House And Garden
Volume 48, Issue 8
By Grace Corradino
Owners want considerate tenants who will pay top dollar for their vacation property. Tenants want to find the best property at the best price.
On the west end of Fire Island in the communities of Kismet, Saltaire, Fair Harbor, Dunewood and Lonelyville rents ranged anywhere from $250 per day to $550 per day during the season ending on Labor Day. Since there is no central source of information about rents, what follows is a compilation of information from a variety of real estate brokers on the season’s characteristics.
Compare your lease to the following information and see how well you did in finding what was best for you.
The following selected leases were in place:
FAIR HARBOR
Memorial Day weekend, 3 BR, one bath, ocean block (no views), $1000
July, 3 BR, one bath, ocean block (limited views) $15,000
July one week, 4 BR, 2 baths, Bay front, $5500
August two weeks, 3 BR, one bath, ocean block (no views), $5500
August two weeks, 3 BR, 2.5 baths, no views, $11,000
September, 3 BR, one bath, ocean block (no views), $10,000
September 7th thru October, 3 BR, one bath, no views, $5500
DUNEWOOD
Season, 3 BR, 2 bath, $12,000
July, 4 BR, 2 bath Ocean Front, $16,000
SALTAIRE
Season, 3 BR, two bath, water views from roof deck, $47,500
July, 4 BR, 2.5 bath, ocean block (no views), $15,000
August, weekly, 2 BR, one bath, bay views, $2000
August, two weeks, 4 BR, 2 baths, no views, $6000
LONELYVILLE
July, 4 BR, 2 bath, Bay front, $15,000
August, 4 BR, 2 bath, Bay front, $7500
August, 3 BR, one bath, two weeks, no views $6500
KISMET
Season, 3 BR, one bath, $16,000
Weekly, 5 BR, 2 baths, ocean views, $4500
August, 4 BR, 2 bath, no views, $12,000
The word on the street, and the street is all we have to rely on here on Fire Island, is that rentals were very late this year. There are still tenants looking for properties for August and in particular the week of the Republican convention being held in New York City.
Seasonal rentals all but disappeared. Even monthly rentals were hard to come by. Day in and day out, real estate brokers report that tenants were asking for weekly rentals, an uncommon Fire Island phenomenon.
In addition, there were some homeowners who went without tenants. Are the rents too high? Where have the groupers gone? These are some of the questions being asked in order to understand the rental market this year. Unfortunately no one seems to have answers. Just theories.
Among the observations are that the communities on the west end seem to have been transformed in to communities of young families with very young children. Group houses consisting of young urban professionals seem to have all but disappeared.
If, in fact, the renters are all young families with children, it would make sense that a young family might not have an extra $30,000 or so to spend on a summer rental. The other theory is that so many young families bought their first home while interest rates have been historically low and can not afford a summer rental.
Often we hear that when the stock market is good, the rental market is good. I can not even begin to make sense of the stock market this year. That is up to anyone else to make a judgment about.
What we know for sure is that the rental market was late and uncertain causing a certain angst for owners. Rents seemed to have climbed higher, causing angst for the tenants. And all of it causes angst for the brokers who are trying to put all these nice people together. What a season.
Grace Corradino is a NYS Licensed Real Estate Broker, and owns Fire Island Living, Inc. in Saltaire. |
