Where is the fuhrer?  Are we in Cuba?  China maybe?  Afganastan?

East Hampton Village Police arrested 67 year old Ruth Kalb (Vered Gallery) in the middle of her art gallery openingat the Vreed Gallery because she was serving liquor (wine?) and had invited lots of people to attend.

I’m first to admit that I was not in attendance and do not know the entrie story, so there may be some missing pieces (the NYPost leaving out some pieces????- nah…)  That being said, there MUST be a better way of handling these matters!  The Post  and Daily News stories are below.

Here’s the number for the EHVillage PD - 631-324-0777

Here’s the number for the EHVillage Mayors Office - 631-324-4150

By SELIM ALGAR and ERIC LENKOWITZ, NYPost

and

East End gallery owner carted off to jail for serving drinks without a license

BY DEBBIE TUMA, JOANNA MOLLOY and DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Monday, May 26th 2008, 4:00 AM

See the PLUM TV Video of the arrest below:

Best News!  Southampton Town Board voted unanimously last night on a resolution to accept terms with LIPA that results in the burial of 100% of the cables on the powerline route on the back roads.  

The terms call for a LIPA surcharge based upon consumption — for the East End of the Town, only (excluding Shinnecock, Tuckahoe, and the Shinnecock Reseration).  The surcharge will amount to $3.70 per month for the average electric consumer, i.e., bigger houses will pay more than average, and smaller houses less.

At later date, yet to be set, we must go to LIPA headquarters to impress upon LIPA’s Trustees that we expect them to also ratify this agreement.  Again, on that day, CGSF will arrange for chartered Jitneys (free to supporters who come, including lunch aboard the return trip).

In the event that LIPA’s Trustees do not ratify the agreement - the Town’s resolution also calls for establishing a Special Tax Assessment District to support payment for the undergrounding. The boundaries of the STAD are yet to be set, but will include Water Mill, part of Bridgehampton, and perhaps, depending upon their agreement, the Villages of Southampton, Sag Harbor, North Haven, and Sagaponack.

Please take the time to send “Thank You” emails to the Southampton Town Board for their good work to preserve and protect our scenic vistas and hurricane escape route.  This was a long and hard negotiation for them.  Here are their email addresses:
  Supervisor Linda Kabot: LKabot@SouthamptonTownNY.gov
  Councilman Chris Nuzzi: CNuzzi@SouthamptonTownNY.gov
  Councilwoman Anna Throne-Holst: AThrone-Holst@SouthamptonTown.gov
  Councilwoman Nancy Groboski: NGraboski@SouthamptonTownNY.gov
  Councilman Dan Russo: DRusso@SouthamptonTownNY.gov

We owe a special debt of gratitude to Assemblyman Fred Thiele, who persisted in bringing both sides to this agreement.  Without Assemblyman Thiele’s involvement this deal would never have happened.  Please tell Assemblyman Thiele you are grateful: thielef@ assembly.state.ny.us

Steve Abramson, Chair
Committee for a Green South Fork
info@buryLIPAcables.com

SORRY IF THE LINKS DON’T WORK HERE - GOTO buryLIPAcables.com -

Does anyone know the definition of Co-Brokering?

Here’s one:

Co-broke
When brokers are working on a ‘co-broke’ basis, they are sharing exclusive listings with each other. In a co-broke transaction, one broker will represent the buyer or renter, while the other will represent the owner of the property. The commission is usually split 50/50.

Agents and brokers use co-brokering as a way to give their clients (sellers) listing exposure to as many other agents as possible.  In the old days firms would have “exclusive” listings, which they would NOT share with other agencies and hold close to their vest so they could sell it themselves and keep both sides of the commission.

While the defenition of “exclusive” has changed over the years, many of the Hamptons agencies still use “exclusive” signs as a way of marking their territory, in hope that the potentialbuyers will think that they cannot get information on the property unless they call the “exclusive” agent.  For the most part, that is not true, except in the cases of those agents/agencies that are not fulfilling their fiduciary responsibility to their sellers, and not sharing these listings with other agencies in the market.

