Country Village Rentals and Real Estate Weblog

By Margaret Carroll-Bergman
I&M Staff Writer

The president of the United States will have exclusive permission to land his helicopter on Linda Loring’s 270-acre proeprty off Eel Point Road, under a conservation restriction approved by the Board of Selectmen last night associated with the Land Council’s purchase of the property’s development rights for $14,000,000.

Part of the money used to purchase the conservation restriction - which includes a condition allowing the construction of a helicopter pad - will come from the Land Council’s sale of 31.73 acres on Quidnet Road to Nantucket Land Bank for $3,000,000, a deal set to close next month.  The remaining $11,000,000 was funded by over 1,500 private donations and community preservation funding.

Loring lives across the street from U.S. Senator John Kerry on Beacon Hill in Boston and had asked Kerry, when he was the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, if he would be interested in having a helicopter pad on her Eel Point property if he became president. 

To read the full article, check out the Inquirer & Mirror soon (not on their website yet)…

By Peter A. Sutters Jr.
I&M Staff Writer

“Delta plans to begin offering service between Nantucket and John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport in New York City in June on 50 passenger Embraer ERJ145 jets.”

Nantucketers will soon have another option to New York City.  Coming on the heels of last month’s announcement by discount carrier JetBlue that it would be offering flights between Nantucket and John F. Kennedy Memorial Airport in New York City, Delata Airlines announced a similar plan yesterday.

According to a press release, Delta will be flying two round-trips between Nantucket and JFK from June 14 through September 8 on Embraer ERJ145 jets, which seat 50 passengers.

…

JetBlue service is scheduled to start May 24 and run through September 10, with fares ranging from introductory $49 each way to regular fares between $79 and $279 each way…

To read the full article, check out the Inquirer & Mirror soon (not up yet on their site)…

By Peter A. Sutters Jr.
I&M Staff Writer

One of the last rolling pine dunelands on Eel Point could soon be developed.  The Planning Board on Monday night gave preliminary approval to a four-lot waterfront subdivision on just over nine acres off Eel Point Road near the popular Land Bank-owned 40th Pole beach access.  Each lot would be developed with both a primary and secondary dwelling…

To read full article, check in with the Inquirer & Mirror soon (it’s not on their site yet…)

By Peter A. Sutters, Jr.
I&M Staff Writer

The Steamship Authority’s new fast ferry, the $9.7 million Iyanough, was unveiled at the Hyannis terminal yesterday to a handful of media representatives who were given a tour of the vessel and treated to a slide show of the construction process.

The sleek 154-foot catamaran, built by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding of Somerset, Mass., will make the 26-mile trip to Nantucket on Saturday and will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. following christening and commissioning ceremonies.

The boat will begin regular service between the mainland and Nantucket Wednesday.

To read the full article, click here…

By Brian-Logan Reid, Broker

Ahhh…gotta love it!  Ok, so within a week of closing, a condo property located at 5A Park Circle for $425,000 is back on the market for $525,000!  Amazing!  What’s interesting is that the property is actually (probably) WORTH $525k…let’s see how long it takes to sell!!  I’ll keep you posted…

The following property transfers were recorded in the  Registry of Deeds through Thursday, March 22, 2006:

1. David S. Wolff, Trustee of 47 Pocomo Road Partners Nominee Trust, to Jacqueline R. McCoy, Trustee of the Savel Nominee Trust: 47 Pocomo Road, $7,425,000

2. Nicholas S. Albano, Sara Albano, Milton P. Smith, and Sherry B. Smith to M. Leighton Collis: 5 Galen Avenue.

3. Nelson Newbury Hovde to Dana H. Stewardson and Alice M. Stewardson: 16 Sconset Avenue, $1,763,000

4. Max Ross, Jr. and Jennifer Davis Ross, c/o The Thistle Inn, to David Ilan Weis: 10 Bayberry Lane, $1,250,000

5. Cliff Acquisitions, LLC, to Tess Anderson: 7A Park Circle, $489,000

6. Eugene P. Collatz to Justine L. Connors: 23 Atlantic Avenue, $425,000

7. Cliff Acquisitions, LLC, to Carl Nielson: 5B Park Circle, $425,000

8. Cliff Acquisitions, LLC, to Joseph Senatore: 6B Park Circle, $425,000

9. Cliff Acquisitions, LLC, to Donna Senatore: 5A Park Circle, $425,000

By Brian-Logan Reid, Broker

I do my best to keep my eyes and ears open for properties and owners that fall into financial hardship, as some of my investor clients keep capital ready to put to use in these types of situations.

As of this writing, there are no foreclosures set for Nantucket property owners. There has to be a public notice put out (normally in the Inquirer & Mirror) when a property is going to a foreclosure auction, and I have yet to see any notices.

If you want a great overview of foreclosures and the process, check out Zillow’s Wiki…

By Brian-Logan Reid, Broker

I started using Zillow just about as soon as it launched and there really should be a disclaimer along the lines of “For entertainment purposes only”. 

There are at least three major problems with Zillow as I see it:

1.  Zillow only uses public information which is not always (read: more often times) NOT completely accurate;

and

2.  Zillow is a COMPUTER company that relies on their COMPUTERS to aggregate information and numbers and then throws them into a “proprietary” formula, without considering the myriad other factors that make up a property’s true value;

and

3.  As a result of this potentially faulty information, owners, buyers, agents and whomever else is using the service is probably getting an inaccurate estimation of the value of the property, thus creating misconceptions and (often times) overINFLATED “Zestimates” of the property’s value.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Zillow and it may turn out to be a useful service as more information is gathered and analyzed.  My main concern, though, is to have to convince my home owner clients and buyer clients that Zillow is more for entertainment purposes than for actually trying to determine a property’s true market value.   It may be a good place to start, but that’s about it. 

I mean how can a computer determine a value for a property that is in “Fair” condition versus one that is in “Very Good” condition?  How can a computer determine a value for a property that is adjacent to a noisy and smelly restaurant?  How can a computer determine a value for a property that has “Distant Ocean” views versus “Pond Views”?  My point is it tends to be these ’soft’ features and qualities in ADDITION to the raw numbers, that make up the true value of a property. 

Maybe for commercial real estate, where values are predominately based on numbers such as price per square foot, lot sizes, etc., Zillow may come into it’s own.  But I remain unconvinced that Zillow will (at least in the near future) become a useful tool for residential real estate.

Sorry, but I just took an extended “lunch break” and went to the mountain and skied 4 runs.  The conditions were great!  The temperature is around 30 with no wind and blue skies.   Hayride, Lord, North Slope and Standard could not have been in better shape!

“Denby Real Estate is in transition as the 40-year-old company prepares to end most property sales in approximately two months and to place its focus on licensed appraisals, referrals, professional real estate consulting and the expansion of its Internet services.”…