Episode 220 - Romaine Gordon

Discussing East Hampton Springs

About Happening in the Hamptons Real Estate Podcast

Happening in the Hamptons is powered by Saunders & Associates, the #1 locally owned real estate brokerage in the Hamptons, and Hamptons.com, the Hamptons’ leading lifestyle brand for what to do, where to go, and what’s happening across the East End.

Each week, Happening in the Hamptons covers the people, properties, market trends, events, restaurants, local businesses, charity happenings, arts and culture, and community stories shaping life on the East End. From Hamptons real estate and homes for sale to weekend events, waterfront living, village life, and local lifestyle coverage, the podcast brings a grounded, local perspective to one of the most iconic markets in the world.

Subscribe to Happening in the Hamptons wherever you listen to podcasts.

Join the conversation and follow for all the latest in Hamptons real estate!

YouTube
Instagram
LinkedIn
Facebook
TikTok

Transcript

Andrew Doud 0:07

Alright everyone, it's Thursday. I'm Andrew Doud. Time for Happening in the Hamptons podcast, our weekly breakdown of the Hamptons market, new listings, and events on the East End. We are sponsored by New York Title Abstract, the Hamptons leading title insurance firm. Visit NewYorkTitle.com. We have Mr. Steve Glick, Dave Rattiner, and today Romaine Gordon, return guest. We're going to be chatting about East Hampton, specifically the Springs, an area that is near and dear to your heart and one that you are, we'll call you the expert, the real estate expert.

Romaine Gordon 0:36

I'll take it.

Andrew Doud 0:36

Yeah, there you go. Well, thanks for thanks for coming back on the show. And um, how are you? How's business?

Romaine Gordon 0:41

I'm great. I'm great. Thanks for having me. Good morning, everybody.

Steve Glick 0:45

All right, good morning. So let's yeah, let's talk about springs. Let's talk about the springs. I want to know I want to know all about it.

Romaine Gordon 0:51

Let's talk about springs, especially for Mr. Steve Click, who says he doesn't know anything about the springs. Please edit.

Steve Glick 0:59

I hear a lot about the springs. Everyone's been moving there. I know like a young a lot of young people actually start finding their first home in the springs, and there's a lot to do, and it's like an up-and-coming area. You live there. What's so great about it? What are the highlights about the springs?

Romaine Gordon 1:13

Uh well, I think everything is great about the springs. I mean, from the fact that it's we're our own little community with the coffee shops, the markets, the pizza places, waterfront restaurants. Um, and I'll say some of the best sunsets I've ever seen are from the springs, all the west-facing bay beaches. So you're selling it to me. Okay.

Steve Glick 1:36

What beaches are out there? What are the beaches?

Romaine Gordon 1:38

Well, so the beaches that are out there, some of them are I say private, they're in the community. Um Lion Head Beach Community has its own Bay Beach, Clearwater Beach Community has its own Bay Beach. Then you have Gerard Drive, you have Maidstone Beach.

Steve Glick 1:52

So these communities, hold on. So you're in a community, it's like consists of what, like five or six blocks?

Romaine Gordon 1:57

So yeah, it's not a gate, it's not a gated community, but it is a private community. Um Lionhead probably has a hundred, maybe a hundred and twenty houses in it, um, four or five streets, and then Clearwater Beach community has closer to four hundred, maybe four fifty.

Steve Glick 2:14

Now, if I'm going to that beach, how do I get in? I live is there like exactly.

Romaine Gordon 2:17

So you don't you don't necessarily get in unless you live in the community. So if you when you buy a home you don't even have it's not even the sticker that gets you in. When you buy a home in Lion Head Beach community or Clearwater Beach community, you pay a fee to get a little card, and that card opens up the city. Opens the gate. Oh, okay. So there's the gate. So it's really if you rent a home in that community, you get that little card, but that's how you get in. So it's really just for those people. So I understand. Yeah. So if you if you go down to that beach, like if I go down to the beach even on 4th of July, sometimes it's just a couple of people with their chairs and their umbrellas. It's very quiet.

Steve Glick 2:54

And these are all, and you then you start to know people that live your neighbors, right? That's of course, yep.

Romaine Gordon 2:58

Yep. You know, I walk my dogs down there for sunset. You see a lot of people, I know Lion Head's a lot smaller, but clear water. I, you know, I can look right across, right across the little canal and see, you know, they sometimes have a taco margarita truck over there and they do some yoga classes. But then at night, like for sunsets, yeah, everybody is pushing the strollers or walking the dogs or just going down for sunset. So groups of people are just hanging out watching these spectacular sunsets. It's the same sunset you get from all the waterfront restaurants in Springs, like Boswick's, you know, CC, the restaurants that are all on Three Mile Harbor, it's that you know, the everything's west facing, so it's a spectacular sunset. Yeah.

