Nadine Krasnow, CRS
Memorable evening last week at the Woods Hole Film Festival! The documentary was about Sam Bush, a revered “newgrass” musician among those in the know. Great movie, and at the end, Sam Bush himself came bounding down the aisle for Q and A with the knowledgeable and wildly enthusiastic audience. Lots of love, and what the fest does best.
(I heard he jammed with the Old Silver Band at the after-party, and those who were there say it was “epochal”.)
In Henry James’ elegant words, “Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”
Ain’t it the truth? What’s your pleasure? Mine is biking to the beach, swimming in our clear and warm waters, and then having my bff’s over for a crisp, cool salad and a long, tall glass of the beverage of the day. Ah, summer afternoon, summer afternoon…
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Weird market! Looks great: pending sales up significantly (although not so for closed sales), listings down. You’d think it’s a sellers’ market, right? But it isn’t, quite. My buyers are buying, but my traffic from co-broker appointments at my listings is, well, listless, to tell the truth.
On the one hand, this enables me to sell directly, with no cooperating agent, a plus for all parties. On the other hand, why are there so few co-broke showings? My listings are wonderful homes, appropriately priced. Apparently very few of my colleagues have many buyers – and this is the one unmeasurable statistic that affects the graph above.
Digging deeper, I also wonder if too many agents have just abandoned their role of actively selecting appropriate homes to show their buyers, and are showing just what the buyers select. Most of the buyers are looking online, which is a good place to start, but has limitations. Agents, on the other hand, should have been inside the home during MLS tour, and should be in a good position to encourage certain homes to certain buyers because of what they KNOW.
No definitive answer to this conundrum, but for sure, the market isn’t only what the statistics in the graph above indicate.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Yes, Virginia, there ARE homes for people on a budget, and some are really appealing! Here are my current faves:
$309,000
This house has much more space inside than you’d think at first glance, mostly due to the vaulted ceiling which allows for a huge upper level loft currently being used as a family room. Again, there’s a lot for the money here, not the least of which is crystal-clear Jenkins Pond.
#21602571
470 Hatchville Road, Falmouth
$319,900
Deep Pond is just beyond this house, so for anyone who wants relatively private pond access, this is a find. Set far back from the road, the feeling around the property is very “country”. It could use some updating, and you may or may not like the pizza restaurant replica in the lower level, but it’s a cute house with a lot of possibilities in a wonderful setting.
If you’ve watched the “Million Dollar Listing” show on Bravo, you know that “million dollar” is just the threshold, and the prices go up from there.
There are some fabulous million dollar-plus listings in Falmouth, too. Here are some I’ve seen recently:
$1,995,000
This house is like a fine, small European museum. It was custom-built by the sellers, who spared no expense in either materials, design, or craftsmanship. The result is an eye-popping array of marble, mosaic, crystal chandeliers, brass tiles – you get the picture. The spaces are dramatic, supremely functional, and highly unusual on Cape Cod. This is not your typical, bleached wood, minimalist beach house.
#21605308
26 Tower House Road, Falmouth
$2,150,000
Smack in the middle of Falmouth Heights, Tower House Road is another of the most desirable streets in town. The house has outstanding views of the harbor, Woods Hole, and the Vineyard. It’s young, built in 2005 and lightly lived in, so it’s in pristine condition. Architecturally, it’s the quintessential Shingle style, with two separate two-car garages – one of which has a guest apartment above. This house has it all: location, space, floor plan, comfort, and convenience – even a dunking pool (the smallest swimming pool I’ve ever seen – cute but no laps) for cooling off on a hot day.
Gansett Road is one of the prime Woods Hole locations, and this house has almost three acres – THREE! – of grounds. In addition, it overlooks Quissett Harbor and the 18th hole of the exclusive Woods Hole Golf Course. All of this explains why the price is what it is. The house itself is vintage and has been in the same family for more than 50 years. They’ve obviously loved it just the way it is, but most new owners will probably want to do extensive updating. It will be interesting to see how quickly and for what price this house sells.
