Striper Season Opens

New Jersey's has 83 miles of bayshores and 127 miles of Atlantic coastline where Saltwater Stripers are plentiful. The World Record for Saltwater Striper was caught just south of Ocean County in Atlantic City following days of September Nor'easter storming in 1982. The fish measured 53 inches in length with a 34 1/2 inch girth, and was estimated to be 20 - 22 years old. Its 78 pound 8 oz. weight earned it the IGFA all-tackle record!

The striped bass begin their annual run in early spring after spawning in the Chesapeake Bay, The Roanoke and the Hudson and Delaware Rivers. This usually takes place when the water temperature hits 60 degrees. Then they leave the estuaries and begin their trek northward towards New England. Foraging all along the New Jersey coastline and the Delaware Bay on the way. The reverse takes place in the fall on their way back to their wintering grounds in North Carolina.

The closed seasons for striped bass are: January 1 through February 28 in all waters except the Atlantic Ocean from 0-3 miles offshore; and April 1 through May 31 in the Delaware River and its tributaries from the Route 1 Bridge in Trenton downstream to and including the Salem River and its tributaries. Any striped bass caught during a closed season must be released immediately. The possession or killing of a striped bass during a closed season is a violation of the law and will result in prosecution.

Also note that fishermen may possess one additional striped bass per day under the Striped Bass Bonus Fish Program subject to the following: 1) the angler must apply for and receive a fish possession card in advance of attempting to take a bonus fish; and 2) the minimum size limit for a striped bass taken under the bonus program is 28 inches

Stripers start showing in the back bays Mid March by June the spring run is in full swing. The striped bass are migrating up the coast to spawn in the hudson river around mid may when the water temps approach 60 degrees. prime water temps are 50 to 70 for stripers. The nor'east storms are what many surfcasters keep a close watch on. the jetty hoppers are out day and night. most beach rats follow the tell tale signs of birds feeding indicating a blitz of bass and or blues.

Karl Hess, Ocean County Real Estate, Keller Williams Jersey Shore

 

 

 

This Month in Real Estate Ocean County February 2011

This Month in Real Estate is a monthly video news series that offers an inside look at the national real estate market. Each edition provides a snapshot of the numbers and trends that drive the real estate market, as well as expert opinion and analysis. For information on your local real estate conditions, please contact Karl Hess.

Today's Market Trends for Ocean County

 

Average Listing Price:	$528,432	-0%
Average Listing Price/Sq Ft:	$398.06	0.02%
Average Price by Bedroom: 1 Bedroom 2 Bedrooms 3 Bedrooms 4 Bedrooms	$194,895    $271,278    $416,257    $678,050	0%        0%       -0%       -0%
Total Listings:	7865	-0.06%
Total Listings Previous Months: February December	7875    8411	0%   -0.04%

 

The Jersey Shore Home Finder is Updated Daily

This site is updated daily with new Ocean County homes for sale and properties that come on the market in the Ocean County area. Often, homes are sold within days of coming on the market. That is why it's valuable to have the full, updated homes and property data on this website. Along with the ability to view Ocean County homes for sale, you'll also get the following when you sign up:

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Ocean County Bluegrass Festival

34th Ocean County Bluegrass Festival: Sunday, Feb. 6 , 2011

 

      Noon:  High Strung

 

      12:30pm:  Heidi Olsen & The Night

        1:00pm:  Jim Murphy & The Pine Barons

        1:30pm:  Terminal Five

        2:00pm:  Jeff Propert

        2:30pm:  Intermission

        3:00pm:  Past Times

        3:30pm:  Borderline

        4:00pm:  Cindy Giejda & Friends

        4:30pm:  South Jersey Bluegrass Band

Albert Music Hall is:

"The No. 1 Thing to Do at the Jersey Shore" - Asbury Park Press

One of "52 Things Every New Jerseyan Must Do" - NJ Monthly

Albert Music Hall has been inducted in the American Folklore Center, Local Legacies Collection Archive at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

The Pinelands Cultural & Historical Preservation Society and Albert Music Hall are registered in the Moving Image Collections Directory, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Albert Music Hall is located at 131 Wells Mills Road (Rt. 532) Waretown, NJ

Karl Hess, Ocean County Real Estate

 

Adult Admission: $8.00/Children: $1.00. Doors open at 11:00am for this event!

Featuring...

Helping Veterans with Homes

A new home is being built on Long Island. Not really big news right?  Well, it should be; Using volunteer labor and supplies donated by his fellow builders, Mark Baisch of Landmark Property intends to have the home ready for occupancy by April. The price tag will be $100,000, although Mr. Baisch put the actual market value of the house "well over $300,000."

There is just one condition for any prospective buyer: he or she must be a veteran returning from Iraq or Afghanistan.

