Nantucket Island Massachusetts Directory of Real Estate Resources » Nantucket Real Estate

Got Land?

Dalton — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:03:03 +0000

Not for long because the conservation groups are buying it all up, but that is great for all of us who love Nantucket (and like our property values to go up)! Nantucket has some of the strongest conservation foundations/efforts in the world. A group of great Nantucketers had the foresight to found the Nantucket Conservation Foundation in 1963-58 years ago! The Nantucket Islands Land Bank was the first program of its kind in the country, established by a special act of the Massachusetts Legislature and voted on at Town Meeting to essentially impose a 2% tax on every arm’s length real estate transaction-final vote, Yes: 446, No: 1. That is simply amazing, 446-1, to impose a tax! There are at least eight other legitimate, conservation focused groups on Island. Much of the conservation land is open for passive, recreational use, so if you get tired of eating at the world class restaurants, shopping at the world class shops, bathing at the world class beaches, then you can always go for a walk through the Tupancy Links, Sanford Farm, Middle Moors and on and on…

Recently, the Land Bank put under agreement a 66 acre parcel and the Sconset Trust put under agreement an abutting 53 acre parcel, which combined could be sub-divided into well over 50 building lots. So, although paying the 2% Land Bank tax can be painful in the moment, remember that tax is probably going to give you well over a 2% return in the long run. Nantucketers, seasonal and year-round, were and still are a smart bunch. Must be the water…

How’s the interior?

Dalton — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:22:14 +0000

I grew up in a real estate family. I have been hearing real estate deals being negotiated since I was 3 months young. Sometimes I would hear my mom say, “How’d the third showing with so and so go?” My dad would say, “Libby, it’s never a good sign if they want to see the property for a third time. They are only talking themselves out of doing the deal; they are looking for excuses not to buy it.” Very ironic, too, because you tell your clients you have a third showing and they get excited that the buyers are going to make an offer, but, in reality, the opposite is happening-the buyers are talking their way out of the deal. Now that I am active in the real estate brokerage business, I see this phenomenon first hand; third + showings are the kiss of death. Most buyers that pull the trigger know it when they see it.

Last two properties my wife and I have bought, I made the offers before she had been to the properties. Naturally, she asked, “How’s the interior?” I replied, “Not sure, I haven’t been inside…”

P-p-p-poker face, a-a-auction face.

Dalton — Fri, 13 May 2011 00:23:15 +0000

To a layman looking on at a real estate auction, it seems straight forward-a bidder has the max she will bid, she’ll go back and forth with other bidders until a) she is tapped out or b) she wins the auction. Au contrair mon ami. Auctions have a lot more to them than meets the eye. They are dynamic and to be successful one has to understand many factors, including, but not limited to, the time, place and weather (are we on Nantucket on a cold May day with 50 mph gusts when the boats aren’t running or are we at the Copley Place, 68 degrees with a cold drink and plenty of space in the parking garage), the players (are there builders and/or bankers bidding) and the motivation (is WaMu foreclosing and happy with 30 cents on the dollar or a private developer and happy with 110 cents on the dollar). Answering these as well as other underlying questions will help you put together a winning strategy. Another reason why a good broker is invaluable and worth well over 6%. Bonne chance mes amis!!!

Strength of Nantucket

Dalton — Mon, 02 May 2011 22:23:30 +0000

My dad always told me that Nantucket is one of the last ones in and first ones out of a bust. That’s another way to say that Nantucket is a very safe place to invest and/or park your money. Another way to see the strength of an investment is to look at capitalization rates. Cap rates on Nantucket’s prime commercial real estate are around 5.5%, which are extremely low for commercial real estate-cap rates are basically a function of risk, lower the cap rate, lower the risk. So, I called Nantucket Island Resort’s (NIR), who is the biggest commercial landlord on Nantucket (Team Frazier is two), today to inquire about what spaces they have available. The leasing agent’s answer-we have a small art gallery, about 200 sf, available on Old South Wharf. Excuse me, you have 200 sf out of tens of thousands of sf available?!!! That’s a sign of the Strength of Nantucket.

Wait until you hear these Nantucket real estate numbers…

Dalton — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:11:00 +0000

Properties on the open market, 4/28/09, 602.
Properties on the open market, 4/18/10, 560.
Properties on the open market, 4/20/11, 482.

Properties under agreement, 4/28/09, 18.
Properties under agreement, 4/18/10, 32.
Properties under agreement, 4/20/11, 50.

I think I see a trend… Get in while the interest rates are still low!

How cool!

Dalton — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 10:35:59 +0000

Nantucket is not perfect, but it is pretty close. Once the new Dreamland Theatre is done,

it will be directly across South Water Street from the Atheneum.

So, Nantucket will have two, amazing, multi-faceted learning/cultural centers that complement each other perfectly a stone’s throw away from one another. I find that very cool and that’s not even to mention the beaches, restaurants, historic downtown…

Nantucket vs. America

Dalton — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:26:55 +0000

National real estate statistics are just that-national. Although the national February numbers for new construction home sales and pre-existing home sales numbers were not what many had hoped for, these numbers take into account the US as a whole. But, there are many parts to the whole and Nantucket is one part. There are areas that are still hurting,

but from what I can see, Nantucket is not one of them.

There is serious money coming into the ACK market-get it while it’s fresh!

P.S. Don’t believe everything the talking heads tell you-there is optimism in the air…

A look at the Nantucket real estate market numbers

Dalton — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 10:13:28 +0000

As of March 6, 2011, there are:

435 active listings available
and
43 active listings that are under agreement

Out of the total (available and under agreement) active listings, 8.996% are under agreement. Only in September of 2010 has that percentage been higher, and only by a small fraction, in at least the last three years. That seems to be another clear indicator that the market has bottomed…

Construction anyone?

Dalton — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:20:39 +0000

I know it is not the hey day, but it does not feel like ’07/’08 either. I drive down the road and see new buildings, huge renovations dotting the landscape all around me. This is the busiest February I can remember in the last 4 years.

I hope these are signs for not only Nantucket, but for the economy as a whole.

Wait ’til you see the Cliffside area on your way to The Galley next summer:-)

Did you know…

Dalton — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 14:41:27 +0000

Nantucket’s total real estate value according to the Assessor’s office is $17,208,429,905. This number puts Nantucket at the 4th highest value in the Massachusetts behind Boston, Cambridge and Newton. Currently, Nantucket’s tax rate for residential property, $3.58/$1,000 of assessed value, for commercial property, $6.41/$1,000 of assessed value and for open space, $3.42/$1,000 of assessed value. These are actually some of the lowest mil rates in the whole country. Another benefit of owning Nantucket real estate:-)