On Martha's Vineyard
Vineyard Open House Real Estate
Vol I, No. 1 November 2014
Headlines
Introducing...Our First Issue
Cedar Tree Neck...Where My Vineyard Story Begins
Autumn on the Vineyard
Mortgage Trends
Market Update
Listing Spotlight
Home under $500,000
Home under $1M
Home under $2.5M
Next Issue
Cedar Tree Neck: Watching the clouds roll in across the Sound.
**Introducing....
**
Welcome to the first issue of the Vineyard Open House Real Estate newsletter! This newsletter will inform you about happenings on Martha's Vineyard, real estate market and mortgage trends and specially selected homes for sale.
Please give us feedback on what you like or want to see more of. You can also request to be placed on an automatic e-update to receive an alert when a home in your price range comes on the market. Just email me your parameters (towns, price, number of bedrooms) and we'll set you up.
I have been coming to Martha's Vineyard all my life like my parents and grandparents before me. I look forward to sharing my island experiences and look forward to corresponding with you!--David Lott, Owner, VOHRE
Cedar Tree Neck...Where My Vineyard Story Begins
_
Miss Daggett and me behind the house on the bluff.
authority while still in her 70s.
Dressed in brightly patterned silk dresses, pinz nez glasses perched on the end of her nose and her hair put up in a chignon, she stood tall over her dominion like her stately home that looked down on the North Shore and Vineyard Sound spread out before it. She was quick to smile and laugh, not much taller than me at age 8, but there was no question she was in charge.
The Rose Cottage
My parents and I stayed in the Rose Cottage. The road down to the preserve now cuts right through what was my bedroom. Up to that time, I was the only child ever allowed to stay at Miss Daggett's.
The Rose Cottage was actually just two bedrooms and a privacy room where the chamber pots were stored. That's right--no running water, no bathroom. You had to go up to the big barn on the bluff to use the community bathroom and take a shower.
The barn was a special place. Soaring post and beam ceilings, relics and treasures brought back from sailing trips around the world and a picture window overlooking the Sound where I would sit during a Nor'easter and watch the wind, the dark rumbling clouds and silver-streaked rain come tumbling across the Sound and make landfall on the beach directly below. I may have been only eight years old, but that barn and those storms are some of my most cherished and long-held memories.
Catch of the Day: As a proud 6-year-old, I held my catch high.
Three Meals
Meals were served three times a day at the main house on the bluff. Miss Daggett sat at the head of the table. Often a large white tureen of fish chowder was set before her and she would laddle it out and send the bowls down the table.
My father and I provided the sea bass, scup and flounder that served as the basis for the chowder on many occasions. My parents and I did not sit at the main table at which all the guests, usually 15 to 25, sat. We had our own table so as not upset the 'grownups.' Indeed, the closest people to me in age were my parents. A generation canyon, not a gap, but one easily bridged over a game of backgammon....
My stays at Miss Daggett's were just the first of the many Vineyard stories I was to accumulate over the years. They have been important, defining and funny.
_Tell us about your Vineyard stories and we'll print some of the best in the future.
_
Autumn on the Vineyard
After the storm: The Vineyard Haven town dock glows at sunset after the first event of the winter.
_Fall Start: Holmes Hole Sailing Association raced through the fall until Oct 30. (Susan Waldrop Photo)
_
Whither Mortgage Rates?
The Federal Open Market Committee recently ended its two-year quantitative easing program in which where the central bank buys Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities to keep interest rates low. The group expects to keep the federal funds rate, a key benchmark rate for consumer and business loans, low for a "considerable time."
Rate watchers expect rates to remain low for the rest of 2014 and into early 2015. The second half of 2015 could see rate rise as high as 5%. Here are current rates, with no points, at Martha's Vineyard banks.
30 Year Fixed Rate 15 Year Fixed Rate
Martha's Vineyard Bank 4.00% 3.125%
Santander Bank 3.99% 3.25%
Cape Cod 5 3.875% 3.125%
TIP: Make your offer for that house you love even stronger by being pre-qualified for a mortgage. Pre-qualification makes you a more attractive buyer and could mean the difference in a competitve situation when a property receives more than one offer.