Steve Glick 3:38

Now you mentioned Girard Drive.

Romaine Gordon 3:40

So Girard Drive, you'll watch a sunrise, not necessarily a sunset. Um, but Girard Drive is also what I think, and I always make a point if I'm showing any properties in Springs, or if you know if I'm listing a property and I'm the listing agent, I make sure the selling agent takes their buyers around, not only to places like Maidstone Beach, um, but always Girard Drive. It's just this little strip, it's a little road that runs between Acabonic Harbor and Gardner's Bay. And a lot and the houses are very, very close to the water. A lot of the houses, um, as perfema rules, are now up on stilts. But like so, some of them are literally in the water. But it's just this spectacular little street that you drive down with water on both sides, little houses, and at the very end, you're actually walking you're actually looking across to Louse Point. And there are, you know, people are paddleboarding, kayaking, um, just doing all the all the water sports that you would do on the bay and and then the harbor.

Steve Glick 4:39

And it seems like Eastam Springs is like, is it would you is it up and coming or is it just already there, rising a little bit?

Romaine Gordon 4:46

It's been, you know, air quotes around up and coming. It's been up and coming for years. It's definitely changed over. It's transitioned from being all year-round residents to a lot of you know second homeowners. Okay. So you have a mix of both, but a lot of things have come up. Like now there's this great little coffee shop. So instead of what I used to have to do is get up and if I'm not making my own coffee, go into the village, which is not a big deal. It's you know, 10 to 12 minutes away, maybe a little few more minutes with traffic. But now I can get in, I have a golf cart. I can jump into my golf cart and go right around the corner in this amazing yeah, the golf cart is a necessity. But I go right around the corner to this great little place and get my decaf latte, and then you know, there are places to get egg sandwiches and bagels and you know, it it you know, waterfront restaurants, restaurants in our waterfront. It's a whole little community.

Dave Rattiner 5:40

I mean, it's the ultimate place if you have a dog.

Romaine Gordon 5:42

It's well exactly. Talk about the Springs Dog Park. Yeah, we have the dog park, we have the pizza shops, we have the wine stores, we have the waterfront restaurants, we have the non-waterfront restaurants. Like we it's really a whole little community. And um, you know, not only are you just outside of East Hampton Village, but quite frankly, you're closer to Amigansett. So I always tell people if you're picking up someone from the train, you're going grocery shopping, whatever you're doing, plan on doing it in Amagansett. It's like Oh, so it's easier to get it. You can ride a bike, you can ride a bike table. Yeah. Like I used to teach, you know, prior to my real estate career, I used to own a fitness studio in Amigansett, and I taught, I think it was a 6:30 class or a 7 a.m. class, and I would roll out of bed like 15 minutes before that class started and get over there. So I know it's like you know, six minutes, eight minutes, ten minutes if you hit any traffic to get over. And there's, you know, obviously like fabulous ocean beaches and the tacos and everything that's in Amigansett, but you're really you're like dead center right in between the two.

Steve Glick 6:40

So what if you're just looking to buy a home in East Hampt Springs, you're are you able to find deals under a million dollars?

Romaine Gordon 6:48

So it used to be a given. Now it's a little bit different, obviously, because everything changed after COVID. Sure. So but I always say to people, you know, sometimes people feel like the springs is a little bit too far out from where they want to be, or they're they're just not, I feel like most people aren't familiar enough with what is actually going on in the springs, how close the springs really is to the East Hampton village and the Amiganta Village and the beaches. But I always say to people, you know, there's always more inventory, I feel like, and over the 11 or 12 or whatever years that I've been doing this, I feel like there's always more inventory and more options in that inventory in the springs than anywhere else, you know. And I've had many people and two that pop to mind immediately that said to me, We love East Hampton, we have friends in East Hampton, we don't necessarily want to be in the springs. So I can remember a few years ago, somebody said, you know, we you were referred to us, we just want to meet you, have a cup of coffee, maybe drive around a little bit and just become familiar with the different areas. So, you know, we we did a little bit of driving around, but then I took them to Springs. I took them to Maidstone Beach, I took them to Girard Drive. At that point in time, um, the Little Springs General store was open and some other places. And that day, and I know this is not going to be like an everyday occurrence, but um, and I also had lined up a house like in Northwest Woods, outside the village, in the springs, and they found something that they loved and they put an offer in that day, and they to this day own that house. So there have been so many people I've brought into the springs that just weren't familiar, that just didn't know it existed, that had only heard things.