Who would do such a thing?  Why wouldn’t they want to get these listings out to as many agents as possible?  It’s only one of two things:

1- Greed - the agent hopes to sell it themselves, therefore not having to share the commission 50/50 with the co-brokering agencies, or

2- Restraint of Trade - either that agent themselves or their broker is instructing them to restrict co-broking their listings to other brokerages in an effort to put those other brokerages out of business.

So, ask your broker/agent: “are you co-broking my home with ALL other agencies in the market?” 

If not, why not?

It’s very exciting news that the Sag Harbor Village Boards are, one by one, approving the plans that have been put forth by Cape Advisors for the Bulova Residential Plan. It’s been said that the project will take 5 years, and the economic rewards to the village will last for at least 100 years.

Peter Neely and Hamptons.com did a video of local merchants here 

For more info, also goto: www.savesagharbor.com/

It’s not an uncommon scenario. Not to be cynical, but so much of our destiny is controlled by people who don’t live here, but wish they did, but they can’t and are not very happy about it so they feel a little “so there, you fancy-schmancies” is in order.

It’s why many have been trying to create “Peconic County” consisting of the 5 East End Towns. Why should we be ruled by people who have never even been here, some 50 miles away?

The same for the Long Island Board  of Realtors. Why should a board from West Islip regulate how listings are handled on the East End, where we have a very different culture and way of doing business. That’s why HANFRA, the Hamptons and North Fork Realtors Association has grown to 1000 members in recent years - local rule!!

We’ll now we have the Long Island Power Authority - LIPA - who says they need to provide more power lines to the East End in order to keep up with demand, and they want to put up these big ugly poles along our roadways. Needless to say, many of us are against it.

Here’s one of the stories:

Driven to Save a Vista From LIPA Lines

Two woman, one who lives at least part time in East Hampton, were nabbed after pulling off a series of thefts at open houses in Manhattan.  Congrats to Doug Heddings, from TRUE GOTHAM for getting on the case early and publicizing the scam. 

 ”Sweetie, better lock up the surfboards and the sunscreen!”  

Read more below:

Daily News - Two Women Arrested

Gothamist - Open House Bandits Caught

There’s all sorts of nifty new fact and figures coming out about sub-prime.  Here’s a map from Newsday showing the percentage of mortgages for 2006 that were sub-prime loans.

Presumably, that will give an indication as to how many foreclosures might be in these community’s future?  Looks like the East End has a much lower overall percentage than our sister markets to the west.  see map here

An issue that has been in discussion for years: 

Ruling Blocks Tribal Casino in Hamptons

Very relevent issue in the Hamptons. Interestingly enough, several of the major companies out here have consistently had their principals as the top selling brokers year in and year out, even though the agents complain about it, they have stayed with it, because on the other end of the scale, the non-selling brokers are typically just administrators who have very little business savvy.

That, however is changing. One of the majors here is in for a big fall soon because their managers abuse their position and take food out of their agents mouth on a consistent basis.

I agree that a broker should “stay in the game”, but conduct themselves “beyond reproach”, ensuring that there is no question as to where their business came from. md

see this terrific post from the Sellsius blog on  When Your Broker Competes

With a growing group of local residents coming together to Save Sag Harbor,  it’s great to see our local politicians coming together figuring out how to preserve the Bay Street Theater for generations to come.

See Christine Bellini’s article:  Theater’s Future Will Be In The Small Print

[tags]beachamptons, sag harbor, save sag harbor, Hamptons, bay street theater, Community preservation fund, conservation[/tags]

The Long Island Power Authority is looking at ways to strengthen the power grid for the East End and, unfortunately, they are seriously considering installing new 60-foot-high power poles on a route from along David Whites Lane in Southampton through Scuttle Hole Road in Bridgehampton to the Sag Harbor Turnpike.

The power lines we have are currently the single largest focus of complaints about vista interruptions. Adding more and higher poles would be exactly the opposite of what the public wants.

Here’s the link to the LIPA PROJECT REPORT

Let your voices be heard at the public meeting LIPA has scheduled on August 21st at 6 PM at the Water Mill Community House located on the Montauk Highway at the light in Water Mill.

