Thursday, November 24, 2016

The Story of Squanto - Fascinating!

Imagine the surprise when the Pilgrims landed and were met by an English speaking Indian. The story of how this is even possible is the fascinating story of Squanto's (a.k.a. Tisquantum) life. He was apparently kidnapped by Capt. Thomas Hunt in 1615, taken to Spain, lived in England, and returned (1619) to North America with Capt. Thomas Derme.

Everyone who remained in his village near Plymouth, perished due to the plague. The story is quite involved and isn't without some controversy and some unknowns. Read the biography on the Mayflower History website. Squanto's story was made into a 1994 Disney move called "Squanto: A Warrior's Tale".

Squanto's name has been given to many streets on Cape Cod, including one in Eastham, near the National Seashore.

Monday, November 21, 2016

My December Eastham Market Report Is Available Now

Eastham Sunset
My December 2016 newsletter is available for download. This issue has my market update report (ie through October), my year-end predictions, the new Eastham Public Library, an update of the municipal water system, and Eastham's most expensive listing. 

This newsletter has been published every month for 13 years. My aim, with this newsletter, is to provide accurate sales and market information about the Eastham housing marketplace, to add commentary and opinion (as appropriate), and to keep it interesting.
 Download your copy of my December newsletter now.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

New Fire Code Takes Effect December 1st

Starting next month there are new regulations concerning placement of smoke alarms and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors. To be fair, they aren't much different than what we've been doing for the last year or so, since the new Eastham Fire Chief (Chief Kent Farrenkopf) has been in office. The new rules can be found ... Here.

Of note, two additional points that need to be made. 1) All smoke and CO detectors need to be less than 10 years old. And 2) many of our homes sit unoccupied for weeks at a time - longer than the 'chirp' period of a failing smoke detector battery. It becomes imperative that the batteries get changed annually. A completely dead smoke detector is of no use. 

Sunday, November 06, 2016

Eastham's 2016 'Annual Thanksgiving Duck Race' - November 13th

Again this year, the Eastham Recreation and Beach Department is having its annual rubber duck race. This year it will be next Sunday (November 13th) at the end of First Encounter Beach, on Bee's River. Prizes will be 'awarded' to the top finishers. It's a buck a duck and they start swimming at 12:30 PM. This should be a lot of fun.

If you'd like to buy a duck (for a buck), call the Rec Department at 508-240-5974 after 10 AM on Wednesday November 9th. Ducks are assigned automatically, by the order of the calls. When all the ducks are gone, they're gone! This is a rain or shine event. You must pay on race-day and be present to win.

Tuesday, November 01, 2016

Eastham's October Real Estate Sales

October 2016 Eastham Sales
Eastham's October 2016 sales were pretty good, but a tad behind last month. This year, we had 15 sales in October, down 3 from September. The details.....
  • The 15 October sales totaled approximately $6.4M - the average home sale price was $423K. 
  • The median sale price in October was $400K.
  • There are currently 72 active single family home listings in Eastham, with an average list price of $707K and a median list price of $525K.
  • The average days-on-market is 189 days.
For more details, graphs, and commentary, download my latest monthly Eastham newsletter -- here. I've been publishing this newsletter for over 13 years with the goal of providing market information to my clients, so they may approach the market from a more informed position. Check it out!