Andrew Doud 0:08

All right everyone, it's Thursday. I'm manager downtime for Happening the Hamptons Podcast, our weekly breakdown of the Hamptons market, new listings, and events on the East End. We are sponsored by New York Title Abstract, the Hamptons leading title insurance firm. Visit NewYorktitle.com. Joining us today, Steve Glick, Dave Retiner, and today, return guest, my better half, and I think exceptional real estate agent, Miss Sarah Dowd. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Wonderful. He's not biased at all.

Andrew Doud 0:33

No, not at all. Let's talk. So you wanted to talk, we were like, what should we talk about today? We've we've covered the market, we've covered the low inventory, but what you've been busy with this season and for the last several months has been rentals, which has been kind of like a crazy rental year.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

It's just it's it's so on fire right now. Really? But unlike the COVID years, it's so much hard work and expertise and hustle. And like there's people who haven't rented this year and they're wondering why not. All all of my exclusives for the full season rented before the season, which was wonderful. Wow, good for you. You know, it just felt good to get that done. Um, but it was a hard year. I mean, you had to work really hard to get it done.

Dave Rattiner 1:11

Well, that's what I've heard. I've heard that real estate agents have had to work unbelievably hard to get things rented, or I've been hearing, you know, I don't know what's, you know, these people aren't their houses aren't getting rented, and it's a problem for them, and there's concern.

Andrew Doud 1:26

She she makes it sound like, oh, I I got them rented. This was not just like a oh, I got them rented. And I know this because uh every weekend she was at these houses doing open houses, and how do I know that? Because well, I'm home being dad, and uh and she's like, I gotta work this week and I gotta work Saturday, I gotta work Sunday. Like, and she's doing all these open houses constantly on the phone, first thing in the morning, late at night, like there's a lot of hustle to your point of making this happen.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

It's not like making it an exclusive too. There's a lot of people that uh try the open listing route or the do-it-yourself online route, and the the key to success is gonna be make it an exclusive.

Dave Rattiner 2:05

Yeah, describe why an exclusive rental is better because Saunders as a firm, we kind of invented the exclusive rental out here, and that was not a thing uh until a f until we launched the the exclusive rental program. And the reason is is because there's real value to the client to have the exclusive rental, but a lot of people need to be educated on that. Can you just touch on that?

SPEAKER_01 2:26

I think a lot of people, when you're looking to rent your house, you need to find an agent who cares about your rental and also cares about their business uh real estate relationship with you as the owner because the rentals don't necessarily pay a lot and they're a lot of work, but that real estate relationship and um and all of that is so important. And you want someone who who's gonna show up for you and and care about um just being there for that. So I think my best advice would be make it an exclusive because nobody likes to work for free. So if it's an exclusive, you know you're getting paid at the end of the day. Um and of course that person's gonna show up and work for you. Um get off the do-it-yourself websites, be patient because there's just there is a lot of inventory this year, so the market is a bit saturated. So if you're doing it wrong, you're gonna get passed over. Um I went back to 2019 pricing because I felt that that kind of COVID number had corrected itself. So the people who who listen to me and and the exclusives, they they got it done, and and there's so many smart people out there renting, and they just have so many choices and so many options in front of them that price becomes one of those key factors when they're you just have to get them in the gate. So 2019 pricing was key this year, I think.

Dave Rattiner 3:36

You know, for me, I also I mean, I don't know if this is true, but for me, if I when I visualize renting my house, I would do an exclusive rental as well. And the reason is is because I really want to know intimately the person that is showing my house all the time, you know, with with people. So like there's a lot of wacky real estate agents out here that you kind of pick up. Yeah, and a lot of them and a lot of them try to score rentals because that's like the easiest thing. And I don't want some like wacky guy doesn't know what he's doing, doesn't know what he's or girl or whatever that doesn't know what he's doing, doesn't know what he's talking about.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

And um well, I think that relationship, and that's kind of what I was saying before, is just that relationship becomes so important because at the end of the day, it's not really about the money you're making on a rental because they are actually a lot of work and they don't pay that much. Um, but it's that relationship and and building for future things that becomes important.

Andrew Doud 4:29

Well, and you've had rental clients that have turned the sales, yeah. And that's where that's where the the the rental market can be advantageous for an agent to like get in and start you know fostering that relationship with somebody who may sell their house someday, it's not always a sure, a sure thing.