[tags]Hamptons, hamptons power grid, LIPA, Stop LIPA power poles, hamptons real estate, underground power lines[/tags]

I moved to Sag Harbor nearly 10 years ago from Remsenberg, a tiny halmet just west of Westhampton. That was after living in New York, Santa Barbara, San Jose, Del Mar and Hingham, Mass.  

Sag was - and still is- a number of things that I like in a community; family oriented, casual, shops mostly locally owned and operated, boating all around and quite unassuming. Sag has been known as the “Un-Hampton” for many years…until recently when housing prices have shot up dramatically and those seeking a more relaxed, integrated village lifestyle have been selling their “south of the highway” homes and moving to the Sag Harbor/North Haven area in droves. 

The size of the boats that are in the harbor have quadroupled in the last five years. They are not called “boats” - they are called yachts,  megayachts and gigayachts.

Then in the last year, a number of condominimum projects have been proposed for “the harbor”, all of which I am in favor of, for they will not only provide a balanced choice of lifestyles in our community, but each of them will replace blight in our village. The Watchcase Factory, The Diner Building and Roccos nightclub.

But THIS CVS THING HAS GONE TOO FAR.  I am not in favor of CVS coming to our community at all, never mind opening a 17000 square foot store that belongs next to the Home Depot Expo in Smithtown.  Granted , they are probably shooting for the moon, asking for way more size than they know they will be allowed, but geez…THIS IS RIDICULOUS!

Sag Harbor is the only village on the East End that still has a 5&10cent store. Let’s keep this last one open!!! 

Check out the NYTimes article below and if you want to participate, go to the links after to sign the petition. md

A Harbor Village Resists Outsiders

By VALERIE COTSALAS

Published: August 12, 2007

To Support the Cause:  SAVE SAG HARBOR PETITION

[tags]Beach properties, Hamptons, sag harbor, watchcase factory, CVS, cape advisors, save sag harbor, diner building, water street condos[/tags]

It’s becoming a point of contention more and more often between landowners and home owners, here on the glorious East End of Long Island.

What is “Open Space” and what is and is not allowed on an Agricultural Reserve?

The Peconic Land Trust has an informative Glossary of Terms on land conservation, but doesn’t really clear up the differences.

I find that many new homeowners are paying a premium for property “adjacent to reserve” because they believe that the “reserve” will just become an extension of their backyard…until the tractors show up or the farmer decides to build a barn on the property or the owner leases the property to a polo club for the season.

A recent search of online listings on HREO, using the keyword “reserve”, turned up 401 listings, from a $29,500,000 listing in North Haven down to a $319,000 listing “adjacent to reserve” in Riverhead.

Check out this article, by Valerie in the NYT:

Preserving Land, but Not for Farmers  

By VALERIE COTSALAS, The New York Times

Published: August 5, 2007

Ok, so I get the UNSOLICITED SPAMail this morning and, DUH, open it up:

Well, if they list the “TOP REAL ESTATE AGENTS IN AMERICA” , I’d like to see how they do it and who those “top real estate agents in America” are.

So, I go to their website:

SPAM like this - AGENT QUEST - is getting me increasingly hot under the collar!

Are there really realtors and consumers out there who buy this junk? I guess people are falling for the Ambassador to Guyana needing to invest $22 million emails, so…

Sure, they’ll get you in touch with “TOP AGENTS”.  If you agree with their definition of a “TOP AGENT” as being  anyone who’s desperate enough to pay AGENT QUEST $59.00 a year! See below:

Insulting, exploitive, immoral - should be illegal!!! md

I like Lou Barnes  and find his perspective and advice, usually on the money.

