My grandfather could have bought two lots in Avalon for under $80,000 after World War II but didn't. My parents could have bought a beach house in Stone Harbor for $115,000 in the 1990s but didn't.
Today, this place is going for $799,000.
Sigh.
I'm guessing whoever buys this will tear it down and build a much larger house in its place. I know that's the way things go, but...well. Just hang out here for a while to get an idea of what I'm missing.
My cousins just sold their grandmother's Avalon house (this is the grandmother we don't share), and they can't drive by the site of where it used to be because it was immediately torn down and replaced with something they don't like to talk about.
This topic came up last night at my book talk. As tends to happen when senior citizens are in the crowd, the conversation turns to what Atlantic City used to be before casinos. Everyone has their own clutch of nostalgia and don't want things to change at a place they loved as kids. The women couldn't understand why I'd bother to write about Atlantic City as it is today (but more about that later).
I get my own nostalgic episodes every once and a while, especially in Avalon. I hope that this homeowner sells their house and reaps the benefits of what was a smart financial move (and I hope that Ann, a fantastic real estate pro, gets this sale - this isn't a knock on her or what she does. She's wonderful). But I can still be a little bit sad that I'll never be able to afford a home in Avalon - and that my grandfather and my parents passed on it when it was still affordable!
P.S. There is still a bit of ha ha in me that this house still hasn't sold. When I wrote about it in 2009, it was priced at $12.5 million.
3 comments:
We vacation in Avalon at a friend's place - his grandfather bought it when it was more than affordable. I love that house Ann is selling...Weird me, I'd love to buy it and keep it as is...I'm tired of the over-priced, over-sized monstrosities that pop up overnight. Any one got a few hundred thousand lying around to lend me? ;-)
As for the Marble house...how could anyone enjoy the beach in a house like that? I'd feel like I would need to clean it every moment of the day!
Cyndy - I would keep it as is, too, but that's not the trend in that area. When I think about where I'd want to buy a shore home, I gravitate to places that have maintained the older homes. But I live in an old home so that's just me!
Thanks for the kind words, Jen. I hear the "remember when" about pricing all the time. But to put it in perspective, my first sale 30 years ago was a basic rancher on 52nd Street in Avalon for $125,000 (you remember those things in sales!). My husband and I had purchased our first house in Cape May Court House that same year for $35,000. So by comparison, it was expensive even then.
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