Dave Rattiner 4:44

And they also all know they know about the house. They they intimately know the house.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

But I also want to point out, too, you don't do it by yourself. When it becomes an exclusive, the agent-to-agent network, whether it's from another brokerage or in-house at Saunders, um, that those relationships with other agents and being able to network it and bounce it off of each other is what makes the deal happen. And then everyone gets paid. So it's it it just makes sense to make it an exclusive and have that huge network working for you.

Andrew Doud 5:14

I've I've been driving around town and uh I'll see these like you know, you go to the hardware store and you can pick up like a for sale, for rent, whatever, like they have a section for like that generic sign and they'll put that in the front yard and it's like house for rent, and it's like a number scribbled in Sharpie. And I'm like, Yeah, good luck, man. Because like all you're exposing yourself to is people driving by your house, and you have to hope that of those people, and this goes for a sale too, like a for sale by owner, it's like sure you can post it on some of those you know DIY websites, like rent it yourself, sell yourself, whatever. But um, good luck. Yeah, it's like and it's gonna sit there. And I'm like, and the amount of time you could have the amount of time and aggravation you could have saved trying to get somebody to hopefully come in your door, you could have just had it rented uh for the price you want, even after the commission's paid, if you just worked with uh, you know, a smart agent.

Dave Rattiner 6:02

Well, you bring up another thing about the websites, not just the homeowners that's doing the what do-it-yourself websites, it's the agents that do it. And so there used to be this game with open rentals where uh it was whoever got the listing fastest, and that used to be a game. I don't I'm sure you remember that. So the game used to be, you know, Sarah is an open list listing agent, and then you know, somebody else at some other company is also an open listing agent. And the game was was who can get it onto Zillow the fastest, or who can get it onto Trulia the fastest? Because it was like if you got it on there the fastest, then you had the listing on the internet. And when somebody made the phone call, then on the on that listing, that agent would answer the phone. And so what an exclusive rental does that I think is really valuable is that it closes that loop and guarantees that the agent that you want capturing the lead is getting the call.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

And it's and it's also about response time. I mean, you have to be extremely responsive, uh, almost to immediate response time to talk to people about rentals, otherwise they just move on. So I think it is really important when you choose an agent, it has to be somebody who's going to be watching for those leads and immediately responding.

Andrew Doud 7:25

At the end of the day, I I just wouldn't want the headache. And and by that I mean like if if I if I am trying to enjoy the summer and and I want to rent a property that I have, like why would I want to be fielding phone calls and showing houses and taking time out of my day when I likely have another job or something else that I want to be doing? Like an exclusive anyway. An exclusive rental agent like Sarah is there to take to that is her job to field those phone calls, to do those showings and to take all that off your hand.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

It's like you sit at the beach.

Andrew Doud 7:59

Well, you sit at the beach, and then she calls you and she's like, Look, I got an offer for the price that I told you it would rent for because I'm knowledgeable about this kind of thing. And uh, let's you know, button it up and move forward and I'll send the paperwork to you later today. And you're like, great, and you hang up the phone and you enjoy the waves.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

But I do want to mention there is a featured listing today. Um, they came on late. So they came on after Memorial Day, super amazing rental. Um this is just one that I have left. It came on late. Yep. Uh 15 Lakeview Court in Southampton, waterfront dock, super stylish, total hotel experience, even down to like monogram towels and oh cool, monogram towels. Can't go wrong. It's pretty, these landlords are just some of my favorite for sure. So um I would highly recommend that one. And then the sunsets, of course, are gorgeous. So that's one that's still left for any agents or or where is it on the water? It's on um Little Fresh.

Dave Rattiner 8:50

Nice. Oh, cool. Up in your territory, kind of yeah, not really. I'm sort of I am kind of more like Roses Grove spot, but you have the nice trail system through there. I used to go through there all the time in the wintertime.

Andrew Doud 9:03

And did you did you mention the price? What was the price?

SPEAKER_01 9:05

$49,000 for July through Labor Day. So it's a great deal for super turnkey.

Andrew Doud 9:12

Yeah, like and you're like, hey, let's let's get out to the Hamptons this weekend, and you're just boom false air and you're there. Yeah, move in ready. So that's a great one.

Dave Rattiner 9:20

Can you touch on um the other thing that comes up with rentals is fraud? And there is just tons of fraud on the internet, and doing an exclusive rental with you also shuts down that concern.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

There's always something that could happen anywhere for sure, but definitely going through a system that has you know, make sure you get your renter's insurance and different boxes like that that we check off can give owners just this little bit more of a breath and security and peace of mind. Peace of mind going into it. Because I mean anything can happen anywhere for sure, but we have more systems in place and way more. For me, for me, the renters insurance is huge, just even making sure people have that.

