Rick Tourgee’s Provincetown Real Estate Blog

As we all have learned during the last 12-18 months, tighter standards from lenders is making is making harder to finance a real estate purchase.  Here on Cape Cod, especially in Provincetown, Truro and Wellfleet- many Buyers are buying real estate here as a second home.

Up to about 2005, Buyers could purchase their dream second home here on Cape Cod with as little as 5% down.  However, times have changed!  If you are Buying a second home today, you will need to be prepared to have a credit score higher than 680, plan to put at least 10% down, and plan on being able to provide documents verifying income and assets.

If you are not able to provide income and asset documents, the qualifications might increase to a credit score higher than 720 and you might need to put down 20%-25%.

Also, many properties here on Cape Cod are “seasonal use”, which means the property cannot be occupied during the off-season, which tends to be November 1 - March 31.  If you are buying a seasonal use property, be prepared to put down at least 20% and be able to document your income and assets.

Lender guidelines are changing by day and varies from Lender to Lender.  Speak with a local, reputable Lender to learn all the facts and figures based on your profile prior to looking at any property.  This will put you in a much stronger position should you find a second home of your dreams!

One Lender I use is Maryann Taormina from Mortgage Master, Inc.  Maryann can be reached at 508-237-1424 or you may e-mail her at MTaormina@MortgageMasterinc.com

To look through a wide selection of Provincetown properties as well as properties throughout Cape Cod, please visit my website or call me at 508-487-6002.

Recent revisions to the state building code are making it harder for contractors to work without a license and will increase the cost of some building projects by as much as 20 percent, according to people in the construction industry.

Provincetown Building Inspector, Russell Braun, said about 100 pages of revisions to the state building code went into effect earlier this year.

Among the changes are new licensing requirements for builders. Prior to the recent change, contractors doing roofing, windows, siding,  and other minor projects had to have a home improvement contractor certificate. Now, with the new changes, those jobs will require a builder to have a construction supervisor license, which is a more stringent and expensive licensing process, as well a taking and passing an test.

In addition, because of new rules requiring that coastal properties be able to handle 110 MPH winds, there are tighter structural requirements for construction of new house and additions. Also, newly built or renovated homes here on Cape Cod located within a mile of the coastline must now install windows able to withstand hurricane-force winds, which are much more expensive. And a structural engineer will have to be hired on all new home construction and certain additions to be sure the rules and regulations are being followed.

Bottom line:  be sure to hire a reputable, licensed Contractor that knows the area and knows the Federal, State, and local building codes.  It might cost a little more upfront.  But, it might save you big money down the road!  Any questions for the Building Inspector, Russell Braun, feel free to call him at 508-487-7000 or visit him on the lower level of Town Hall.

Saturday I had the pleasure of dining at Victors, a new restaurant that just opened on May 20.  I am very much looking forward to going there again for dinner as well as lunch!This new addition to Provincetown’s culinary landscape offers a unique dining experience, especially geared toward people who like to enjoy upscale, casual dining with friends. Victor’s offers a quick, delicious bite to eat at lunch, and a “small plates” dinner menu of New American cuisine, sized for tasting and sharing with friends.

Chef Mike Fennelly takes pride in using as many local and organic ingredients as possible to create dishes like the Local Baked Stuffed Clams with linguica, herbs, and crouton stuffing, served on a bed of rock salt. The Lobster Spring Rolls, flash fried and served with thin pasta, lettuce, mint, and a chile-lime sauce and BBQ Oysters with crispy pancetta and Korean barbecue sauce are delicious small plates to share.  

Victor’s dishes are served individually at their hottest, freshest, and best for lunch and dinner in an open, airy, light atmosphere. Our cottage-style restaurant, with its cathedral ceiling, central stone fireplace, and tables hand-crafted by owner Victor Depoalo gives diners a comfortable, yet elegant place to enjoy these delicacies.

