understand the market, market  analyzation and business cycles. Those who can parse out artificial statistics and know how to apply the proper metrics and valuation techniques in order to provide true data. Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global Insight stated, “The only reason we’re seeing good numbers is because of government policies, along with record low home prices- that are propping the market up,” “Housing is still fundamentally weak.”

Still fundamentally weak. Of course sales are going to increase, give a buyer $8,000 (in cash) coupled with extremely low prices and there will be activity. News flash- Once the government welfare runs dry and more jobs are lost, sales will die. Loans will falter. Foreclosures will rise. Recovery? Not in your wildest, do-nothing, easy money-making, real estate agent dreams.

Retail in Ruin

National Retail Market

U.S. Retail sales for October is said to have risen 1.4%, a slight increase from September’s 2.3% decline. Month over month the reality is only a modest if not negligible 0.9%. Let’s not overlook the fact that these numbers always get revised and more than likely, the 1.4% increase will be revised downward next month.

0.9% is virtually nothing, in fact it is flat for all intents and purposes. But the government and the banks, who’s puppet economists all in the play, would have the public believing different. Theater of the absurd, now on tour across the nation with special performances in Washington, only this week seemed to ‘get’ that at the crux of the massive economic recession, is JOBS.

The labor market, is not, as pontificated by some, a lagging indicator. When unemployment reaches double digits and more importantly, there are no new jobs being created, unemployment becomes a coincident and in the nations current situation, even a leading indicator of the economy. Unemployment will most likely reach 12% or more in 2010 as the recession is predicted to continue for at least another year.

Retail businesses are continuing to falter and close at an alarming rate. Third Quarter overall retail space vacancy was 7.6%, up almost 2% from Q2. Strip malls alone have a running vacancy rate of nearly 12%. The colossal ramping up of pre-holiday sales from major retailers Walmart, Target and Kmart/Sears is a clear indicator of just how troubled the economy and these companies truly are.

Regional News

Here in the Garden State, by the Third Quarter retail vacancies rose to 8.2% and now stands at over 10%. As of October 31, as reported by NJ Biz, another 14 single store businesses had closed their doors for good.  Add to that, Ohio based InkStop, who had 9 stores operating in New Jersey, until October 1st. Initially, the company announced a “temporary” closing, to shore up financial debts and reorganize the chain. But on November 10th it was an entirely different story.

“As of November 10th, InkStop has filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.” This according to the board of directors. The company owes $48 million to more than a 1,000 creditors. A company spokesman stated that the debt is too large to recover from and there would be no way to reopen and will instead liquidate its assets and close for good.

On top of the vacancy problems nationally and in New Jersey, are the mounting loan defaults for commercial real estate. Currently $3.6 BILLION dollars worth of commercial mortgages are distressed in NJ and that number is predicted to reach $7.4 BILLION by 2011- according to Foresight Analytics.

InkStop’s closings are just another dreadful sign that retail and the economy continues to spiral downward and significantly suffer, despite the propaganda still coming from the government. There are many questions to be answered, but the single most important is not health care or climate change issues, It is employment issues. The restoration and creation of jobs.

Nothing except jobs will lead an economic recovery, NOT housing, stock/bond markets, not retail. Why? Because in order for consumers to SPEND money, they first have to EARN money. A concept that even a first grader can grasp except for this leftist administration, a concept they have yet to understand.

One has to wonder what this mock administration has been doing for the last 10 months, except placating to dictators around the world. One also has to wonder if their goal is not to cripple the U.S. economy in an effort to take complete control through government intervention. If there were a complete collapse of the financial sector, they could move to seize all and every business in the nation.

Make no mistake, there is another bubble being created, a money bubble that has been growing by TARP, Stimulus and other borrowed tax payer dollars. The banks are borrowing money they can’t repay, the government is borrowing against future generations that is set to collapse the U.S.- unless something is done to stop and reverse the apparent move towards a centrally planned economy.

Smoke and Mirrors

The recent activity of home sales in markets which are affordable to first-time buyers, are being driven mainly by foreclosures and short sales. Subsequently, the typical or average homes for sale are not moving yet.

Then there are the too few sales in expensive cities and towns thanks in part to a lack of financing creating the impression that these overly priced homes are significantly decreasing in price. Which they are not.

