Mortgage Rates Drop to Lowest Level on Record

I'm not sure who keeps the 'official' record book, but CNBC is reporting that 30 year mortgage rates have dropped to the lowest level EVER!  The mortgage rates fell to 4.69% for a 30 yr mortgage with no points.  Read the story on  CNBC's website.

A Live Whale in Chicago??

There was a scheme to capture and drag a live whale to the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair, known as the Chicago Columbian Exposition, where it was to be installed in a large tank to be viewed by the fairgoers. This strange story had it's origins in Provincetown, where Captain Amos Chapman was going to capture a whale live, then tow the creature through the St Lawrence River and 4 of the Great Lakes to Chicago.

Thankfully, he couldn't find (& capture) a whale in time.  Read this bizarre story in the Barnstable Patriot... Here.

Big July 4th Weekend Ahead!

This coming weekend, anchored by the 4th of July, on Sunday, is a big weekend on the Outer Cape. Check out these activities...

Orleans -

• Friday - July 2nd - Fireworks at Rock Harbor (rain date July 5th). These fireworks will be easily viewable from Skaket Beach and First Encounter Beach (Eastham)
• Saturday - Parade - 10 AM - from Eldredge Parkway to Main Street

Wellfleet -

• A complete weekend of fabulous activities - antique car parade, 5-mile run, dancing on the pier, and a 'regular' parade through town.  Check out their weekend on the Wellfleet town website....Here.

Provincetown -

• Sunday - July 4th - Parade at 11 AM on Commercial St
• Sunday - Fireworks at dusk

Working Remotely - From the Beach!

Bloomberg Businessweek ran a story this week about working from the beach. With the aid of the internet and appropriate additional technologies, many knowledge workers can work from almost anywhere. This story puts it all together.  I see many folks who have relocated to the Outer Cape to, essentially, work from the beach. Read the BBW story... Here. 

The photo to the right was taken from the website of the Cape Cod Beach Chair Company. Go check out their wonderful products...Here.

Blessing of the Fleet & Portuguese Festival

This coming weekend is the annual Provincetown Portuguese Festival and the Blessing of the Fleet. In fact, this will be the 63rd annual "Blessing". There is a complete weekend, starting Thursday, June 24th, through Sunday, June 27th, with the Blessing of the Fleet.

The highlights are an all-you-can-eat clamfest (Friday at 5PM), a parade on Commercial Street on Saturday (at 3PM) and the Blessing of the Fleet at 1PM on Sunday.  Go the the Festival's website for a complete schedule. This annual festival has many fun events for all ages. Go see!

Sharks On Cape Cod This Summer?

Will we see sharks on Cape Cod this year?  The following video, courtesy of the Cape Cod Times, is an interview with the state's shark expert, Greg Skomal, on that very subject. Watch this video as he outlines the recent past, last year's tracking efforts, and this year's prognosis. (I'll give you a hint .. the answer starts with a 'y'.)

Also, you need to see this photo of a sand shark pulled from the surf in Wellfleet.

Eastham Solds - Another Chart

The chart below didn't fit in my latest newsletter. This chart is a histogram of the homes sold so far this year (through 5/31/10). What this chart shows is a more 'normal' distribution of sales than we saw last year, with it's almost total void of homes in the $500K's and $600K's.

Madison & Morgan - 1 Year Old Today

Today we drove to Lynn to attend my twin granddaughters' first birthday party. They are so fun, even when the room had more adults than seats. The girls were overwhelmed with friends and family.  Check out the photo below of Maddie just beginning to devour a small birthday cake. Also, check out my daughter's blog, called The Mischievous Lives of Madison and Morgan.

My July Eastham Real Estate Newsletter Is Available Now

My July Eastham real estate newsletter is available now. This issue has the Eastham results through May and includes my mid-year preview, and a new listing - directly on the bike path. So far, the market seems to be improving, both in terms of sales volume and sales prices.

Download your copy of my July 2010 newsletter ..Here.

Would you like to subscribe to my monthly newsletter? Simply .. Click Here.

Eastham's Hands On The Arts Festival - June 19th & 20th

The Eastham Cultural Council will hold it's 12th annual fine arts and crafts show on June 19th and 20th at the Windmill Green. There will be over 30 juried artists and crafters on the Green for a show and sale including members of the Cape Cod Artisans Guild and Eastham Painters Guild. Go to their website for an overview of the schedule (National Marionette Theater, music, food, etc).

Marconi Beach Stairs - Fully Repaired!