Dave Rattiner 10:03

I'm super familiar with it because um you know the online listing component is a big part of my job here, and it's just unbelievable how many fake Zillow rental listings there are.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

If I been there, I I would show up with keys, you know, you're getting Airbnb listings there are.

Dave Rattiner 10:20

Correct. And um it's like dangerous out there. It's the legitimate listing. You need to like work with people that like know the area, you know. It's like it's like crazy. It's like I would never if I didn't know the even if I was a renter and I didn't know the reputation of the agent that I was calling on, I'd be very cautious. As and I think that's good advice for any out there that anyone that's listening that's looking to rent, you should be very, very cautious.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

And in the Hamptons, too, we have a lot of tenants that still come in person and still come for showings. So um, I know booking remotely became more popular during COVID, but there's still a very traditional group that rents in the Hamptons that's always coming out with an agent. So if you are trying to do it yourself and you're just on some of those other websites where they're just booking remotely all the time, you're missing this huge window of very Hamptons uh familiar renters that like to come and see the property in person, go to open houses, do it with an agent. Yeah, it's a little bit more old school out here in a lot of ways.

Dave Rattiner 11:19

But also, what I want to say is if you're a renter um in New York City and you're just looking on the internet, I would be very, very cautious looking at a rental listing online if you don't have some sort of credibility indicator from the listing agent or the person that's listing the property. Because you know, it's I think a lot harder to impersonate uh a person versus impersonating a listing.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

And FaceTime tours are so hugely helpful.

Dave Rattiner 11:53

So, like if Sarah Dowd has the rental listing, I'm much more comfortable calling Sarah Dowd. I know Sarah Dowd's number because her number is everywhere on the internet. I can Google Sarah Dowd's name and I can see all of the cool uh you know history of your of your career and blah blah blah, you know, versus another rental that doesn't have Sarah Dowd and has either the quote unquote owner, but who knows if that really is the owner.

Andrew Doud 12:22

This is a true if I was renting.

Dave Rattiner 12:23

You know, I would be very cautious. And it's big money.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

I mean, the rentals out here are not cheap, so it's yeah, you significant amount of money.

Dave Rattiner 12:30

You could easily wire money away to the wrong person. Easily.

Andrew Doud 12:33

If I was going to rent something in New York City right now, and I am zero percent familiar with New York City, uh, because I'm rarely ever there, uh, or even like anywhere, like a vacation spot, like going to Key West, right? Like my first call would be to an agent, not like uh, hey man, I saw your uh rental on Facebook. Like, yeah. Um so all right, so let's so that's kind of like the big picture uh with rentals and the market this year. We touched on your uh new exclusive at 15 Lakeview. Um, but let's send it over to Steve now with a breakdown of this week's numbers. Steve, what do you got?

Steve Glick 13:05

Thanks, Andrew. Over the past week, there were 19 listings that went into contract from West Hampton to Montauk. When you compare it to last year, there were 26. So we're looking at a decrease of 27%. The year prior in 2021, there were 40 listings that went into contract, so that's a decrease of 52 percent. The breakdown of the 19 transactions this week, there was one between four and six million, five between two and four million, and thirteen under two million. The dollar volume was thirty-five million compared to last year of fifty-three million. So we're looking at a decrease of thirty-four percent. And the year prior in 2021, the dollar volume was 159 million, so we're looking at a decrease of 78%. There is good news though this week, and that's with new listings coming onto the market. So this past week there were 38 new listings that came onto the market, so that's increasing our inventory by 19 listings. This is a positive to see as we come into the end of June. The breakdown of those 38 new listings, there was three over 20 million, four between 10 and 20 million, one between eight and ten million, two between six and eight million, four between four and six million, eight between two and four million, and sixteen under two million. The overall inventory in the Hamptons stands at seventeen hundred and sixty-four total listings with twelve hundred and ninety-two active and four hundred and seventy-two in contract. And that's the market report this week.

Andrew Doud 14:26

So when you hear that the inventory is spiking up, what's your reaction to that? I mean, do you think this is going to keep trending up? Do you think that this this false selling season is going to be? Well, this is the time to sell.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

I mean, this is when the hydrangeas are in bloom and the pools are open and people are here, you know, just coming out, you know, in car car loads.

