New Luxury Development: Herring Cove Village

We are proud to be listing a new luxury development in Provincetown’s West End. With beautiful views of the Moors and Wood End Light House, Herring Cove Village is presently under construction and will be available for fall occupancy. The developers have partnered with Boston and Cape Cod’s finest architects, engineers, builders, and landscape architects to create a property that will offer the ultimate in Provincetown living. The village will be beautifully landscaped, and the units themselves will offer luxury finishes and high-end amenities. The builders, Cape Associates, are renowned in the region for their high quality construction.

First to the market will be two free standing 3 BR, 3.5BA homes which boast wonderful views and spacious living with five exclusive use outside areas, including a roof deck which offers sweeping 360 degree views. The two bedroom and one bedroom units will share the same wonderful designs and finishes.

Herring Cove Village is conveniently located near Herring Cove Beach, Herring Cove Tennis Club and near Provincetown’s popular West End restaurants at the Red Inn and Victor’s.

The developers understand that buyers of this type of property may wish to customize their finishes, and they are completely open to working with you in these early stages to help you achieve your dream house.

To follow the project’s progress, visit the Website for Herring Cove Village.

To see a video tour of the construction site, visist our Video Blog.

Are you interested in receiving email updates about the progress of this project? If so, email Emily@atlanticbaysir.com.

Marketing Shift

Virtual tours, polished video tours and print advertising are taking their places in the history books of real estate marketing. Generation X and Y’s are a completely different breed of real estate consumer and their needs and methods of doing business are completely different than the needs of baby boomers. Text messaging, email and reality type video tours are what home shoppers look at when perusing the internet for a potential real estate purchase.

Today’s real estate agents have become consultants, guiding clients through the process and providing information every step of the way. In some cases, the realtor may meet a client once and the rest is done via email and texting. You will be hard pressed to hear a Gen y’r on the telephone with his/her realtor. You will however, see them texting messages, demanding answers to questions regarding specific properties they found on the internet. The requirement is that the realtor be available for constant communication via text or email. Instant gratification is a must in commerce today and answering a client’s question in a timely manner is key.

The changing face of real estate sales is evolving more so today than ever before. Agent websites and blogging are the new medium for advertising and promoting properties. Properties that are advertised in print media are all but invisible to the next generation of home buyer. With advances in technology constantly changing, it will be interesting to see what methods realtors use to sell listings in just a few short years.

The History of Days Cottages in North Truro

Recently we listed for sale the iconic Days Cottages on the beach in North Truro. Ask any visitor to the Outer Cape if he or she is familiar with Days Cottages, and the answer will be a resounding YES. Each with the name of a different flower, these green and white cottages are a symbol of the region.

While many recognize them, few know the history behind them. In the mid 1910’s. an enterprising young man named Joseph A Days bought the waterfront strip with the idea of moving his home from Provincetown to sit on this new location. In the 1930’s, after the depression, and after dismantling his house, Joe changed his mind and decided it wasn’t worth it to move his house, and he burned the sections in a massive bonfire! Instead, he envisioned a colony of cottages. Since he ran a construction company, and there was no work for his people due to the Depression, he put them to work building his vision. In 1931, Days was open for business with 9 cottages! And what a success it was. By 1933, there were 22 cottages built and being rented out and finally a 23rd cottage was built across the street next to the market. At that time, it was Joe’s wife Amelia who brainstormed the names of 23 flowers to give each cottage its own identity. The cottages weathered a few hurricanes in the 30’s and 40’s and in mid 1940’s, a sea wall was built to protect them from erosion. Throughout the years, they have been lovingly maintained by the Days family.

The cottages have been a popular tourist destination for decades, with the same visitors returning year after year. Now, for the first time, private ownership of individual cottages in this colony is being offered. New owners can use the cottage themselves, or continue to rent the property through the on-site management.

For more history on the Days Cottages, visit here.

For more information about purchasing a cottage, visit here.

For a VIDEO TOUR, click here.

The Summer Rental

It's Saturday evening in Provincetown and your summer renter is just getting back from the beach to shower for dinner. Your west end condo is a beautiful. It’s a two bedroom, two full bathroom free standing cottage with granite countertops, stainless appliances, recessed lighting….and views of the bay. Truly breathtaking. But what also makes the renter gasp is the fact that there is no hot water as he steps into the shower. Who does he call? What does he do?

This is a common problem in resort communities where second homeowners often rent their homes to generate income. It’s important to have contact information set in a prominent location (usually on the fridge) for renters to use in case of an emergency.

In resort towns such as Provincetown, there are management companies that address these issues. Usually you can contract with these companies as your need requires. They are on call to handle any emergency issues that may arise. Ultimately, a skilled and reliable property management company will save you money, maintain your rental retention and potentially get you new business through word of mouth.

The Half-Way Mark

The end of the second quarter and first half of 2008 is a good time to review the performance of the real estate market. We compiled the following table for a year to date review with three year comparison for the towns of Provincetown, Truro and Wellfeet.

Provincetown

2008 to date
Properties Sold: 89
Dollar Value: $48,409,301.00

2007
Properties Sold: 165
Dollar Value: $85,902,800.00

2006
Properties Sold: 158
Dollar Value: $82,653,453.00

2005
Properties Sold: 228
Dollar Value: $139,366,255.00

Truro

2008 to date
Properties Sold: 31
Dollar Value: $19,619,500.00

2007
Properties Sold: 61
Dollar Value: $36,974,833.00

2006
Properties Sold: 56
Dollar Value: $37,325,075.00

2005
Properties Sold: 91
Dollar Value: $55,464,466.00

Wellfleet

2008 to date
Properties Sold: 26
Dollar Value: $13,137,190.00

2007
Properties Sold: 93
Dollar Value: $55,814,425.00

2006
Properties Sold: 74
Dollar Value: $42,099,750.00

2005
Properties Sold: 105
Dollar Value: $57,164,800.00