I do believe that Ridgewood is different. Not better or worse – just different. Real Estate is very local and some individual countries, regions, states, municipalities, etc. will always thrive while many others decline. Real Estate and stocks are similar in many ways but all real estate will not rise and fall in unison like certain stocks do. All bank stocks may fall when new regulations are announced and all chip stocks may fall in sympathy when Intel reports bad earnings but it does not work this way in real estate.

Ridgewood has taken a hit but not nearly the hit that other places have because of its excellent school system, proximity to NYC, unique housing, great downtown, family oriented cultural and sports programs, train station, etc.

I am definitely an optimist and will always lean that ways but I feel pretty strongly that Ridgewood’s Downtown will be fine. Yes, there are some vacant stores but it doesn’t amount to a ton of square footage. It is mostly the smaller storefronts that are gone and they will eventually be replaced by a new crop of entrepreneurs. The large store closings are a bit more troubling but there are not many of them and they will eventually be rented as well.

My point about downtown commercial real estate is as much about community as it is money. Have you been downtown lately? Its more than a ’small %’ and it is growing rapidly. Yes bigger will fall, altho i don’t know the cadillac dealer situation. Downtown won’t ever be the same, it is slowly becoming an eyesore rather than a selling point.

PS NJ teachers union wants more money to educate our children, who is going to pick up that tab? Did you see the head of the teachers union makes $270k plus a pension, according to sunday’s local paper? maybe we both should find a gig like that…

LLL

La La Land – I bet the answer you are looking for is that homeowners will have to pick up the slack and you are probably right. I am not sure what % of tax revenue comes from businesses vs. homeowners but have a feeling you might. Can you share your info?

Given the number of households in Ridgewood I can’t imagine the small % of small Ridgewood Ave. stores that have gone out of business will even register a blip on the tax radar but if we see more large businesses like Brogan Cadillac go out of business, or move out of town, that will be a different story.

I did not take offense (well not very much anyway). I know what the general public’s opinion is of real estate agents. In fact, I have written about it on this blog. Click here to see:

http://ridgewoodfrontporch.com/2008/09/27/attention-self-loathing-realtors-top-4-reasons-everyone-hates-youincluding-me/

I was VP of sales at an internet start-up and then held a senior sales position at Reuters before getting into real estate. When I told my mother I was leaving my job to become a real estate agent – she cried. She felt the same way everyone else does about real estate agents. That said, my son had developed a seizure disorder and I needed to work closer to home so I didn’t much care about anything other than being closer to home. I was always interested in real estate so it was a perfect fit for me. Being in real estate allows me to be home to eat dinner with my children every night and coach their sports teams and I love what I am doing so I don’t worry too much about the general perception of real estate agents. I can only control what I do and anyone that knows me will tell you I am an ethical, principled business person.

You do make some valid points. None of us knows where the market is headed for certain but I never intentionally misrepresent anything. I believe in real estate as a long term investment. I believe Ridgewood is the real estate equivalent of a blue-chip stock. It may go down temporarily, and every investment has risks, but you can’t get much safer than Ridgewood when it comes to real estate. And to be brutally honest, I do make my living selling real estate so I think readers should assume that, all things being equal, I am probably going to lean toward publishing the more bullish articles.
Thanks for commenting. I welcome all comments – positive and negative. At least you are reading what I write and that is all I can hope for.

With all the vacant buildings in downtown ridgewood, who is going to pay all the property taxes?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35560806/ns/business-real_estate/

Here is the deal on real estate agents, they make money when they sell homes so they are always upbeat about the market and clients must act fast or lose out. That said, stats show that realtors sell their own houses for more than their clients (freakonomics, pick it up at amazon) because all they really want is liquidity from which to skim.

Al sounds like a good guy and there are exceptions. That said, the profession is a joke and in combination with appraisers and ratings agencies is probably more to blame for the bubble then those that took the blame. Al, keep up the good work and when the market actually does turn barney / I will let you know. In the case of Bergen county, it is going to be a long, long time.

It was meant for the industry as a whole, who always skew things to create a less than real view on housing.

Case in point: the business week article as it relates to interest rates was commented on as kind of a scare or rush tactic to get people to buy for fear of higher rates…namely a 2% increase was used. First, interest rates when they do go up will be gradual, so to avoid panic and it may take years for that to happen. No furthermore, no one knows if the market has stabilized in ridgewood or anywhere else for that matter. Several months of positive numbers doesn’t wipe out the past 3 years of losses, especially at levels above $1 mil.

All i’m saying is that everything has to be transparent and not looked at in a bubble. To point out an article in a national publication that speaks in generalities for the country doesn’t necessarily mean it works locally.

But i do applaud your blog, because it’s the best one i’ve seen from any realtor in bergen county.

Sorry, blogs welcome comments, even if we don’t like them, just sometimes they’re taken in a voice that it wasn’t meant to be.

There is no recovery, just a stabilization if that, and who knows how long it will last. Furthermore, sales may be up but the real numbers show that there was a 3 year down turn. So being “up’ only means up from the year before, which was down from the previous year and was down from the year before that and the year before that. The word recovery suggests that we’re getting back to normal…and thats a snow job, and irresponsible

Thanks for commenting. Although I don’t agree with your feedback – I do appreciate it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. The NYT article is decidedly bearish but they are in the minority. Most of the hard data points to a recovery in housing already being underway. No one can be sure of where the real estate market is heading just as no one can be sure where the stock market is heading.

For the economy’s sake, I hope I am right and you are wrong – but if I am wrong I will be the first to admit it.

Happy New Year.

-Al