Andrew Doud 14:45

So Well, from a marketing standpoint, this is absolutely my favorite. This is the favorite time.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

This is when you want to shoot your property and that being said, though, I think historically, like we we still lean towards having a little bit of low inventory, and we could always use more. So people should call me to list their houses. Um, and it's a great time of year to do that, especially going into the fall, too. And uh the market's still highly competitive. So the last three deals that I did were bidding wars still. Um, the most recent one was actually we were the first showing in, the first offer on the table, and it had to be strong enough to bump everyone else and shut down the open house for the weekend and put the deal together by a Friday. So, you know, you're still coming in aggressive, you're still coming in competitively. Um, there's still plenty of buyers who want to be here. The Hamptons trends up and people love being here. So I think it's all really good news.

Andrew Doud 15:38

Wait, so you had uh so you brought buyers to a listing and they said, we're gonna hold an open house this week, like this just came on the market?

SPEAKER_01 15:48

On the market Tuesday, open house planned for Saturday. Okay, but you're the first person in the door and the first offer on the table. You have to be good enough and strong enough to convince these owners that you're worth moving forward with and you're the best deal out there, the best buyer out there for this house.

Andrew Doud 16:04

So this brings up a kind of an interesting point where um I think when people are buying a house or renting, I mean whatever the case may be, where are you buying a car, buying a house? Everybody wants a deal. They want to feel like they're getting something. So instinctively, I think people go, they'll say to their agent, well, okay, the list price is one five. Let's go in at uh one four or five, you know. I wanna I want to feel like I got a deal. Now, Sarah's there telling them, no, you actually got to go in above that because this price is. Or give them the number that they want. Or right. Or, you know, whatever they can full ask at minimum.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Um our inventory is not in a position where we can start moving off the number that that much yet. You know, there we have seen that market, we may see that market again. If you're dealing with higher price points, we are seeing that movement. Um, I do a lot of the like two million and under. So when you're in that sweet spot where everybody wants to be, it's still very competitive. So you don't really have the freedom unless there's something with a property that's kind of uh something to get over, you know, busy road or something that's not perfect. Um I should say, but if it's the perfect house, you should make a really strong offer.

Andrew Doud 17:13

And that competitiveness is like that's that assumes that the house is priced where it needs to be. You know what I mean? If if if if it's a one-five house and it's listed at one eight, like chances are they're not gonna get that number, and you might have some room to negotiate. But if you're like, look, the comps are saying it's one five, it's listed at one five, there's gonna be multiple offers by the end of the weekend. Like this is gonna be sold in a week.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

You're paying one five.

Andrew Doud 17:36

Yeah, you're paying one five, right? That's your deal. That's the deal. If you get the house, then you got the deal.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

The deal is getting the house, the deal is knowing about it.

Dave Rattiner 17:43

Yeah, I like the way you were just said that.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Yeah.

Andrew Doud 17:45

So um, all right, so that's that's good insight into the sales as well. Let's talk about the insight into the weekend. And uh 4th of July? Are we on the 4th of July already? Yes. What happened in June? I just got used to like some we're officially in the summer now, right?

Dave Rattiner 18:02

We've been officially in the summer, and we haven't really had super warm weather, yeah. Like it's nice to have the warmer weather, which is uh I guess I guess I guess. I mean, it's sunny today. I wasn't expecting it to be so nice. I think we were expecting rain today.

Andrew Doud 18:16

So we've been expecting rain all week. It's nice to see the sun. Um, so how I don't know what the weekend looks like, but what do you got? I mean, is it is it a good weekend to get outside? Yes, I mean you're the man about town.

Dave Rattiner 18:27

Yeah, yes. Well, so the coolest thing are the fireworks in during 4th of July. So we have the 36th annual American Picnic Fireworks by Grucci. Um, this is a great fireworks show. That's uh June 30th, starts at 7 p.m. and goes to 10 p.m. Um and Grucci, not Gucci, but Grucci. I wonder if they did that on purpose. Like a like as part of their marketing, you know. I don't know. Like not McDonald's, it's McDarrell's, you know.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Um but okay, so this is And they uh and they actually sponsor um they have a they have a cool story behind them. I'm sure we have it on the board.

Dave Rattiner 19:06

Go ahead. I don't I don't know. I've been to the party.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

Um sponsor.

