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Update on the Rental Market on Long Beach Island

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Photo Apr 21, 2 56 41 PM

The beach at Taylor Ave. in Beach Haven
taken 4/21/13

The market for Vacation Rentals on Long Beach Island is definitely in full swing!  We have been doing our best to get the word out that the Island is fine and will be ready for summer.  From a video series on our YouTube Channel, Van Dyk Group LBI, to our Facebook page, Long Beach Island Rentals by Van Dyk Group, we have been spotlighting businesses and the LBI area as we get ready for the summer season.

The good news is that visitors and renters are getting that message!  The last few weeks has seen a noticeable increase in rental inquiries, as well as people booking their vacation rental.  In April of this year, our bookings are running ahead of last year.

Right now, we currently have over 500 homes available to rent for the summer, and we are getting more every week.  We are expecting the next few months leading up to summer to be busy, with warmer weather, along with the news of all the Island favorites opening back up.

Our Rental Webpage is fully interactive, with a Quick Search as well and Advanced Search page, where renters can search for their own specific needs.  Be sure and let us know if you need help finding a rental.

It’s looks like it will be a great summer on Long Beach Island! We hope to see you here!

The Signs are Everywhere on LBI

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Spring is starting this week!  A time of renewed growth, warmer temperatures, and new beginnings.  On Long Beach Island, there are signs everywhere that spring is here, and we are ready for those new beginnings!

 

Photo Mar 17, 12 30 09 PM (2)

TD Bank is out of the trailer and back in their renovated building

 

Photo Mar 17, 12 33 19 PM

Stefano’s Seafood will re-open its doors in April

 

 

Photo Mar 17, 12 36 09 PM

CHEGG made their re-opening announcement on March 15th

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Murphy’s Market in Beach Haven posted this sign in mid-March

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seems there is not a week that goes by, where another business, restaurant, grocery store, etc is re-opening their doors after a long winter off.  We have all been working hard to make sure Long Beach Island is ready for the summer of 2013.

So far, all Signs indicate it is going to be a great summer!

 

 

 

Some LBI Rental Houses are Ready, most will be available for Summer 2013

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In the second video in our series highlighting Long Beach Island and our preparation for Summer 2013, I give an update on the status Rentals on LBI.  We have many houses that are available to rent for the summer, some of which are all ready repaired and ready to go.

 

 

Look for more videos coming out this week, with interviews from some local business owners.  They will be giving us updates on when they will be opening, and how they are preparing for Summer 2013.

Its looking like most businesses and homes will be ready for the summer.  Even the beach is looking good, with crews out there everyday rebuilding the dunes.

We are all preparing for a great summer!

Long Beach Island Bouncing Back After Sandy

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This week, The Van Dyk Group launched its own YouTube channel in conjunction with the first video in our new series highlighting LBI as we get ready for the summer of 2013.

It has been a long winter on LBI as we recover from SuperStorm Sandy.  However, everyday, more an more businesses are re-opening in advance of summer.

 

 

We will be interviewing many local business owners, some who have opened all ready and some who will be open this summer.  Keep an eye out for these videos on our YouTube channel.

The message is clear.  LBI is alive and well and will be ready for a great 2013 summer season.

Spring Ahead to New Beginnings on LBI

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Now that March has arrived, next week we will spring ahead into daylight savings time. But businesses on LBI have all ready started moving forward. With each passing week, more and more businesses are re-opening their doors for the first time since Super Storm Sandy hit four months ago.

 

Nardi's

 

The sign says it all! Friday, March 1st, Nardi’s Tavern and Grille re-opened with a 3-10pm Happy Hour with a local favorite, the Rock Lobsters, playing most of the night. The local night life has always been an attraction for LBI, and Nardi’s has been a cornerstone in local nightlife. It is always good to see long-time Island businesses coming back Continue reading →

A Week “Choc” Full of Events on LBI

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This week is the official start to Chocolate Week, a yearly tradition on Long Beach Island of promotional events put together by the Southern Ocean Chamber of Commerce.  Most businesses on LBI will have a chocolate theme for the week, including chocolate treats for customers and visitors.  With many highlighted events, including the Third Annual Bartender Competition, happening on Feb 12th at  TGIFriday’s in Manahawkin, and the After Hours at the Chamber Visitors Center on Feb 13th.

The week will conclude with a jam packed weekend starting on Feb 15th with the Networking and Vendor Event at the Spray Beach Inn.

The weekend will continue with the Grand Reopening of Fantasy Island Amusement Park in Beach Haven.  At noon on Feb 16th, Fantasy Island will be open for the first time since Super Storm Sandy paid LBI a visit back in late October.  They will also be open again at 10am on Feb 18th, President’s Day.

Also happening on Feb 16th is the Beach Haven Fire Company’s 96th Annual Turkey Dinner.  This year, more than ever, the Volunteer Fire Company needs as much support as possible.  They have worked tirelessly to help restore LBI, with some also enduring hardships of their own.

Another Beach Haven re-opening kicks off on Sun, Feb 17th, with The Gables hosting a Wedding Open House from 11am-2pm.

These are much welcomes events, as having our businesses open and continuing long standing traditions are essential to restoring Long Beach Island.

