Brigantine Real Estate brokers, agents & builders know the truth. Brigantine’s most important economic driver is Real Estate.
Home building, buying, selling, repair, home-lifting, bulkheads, kitchen & bath upgrades, landscaping, painting, insurance, etc. This is just a small sampling of what drives the economy on Brigantine Island. When that Real Estate engine is compromised or fouled, the you-know-what can really hit the fan.
What’s fouling the Brigantine Real Estate marketplace? Is it a lack of beautiful beaches, a superior location, large lots, clean streets and a tremendous upside potential? No. We ace all of those attributes nicely.
The inconvenient truth is that Brigantine Real Estate values are stuck in the mud due to what’s happening inside Brigantine City Hall.
According to trusted the Real Estate website; Trulia, Brigantine home sale prices are down 32% year-over-year. The average Brigantine home sale took a $90,000 haircut this year.
Brigantine Real Estate lags and slips while other NJ shore towns are rebounding and nicely rising. Read more here. Yes, it all comes down to mis-management of this beautiful asset called Brigantine Beach Island.
A small sampling. Why Brigantine Real Estate is stuck or sliding backwards:
- Yearly tax hikes and non-nonsensical assessments
- $4 million of un-funded public union liability
- Well-documented fire department overtime abuse. see here
- 30+ empty retail businesses
- 12 new city employee hires in 2015
- ‘Links’ Golf Course losing $400,000 annually
- No reporting on Links Golf Course P & L and Pro-Shop inventory
- No reporting on ‘Mad Dog Morgan’ expenses & taxpayer subsidies
- No detail on $9,000 payment per month to Meadowbrook Golf of Florida
- Non-NJ State compliant accounting practices
- Limited accounting & financial oversight of beach tag & 4 x 4 fees
- Regular & expensive employee litigation against city
- City Clerk not providing accurate Council meeting minutes
- Local crime stats not being reported (like other towns)
- $150k+ Fire Chief is also a full-time Real Estate agent
- Police Chief un-approved, personal use of Brigantine (bb-nj.com) website
- Termination of on-demand viewing of Council meetings (vital to part-time residents)
The items above make it much tougher to sell your Brigantine home. Talk with your Real Estate agent. They’ll likely deny that any of this true, even though this list is 100% accurate and well-documented. It’s true. Brigantine Real Estate is getting clobbered, while City Hall and public unions keep getting big raises and even sweeter contracts.
Maybe it’s time to have a chat with your neighbors or acquaintances in the Brigantine Real Estate business? Their silence is at the root of Brigantine’s problem. Some say this deafening silence is like the beloved football coach; Joe Paterno, ignoring an obvious and horrible wrong-doing at Penn State.
Have a Brigantine friend, neighbor or relationships with a local Realtor? Are they quiet, neutral, ignorant or oblivious to this well-documented Brigantine City Hall mis-management? If so, they’re just as guilty as those with a hand in the cookie jar. Their silence…. is killing your Brigantine home value.
Brigantine Real Estate agent; Bob McClay blaming City Council for this ‘scam’.
Watch Video Below >
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Our Coldwell Banker realtor ran off the island 5 years ago.
If he had been honest with us, we would have bought somewhere else. But he wasn’t going to jeopardize his commission.
Brigantine helps all that live there full time, at the expense of the second homeowners.
Dont forget about the $5M for schools from last spring. Wonderful Guenther said second homeowners will be footing the bill for that one.
Ocean City real estate valued at $1M… pays less taxes than my $300,000 brigantine house.
Move you say? I would like to… but i will take a beating on the sale of my house.
If your Coldwell Banker realtor was Pete, he ran off the island because he didn’t pay his income taxes for several years.
600 houses listed for sale!
13% of total households listed for sale!
To those who put this site together, I think you deserve an award for superior public service or at least some recognition. I have been trying to buy on the Island for over 6 years, but the math behind the burdensome taxes never seemed to make sense to me. Thanks to this site, there is now, through your disclosures, at the least a road map as to what is most likely the fiscal and governing problem with the Island. If the Board, Mayor, etc. truly cared about their Island, they would happily defend or answer the accusations or questions presented here. Its sad and telling they don’t and their citizens deserve much better.
In all events, I for one deeply appreciate your services of forming a different point of view.
I hope we can get some adults to run the Island.
