by Phelan Wolf, Esq.
3 Chatfields Lane Unincorporated East Hampton $815,000
This home is located on a 1-acre lot far out in the Northwest Woods section of East Hampton, about equidistant between the village centers of East Hampton and Sag Harbor. It is a cubic-shaped 2,100-square-foot contemporary home built in 1983.
There are three bedrooms and three baths and the common area includes a double-height living room with fireplace. Sliding glass doors and an upstairs balcony overlook a vinyl swimming pool and deck.
Assuming a per-square-foot value of about $200, plus $50,000 for pool, deck, landscape and driveway, this sale values this 1-acre lot at approximately $345,000.
Since the real estate crash and the contraction of home and land values that followed, there has been a geographical contraction of interest as well; as homes closer to the village centers have become more affordable and it has become harder to sell homes farther from town. As a result, home prices in outlying neighborhoods have fallen in value significantly.
Because of reduced interest, building on speculation has stopped in the Northwest Woods area and there are almost no post-crash pure land transfers there which might show present values. The only land sale in Northwest Woods this year appears to be a 1-acre lot in the Landfall subdivision, which sold for $360,000.
Based upon this sale, and the Landfall sale, it appears that a 1-acre building lot in the far Northwest is worth something less than $400,000, or around 30 percent less than before the crash, when similar lots were selling for more than $600,000.
25 Woodland Way Quogue $765,000
This home is well located on a quiet cul-de-sac close to the center of Quogue, convenient to shopping and restaurants but without noise or traffic.
The house is a 2,200-square-foot contemporary built in 1978 with three bedrooms and three baths. The 1.2-acre lot is almost completely uncleared and covered with natural woodland and mature landscaping. The pool area and deck in the back of the property are extremely private.
At $200 per square foot, plus $50,000 for pool, deck, landscape and driveway, this sale values this 1.2-acre lot at about $275,000.
While this house differs significantly in appearance from 3 Chatfields Lane in East Hampton, both properties offer similar amenities—just over 2,000 square feet of living space, three bedrooms, vinyl pool and deck on 1 acre. However, the lot value in this case is about $100,000, or 30 percent less, owing to its location in Quogue rather than East Hampton.
23 Long Springs Road Unincorporated Southampton $2,574,000
This home is a timeless, tasteful, classic design; a 2,800-square-foot post and beam in the Colonial style.
The house was built in 1998 and has three bedrooms upstairs. There are no bedrooms downstairs, but there is a ground floor library that can be used by guests. Also downstairs is an eat-in kitchen, formal dining room and living room with fireplace.
This house was very nicely furnished and landscaped in a clean, understated, traditional style with open lawns, mature trees, well-kept hedges and climbing roses on a pool house overlooking a Gunite pool and patio. A detached 2-car garage completes this traditional layout on 1.8 acres just off North Sea Mecox road about one mile north of the Southampton Jitney.
While four or more bedrooms are preferred today (and due to the aging population on the East End, many people want at least one bedroom downstairs), this house and property have been improved in a manner that has been in style for hundreds of years and will be desirable for as far as anyone can see.
Unfortunately for the owners, they purchased this property at the very height of the market in April 2007, for $3 million. The fact that they sold for only 15 percent less than they paid, during a period when many homes lost 30 percent of their value, shows that while the sellers timed the market poorly, they still chose an outstanding property.
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