Beachfront :Nantucket Home Sold for Just $600,000 Despite Buy
- It’s A Bet “Beachfront Nantucket Home Sold for Just $600,000 Despite Erosion Threat
Beachfront
- A $600,000 waterfront property on Nantucket sold? It’s not a misprint.
- The house at 4 and 6 Sheep Pond Road changed hands late last month for a price so low that it attracted attention, in contrast to the majority of properties with water views on the island that sell for tens of millions of dollars.
- The asking price dropped from $2.2 million to $600,000 in a matter of months due to severe erosion and a motivated seller, creating one of the most unusual real estate sales on Nantucket in recent memory and a flurry of interest.
- After only three years, in 2021, for $1.65 million, the former owner, a limited liability company registered to Connecticut resident Lynn Tidgwell, is losing more than $1 million on the sale.
Beachfront
- Storms in the winter months continued to erode the backyard, even though the house was rented out for $15,000 a week during the summer.
- There was severe erosion along the southwest shore of Nantucket during Tidgwell’s brief ownership; the waves destroyed more than thirty feet of dune between the house and the ocean.
- Although Brendan Maddigan, a managing director at the real estate investment firm JLL, recognized the risks associated with purchasing the property, he also saw an opportunity.
- Growing up in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Maddigan told the Current he has a long-standing relationship with Nantucket.
- His family has been vacationing on the island for many years, and they all adore the Madaket area.
- He therefore kept his eye on the property for a while, and he was the first to make a written offer for the full asking price when the price dropped to $600,000.
Beachfront
- Maddigan remarked, “It’s a gamble, but I got comfortable with the risk.
- ” “That’s a losing battle, and I’m not sure when erosion will finally destroy that house—it might not happen at all.
- I considered it this way: I would be content if I could hold that position for a few years, ideally a little longer, and do everything in my power to make it last.
- There isn’t enough space to move the house farther back from the receding shoreline because it is currently situated right up against the eastern boundary of the land.
- Even so, Maddigan understands there are no guarantees and hopes the house will live on in the memories of his kids and, with any luck, his grandkids.
- After the price was lowered to $600,000, the property went under contract in a matter of hours, according to Shepherd Real Estate owner and listing broker Susan Shepherd.
- The closing date was delayed due to a number of problems and mishaps, including the paperwork being misplaced twice in the mail.
- Shepherd claimed that during that time, she was inundated with inquiries about the property from prospective buyers.
- Beachfront
- Shepherd remembered that in late December 2022, after she and the owner agreed to reduce the price to $600,000, “I kid you not, the floodgates opened.”
- “I received calls from people across the nation.
- Not only did I personally handle up to thirty or forty calls every day, but other brokers were phoning me to complain about being overloaded.
- Though I never imagined it would be a full-time position, I expected it.
- All I did was take field calls.According to Shepherd, the interest came from both those with “Vegas money”
- She informed everyone about the property’s susceptibility to erosion and gave a detailed account of the Sheep Pond Road situation during the previous three years.
- Many remained unfazed nonetheless.
- “Holy crap,” exclaimed some, while others remarked, “Oh this isn’t so bad.
- ” Regarding the reactions of possible purchasers to the property’s erosion, Shepherd spoke.
- It was really interesting.
- This involves a great deal of the human element and psyche.
- Although I was aware that there would be interest right away, I was unaware of how much.
- There was the whole gamut, from the person buying a house for the first time to the retiree writer who just wanted to get away from it all.
- the entire spectrum.
- “Oh, I’ll put my chef out there,” said someone.
- I’ll send out my boat captain.
- Some people only saw it as “Vegas money.”
- Shepherd underlined that in addition to the erosion, the seller’s desire to get rid of the property was also reflected in the price reduction to $600,000.
- “I said ‘If we want to sell this in hours not days, where do we price it’?” stated Shepherd.
- Was there cash remaining on the surface? Perhaps there was.
- However, time is always an issue when I discuss property pricing with others.
- More than anything, the seller’s desire to turn the page contributed to the situation.”
Maddigan told the Current that he was well aware of erosion’s past, the dangers associated with it given sea level rise projections, and the likelihood that any significant erosion control measures, such as hard armoring, would not be feasible. - “We shall see,” he remarked.
- There are certain benefits to the property, but who knows what nature will do and I don’t have a crystal ball.
- We are aware of current trends.
- There are years when erosion doesn’t occur and years when it does.
- I intend to exert all of my effort to hold onto this location for as long as possible.
- But erosion is unavoidable and cannot be stopped.
- Maddigan won’t be requesting the installation of a geotube or anything similar before the Conservation Commission.
- To give himself as much time as possible, he does, however, have plans to move the property’s septic system and other infrastructure.
- He went on, “Climate change is very real.”
- “I have hope, but I also have realism.”
For many years, Sheep Pond Road has been a hot spot for erosion; many homes have been destroyed by the waves. - A house nearby at 21 Sheep Pond Road that had been condemned owing to erosion was demolished not long after the properties at 4 and 6 Sheep Pond Road were listed for sale last fall.
- A few more are up on cribbing, awaiting relocation.
- When his house at 19 Sheep Pond Road collapsed into the ocean fourteen years ago, the late Gene Ratner lost his protracted battle with erosion.
- Ratner’s entire property is now underwater as of today.
