Skip to main content
The New York Times

It’s July. Do You Know Where Your Beach House Is?

By: Marc Santora. Photos by Kathy Kmonicek.
Published: 7/3/2011Source: The New York Times

EVEN for longtime residents, the crazy quilt of towns, hamlets and villages that stretch along the South Fork of Long Island can be a bit dizzying.

 

So for those looking to snag a last-minute summer rental, it would pay to buy a map and become familiar with the fringes of the ultra-chic Hamptons. Properties are still to be found in what brokers call “tertiary” areas, places just minutes away from the island’s best beaches and glitziest main streets, but with rental prices that can run half as much as those in more glamorous ZIP codes.

 

Names like Noyack, Remsenburg and Northwest Woods may not conjure up the same mystique as Amagansett or East Hampton. But that is precisely why they are more affordable, and, at this point in the summer, where houses are still available.

 

Patrick McLaughlin, a broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman in Sag Harbor who deals exclusively with property on the East End of Long Island, said it could take some convincing to get summer renters to explore areas with which they are not familiar.

 

“Aesthetically, these are gorgeous areas,” he said. “They are a little farther from town: it is 10 minutes as opposed to 2 minutes. For people willing to discover these tertiary areas, they really can get a great deal.”

 

One example of the rental divide is between Sag Harbor and the lesser-known Noyack.

 

Noyack, just minutes from Sag Harbor’s quaint and bustling Main Street, is nestled in the northeastern hills of the Little Peconic Bay. It has been described as the “un-Hamptons.” With modest waterfront cottages lining narrow, tree-covered streets, the area seems more like Cape Cod than the South Fork.

 

“It is a little bit more rustic,” Mr. McLaughlin said. “The bottom line is there are a lot of bay beaches and it is substantially cheaper than neighboring villages.”

 

Take the charming house for rent at 73 Pine Neck Avenue. Built in 1940, it is a modest two-story beach house with five bedrooms and three-and-a-half baths. There is no pool, but a dock runs out into the bay.

 

The owners will rent the place for the entire summer or for just one month. For July, they are asking $15,000. For August through Labor Day, they want $20,000.

 

Those prices are similar to other waterfront properties in Noyack, Mr. McLaughlin said.

 

Still insistent on chic? Hop in the car. Just minutes away, the more spacious houses in Sag Harbor can cost three or four times as much. (Technically, Sag Harbor is an incorporated village, parts of which belong to the town of East Hampton and parts to Southampton. Noyack is a hamlet within the township of Southampton.)

 

For example, Richard Kudlak’s four-bedroom house in the boldface village is $75,000 for August through Labor Day. The property, which was featured in Country Gardens magazine, has a deep-water dock as well as a rare waterfront pool.

 

Mr. Kudlak will be renting his house for the first time while he and his wife are traveling and taking their children to college. “When we realized we would be away for most of August, we decided it made sense to rent it out,” he said. The rent will help pay those college tuition bills.

 

Mr. Kudlak, who is a real estate agent at Elliman, said he was encouraged by the rental market this season. “From what I have seen, rentals have been surprisingly strong this year,” he said.

 

Mr. Kudlak said that renters who couldn’t afford a long summer vacation still didn’t want to skimp.

 

“Rather than downgrade in terms of the quality of the home they are looking for,” he said, “people will rent for a shorter term.”

 

Across the island, brokers said, it has been a good rental season so far, in part because potential buyers are still hesitant to enter the market. The miserable winter also inspired intense fantasies of the beach; so did the miserable summer of 2010. Many people who decided not to rent then regretted it as they sweltered in the record-breaking Manhattan heat.

 

Two years ago, renters were able to swoop in and get properties in the most desirable ZIP codes at cut-rate prices — by Hamptons standards, anyway.

 

But this summer, with the rental market stabilized, all but the wealthiest can forget about leasing a summer property in the choicest towns and villages at this late date. Prime location is often defined as being “south of the highway,” meaning close to the beach and south of Montauk highway, which runs the length of the East End.