Overall, sales continue to be negative to flat with foreclosures still rolling along and gaining speed. Absorbtion/inventory is just about at 10 months, which is much too high- about 4 months over normal levels.

On the labor front, it’s also more bad news. The current administration is now in damage control mode- gushing about how sorry they are for stating that the job market and economy is much worse than they predicted.

Retail sales for June are expected to be down- yet again, somewhere between -5% and -6%. Bankruptcies and closings for major retailers continue to loom as well.

The jobless rate will keep climbing and consequently so will loan defaults, which will only add fuel to foreclosure fire. Delinquencies on credit card debt and home equity loans soared to an all-time high in the first quarter of 2009.

Meanwhile…inventories will keep increasing as a result- and the housing market recovery won’t even get a city block out of the gate.

Geographic-Market Study: Route 22/Green Brook, NJ

RE Report/Analysis

Update I

Route 22 in Green Brook to the edges of North Plainfield New Jersey is home to a large and dense contingent of commercial businesses. The Route 22 Green Brook-No. Plainfield section is a part of a massive commercial – light industrial, 31 mile corridor that basically extends all the way from Hillside out to Whitehouse.

RE has recently conducted an in-house Geographical market analysis of saturation, property type and vacancy statistics within the 3.3 mile stretch of Route 22 from Warrenville Road in Green Brook to West End Avenue at the outskirts of No. Plainfield. This section is a key, high-traffic retail/service area for Bernards, Warren, Green Brook, Dunellen Watchung and No. Plainfield.

The 3.3 mile market area contains almost all commercial properties. The exception are three apartment building complexes- one on the west side and two on the east bound side of 22. Other than these apartment complex units there no current residential dwellings directly on Route 22.

Property and sub Types:

Commercial Retail/Service – 103 sub-total

• Strip Centers –              13
• Commercial Offices –  2
• Big-Box Retailers –      1
• Anchor Stores –            5
• Car Dealerships –          6
• Banks –                              5
• Numerous eateries and businesses make up the remainder

GC/Industrial – 4 sub-total  |  107 total properties (non-residential)

Within the 3.3 mile corridor along Route 22 are 107 commercial-industrial units, either contained in strip-centers/stores or free-standing structures. There are approximately 4 strip-center/stores with a 32 unit per mile ratio- along the Green Brook commercial corridor.

Of the 107 total properties, there are 24 vacant units. Of those 24 vacancies, 19 are advertised for rent, 2 listed for sale, and 3 are abandoned. The three abandoned properties include a brand new Circuit City that was built and completed just as the company announced liquidation. Two additional empty free-standing units; one commercial store front, the other a general commercial trucking parts building.

Geographical vacancy rate analysis

• 107 units / 26 completely vacant = 24% total vacancy rate
• 107 units / 21 vacant (for lease/sale) = 20% vacancy rate
•  26 vacant properties / 3.3 miles = 7.9 vacant units per mile ratio

Regarding the total amount of properties and the number of vacant units in such a dense, short stretch, the approximate 25% overall vacancy rate is considered very high.

One-quarter of all properties in the Green Brook commercial corridor are empty. Given the moderate to high incomes of the immediate and surrounding towns, it proves that no one area is immune to the deep recession/mild depression we are in.

These closings create more job loss for employees and store owners alike. Also, there are the after effects of job loss that will continue to hurt the economy; such as loan deliquencies, loan defaults and probable home foreclosures as a result. Unemployment in general is still rising while consumer confidence is still slipping.

Though perhaps the loss of some businesses may be a positive for the remaining ones. Subsequently, these retailers might see an increase in sales and/or traffic. But that scenario remains to be seen.

No one knows for sure how long this economic crisis will last, but you can be sure that there are a lot of store owners and retailers holding on by threads- hoping it will end sooner rather than later.

More Abysmal News for NJ’s Economy

RE Report/Analysis

Update I

In long line of New Jersey businesses that have gone liquid or bankrupt, there are now 30 more you can add to the dole.

Here is the list of the 30 franchises that was delivered to the unfortunate New Jersey Chrysler/Jeep Dealers.

Certainly this is not good news for each town and city these dealerships are located in. It means more job loss and less economic activity, which will only prolong the mild depression the nation is already in.