Anthony
Anthony: the adults on the island are afraid to run for office. They will land up being bait in the bay. The “old boys club” has the islanders shaking so they won’t rock the boat. The “Islanders” are moving off the island to get away from the high taxes, etc. That’s why the school enrollment has been dropping and we have more vacant houses than ever. Our “Islander” numbers are dropping at an alarming rate but neither Christie, state police nor any other power to be is interested in investigating the situation. Sad but Brigantine will implode soon. No business to support the island, foreclosures galore, rampant
taxation with no accountability, nepotism….eventually Brigantine will hit rock bottom.
This is addressed to the Readers of Brigantine Now and the Brigantine Taxpayers Association:
I need someone to explain what I consider a simple concept. I purchased my Brigantine home in 2013 (well after the artificial real estate boom) for $265,000. At the time of purchase the home was assessed at $365,000 and the real estate taxes were $4,391 per year. According to the 2016 real estate tax bill, the home is now assessed $238,000 and the real estate taxes are $4,190 per year.
Here’s the point that needs clarification – My home is assessed at 90% of its fair market value (if I could sell it for $265,000, which I seriously doubt).
Can the Brigantine Taxpayers Association please explain the following? Here are 4 of the top 10 homes (by sale price) in Brigantine today- (confirm this by using any real estate site and public records) –
1. 32 W Ocean Drive – asking sale price $7.5 million / taxed assessed value $2.1million – assessed value 28% of fair market value.
2. 4 Sunset Court – asking sale price $5.2 million / taxed assessed value $1.7million – assessed value 33% of fair market value – owner Dominic A. “Tony” Pullella
3. 524 W Shore Drive asking sale price $3.6 million / taxed assessed value $1.4 million – assessed value 38% of fair market value – owner ANDY SIMPSON
4. 800 E Brigantine Ave asking sale price $3 million / taxed assessed value $1.4 million – assessed value 45% of fair market value – This is the big ugly house on the beach right next to the sea wall… owner – I’d love to know …
Questions
1. DOES ANYONE REALIZE HOW MUCH TAX REVENUES ARE BEING GIVEN AWAY?
2. THEY ARE TAXING MIDDLE CLASS HOMEOWNERS AT 90% OF THEIR HOMES FAIR MARKET VALUE, WHEN THE BIGGEST AND MOST VALUABLE HOMES ARE TAXED AT ABOUT 47% OF THEIR FAIR MARKET VALUE???????????????
3. THE ISLAND IS BROKE – SCHOOL ENROLLMENT IS DECLINING, PAY RAISES AND NEW MUNICIPAL HIRING, NO ANSWERS TO THE 2014 AUDIT FINDINGS….
WHEN ARE YOU PEOPLE GOING TO WAKE UP? If the Brigantine homes worth $1 million + were taxed at 80% of their fair market value, it would raise well over $1 million annually in much needed revenue…ACCOUNTABILITY IS NEEDED NOW……
Alittle research will go a long way to understanding of the widespread fraud and abuse in Brigantine.
http://njparcels.com/property/0103/301/1
Its splendid, allows searches by name and address.
Just a note asking price and fair value are completely different animals but unscientifically I see your point. Take the following example: http://njparcels.com/property/0103/8001/27
The land value of that home went from $325k to $170k from 2013 and 2014.
Was your land value nearly reduced by half in 2014??
Pop some popcorn then reference the Brigantine municipal payroll(s) listed on this site and plug some of those names into the njparcels website and enjoy!
http://njparcels.com/property/0103/7301/1
Land assessment from $342k 2013 down to $173k 2014
http://njparcels.com/property/0103/8001/61
Land assessed from $325k 2013 down to $170 2014
In response to your comment regarding asking prices and fair market value. You are certainly correct but consider this.. Let’s say 524 W Shore Drive could be sold for $2.4 million (instead of $3.4 million), its still currently assessed at $1.4 million or 58% of its actual value…,…,
Wasn’t the entire island reassessed in 2013/2014? If the town is broke why are the largest houses on the island not assessed closer to Fair Market Value (FMV)? No available comps???? That’s B.S. Million plus homes are going up all over the island. the number of which is growing at a rapid base all over the whole island)
The folks building/owning these homes can afford to pay increased real estate taxes. Also we only considered homes over $1 million on the active real estate market. Looking at a list of sales over $1 million will easily answer the question regarding FMV vs. Assessed value, which will result in the same answer – the $1 million plus homes on the Island are not assessed at 80% to 90% of their FMV, like houses worth below $400K are. This isn’t rocket science…its an estimate of whats fair…
In addition, raising the assessed value of these properties will yield the largest tax revenue increase across the board,. which will solve many of the current issues the town faces……..