 

The ultra-luxury market, which brokers classify as houses that cost more than $250,000 for the summer, was strong out of the gate this winter. Those houses account for nearly a quarter of the summer rental business in the Hamptons.

 

If money is no object, and your August dance card is blank, a stunning house in Southampton is still an option.

 

Located on the ocean, the house was designed by Norman Jaffe, and has 8,500 square feet, three fireplaces, a state-of-the-art media room and a gunite pool. According to the listing, “sculpted garden paths lead to the sunken all-weather tennis court.”

 

That’ll be $350,000 for August through Labor Day; Sotheby’s International is the party to see.

 

Saving for a yacht or a Triple Crown horse? You may want to shift your hunt to the outskirts.

 

Martha Perlin, a broker at Corcoran, said a wide variety of rentals could still be found in parts of East Hampton known as the Northwest Woods and Springs. These places can be a bit of a haul from the boutiques and the beaches. In the Northwest Woods, called that for its geographical relationship to the center of East Hampton, prices range from $15,000 to $20,000 a month for modest houses in an area known as Settlers Landing.

 

Ms. Perlin said 32 Oyster Pond Lane in Northwest Woods was typical of the more affordable houses there. It has four bedrooms, a deck and a pool; the owners are asking $25,000 for August through Labor Day but would be willing to rent it on a short-term basis at $12,000 for two weeks.

 

Rick Hoffman, who is Corcoran’s regional senior vice president, East End, said he thought some properties were still seeking renters because people were intimidated by reports last winter and spring that the Hamptons rental market was red-hot.

 

“If the question is, can the average family still come out here and find a nice place to rent for August, the answer is yes, they can,” he said.

 

Just three miles from Sag Harbor Village, on the outskirts of Noyack, is a three-bedroom ranch house with a pool renting for $15,000 for the month of August, with Robert Kittine of Corcoran as the listing agent.

 

Mr. Hoffman said renters should not expect owners — in any town — to cut the kind of deals they would have only two years ago, since in many cases it is simply not worth the hassle for an owner to rent below a certain price.

 

George Monsour rented out his house in Remsenburg for the first time last summer for the months of July and August for $45,000. He had been hoping to rent to the same people this year, but it turned out they had other plans. Since the season has already begun, he is willing to consider shorter-term deals and to be flexible with his price.

 

A short bike ride away from the main street in Westhampton, his five-bedroom home sits on two acres and includes a heated pool, an outdoor shower and a tennis court. Lynn November at Corcoran is handling the listing; it is $20,000 for the month of August or $30,000 for the rest of July and August.

 

“Most people, including myself, do not rent out homes to cover a month or two of expenses,” Mr. Monsour said. “Most Hampton homes in my area rent out to cover the expenses for the year.”

 

While the big brokerage firms began moving into the Hamptons rental market a decade ago and now control the bulk of the business, many owners choose to list their houses on vacation Web sites like Homeaway.com.

 

Even at the beginning of July, dozens of listings for weekly, monthly and seasonal rentals could still be found on the site — with the most affordable in lesser-known hamlets and villages.

 

For instance, several houses in East Quogue, just east of Westhampton, are listed for under $20,000 a month, including a three-bedroom, three-bath house on the Shinnecock Bay that is renting for $10,000 for August through Labor Day.

 

In Springs, which drew artists like Jackson Pollock to its shores decades ago because of the stunning quality of the light, Homeaway.com had dozens of small houses renting for less than $20,000 a month, including a three-bedroom cedar-shingled ranch that is listed for the last two weeks in August and Labor Day weekend for $2,500 per week.

 

Owners who don’t end up finding renters this season have at least one consolation. They have a place to stay in the final hot months of summer.

 

 

Pictured above: A waterfront house with a pool at 16 Notre Dame Road in Sag Harbor listed for Aug. 1 through Labor Day with Sandy Morell and Maureen Geary of Corcoran.

 

Please click here to read the article on nytimes.com

 

Copyright © 2011 The New York Times Company. Reprinted with Permission.  Photos should be credited as follows: Kathy Kmonicek/The New York Times. 

RETURN TO PRESS PAGE