Chrysler/Jeep Dealerships to close in NJ:

1. Berlin
2. Butler
3. Belle Mead
4. Cape May Court House
5. Elmer
6. Green Brook
7. Peapack
8. Orange
9. Manahawkin
10. Englewood
11. Hightstown
12. Kearny
13. Cherry Hill
14. Hamilton Square
15. Paramus
16. Runnemede
17. Marlton
18. Parsippany
19. Maple Shade
20. Shrewsbury
21. Woodbridge
22. Neptune
23. Rutherford
24. Jersey City
25. Wayne
26. Rahway
27. Tenafly
28. Trenton
29. Wyckoff
30. Westwood

On May 14, Chrysler LLC sent letters by United Parcel Service to Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers. That same day Chysler had sent an official request to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York to close about 25% of its 3,181-dealer network, 30 located in NJ.

Within the past nine months New Jersey has lost a significant amount of retail businesses. A collective of franchises, chain stores, independent merchants and big-box/department store retailers.

RE has compiled a short list of companies/businesses throughout New Jersey and in specific regional areas that have recently closed doors. Some16 major companies have either liquidated or closed up certain stores/franchises within the past week to the previous 9 months.

Chain/Company Owned Liquidations

Circuit City | Fortunoff  |  Drug fair |  Office Depot –  State Wide

Filene’s Basement |  L-N-T  |  Marty’s  –  State Wide

Chain/Company Owned Store Closings

DCH Auto Group/Saturn Stores – Eatontown, North Brunswick

InkStop –  Ledgewood, Rockaway and Wayne

Rite Aid – No. Plainfield

Ruby Tuesday – Green Brook

Jiffy Lube – Green Brook

Franchises

Stone Cold Creamery – Warren

Quiznos – Warren

Dairy Queen – The Hills of Bernards

BP/Amoco – Green Brook

Independent Businesses

Citizens Community Bank – Ridgewood

Basking in Java – Basking Ridge

Those 16 major retailers added to the 30 Chrysler Dealerships will have and had have a tremendous impact on the New Jersey economy.

There are some in Trenton who are attempting to paint a rosy picture, saying things like the downturn has peaked and we should be coming out this crisis soon.  But the reality is and will be much different. New Jersey should not expect economic recovery any time soon.

National Foreclosures Hit Record High- Yet Again.

  From Bloomberg:

May 13 — Foreclosure filings in the U.S. rose to a record for the second consecutive month in April as banks increased efforts to seize homes from delinquent borrowers.

A total of 342,038 properties received a default or auction notice or were seized last month, RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, California, said today in a statement. One in 374 households got a filing, the highest monthly rate since the property data service began issuing such reports in 2005.

“What you’re seeing is the inevitable result of severe job losses,” Nicolas Retsinas, director of housing studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said in an interview. “Until we stem the job losses, we can expect to see continuing foreclosures.”

New Jersey’s Rate:

New Jersey had the 22nd highest rate, one in 695 households, and filings fell 4 percent to 5,034.

Full story here:  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYokz_rb3kbw&refer=home#

Grand-Am Racing Series- Back in Jersey

Milleville NJ,

New Jersey Motorsports Park, or Thunderbolt Raceway as it is better known by, will play host again this weekend for the second year to the Grand American Road Racing Series.

Daytona Prototypes (pictured above) and GT cars are showcased in the Grand-Am Rolex Series. The series will feature both classes on Thunderbolt’s course simultaneously. The Rolex Series features some of the top teams in motorsports, including Chip Ganassi Racing Brumos Porsche and Penske Racing.

The 700+ acre sprawling, country-club type raceway opened in 2008 and has hosted the ARCA series along with the Grand-Am Series. This season the track will add the AMA Superbike Series as well.

The $150 million world class Motorsports complex is considered one of the more premier tracks in the country. The track contains an exclusive motorsports country club known as the Drivers Club, unique trackside Villa homes and the Shade Tree Garages which are secure garage suites.

Later this year a world-class driving school will open their head quarters at NJMP. The track broke ground in 2007 and was partially designed by Harvey Siegel and legendary racer, Caroll Shelby.

The facility provides about 180 jobs for the local area and has 60 corporate partnerships for the 2009 season. The positive impact on the travel and leisure industry is a plus for the south Jersey area.  The track is expected to bring in a host of other related businesses in the near and long term future.