Market Update
Sold! Renovated home at 39 Look St. went for $550,000.
There were 51 properties sold on Martha's Vineyard in October--41 single-family homes, 6 land deals and 4 condos. Edgartown, which has been strong most of the year, lead the way with 19 transactions, followed by 17 in Oaks Bluffs and seven in Vineyard Haven.
Twenty-fours homes sold for $1M or more, 17 homes went for less than $1M. Median selling price was $1.242M.
The market for homes over $1M has strengthened this year with October being a big month for million-plus homes which caused the median price of homes sold to rise.
However, this rise does not necessarily mean that prices are rising, just that activity in the higher-price brackets has kicked into a higher gear. In fact, the median price for homes sold in all of 2014 is nearly the same as last year: $595,000. What is changing and giving a sense of a better market is that homes are spending fewer days on the market.
On the Market
Here's a sampling of homes for sale in three different price brackets. Please contact me if you want to know more, or want to investigate other properties.
Under $500K
**55 Hazelwood Avenue, Vineyard Haven, $497,900
**Information provided by MV Seacoast Properties
Beds/Baths: 4/2 2,000 SF .47 Acre
> This lovely custom built open floor plan home sits on almost a half-acre of land where the huge side lawn could host a family football game. Feauring 4 BRs and 2 BAs, this 2,000 SF home is just a two-minute drive or a short bike ride to Main St. Vineyard Haven and the ferry. Relax on the beautiful farmers front porch and full length deck. 5-bedroom septic offers the possibility of an attached garage with an apartment above. Send me more information about this home!
Under $1 Million
191 Weaver Lane, Vineyard Haven $799,000
Listing Information provided by Viewpoints
Beds/Baths: 3/2 2,323 SF 2.07 acres
> If warm wood describes the environment you'd like to wrap yourself in, then this contemporary post-and-beam home is for you. Designed by a well-known architect, partitions and movable screens form a nest of discrete rooms and serene overlapping spaces.
Meticulous craftsmanship shaped the oak floors, pine trim and cherry kitchen cabinets. The beams are fir and first-story ceilings are mango plywood. Live here and you'll have easy access to the Lagoon. Both Land Bank and Sheriffs Meadow conservation land abut the propety's more than two wooded acres. Featuring 3 BRs and 2 BAs and set off of a country lane, this intimate hideaway offers privacy along with walking distance to Vineyard Haven. Send me more information about this home!
Under $2.5 Million
**'The Outermost House'
**
681 Herring Creek Rd, Vineyard Haven, $2.1 million
Beds/Baths: 3/1 904 SF 3.00 acres
Listing Information provided by Coldwell Banker Landmarks
Aerial Photography by Tyra Pacheco
> Martha's Vineyard's north shore and the passageway into Lake Tashmoo provide the spectacular setting for the Outermost House. So called because it is the last property at the end of Herring Creek Rd.
Set at the ocean's edge and protected from Vineyard Sound waters by a massive stone breakwater, the home will fulfill every fantasy you have ever had about an oceanfront home. The property covers three acres and includes more than 250 feet of your own pristine beach.
Sit on the deck for early morning coffee, lunch or dinner with friends and enjoy incredible sunsets as the sun drops behind the Elizabeth Islands in the summer and into the sea in winter. Walk right up from the beach into the outdoor shower and on to the deck with just a few steps. Send me more information about this home!
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The Black Dog: All decked out for the Christmas season.
Some of the articles in our next issue:
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- Christmas on the Vineyard
- New to Market
- Market Update & Trends
- Vineyard Christmas Photo Album
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_'On Martha's Vineyard' is published by Vineyard Open House Real Estate. Copyright 2014-15.
_For real estate information or questions about listing your house with us, please contact: David Lott, Owner/REALTOR, 10 Union St., Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard, MA. Office: 508-338-2495, Cell: 203-270-9357. Broker, Mary Sullivan, Sales Associate/REALTOR, Kristin Zern, cell: 914-439-2047, or send us an _email_