Dave Rattiner 8:25

Well, they don't see you know, it's like it's a real luxury. I mean, you know what else people miss about the springs is the marinas. Well, that's right. So Three Mile Harbor is just this super big and super safe sandbox for any size boat. And there's like dozens of totally accessible marinas there. So if you have a really nice boat or if you're just a regular fisherman, it's a great location to store a boat. Like nothing will happen to your boat, even in like a really rough storm.

Romaine Gordon 8:55

And the two and Lionhead Beach community and Clearwater Beach community also have their own marina. So, you know, Lionhead, I think I don't have a boat, so I don't know the details, but I want to say it's like 22 boats that maybe that can go into that marina. But and Clearwater, again, it's a larger community with a larger marina. But um, even Maidstone Beach, when my son was young, even though we had the private Bay Beach in our community, I would take him down to Maidstone Beach, and there's a channel where all the boats come from Three Mile Harbor to get out to Gardiner's Bay, so you can just sit there and watch the boats go back and wave at them and stuff. And they all have to go like what is it? 10 to 12 miles an hour or whatever they do. So you just sit there all day long and watch these boats go back and forth. And the waterfront restaurants, too, on the subject of the marinas, those waterfront restaurants.

Dave Rattiner 9:42

Yeah, people don't realize you can take and you can take a boat and it's like 15 minutes from your house, not even sometimes a 10-minute little boat ride. Uh, we used to do that all the time when I lived in the springs. It was great. You would just get out get on your boat and you go to East Hampton Point, you're still in the in the harbor and beautiful night.

Romaine Gordon 9:59

But most people don't have boats when they're out here. So you can also just get in your car, your golf cart, and it's not a good thing. Because how many other expensive? Because how many other like there aren't that many waterfront restaurants, even though the Hamptons is all about the beach and the water, like in East Hampton, you're going to the Springs. You're going to CC, or you're going to Boswick's, or you're going I'm great. Yeah.

Steve Glick 10:20

You're I gotta get out there more. You're selling it to me. Man, it sounds like a dream. And Roman, you have a listing there, 101 Private Lane. This is in East Hampton Springs, right?

Romaine Gordon 10:29

Correct.

Steve Glick 10:29

New construction?

Romaine Gordon 10:30

Correct.

Steve Glick 10:31

It's a tell us about this one.

Romaine Gordon 10:32

So this is it's a brand new construction. It's on just shy of an acre. And this is speaking of all the waterfront restaurants and marinas, this is literally probably a two-minute car ride from East Hampton Point, from the marina, from Boswig's restaurant. Um, it's just under 4,000 square feet. It's on just shy of an acre, it's six bedrooms, gunnite pool, detached garage, you know, all the bells and whistles. And the builder of this home is someone that I have worked with for probably 10 years and sold quite a few of his homes, and he does a fantastic job. He doesn't do more than one every couple of years. He's very hands-on. Um, it's a great, it's a it's a great house. Um, and it's on a little quiet street. It's not a cut-through street. There are a few streets in the springs that would be a cut-through to get from three mile to Springs Fireplace. This is on a quiet street where you're not on that street unless you live there. So, I mean, I think it's an amazing deal. I have it listed at 2995, and I think today you would not be able to buy the land and build the house for that number. Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

Steve Glick 11:39

Looks like a great listing. I know we were there a couple weeks ago checking it out. There's a lot of people there checking it out as well. So it's cool.

Romaine Gordon 11:46

And I do have one other listing coming up on Talmadge Farm Lane that will be listed shortly, and that is not a brand new build, but that is a house that someone will probably come in and do a little a few cosmetic upgrades. But that's also a you know a large piece of property. It's like 0.75 acre, give or take, and it's a five-bedroom house. Um, it will be listed at 1795, which is an amazing deal. Five bedrooms for that area. Yeah, really good. Yeah, yeah. So keep an up, keep a lookout for that in the next couple weeks.

Steve Glick 12:15

That's exciting.

Andrew Doud 12:16

All right, big picture. What do you got?