You can also look for hotel and restaurant deals, as well as many sales from the local shops all around LBI.  There will also be many Vacation and Rental Open Houses hosted by local real estate agents, most of which will be chocolate themed of course.

The overall message, Long Beach Island is alive, open, and well on it’s way back!

 

 

 

A Little bit of Normalcy

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Normalcy has become an often used word at the Jersey Shore lately. It is what most local homeowners and businesses are longing for, some normalcy. The past few weekends on Long Beach Island have provided a little taste of that, in what hopefully is a sign of things to come.

Last weekend was a holiday weekend for many people, and usually a very busy weekend on LBI. It is typically the beginning of the rental season, as LBI goers start to come down and look for rental houses for the upcoming summer. But after Sandy, there was a lot of uncertainty as to whether tenants would come and see that the damage on LBI is not as bad as has been reported. The worry was that they would move on to places south, like Delaware or Maryland, that were not hit as hard by Super Storm Sandy.

The good news is that it felt like a normal Martin Luther King Weekend. Our rental agents were busy with appointments all weekend, and walk-in traffic was similar to years past. There are some challenges, as not all of our units are ready to rent, and some are in the middle of being repaired. But in all, there are plenty of places that are available to rent for the summer of 2013.

That trend continued this weekend, Jan 26 and 27, as again we had a good amount of walk-in traffic and agents busy with appointments showing rental homes.

We have all ready received authorizations from many owners whose homes were not damaged Continue reading →

Some questions answered, but many still remain post-Sandy

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When FEMA released its new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) on Dec 15th, 2012, it answered some questions about moving forward, but it also left many questions still unanswered.  To this day, many of these questions still remain unanswered and frustration is growing among homeowners.  That frustration was on display at a meeting FEMA held in Little Egg Harbor on January 4th.

While there are many questions that are still unanswered, we can look to the information that has all ready been released to deduce some of the answers.

The first bit of information that we can use to draw conclusions from is the rate maps themselves.  It outlines what the new advisory elevations are for a given area.  There are two elevation numbers that are highlighted on the new maps.  The 1% number is the elevation required so that the home will withstand a 100 year flood.  The .2% number is the elevation required to withstand a more powerful 500 year flood.

The maps also lets you know what Flood Zone a property lies in.  There are 3 different flood zones that a property will fall under, and those zones, and a brief description, are as follows;

 

Zone V:  The area is subject to high velocity wave action, which is described as 3 foot breaking waves, as a result of the 1% annual chance of a flood (100 year flood).  Homes in this zone have a higher risk of flood than other zones, and building requirements are more strict in a V zone.  Also, flood insurance rates will be higher for those homes in a V zone.

Zone A: The area is subject to storm surge flooding from a 1% annual flood chance (100 year flood).   Homes in this zone are not subject to high velocity wave action but are still considered high risk flood areas.

Zone X: These are areas of moderate coastal flood risk outside the 1% annual flood chance (100 year flood) up to the .2% annual flood chance (500 year storm)

 

The next thing you must find out is if the Township that your residence is in will determine Continue reading →

LBI is Open and on it’s Way Back

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As much of the of the Jersey Shore area is still reeling from the effects of Super Storm Sandy, there are also a lot of Jersey Shore areas that are up and running and ready for business.

An article recently published on NewsWorks New Jersey by shore area writer Jen A. Miller, tells of how Cape May was faring a little over a month after the storm hit. “Cape May looked like it should on a Monday in December” says Miller of the late fall day she visited the Southern Jersey Shore town, and added “Evidence of Sandy is hard to find here. You must know where to look.”

North of that in Ocean City, where the center of the storm passed through, many businesses are all ready recovered. A recent article in the Atlantic City Press starts by saying that “Ninety percent of Ocean City’s businesses have been restored since Hurricane Sandy caused citywide flooding seven weeks ago”.

You can add Long Beach Island to the list of shore towns well on their way to recovery. The Southern Ocean Chamber of Commerce is keeping an updated list of all the businesses that are open on their website, with the list up to around 100 strong. They also created a video series with interviews from local business owners that have all ready re-opened. Here is the first of the video series:

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There are still many places that are damaged on LBI, but the overall the Island Continue reading →

New Base Elevation Requirements are Released

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This past weekend, FEMA released the new flood elevation maps for those areas that were affected by Super Storm Sandy.  Here you will be able to search by address and find out what the Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFE) is for that property.  It is choked full of other information as well.

After entering the address, and clicking “Get Details” you will not only get the new AFBE, it will also give you the old base elevation, as well as what Flood Zone the property is in.  There are also numerous links to other reports and information regarding the elevation of the property.*

While this is going to apply to any new homes that are built in flood zones, it will also apply to those homes that the are deemed to “substantially damaged” by the Township in which the property is located.  On the Long Beach Township home page, they explain this a little more in the “Repair Your Flood Damaged Home” section about a quarter of the way down the page.  They also explain that if the home is deemed to be substantially damage, you must now meet the the required flood elevation for that location.  They also give some guidance as to what the Township will deemed as substantially damaged.

Of course each town’s requirements may be slightly different, but this is an example what homeowners need to take into consideration when they are deciding what to do with their damaged homes.

 

*Update as of December 19, 2012 – All owners should click on the “Link to AFBE Map” to view the actual map.   Continue reading →