Vistor’s specialty cocktail list, the Seven Sins of Summer, is a must to try, as well, and includes a “Passionate Margarita” and  Too Hot Caipirinha.

The weekly Farmers’ Market held in the center of town in the Ryder Street parking lot in Provincetown will begin for the season this Saturday, May 17.

The market is open each Saturday from May 17 through Oct. 26 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vendors from Cape  Cod offer an extensive variety of produce and other locally made products. You will also find organic greens and Cape-grown flowers along with the home-baked breads and other tasty bits!  I am hungry….I wonder why?? 

When looking to buy or sell your piece of Provincetown Real Estate or in the surrounding area, please call me at 508-487-6002 or e-mail me at Rick.Tourgee@Century21.com

I am an Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) and a Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) with a successful track record servicing many Buyers and Sellers. I follow the Golden Rule and look out for my Clients needs above my own.

Aaauugghhh……Spring is here with tulips showing their bright colors, people are putting their patio furniture out so they can be ready for cook-outs with family and friends, people are buying suntan lotion so they can have a lazy day on the beach…….but, guess what eveerybody should be doing?!?!?!? Call your local licensed Chimney Sweeper and have your fireplace and wood stove chimneys inspected and swept!! Not many people think of having their fireplaces cleaned during the Spring and Summer. But, in fact, now is an excellent time to have it done while the weather is more favorable for the Chimney Sweeper and to beat the last minute rush of others calling him or her when snowflakes start to fall in only 6 months!! My chimneys were inspected and swept yesterday. When was the last time you saw your Chimney Sweeper??

When looking to buy or sell your piece of Provincetown Real Estate or in the surrounding area, please call me at 508-487-6002 or e-mail me at Rick.Tourgee@Century21.com

I am an Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) and a Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) with a successful track record servicing many Buyers and Sellers. I follow the Golden Rule and look out for my Clients needs above my own.

During the winter months, many people who heat their homes with oil or propane, have regular deliveries every couple of weeks of fuel throughout the winter months.  This avoids potentially running out of heating fuel at 2:00am when it could be 15 degrees outside!

However, this time of year, if you have about at least 1/4 tank of fuel- call your fuel provider and tell them to stop deliveries until October or November!!  Why pay for inventory of fuel that is just going sit in your tank for 5-6 months?!?!

Most businesses try to operate at the lowest amount of inventories as possible because inventory is expensive!  You need to think the same way about that expensive fule oil or propane!

When looking to buy or sell Provincetown Real Estate or the surrounding area, please call me at 508-487-6002 or e-mail me at Rick.Tourgee@Century21.com

I am an Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) and a Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) with a successful track record servicing many Buyers and Sellers. I follow the Golden Rule and look out for my Clients needs above my own.

Here in Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, business is decent.  However, as we all know the days of multiple offers when a property has been listed just for a few hours- are gone!  But, as I have said multiple times in multiple blog post, the key attributes to getting property sold in the current market are:

• price, price, price

• staging the property show it will show like a model home

• multiple photos of the property

• Having a quality virtual tour

• Having a quality video tour

• Having all the above with maximum internet exposure

• working with a professional Real Estate Agent who is a trusted Real Estate Adviser looking for your interest above their own

I am extremely proud to have a proven track record in this market of selling property in a much shorter amount of time than many others in my marketplace due to my out of the box thinking and marketing techniques.

Sales from January 1- April 30, 2008 in Provincetown of all property types according to our Cape Cod & Islands MLS system are:

Number of transactions:    53 

Highest sales price:          $6,100,000 (a high-end guest home)

Lowest sales price:           $20,000 (a parking space)

Average days on market:  194

When looking to buy or sell Provincetown Real Estate or the surrounding area, please call me at 508-487-6002 or e-mail me at Rick.Tourgee@Century21.com

I am an Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) and a Seller Representative Specialist (SRS) with a successful track record servicing many Buyers and Sellers. I follow the Golden Rule and look out for my Clients needs above my own.