Leading the Lambs to the Slaughter

RE Report/Analysis 

April 21st in New Jersey marks the school budget and school board elections.  So why April 21st and not the first Tuesday in November then? When all other elections take place?

By design. Typically, only 12% to 13% of voters actually vote on April 21st. By discouraging the majority of voters away from the poles the more likely for success. (the majority of any community are usually low-middle and middle income bracket citizens)

Not to mention that is costs the TAX PAYERS- SIX MILLION dollars to hold these elections. It is irresponsible and an outrageous waste of tax payer money.

Hidden agenda

Through deceptive and mis-leading practices, the designers basically keep the voting pool low in numbers. Which makes it easier to manipulate the few un-informed voters of the low/middle income brackets. Also, by discouraging the majority of these sheep, the minority (the wealthy-the co-creators and scripters the budgets) band together to railroad enormous and corrupt school budgets through.

Fat and Bloated

Here are some comparisons; The 2009 national average cost per student per year is $10,700. The average cost per student in New Jersey is an outrageous $13,539 for 2009, which is up 5.9% from the actual average cost in 2008. The difference between the national and the NJ average is a whopping 26%.

In New Jersey, the average property tax assessment allotted for public school funding is 72% of your tax bill.  Fact-New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation and New Jersey has the second highest overall Tax Burden in the nation. New Jersey is at its limit and tearing apart at the seams.

Thousands of residents are leaving as a result of unaffordability. Thousands are moving to more affordable states, as proven in 2008, where for the first time in decades the ratio of people exiting was higher than people entering NJ.

During the past 16 months of one of worst and the deep recessions, salaries have been frozen and there have been massive layoff’s. Funding for all programs across the state have been reduced or eliminated and budgets have been cut.

So why then would it be acceptable to INCREASE the schools budgets across the sate? Yes, there will be a few districts that vote down their proposed bloated budgets. But the majority of those overweight and irresponsible budgets will pass.

New Jersey is facing an approximate 3 BILLION dollar budget short-fall for 2009. NJ unemployment is 8.3% and is expected to go much higher, even touching 10%. There is a glut of homes sitting on the market and a pending onslaught of more foreclosures to come.

It is simply Fiscally Irresponsible to pass any school budget this year. There is NO one reason why every single school in New Jersey CANNOT operate utilizing the same budget as in 2008. It is Ridiculous to think otherwise. It is criminal to be convinced otherwise as well.

One major problem is that there is NO analysis of any kind of these huge and costly budgets. They are created and proposed then usually pased without ANY scrutiny at all. This is democracy? This is transparency? No, this is New Jersey- where corruption, waste and the wealthy decide what’s best for you.

But like most of the sheep that live and reside here in the garden state, you just don’t seem to mind or even care. April 21st represents a day where you, the majority, can actually directly affect the irresponsible, out of control spending and enormous property taxes. Unfortunately it is a power that many of the sheep refuse to exercise.

Contrary to what many simplistic and wealthy house Frau’s will have you believe, voting No is  the responsible thing to do when these bloated budgets can be reduced without negatively affecting school kids.

If you took the time to study the spending of the non-essential budget lines, you would see then understand that most of the spending is wasteful. Do you know what percent of the budget is for administrative salaries?

Do you know how much your superintendent and other school official contracts are for? You should, because these enormously impact spending. Six figure salaries are the norm here in New Jersey, while teacher wages pale in comparison.

It is time to hold your educational leaders ( or in this case here in NJ, educational fleecers) accountable for balancing education with fiscal restraint and responsibility. But in order to that, most of the entrenched corrupt school board and school officials need to be eliminated.

Do you know who are voting for in the board elections? Do you know who is running the show? You probably do not. Like any well-behaved sheep of the flock, all you seem to care about is- where is your next meal and watching garbage like “american idiot” or “dancing with the dopes”.

It is time to wake up New Jersey, pull your sheepish heads out of your a**ses and take back your state from the corrupt and criminal politicians and cohorts who spend YOUR money without any regard to your well-being what so ever.

If you care about your kids, your family, your town, your state and your future- you WILL vote, and you will vote NO on April 21st. Send the message, that you are fed up and sick and tired of being fleeced and lied to.

Stand up for what is right and what is just. Tell these corrupt, out of touch politicians, community leaders, and never-held-a-job wealthy house Frau’s that you have had enough- by Voting NO.