“This episode is nothing — nothing — compared to October ‘79, when over one long weekend Paul Volcker announced that the cost of money would float free with demand. Many mortgage bankers never answered their phones again. Mortgage rates went from 10% to 11.5% over that weekend, and to 13% by Christmas. The technical top was 18.1% in 1981, but that was statistical artifact: lights-on-but-dead S&Ls priced money just beyond demand. There wasn’t any mortgage money, except the first of the new-fangled adjustables, start rate a-hell-of-a-deal 16%. “

Check out his:   Mortgage Credit News - August 6, 2007

[tags]Beach properties, Hamptons, mortgage money 2007, sub-prime, AHM, Wall street mortgage, bear sterns[/tags]

May 13, 2008 UPDATE:

For all of you looking for blood, yes foreclosures are up in the Hamptons. ALL THE WAY to EIGHT FOR THE FIRST QUARTER. WOW, JUICEY HUH?!?!?  And yes, there are more people behind in their mortgage payments than there were a year ago,  and THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS IN A SOFT ECONOMY!!!.

I think it’s a disgrace that those cynical morons in the media, most of whom can’t even afford their own home, have the nerve to print the names of those in financial distress.

Here, I have something for those sick-o’s; why not goto the top 10 most accident prone intersections in NY and get your thrills:  http://www.stephanpeskin.com/CM/Custom/Intersection-Injury-Fatalities.asp

ORIGINAL POST

The recent past has not resulted in a great many foreclosures in the combined townships of Southampton and East Hampton.

Here’s a look at the total foreclosures, on a quarterly basis since 2002, which I compiled, based upon information from Long Island Profiles -LIProfiles.com

The trend shows foreclosure activity going down in recent years. We’ll look again in a few months. md

[tags]Hamptons, hamptons foreclosures, mortgages, subprime, hamptons real estate[/tags]

With all the hullabaloo going on with sub-prime and American Home Mortgage closing down this week, it was nice to see someone ’step up to the plate’ in the heat of it all.  AND, it was no suprise, that that someone was Christine Curiale, Branch Manager from Wells Fargo Private Mortgage banking in Southampton, NY.

Christine is a real pro and has never-ever let me down with a client. Try to say that about a lot of people! 

Anyway, with bullets flying and indexes dropping, here is the “jist” email that I, and many other loyal CC colleagues received:

Subject: FW: East End Mortgage/Realestate Market

(With) the changes in our recent real estate/mortgage market and the challenges that lie ahead. Many home mortgages are in a state of flux. Clients are confused and nervous. This instability has resulted in some banks and clients walking away from the closing table. Many are even afraid to begin the process. What do you do? How do we protect your East End clients and our East End business?

The answer is simple. Education. Knowledge is power — and in this market, knowledge means business.
Be proactive! They will send one of their experienced private mortgage bankers to your office. They will conference with your agents and provide the means to keep your clients informed and comfortable from ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER through CLOSING TABLE AND FUNDING. If you wish, this can be an ongoing process. Continued flow of information; up to the minute mortgage programs; continued customer service. Your clients need to know that you can deliver. You are the essence of the East End Real Estate business. Wells Fargo has been there since 1852.

Call Christine at your earliest convenience.  Christine E. Curiale
Branch Manager
Wells Fargo Private Mortgage Banking
M6586-011
AU# 38690
42 Hill Street
Southampton, New York 11968
631.283.2120 x110 Tel
631.255.5888 Cell
631.287.6072 Fax
631.204.6920 Direct Fax
Christine.curiale@wellsfargo.com [tags]Beachamptons, Hamptons, hamptons mortgage broker, mortgages, subprime, hamptons real estate[/tags]

 As we have said before, due to the lack of comprehensive tracking tools and the reliance on the county recording office, tracking sales here is like using an abacus. Good luck! It can take as long as 6 months before all transfers are recorded…by the time the horse ‘n buggy gets there and back with figures, we’re in another market already.

One way to track closings is revenue reported by  the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund, which collects a 2% tax for each transaction at the closing table.

According to State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, the five East End towns (Riverhead, Southold, Shelter Island, East Hampton and Southampton)  together collected over $53 million for the first 6 months of 2007. That’s compared to $48 million in 2005 and $45 million in 2005.

The CPF also reports the number of transactions as follows:

First 6 months 2007:  4129

First 6 months 2006:  4526

First 6 months 2005:  5133

So,  while revenues are up 11% from ‘06 and 17% from ‘05,

the number of transactions are down 9% from ‘06 and nearly 20% from ‘05.