This spring's storms wreaked havoc with the stairs at key Cape Cod National Seashore tourist beaches. I reported a few weeks ago that the Nauset Light Beach stairs had been repaired. I'm happy to say (and show) that the stairs at Marconi Beach in Wellfleet are finally back on-line also.  Check out this video, courtesy of the Cape Cod Times.

Cape Cod National Seashore - Fort Hill Area

Fort Hill is where the French explorer Samuel de Champlain dropped anchor on July 20th, 1605, 15 years before the Pilgrims, the Mayflower first sighted land, and the author Henry Beston spent a winter alone with a journal in his “outermost house.”  Read about Fort Hill on the MySecretBoston website....Here.

Also, check out the virtual tour of the Fort Hill Trail on the National Park Service website.  Really cool!

New Smoke and CO Detector Regulations

The new regulations are fully in effect and the local fire department is on-board when it comes to their pre-closing inspection of the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in a to-be-sold home. The Eastham Fire Department has posted the regulations on their webpage.  I wish they weren't so confusing.

Monday Night Concerts In Eastham

The Eastham Visitor's Service Board once again will be sponsoring band concerts on Eastham's Windmill Green on Monday evenings this summer. The concerts will be held at the bandstand, starting at 7 PM every Monday. The line up is as follows: 

• June 21 - Nauset World Music Ensemble
• June 28 - "Salute to America" by the Chatham Chorale
• July 5 - no concert
• July 12 - Lower Cape Concert Band
• July 19 - Toast and Jam
• July 26 - The Brass Connection Quintet
• August 2 - Bruce Abbott-Fred Fried Jazz Quintet
• August 9 - O'Challah-Denya LeVine, Greg R. Johnson, Clayton March
• August 16 - The Big Jazz
• August 23 - Chandler Travis Philharmonic
• August 30 - The Parkington Sisters

These concerts are lots of fun. Join literally hundreds of folks on the lawn - bring lawn chairs and/or blankets. Or, bring a picnic dinner. These are fun for the whole family.

New Beach Webcam - Nauset Beach in Orleans

Orleans' Nauset Beach is a town owned public beach and is a continuation of the Cape's outer beach that extends from Provincetown to Chatham's Monomoy Island, a distance (my guess) of about 50-60 miles. A beautiful beach and heavily used by Orleans residents and guests. Parking is a problem, but the are many walk-ins from the town of Orleans.  Anyway, they have a new webcam that rotates, on a minute by minute schedule, through 3 different views. Take a look.... here. I captured the image below a few minutes ago. Another beautiful day!

Why Most FSBO's Fail

Many homeowners choose the For Sale By Owner (FSBO) route when it comes to selling their homes. Unfortunately, this route is fraught with difficulties and with expectations that aren't often well thought out.

Read why most real estate for sale by owners (FSBO) Fail ...Here. This article is from Bill Gassett of RE/MAX Executive Realty of Hopkinton, MA.

How To Buy A House by Seth Godin

I came upon an article by a noted writer and thinker, Seth Godin, about the process of buying a new house. He makes a few excellent points that certainly should be taken into account. Read "How to Buy A House"... Here.

Seth Godin is well published and has many, noted, best sellers, mostly in the 'business' section of your favorite book store. A few of his books are 'Tribes', 'Small is the New Big', 'Meatball Sundae'. Many more. Check out Seth's Blog.

Photo of the Day - Colorful Neighborhood

I took this photo a few days ago on Rock Harbor Rd, between Orleans and Rock Harbor. They are each one bedroom, no bath. No Title V septic. Cute.

NYC's Freedom Tower - An Updated Photo

It's only been a month since I was last at my son's apartment overlooking ground-zero in NYC.  Here is today's photo.  I (apparently) spend too much time driving to New York!

Coast Guard Beach - The Video

The Cape Cod Times online edition posted the following video to show us Coast Guard beach, Dr Beach's #7 choice in his 2010 Best Beaches in America.  Check it out...

Coast Guard Beach Is #7 On 2010's Best List

Eastham's Coast Guard Beach is once again on the annual ranking of the best places to catch some fun in the sun. Dr. Stephen Leatherman -- known as "Dr. Beach" says Coast Guard Beach in Eastham comes in at number seven this year. It is 'up' from number 9 last year.

The list is based on a list of 50 criteria, putting 2 beaches on Long Island on the list as well as 2 from Florida. Check out the criteria list..Here.  Also, check out the story on the Cape Cod Times website.