Steve Glick 12:18

All right, so this past week, 31 listings went into contract from West Hampton and Montauk. Last year, 29, increase of 7%. And two years ago, there were 14 listings, so it's an increase of 121%. 31, we finally eclipsed 30. So this is a big week. This was a high, this is high in the past couple months here, actually. Uh the breakdown of 31 transactions, there is one over 50 million, two between 10 and 15, 2 between 5 and 10, 5 between 3 and 5, 11 between 2 and 3, 9 between 1 and 2, and 1 under a million. Dollar volume was 185 million in one week. Last year was 136 million, increase there of 36% in two years ago in one week. The dollar volume was only 50 million, so it's an increase of 270% from two years ago. New listings that came onto the market. 46 came onto the market in one week. So very, very active week here. Uh this is the first week of July, and that increases the inventory by 15 listings and the breakdown of the 46 new listings, one between 15 and 20, one between 10 and 15, 15 between five and ten, eight between three and five, eleven between two and three, nine between one and two, and only one under a million. The inventory is at nineteen hundred and fifty-two total listings, fifteen hundred and twenty-eight active, and four hundred and twenty-four in contract. So there you go. Great start to July to the summer season, and there's a lot going on.

Dave Rattiner 13:45

Something so relaxing listening to the numbers. I don't know what it is. Are you a numbers guy? No, I thought I like listening to numbers.

Romaine Gordon 13:52

Can you repeat any of those numbers back? Or do you just heard zone out? Are you relaxed because we zoned out?

Dave Rattiner 13:57

Yeah, I heard increase 15 listings.

Steve Glick 14:00

It's a lot going on. I mean, like a lot of like 31 listings in one week. So we've been seeing in the 20s, so now we had over 30 in one week going in the contract, and 46 new listings in one week onto the market. It's busy. That's a lot of work. People were going to be able to do that. That feels good to have that inventory. People were working July 4th. I mean, this is the week of July 1st, so it was busy. It was a good weekend for July 4th, you know? Yeah. Beautiful. The weather was great, you know. Parade was fun, you know. Fourth of July was on a Friday, and the weather was perfect, you know.

Dave Rattiner 14:28

They canceled the Montauk fireworks, though.

Steve Glick 14:30

For the for the birds. Yeah. I couldn't believe it. What was the deal with that?

Dave Rattiner 14:33

I was gonna go, and I then we changed our mind. It was just serendipity that they canceled.

Andrew Doud 14:37

It was because like the the noise would upset the birds.

Steve Glick 14:40

Well, they're they're nesting, so they can't disturb them. If you shoot up some fireworks, they will, you know, where are they gonna live?

Dave Rattiner 14:46

The Sag Harbor fireworks were fabulous, though. They were fabulous. That was the following day. And um, you know, it's great fireworks weekend if you are a fireworks person. Anyway.

Andrew Doud 14:57

What what's there to do this weekend?

Dave Rattiner 14:59

This weekend. That was good. That was good. All right, so this weekend you have Fridays at five at the Bridgehampton Library. Uh this at the Hamptons Library in Bridgehampton. Um and this is a beloved event where a speaker who is the author of a book that's being presented attend you know speaks to a huge audience in the back of the library. It's really nice. And this week's author is Kelly Corrigan. So I recommend that you guys go to that. It starts at five, hence the name. Friday's at five, and it's also on Friday. So you can't forget to do that really at all. Then you also have the SoFo's 2024 uh the SoFo Gala, sorry, the SoFo 2025 gala is this weekend. I will be attending that. Um you can get tickets at sofo.org or you can look it up at Hamptons.com. This gala supports the South Fork Natural History Museum, which is also right in Bridgehampton. And it's a wonderful charity. So you're gonna want to go and do that this weekend. Or another thing that's going on this weekend is Matis Yahoo. Matis Yahoo? Uh I just I just looked him up. I forgot about this musician, but he's an amazing musician, reggae singer, uh, and he's dressed he's dressed like a like a like a rabbi almost, and he's really cool, and he's going to be you know what I'm talking about. I know who you're talking about. Yeah, he's really cool. He's Jewish. No, he's Jewish, but he's but he has the full he's got the full beard and the thing. Yeah, this guy's great. I know he sounds like Bob Marley. So he should be quick. Where is he gonna be? He'll be at the Stephen Talkhouse. Ah, that's a good one. So you can see him July 11th at 8 p.m. and you can get tickets at the Stephen Talk House's website. Um I would encourage you to get those in advance. And then also this weekend is the Hamptons Greek Festival, which runs from July 10th to the 13th. And if you like food, you should go to this festival. This is a great thing to do with kids or with friends, obviously. But there's a lot of like little little rides for kids that they can do, and then you know the real reason you go is for the food. The food is just so unbelievable. The it's unbelievable Greek food, so you can get a a euro? Is it a euro or a gyro? Gyro. I say gyro. Gyro. Gyro. Why do some people say euro?

