Chris Nuzzi On Title Insurance, Affordable Housing, And Public Service

When it comes to the real estate market on the East End, Chris Nuzzi’s perspective is unique. Mr. Nuzzi is a lifelong resident of the area, growing up in East Hampton and graduating from East Hampton High School before moving to Southampton Town. He served as a Southampton Town Board member for two terms, from 2006 to 2013. He began his career in public service at the Suffolk County executive’s office in 1996 and started in the title insurance industry in 2007. He is a senior vice president at Advantage Title and now runs its new East Hampton office (it also has a Riverhead location) and lives with his family—wife Sandy Nuzzi and their four sons, CJ, Joseph, John and Anthony—in Westhampton Beach. With firsthand knowledge of life in several South Fork villages and hamlets, as well as in Southold, where his family owned a small home for a time, and the experience he has acquired from working both in town government and in the title insurance business, his perspective matters. Last week, Mr. Nuzzi sat down with The Press in his Riverhead office to discuss current trends in the real estate market, challenges faced by potential homebuyers, the nuanced work to maintain the fabric of local communities amid ever increasing development, the efforts to create more affordable housing, and whether or not he’d ever step into the political arena again.

The Press: Maybe you can start by giving a basic description of what title insurance is and why it is important, for people who have never purchased a home or who don’t have a clear idea of what title insurance is.

Chris Nuzzi: The most important thing in regard to title insurance is that it protects the buyer as it relates to ownership. It’s ensuring that there are no breaks in the chain of ownership, no outstanding adjustments or liens against the current owners, and ensure [the buyer] is protected against any potential defects. It’s the glue that holds the transaction together.

Because of your background serving in town government and your current position working in title insurance, you’re uniquely qualified to discuss the local real estate market. What are some of your general observations, maybe trends you’ve seen, changes you’ve noticed?

I remember growing up in East Hampton, when the pork store and record store and ice cream shop were still on Main Street. When you go there now, that isn’t the case anymore. We’re dealing with that in Sag Harbor too, and Westhampton. Some of that is just the nature of the real estate economy, where prices have risen to the point where it’s difficult for that mom and pop store to survive on Main Street. Some will say it’s due to the convenience of the internet. It’s probably a combination of those things. But it’s one of those things we struggle with. We live in a very insulated environment as it relates to the real estate world, because it’s so beautiful here and sought after and respected by locals as well as people who discovered it yesterday. So with that comes incredible pressure of people wanting to preserve and protect the area. I think the local governments have done a great job with open space preservation, but when you preserve a lot of it and have as much demand as there is for people who want to be here, the prices go up. And it goes beyond maintaining space and historic structures; it’s also about the people. You’ve got to keep that fabric of the community. That’s as important as everything else we’ve sought to preserve over the years.

Let’s talk a bit more about that push and pull between preservation and trying to maintain “the way things have always been,” so to speak, and the larger trend, that’s been ongoing for awhile, of people wanting to build and buy bigger houses and structures that aren’t necessarily, many feel, in keeping with the natural environment or character of the communities. On the one hand, people have a right to do what they want with property they purchase, to a certain extent, but there are many who want to place a certain degree of restriction on that to maintain a certain way of life or general feel in the towns.

I think there has to be constant awareness. And part of that is conversational. It’s up to every one of us to respect what we have out here, whether or not we grew up out here. We’ve got to keep in mind that there’s a reason we want to be out here, and it relates not just to a specific piece of property we’ve purchased, but also the character of that property and those surrounding it. People have generally good intentions, but we’ve got to be cautious about maintaining the quaint nature of the area.

I do agree that there are many people who are attracted to this area and move here, whether as full-time or part-time residents, and want to be respectful of the character of the communities and have that respect. But there are also plenty of people who are interested in buying properties and developing properties purely for business purposes and don’t seem to care as much about those aspects. What responsibility do you think the towns have to regulate that?

You do have to respect property rights. People come in and spend a lot of money and have rights to maintain, develop and redevelop property. Where I think the towns and villages have been successful is in zoning laws and use of Community Preservation Fund money, which is extremely important to maintain open spaces and vistas. Where I think, in my personal opinion, we can do more, is in the use of those funds to purchase and maintain historical structures as well. It’s not just about the purchase of development rights in farmland and it’s not just about open space preservation. It’s also about historical structures and ongoing maintenance of those properties.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the struggles in many East End towns to create more affordable housing. What are some of the particular challenges there, and what do you see as the way forward in handling this crisis?

Between people in the ambulance, police and fire department services, local newspapers, retail, and restaurant employees, we have to ask: How are we going to maintain this group of working people who are supportive of this community if they can’t afford to get a job here and find housing? One of the things I sponsored during my time on the Town Board was the first-time homebuyer’s exemption with money from the CPF. One of the biggest obstacles to buying a house isn’t always the cost of the house, but finding the cash to close. What’s affordable housing out here; a $300,000 or $400,000 house? As crazy as that number is, even at 5 percent down, you’re still talking $15,000 just for a down payment, and then add in all the transfer costs, the mortgage taxes and more. Everybody came together and realized this was a valuable way to enhance the ability of people to purchase a home.

But I do think it goes deeper than just housing. I think it has to do with jobs, and making sure there is a job base here that’s going to pay enough for people to come up with closing costs and to be able to pay their mortgage. And I think it has to do with taxes, and making sure we don’t go the way of areas to the west, where the property tax bill is essentially a mortgage payment.

One thing I have noticed is that all these conversations [about affordable housing] seem to happen individually, on a territorial basis. It’s not something I believe is going to be solved on a territorial basis. The five eastern Suffolk towns need to be more effective at coming together and understanding that it needs to be handled on a more regional basis. I grew up in East Hampton and would have been hard-pressed, at that time, to find a house there that I could afford, so I moved to Speonk, because it offered me that opportunity.

It’s hard to get everyone at the table and moving in a direction, but it’s not just about the 15 units we’re going to develop in Southold, which aren’t going to solve the problem for everybody in Southold, or the 12 units in East Hampton. It’s about an accumulated effort in all of these areas.

Pivoting away from that issue a bit, tell me about how your time spent in local government, as well as your status as a lifelong resident in the area, make you more effective at what you do here at Advantage Title. I understand you’re able to provide insight and guidance that not every title company is in a position to provide.

I spent years in local government and I grew up here and know the geography and the regulatory process pretty well. One of the added values that I like to think I bring is that I can offer some insights into the land use and zoning aspects of transactions to get a deal closed, whether it’s the open building permit that was never closed out, or the finished basement that was done without a permit, or making sure your pool gates are compliant. These are things that can stall or sideline a deal. The advice I give doesn’t take the place of real estate attorneys, but it’s working in coordination with them, and it works very well to get these deals closed.

My final question: Would you ever consider a return to political service?

I do miss the public service part of that. I’ve always maintained an open mind about it. I’ve loved being in business too. I would consider it. What I’ve learned is it’s a matter of personally making it work with family and making sure everybody is on board and good with it, because I have young kids. And then professionally, too, because we have to survive and make a living. But yes, I’d consider it.