Century 21 Shoreland, with offices in Provincetown and Hyannis, volunteered their services to the Cape Cod and Islands Association of Realtors benefiting Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod.  Sales agent, Stuart Lewis from the Provincetown office, spent the day with a group of Realtors contributing to the third project Habitat for Humanity has undertaken on Cape Cod benefiting special needs families. This is the first time that the volunteers have been provided through Cape Cod and Islands Realtors , and Century 21 Shoreland was proud to be part of the local team.   In addition to providing a day of work, the Provincetown office collected contributions from local banks and retailer to help make the project successful, and of benefit to such an meaningful cause.Once complete, the project will consist of four single family homes for the benefit of various groups of local people.  The awarding of the homes was conducted through a lottery system with three homes benefiting local families, and the fourth home for the sole purpose of assisting teenage girls.  The overall concept of the project was to empower women to become involved with not only running the homes, but in the actual building of them.  Between local teens, religious organizations, local volunteers throughout the community including the contribution of local Realtors throughout Cape Cod, the project will be 75% complete and occupied within the next two months. Coming away with such a sense of accomplishment helping the woman project coordinators, Century 21 Shoreland hopes to participate in future events to benefit Habitat for Humanity at a local level on Cape Cod.

There are many reasons why I live in Provincetown on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.  But, this past week was a real treat for anyone visiting Herring Cove Beach and Race Point Beach. For hours each day in the waters just offshore, dozens of right whales gathered to feed, the saltwater-slicked wedge shapes of their heads lolling above the waves while flocks of gannets dive-bombed the surface around them and an occasional humpback or finback spouted in the distance.

Every morning before coming to the office and in the afternoon between appointments, I would go to one of the beaches with my binoculars to watch the whales.  The site of these whales playing in the water was unbelieveable!!  There was not just one, two or three of them- one reported said planes above counted 60 of the beautiful whales!!

“It’s a remarkable time. It’s the greatest concentration we’ve seen in all the 23 years of our work … and Provincetown is at the center of it,” said Charles “Stormy” Mayo, senior scientist and director of right whale research at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. He attributed the high density of whales to the “extremely rich food source” that is available to them right now.

On Friday a group of 16 right whales spent the afternoon at the mouth of Provincetown Harbor.

Mayo said the right whales that are in the bay right now equal about a third of the population of North Atlantic right whales left in the world…..can you imagine that?!?!?!  This is one of the rarest mammals on earth!
One person counted two dozen right whales last Thursday, as well as four humpbacks and one or two finbacks kick-feeding in the same area.

Race Point is a great spot for whale-watching because there is deep water close to shore, allowing the whales to come in and flash their flukes and flippers within clear sight of the beach.

If you are planning on buying a residential condo in an association with commercial influence (units owned and occupied by a non-residential owner), be aware that lenders frown very heavily!

I have a condo listed for sale in an association where the commercial influence is about 40%.  The lender I use and trust warned me that any Buyer must put down a minimum of 20% liquid cash, have a credit score of 720 or higher, the condo association must have been turned over to the association at least 5 years ago and have a healthy reserve.  Even if the Buyer meets that criteria, there is a chance the lender will not want to finance the unit under the newer stricter guidelines.

My lender mentioned that there is a chance the lender will finance it as an unwarrantable condo.  But, then the interest rate is higher.  A lender will consider lending in an association if the commercial influence is 20% or lower.  If you are unsure of the percentage ownership, consult the condo documents and/or ask your Real Estate Attorney.

Bottom line, if the home you find and love is in an association with commercial influence of more than 20%- have a long talk with your lender and have as many facts as possible about the association to give to the lender.

If you have any questions about this type of situation, please feel free to call me at 508-487-6002 or e-mail me at Rick.Tourgee@Century21.com.  Also, should you wish to take a peek at properties for sale here on Cape Cod, please visit my website.