Dave Rattiner 19:13

Yeah, so here I got the most anticipated 4th of July fireworks. This family event is held at a private residence on Meadow Lane. It's a beautiful house. It features all American buffet with a carnival for children. The fireworks display is over Shinnecock Bay, and it is a benefit for Southampton Fresh Hair Air Home. I know what that is. Oh, yeah. That that's the the um disabled thing, right? It's a great it's a great story, and I think we have the link on Hamptons.com. So it's a cool I gotta I gotta write about this. So for anyone that doesn't know what Southampton Fresh Air Home is, it's an overwhelming charity. It's basically um for disabled children, and it's like a summer camp for them. And it's just like you go, it's like I'm getting like uh I can feel now when you say fireworks, you'll feel even better.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

You can feel even better celebration.

Dave Rattiner 20:04

So this is such a good, this is such, such, such a good thing to do.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

And you don't have to be there, even if you're just around those, you can't make it to the event. If you're just uh overlooking the Shinnecock Bay, uh kind of on the west side, you can see these amazing fireworks too. So yeah, we'll probably bring our kids and go do that.

Dave Rattiner 20:21

Yeah, so you can get tickets um for the um event at the house. Um they start at$350 for adults and$175 for children, and you can get the tickets at uh sfah.org. Um, or if you just go to Hamptons.com, there's a link to it also right there.

Andrew Doud 20:39

So this is a this event is held at a private residence on Meadow Lane.

Dave Rattiner 20:44

Yes, but sponsors, but the public can also scoot down there. Oh, nice. So you can't go to the house, but you can there's an area where you can see the fireworks at the beach.

Andrew Doud 20:53

Yeah, I mean there's yeah, that's great. Okay, cool.

Dave Rattiner 20:56

Um, but if you can swing it, definitely buy tickets that you are doing a very good cause. Um, I'm so glad we picked that one because that was I totally forgot that that's what they do. My second pick uh for the week is uh for the weekend is a really cool dinner uh at Gurney's in Montauk. It's called the Chateau des Escalans winemaker dinner. Um so the Château des Escalons, if you know, you know apparently. Um and they're gonna have a uh five-course tasting menu paired with rose wines um from the collection of this vineyard, and it's gonna be on the beach with bonfires, and they're gonna have music. Um and I guess one of the fancy roses that we know about, probably hear about this one is Whispering Angels. Have you heard of that of that one? I've heard of that one.

Andrew Doud 21:46

I haven't cool name though.

Dave Rattiner 21:47

All right, so that's at Gurney's. Uh, you can purchase tickets for the June 30th dinner at Gurney's website, or also you can do it at hamptons.com. I recommend going to hamptons.com. And And then we also have I gotta mention the July 4th parade. So the 4th of July parade in Southampton Village. Right in front of the Saunders office. Yes, it runs right by the Saunders office, and we you know really go all out with that. Encourage you to stop by. I will be there with the fans. You can say hello.

Andrew Doud 22:22

We should set up an autograph station for you.

Dave Rattiner 22:25

There you go. Yeah, I'll say diet starts tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

But you can watch it too. If you can't make it, I we'll probably have a shot of it or two on the side. Yeah, you can watch it on.

Dave Rattiner 22:34

Yeah, but you gotta go. If you if you're listening to this podcast, you can definitely you're definitely probably able to go. It's a very cool parade.

Andrew Doud 22:41

It's probably the parade on the east end.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

I remember going as a kid. I mean, this thing's been around forever. Yeah.

Dave Rattiner 22:48

Um, and then so I don't know. My uh my final pick, this is on July 1st. Three-hour sunset fireworks cruise. The Sag Harbor Yacht Club will hold their annual Independence Day fireworks again this year on July 1st. So that's good to know that there's fireworks July 1st in Sag Harbor. So that's number one.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

I always loved Sag Harbor.

Dave Rattiner 23:12

You can also uh get a spot on the American Beauty Cruises and Charters, which is like not a too fancy boat, it's like a regular, it's like a cool boat, but it's not like it's boats, yeah. It's not for like billionaires. Like anybody can get can get tickets on this thing. Um, and you can do a sunset cruise. That sounds like I like that. Yeah, why not do that? So um that's my pick. So that's your Friday, Saturday, Sunday for the uh weekend in the Hamptons. Did I miss anything?

SPEAKER_01 23:42

That's a good weekend. That's one of your best ones yet, I think.

Dave Rattiner 23:44

All right.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

Fourth of July.

Andrew Doud 23:45

Fourth of July, there's always something going on. Hopefully the weather holds off and it's uh and it's a nice weekend. All right, good deal. That's a good podcast, Sarah. Thank you for joining us again. Thank you, Dave, Steve. Thank you. Everyone, have a great weekend. I'm Andrew Dow. That's what's happening in the Hamptons.