How Properties At The South Jersey Shore Are Priced

Are you curious about how to determine market value or pricing on real estate here at the Jersey Shore? In this video, I’m going to show you how to price a Jersey Shore home correctly. I’ll explain the local factors that influence price and how to use them when buying or selling.

Why Water Matters

One of the most common questions I’m getting right now is how to determine market value or the price of a property. Here at the Jersey Shore on our barrier islands, things are done a little bit differently than what you see in the rest of the country. The reason is that we’re so close to the ocean or the bay.

A Jersey Shore home might have a water view, and that can have a great effect on property values. One of the common misconceptions we see is a focus on cost per square foot. In other parts of the country and in other markets, it’s very important. However, when it comes to our area, it’s not all that often that we even see the square footage on the MLS.

We often don’t know what the square footage is without actually measuring the property, and we don’t use cost per square foot. If you priced a property per square foot and then that property was one block closer to the beach, it doesn’t work any longer. This is because, typically speaking, the closer the property is to the beach or the waterfront and the better view it has, the more expensive it’s going to be.

Bedrooms, Bathrooms, And Beaches

What we’re focused on most commonly at the Jersey Shore is how many bedrooms and bathrooms a property has. The second factor is how close to the water is it. Lastly, what condition is it in? These things are what are going to be most important.

From there, we are going to compare and look at things like size and square footage. If one property is larger than the other one, this will have an effect on the value. However, it won’t be as large of an effect as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms or proximity to the beach.

As A Buyer

If you’re a buyer and you’re looking to purchase a property, you’re going to look at comparables—or comps. It’s commonly referred to as “past history” or something that’s already happened. That will start to give you a good indication of where the market was.

The other thing you’re going to want to pay attention to is competition, or what’s currently on the market. This means that if you had to buy right now, what would your choices be? Do you only have one option, or do you have two or three? This is going to help you determine your comfort level and where you might make an offer.

That being said, you do have to be comfortable. It’s most important that buyers make offers where they think a property is worth or where they’re comfortable.

As A Seller

The same is true for sellers; you sell where you’re comfortable. Sellers are going to also use comps and, more importantly, competition. If you’re selling your home, you have to look at what other properties like yours are currently going for on the market. You may have an advantage or disadvantage depending on how much competition you have, as this brings up the cost per square foot.

Of course, don’t confuse this with replacement costs or building costs. That’s going to be very common when you’re looking at the construction or replacement cost of a property.

All About Location

Overall, it’s more important than anything else to be very familiar with location. In a town like Ocean City, for example, one of the big mistakes I see with buyers all the time is to look at a property on Asbury Avenue and treat them all the same. However, Asbury’s south end is two blocks to the beach, while the north end of town might be eight blocks to the beach.

You cannot treat those properties the same because of their proximity to the water, even though they might be the same square footage. Make sure you’re looking at a map and know where the location of the property is and how close it is to the water.

Pricing Your Property

So if you’re wondering how to price a property here, the first thing I would do is stay away from all the online estimates—like the Zestimate. This is because they are guesses at best. Next, I would start to look at what the past sales were for the same number of bedrooms and bathrooms in a similar location.

Third, utilize your real estate agent. A good, knowledgeable real estate agent is going to help you find other similar properties that have recently sold. They’ll also tell you more about the current market and competition, how much activity there is, and what interest there might be in that type of property in today’s market.

I’m Here To Help

I hope this gave you a good idea of how you can determine the right price for a home, whether you’re buying or selling. Now you have a few more things to think about when you’re looking at real estate values here at the Jersey Shore, particularly on our barrier islands.

If you have any questions or need help pricing a home, feel free to reach out to me and I’ll be happy to help. And if you like the content that you’re seeing, please make sure to subscribe to our channel so that you’re alerted to the next video that we put out. Stay tuned to see what I feature next!