Bigger fish, less of them…md 

[tags]Beachamptons, Beach, Michael Daly, Hamptons, hamptons sales figures 2007, Community preservation fund, conservation[/tags]

…that brokerages, here in the Hamptons and the North Fork move into the 21st century.

These tech introductions are still years behind the rest of the country as far as giving true exposure to sellers listings, but that’s been the parochial nature of the East End. 

Check out the latest article on the subject by Lauren Elkies

August 2007

Hamptons listings: From Stone Age to E-Age   

By Lauren Elkies

Brian Boero from 1000watt Consulting, writes on the “Creepy Factor” of all these new online services keeping tabs on our home and our homes value. Pull the shades!

Where this might have inpact in the Hamptons is with the “stretched” investor. The stretched investor is the one who is borrowing 110% on properties in hopes of flipping and dipping into equity in a short period of time.  Real estate investing is a cottage industry for many folks out here. It’s how many people make their living. Tighter lender restsrictions and slower appreciation are having an effect on certain segments.

See the WSJ article below:

Regulators Tighten Rules
For Subprime-Lending   By Damian Paletta

Lou Barnes, from Boulder West Financial Services has, in my opinion, a clear and pragmatic view of national mortgage money issues and addresses them weekly. This week’s is particularly insightful for me…more here

…is very similar to Manhattan.

Here, in the Hamptons aka “The Wild, Wild East”, it has been common practice for years, for agents and brokers to selectively co-broke their listings, not giving access to some agencies. It’s very similar to how cliques form in junior high   While it’s against the Realtor Code of Ethics it might even be considered a “restraint of trade” by the Department of State or the DOJ.  It has yet to be tested.  

Recently, RealNet Solutions, the local provider of a back of house listing management system that coordinates with Hamptons Real Estate Online (HREO.com), started offering an electronic listings exchange system called OREX (Open Realnet Exchange). 

For the first time, instead of faxing listings and co-brokes to each other, agencies who use RealNet can electronically share their listings. The question is: will they?

One step forward…

See this article, by Lauren Elkies about Manhattan co-brokering. Sound familiar?

June 2007

Co-brokerage and commissions in conflict 

By Lauren Elkies

going from bad to worse…

On a property, here in the Hamptons, that was recently appraised for $1,100,000 our “web geniuses” provide the following:

ZILLOW

COLDWELL BANKER

…and we wonder why median prices are falling for the first time in 15 years.

Hedge Row: Wall Street Titans Battle Over Beach Path in Hamptons

Topics:Wall Street | Lawsuits | Hedge Funds

Companies:Goldman Sachs Group Inc

By CNBC.com | 13 Jun 2007 | 05:25 PM ET

Well then - take it out before you put your house on the market.

As a broker, I’ve seen too many deals go bad over buried oil tanks and the arguments over who is responsible, indemnifications and possible long term effects.

Right now, we’re waiting for the DEC letter to give a Bridgehampton property the “clean bill of health” after a buried oil tank was removed.

Interestingly enough, the initial inspection showed there to be “oil in the soil” around the tank, which has to be reported to the DEC.  Turns out there was no leak, but perhaps numerous careless “spills” by the oil delivery company in the past. Almost $8,000 later (paid by the seller), the tank is gone and we are over a month late in closing.

So, the seller can’t move on to their new home, the buyers mortgage rate lock is about to expire (and rates are going up). The buyer also wanted to get possession of the house before summer started so he could make some improvements and possibly rent it for the season - sorry.

Nobody is happy.

Underground tank? Take it out. 

 Photo by Doug Kuntz

UPDATE: it’s otm (off the market) for the summer md 8-2-7

Susan Brietenbach (see our 3/22/07 post Susan Breitenbach is On Fire) has nabbed another great client, Christie Brinkley, and the listing on her oceanfront home on Flying Point Beach in Water Mill. See the complete story below.

For $8M, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, a view

BY LAURA MANN
Special to Newsday