I am, once again, posting to promote the sale of our house in Ortley Beach, a house full of wonderful family memories. Certainly Sandy blindsided thousands of homeowners, robbing many of them of their homes and even now, more than three years after the storm, many are still trying to put their lives back together.
Through the herculean efforts of my husband and sons, and with an inadequate amount of insurance money, our house was restored, except for my little cottage in the back, the place I relished as a mini-retreat, a place to write and rest and know the blessings of being by the water. We ran out of funds and it stands almost done, another two or three thousand dollars would have finished it, but we just don’t have it.
In December of 2014 we had to make the decision to list the house with a realtor, or let the bank foreclose.
It is still on the market. New houses, replacing those destroyed by the storm, are going up around us… McMansions my son calls them; three or four stories, grand structures that are changing the face of Ortley Beach one property at a time, but million dollar properties, at the least, which should help to restore property values there.
So, here’s a little information on our ocean block house at 9 Seventh Ave.
The main house is a two-story colonial with five bedrooms, two baths and two kitchens, which means it can be used (legally) as a two-family. The first floor was completely gutted and remodeled after Sandy, and includes a brand new kitchen with glass tile backsplash. Downstairs also includes a cozy small family room open to the kitchen, with three walls of windows, which means awesome ocean breezes while you are watching TV or lounging with company; a built-in washer dryer laundry area in the hallway behind folding doors; two bedrooms; a newly remodeled bathroom and bright living room.
The cottage in the back, which is fully sheetrocked and has new, off-white kitchen cabinets still in boxes, includes two bedrooms, and living room/kitchen area and a small sitting room or office space when you enter the house. There is also a framed-out area for a top/bottom washer/dryer unit and a very large attic space. Both houses have new roofs.
We have had the engineers prepare a flood certificate and neither house has to be elevated. The main house is at 7.9 and the cottage, which is on a slab, is at 7.4. We are in an AE7 flood zone.
Our driveway can fit six cars, with careful parking, and there are two outside showers, one for the main house and one for the cottage, and there is also a large shed behind the cottage.
We are praying that someone who would love to have a modest home, within steps of the beach, will find our home just what they are looking for…cheerful, bright, well-built and nicely remodeled. A move-in tomorrow opportunity, with a wonderful renter already living in the upstairs unit. She treats the house like it was her own.
I have not spent anytime in my house for more than a year - a very sad state of affairs for me. But if the storm reinforced anything that life had already taught us, it's that change is inevitable, even when you're not ready for it.
This is a house with many possibilities - live in and rent, or rent completely, or open it up as a nice one-family and keep the little cottage in the back as a retreat when the noise levels get too high!
We are selling the house "As Is" because the back cottage needs some work to finish it, including new breakers and wire hook up, and new outside electrical service. There are a few minor repairs to the exterior of the main house, as well, but we sadly ran out of money.
Honestly, the challenge of selling a house that has a portion of the property unfinished has been an unexpected, frustrating challenge, one that has brought me to tears on several occasions.
A private investor would be a Godsend, someone who could loan us the money we need to catch up with more than a year of missed payments - about $60,000. This would allow us to keep the house, for now, rent it out during the summer to recoup monies and finish the backhouse so when it is sold, there is no problem with the property needing work.
I have applied twice for a modification and have been denied once and never responded to the second time in spite of months of phone calls and letters. The bank won't consider allowing us to refinance.
You can see the listing at http://www.remax-nj.com/MultiFamily/9-7th-Avenue-Ortley-Beach-NJ-08751/MMX/21534576/
My realtor is Rene Zipfel. Her contact information is: Cell: 732-232-0769 Office: 732-793-1100 Email: [email protected]