Steve Glick 17:47

It's not. Euro is currency.

Dave Rattiner 17:50

Uh no, that's not euro, euro.

Steve Glick 17:53

It's a gyro.

Dave Rattiner 17:54

It's a gyro. We're probably wrong, just so you know. I feel like I've heard that, I've heard that said another way by people who know what they're talking about. But anyway, that's at the Greek Orthodox Church in Southampton, and it's beautiful, great event.

Steve Glick 18:11

You're missing one of the best things happening this weekend. What? Kevin Hart. Coming to Montauk. I'm going to Kevin Hart. Kevin Hart. See, Romainee's going to come back. I bought tickets as soon as they came. Montauk Point Lighthouse, Kevin Hart, Saturday, July 12th. Come on. He's pretty good. Big benefit. You know, get your tickets if you can get them. Yeah, but Joe's stuff. It's a go to a good cost. A real ticket.

Romaine Gordon 18:39

It's not all, they're not all 500. There are some that are like two. You have to bring your own chair, but I think they're 250. I might be misspeaking, but I believe there are 100.

Steve Glick 18:48

You don't even get a chair. No. Unbelievable. Too fitting. Bring your own beach chair. I saw Kevin Hart live, and he's he's great. And I'm sure he's gonna put on a wonderful performance in Montauk. And that's exciting. So you're going there. Oh, great.

Romaine Gordon 19:06

Yep, Max and I are going. We're excited.

Steve Glick 19:08

Is this an outdoor event?

Romaine Gordon 19:10

It's outdoor, so I haven't checked the weather yet.

Steve Glick 19:12

But Rain or Shine.

Romaine Gordon 19:14

Rain or shine, I'll bring an umbrella. Yeah, be prepared. He's gonna be funny.

Dave Rattiner 19:17

Good for you.

Romaine Gordon 19:18

It'll be great.

Dave Rattiner 19:18

Yeah, so you can get a general admission for your ride. 200 bucks. I'm just looking at it right here.

Romaine Gordon 19:22

Just bring a chair and maybe an umbrella.

Dave Rattiner 19:25

Oh man, he's gonna be funny.

Romaine Gordon 19:27

Good for you.

Dave Rattiner 19:27

Alright, good. So we got Kevin Hart in there. Ooh, man, saved it. Kevin Hart was close.

Steve Glick 19:32

Come on. You can't miss Kevin Hart.

Dave Rattiner 19:33

I know. I saw I think I saw the ad on Instagram. It's kind of like blew me away. That's on Instagram.

Steve Glick 19:38

He's promoting his art, which is great.

Dave Rattiner 19:40

Yeah, because you don't really think you never hear about him out here.

Steve Glick 19:44

You know how tall he is?

Dave Rattiner 19:45

I've seen him standing next to Shaquille O'Neal.

Steve Glick 19:48

He's like 5'3. Really? 5'3. I Googled it the other day. It's great. And that's all right.

Romaine Gordon 19:54

Why were you Googling Kevin Hart's?

Steve Glick 19:55

It was a commercial with Kevin Hart and Steph Curry, and Steph Curry looked really tall. And I was like, Steph Curry is kind of short too. Him next to Shaquille O'Neal is too. It made me Google it, and I was like, wow. And then it said like he's 5'3 with like boots on. How tall is Steph Curry? Steph. Like 6'2. I mean, he's short as well. But you look huge. Yeah.

Dave Rattiner 20:15

So that's like part of his humor. Yeah, yeah. Totally. You know? It's like, you know, poor guy.

Romaine Gordon 20:20

Well, they always say you have to laugh at yourself. So that's the truth.

Dave Rattiner 20:24

I just wish I had his energy. He's just got so much energy.

Andrew Doud 20:27

Caffeine, Dave. Yeah. I've only had one cup of coffee today. Yeah. That's good. What else do you got? That's it? That's a busy weekend. That's a busy week.

Dave Rattiner 20:35

Did I miss? So now you got me concerned.

Andrew Doud 20:38

You know, you got it all.

Dave Rattiner 20:39

How come I didn't see it? I didn't see it.

Andrew Doud 20:41

Well, I was going and I didn't remember it. That's all right. Don't forget to go. Well, you can't win them all.

Dave Rattiner 20:48

You can't win them all.

Andrew Doud 20:49

Cool. All right. Well, Romaine, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. Um, everybody, have a great weekend. Enjoy July, and we'll see you next week. I'm Mandar Dow. That's what's happening in the Handys.