The Cape Cod Real Estate market closed out 2022 continuing the trend of higher prices and lower inventory that has played out over the last decade. In fact, we closed 2022 with the lowest number of homes for sale (~580) and the highest prices (~$639,000) ever for the Cape market. For comparison, the last market peak in 2006-2008 saw ~5,700 [...]

We’ve spilled gallons of ink this year describing how difficult the market is for buyers and speculating about the policy and housing production solutions needed to turn things around. But what about buyers who need to buy something right now? Are they out of luck? Absolutely not!! The market may be crazy, but there is a method to the [...]

FOR PART 1 IN THIS SERIES CLICK HERE

The big question is “what about 2021?” Will the strong market hold?  Will prices continue to climb?  Or are we in a bubble whose collapse is imminent?  The short answer is, as always: “we have no idea.”  But for a long answer, here are some factors we see swimming around in the crystal ball on Agnes’ [...]

There are no two ways about it.  2020 was a remarkable year for the Cape Real Estate market.  We started off the year in familiar territory with January and February showing roughly the same level of market activity as in recent years.  But when the COVID pandemic took hold in March we saw a sudden slump in both pending sales and new [...]

Whether you are buying, selling, or renting your home, one of the most important decisions you will make is who will represent your interests during the transaction. Those representatives should always be experienced local professionals with strong relationships in the community. I recently closed a transaction that perfectly illustrated just how important those relationships may end up being. Take a look:

Three days before closing on a seller client’s home the buyer’s attorney discovered two title issues which were going to prevent us from closing: an undischarged mortgage and an outstanding right of first refusal from the original developer. Title issues are always trouble but this was particularly troubling because my sellers were using the funds from their sale to purchase another home on the same day – a delay on the sale would cause serious complications for everyone involved. But my clients had done the right thing – they had carefully selected a team of experience professionals with strong connections in their respective professional communities. Here’s what happened:

We were in a rush so the attorney asked me (as the seller’s agent) to work on the right of first refusal while she and the sellers dug in on the mortgage. Because of my local knowledge, I happened to know who the developer was, and that he had retired and sold his business about 15 years ago. I also happened to know who he sold the business to, and have a working relationship with that person. So I called him up and got the contact info for his predecessor. I then spoke with the developer who sent me to his attorney here in Yarmouth. I called the attorney, with whom I have closed dozens of deals and asked for a favor. That afternoon the document was prepared and signed. First problem solved.

But what about the second problem? The mortgage on the home had been paid off for 10 years, but the bank never recorded the discharge. [Editor’s note: this happens ALL THE TIME. Always call your bank to make sure they recorded the discharge after your last payment to avoid this issue yourself]. The mortgage was, sadly, with a large national bank, so my sellers’ tearful trip to the branch was useless. So they regrouped and, on a lark, called their financial advisor. At dinner time on a weeknight. He picked right up. They explained the situation and he said, “You know what, I know someone who works in the mortgage department at that bank’s headquarters. Let me reach out to him.” By noon the next day they had satisfactory documentation of the discharged mortgage in hand, thanks to their finance guy’s local relationship within the bank.

We sent the completed file to the buyer’s attorney, the transaction closed as scheduled on Friday, my clients bought their new house that afternoon, and everyone walked away happy. Disaster averted.

So what was the trick? Local relationships. My clients had carefully selected a team of local experts and it paid off big time. Think about it like this – what if their Realtor hadn’t been local? Would the seller’s attorney have known and trusted him to solve part of the problem, or would she have had to extend the closing date to give her time to do it herself? Would the agent have known immediately who to call to track down the long-since retired out of state developer? Would the developer’s attorney have been willing to do the agent a favor by rushing the file? What if their financial advisor had been a nameless associate at a large firm who they couldn’t reach after hours? Or who didn’t have personal local relationships within the industry? Would they have still closed on time? Maybe. Maybe they would have gotten lucky. But why leave it to chance? Real Estate is a team sport – when you assemble your team, make sure to pick local professionals who have the experience and relationships in their industries to give you the best representation possible.

Here at Chatelain Real Estate we are taking the current social distancing guidelines very seriously. We've put the following services in place to make sure we are able to keep everyone safe while also providing essential services to our [...]

We get a lot of questions from folks interested in the issue of housing affordability here on the Cape, so we thought we’d give a quick overview of the issue and some of the potential solutions being discussed. [...]

Summer is in full swing here on the Cape.  And along with the gorgeous weather and crowds of happy beachgoers, the lively outdoor music scene is at its height!  

Nearly every public outdoor space in the mid-Cape area hosts its own Summer concert series - the Dennis Port village green alone has twice-weekly free concerts, and Drummer Boy [...]

Changes are coming on October 3, 2015 to real estate closing procedures and to the closing forms. These changes will impact buyers and sellers.  Extra time may be necessary between a deal being struck and the closing date in order to meet the new regulations.  Both buyers and sellers will be required to present documents requested in a very [...]

Whether you are buying or selling a home this winter, you are no doubt frustrated by the slow market.  February usually marks the beginning of the Cape's busy spring market, but because of record snowfalls throughout the region (and more coming all the time), we have yet to see the usual [...]