Facing Down December

The end of November has arrived, sneaking in while I walked the uncrowded streets of Paris and sat in a few cafes with good friends.  The Paris weather was much like what I encountered upon arrival at Logan: rainy, windy and raw.  But by the time I drove onto the Cape, it was calm and mild.  Yesterday was 60 degrees, and people’s Christmas lights are on!  Now, we Yankees love to talk about the weather. So too the French.  But once you’ve been transplanted to a cold climate like Albany, NY, and face the winter winds from Halloween onward, this mild Cape Autumn is heavenly.  While in Paris I passed by the ERA real estate office and saw that small, very small, apartments in Paris cost about the same as a three bedroom home in South Dennis.  Real estate there is measured in either number of “pieces” (rooms) or square meters.  One buys the apartment, but it is not the same as a condo or a co-op.  And it is very difficult for non-EU foreigners to obtain a French mortgage, so bring cash.  But all of that melts away (although I always dream of having my own pied-a-terre) in a decent hotel in an interesting neighborhood.  I have lived in France at various times, and I can tell you that my Cape village of Dennis has a very Euro-Yankee feel to it.  For instance, I can walk to the bakery, bank, grocery market, ice cream shop, potter’s, artists’ atelier, clothiers’, playground, an art museum and several good restaurants from my front door.  But I can also go the opposite direction and in 900 yards be on Mayflower Beach.  Perfect!  I hope to find you the same location that meets all of your needs.  Here you will find an international crowd of young people serving up fried clams all over the Cape in the Summer.  This leads me to the impending arrival of a young woman from Lyon who will arrive on the Cape December 7.  I hope to bring to you reports of our area and American culture through her eyes, as she will be living with us for a year.  She will be transitioning from a large French city to Dennis, and experiencing her first American holiday season.  It should make for interesting stories…stay tuned.

New Listing in Hyannis

I have just listed a gambrel home in Hyannis’ West end (near Centerville and Long Pond).  It is lovely and spacious with a fenced yard and attatched garage. Three or four bedrooms, large kitchen/dining room. Priced to sell at $321,000.00.  All of the details at www.capecodera.com or email me at lisa@capecodera.com.

Giving Thanks at Plimoth Plantation

As my family will scatter to the four winds this holiday, and I will be winging it to Paris on the big day, we gathered from afar in Plymouth, MA, this past weekend.  I’ve always wanted to do The Meal at the Plantation itself, which you can do with advance reservations ( www.plimoth.org).  But with baby in tow we gathered at the John Carver Inn just blocks from Mayflower II.  The date wasn’t the important part, it was having my children together, with my sister and her wonderful kids, breaking rolls together.  We have a new addition to family gatherings, my daughter’s beau, and I was grateful to him for bringing her to us from Albany.  They even gave up the first minutes of playing Nintendo Wii to travel back to the 17th century.  The kids all loved seeing the Wampanoag at their campsite, and the Pilgrims’ farm animals.  The best part was being together.  I hope that you have the same, whatever the day.  Peace.

Turkey Dinner

 From the CC Times, J.W. Dick

Price it Right the FIRST Time and Win Big

Pricing a house correctly is a key consideration for home sellers, and an important reason to have a competent Realtor by your side.  Here are some facts for Cape Cod (Harwich, Dennis and Yarmouth) for October, 2006:  Homes that listed and sold without a price reduction sold with an average of 106 days on the market and at an average of 94.8% of the original list price.  Listings initially priced over 10% above their final sale price sat on the market for 296 days.  Homes that underwent any price reduction were on the market 263 days, and sold for 85% of the original listing price.  Lesson: for a quick sale at a price you like, price it right the FIRST time.  Selling a home is a bit stressful, don’t you think? Why prolong it, and watch the market drop out from under you? (stats compiled by Rob Bergeron, COO of ERA Martin Surette Realty www.capecodera.com).