The house is one of four in Suffolk County that Long Island Home Builders Care is planning to build for soldiers coming home. Mr. Baisch donated the $80,000 property to Long Island Home Builders Care, a nonprofit group that is the charitable arm of the Long Island Builders Institute, which has more than 500 builders and re-modelers. The house is one of four in Suffolk County that Long Island Home Builders Care is planning to build for soldiers coming home.

Lois Fricke, the director of development for Long Island Home Builders Care, described the homes for service personnel as the newest mission of the builders' group. The house can be customized to the needs of the veteran.

In Nassau, Long Island, work is under way on a similar plan "that will substantially include veterans housing," said Carl Schroeter, the director of Nassau County Real Estate Planning and Development. Some of the homes will be refurbished for returning veterans.

Nassau is also working with Homes for Homecoming Heroes, a nonprofit group in Jericho, to acquire a vacant lot in Hicksville for a new below-market-rate single-family home for a returning veteran.

Larry Sklar, the director of Homes for Homecoming Heroes, said the house, to be built with volunteer labor under professional supervision, would be the first of a succession that he intended to build for veterans across the Island. Veterans will be required to put down only 1 percent, versus $700 on houses costing $9,000 each in Levittown, the large postwar planned community.   What a great idea, let's hope it catches on.  

 

Karl Hess, Ocean County Real Estate

 

This Month in Real Estate Video, January 2011

This Month in Real Estate is a monthly video news series that offers an inside look at the national real estate market. Each edition provides a snapshot of the numbers and trends that drive the real estate market, as well as expert opinion and analysis. For information on your local real estate conditions, please contact Karl Hess, your Keller Williams Jersey Shore agent. 

 

Real estate trends is a generic term used to describe any consistent pattern or change in the general direction of the real estate industry which, over the course of time, causes a statistically noticeable change. This phenomenon can be a result of the economy, a change in mortgage rates, consumer speculations, or other fundamental and non-fundamental reasons.

Click on the link below it get the latest in Real Estate information on a two minute video.  This months topic: Home Affordability.

http://karlhess.yourkwagent.com/atj/user/AdditionalPageGetAction.do?addlPageName=tmire

Karl Hess, Ocean County and Jersey Shore Real Estate

 

 

Berkeley Twp Ponders Consolidation

In an effort to reduce costs, Berkeley Township, Ocean County has assigned a committee to investigate a "modified consolidation" between the local grade school district and the regional high school district.

The Berkeley district is made up of four schools, with a student population of about 2,000 in preschool through sixth-grade. Those students move on to the Central Regional School District, which also has about 2,000 students in seventh through 12th grades. Central Regional, based in the Bayville section of Berkeley, has students not only from the township, but also from Island Heights, Ocean Gate, Seaside Heights and Seaside Park.

Under consideration is a customized version of consolidation where, for example, should a person with a particular job skill in the Berkeley schools retire, district administrators would determine whether there is someone in the Central Regional district with a similar position who could fulfill that job.

In my personal opinion, this consolidation of school districts in long overdue. There are over 500 school districts in New Jersey, in comparison, California has 1100 school districts, but has a population of 37 million compared to NJ's 9 million, not to mention the extreme differences in size.  Hopefully school district consolidation will be a growing trend within the state, especially considering the tightening of local, state and federal budgets.

Click on this link for local community information and for homes for sale in Berkeley, NJ.

Karl Hess, Ocean County and Jersey Shore Real Estate

 

 

 

Ocean County Book Drive

This Holiday Season, Give the Gift of Reading

The Ocean County Library System is holding a book drive to collect new children's books to be distributed throughout the library's "Sparks Best Friends Forever Reading Club" program.

All 21 locations of the Ocean County Library System are accepting new book donations through December 31^st, 2010, including Toms River, Barnegat, Lacey, Stafford, and Berkeley.  

Since the "Sparks Best Friends Forever Reading Club" program was started in 2008, the library has collected and distributed more than 4,000 books throughout the community.

Little know fact: By 4th or 5th grade, odds of struggling readers catching up with their peers are very low.  It is of vital importance that ALL children "keep up" with their peers and do not fall behind for their appropriate grade level.

The earliest ages a child goes through are truly his or hers most formative years. From birth, children are sifting through stimuli and learning how to interact with their surroundings and the people they're in contact with. Parents are critical to laying a foundation on which a child's education is based on. Parents are most often a child's first teachers and from them a child is taught not only fundamentals of education, but how to learn as well.

Socialization of a child is heavily influenced by his or her peer group and that includes attitudes toward learning and education. The America's Children report reflected that children's inclinations toward education also affect their ability to learn. Instilling a love for reading and encouraging your child to maintain it aids in a stronger desire to resist persuasion of peers in the negative and helps them continue to develop.

Reading is instrumental in forming a foundation on which to build a child's educational career...and forming that foundation as early as possible is key.  

For more information call the Ocean County Library at 732-349-6200 or from Southern Ocean County, call 609-971-0514.

Karl Hess, Your Real Estate Agent in Ocean County