Episode 51 - Romaine Gordon

Discussing New Construction on Handy Lane

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Transcript

Andrew Doud 0:08

Good Thursday afternoon, everyone. I'm Andrew Doud Saunders and Associates. It is time for the Happening in the Hamptons podcast, our weekly breakdown of the Hamptons market, new listings, and events on the East End. The Happening in the Havens podcast is sponsored by Newer Title Abstract, the Hamptons leading title insurance firm. Visit NewerTitle.com or titleinsurance.com. Joining us today as always are Steve Glick and Dave Retiner, and today we are also joined by Romaine Gordon. Romaine, thanks for joining us.

Romaine Gordon 0:31

Thanks for having me.

Andrew Doud 0:36 Andrew Doud 0:36

So we're going in a little bit of a different direction with Romaine today because she has a really amazing opportunity that we want to talk about. The last several, I guess it feels like months, we've talked about how the inventory has been low, you know, and the market's been hot and it's been uh, you know, a seller's market, everything like that. But um, and and Steve's data will talk more about the inventory, um, because we do want to touch on that. But Romaine has something coming on the market, or they're available now, right? These are eight new construction homes that are under construction. They're gonna be ranging from 4.2 to $6.8 million, and that is the item that everybody wants. I mean, the first thing I'm sure you get is what can I get that's turnkey ready to move in? And soon enough you'll be able to say these homes and Amigansis. So tell us about them.

Romaine Gordon 1:23

So, as you mentioned, we I have eight new construction houses. We have broken ground on a couple of them already. Actually, two of them are already closed in, um, foundations and a few others. Hoping to have most of these done by summer, early summer, a couple of them maybe into the fall. But we start out with four bedrooms. Um, one of the houses has four bedrooms. Most of the houses have six bedrooms, and then we have two houses that are actually larger houses on larger lots that are eight-bedroom houses. Um, everything has a gunite pool with spa. All of the houses except one have pool houses, kitchenettes, outdoor showers. We basically have all the bells and whistles for all eight of these houses.

Andrew Doud 2:07

And these are on Handy Lane, which is really, I think, nicely situated right between Amagansett and the ocean. So you're kind of close to everything in that spot.

Romaine Gordon 2:17

Exactly.

Steve Glick 2:18

So this is south of the highway, right? Correct. So we have new construction and south of the highway. I think in a lot of buyers out there, when they're searching the internet, two check boxes they check off. And yeah, I would like new construction. So this fits that fits the bill right there.

Andrew Doud 2:35

I mean, you're talking you have this one that's an eight-bedroom, eight-bath, two half bath, over seven thousand square feet on.83 acres. I mean, that's and I guess this is one that's on the higher end, six point eight million dollars, but you have some that are the I guess a little bit smaller, four point two million dollars. So there's kind of a a wide-ranging price point.

Romaine Gordon 2:55

Right. Well, so most of the lots are half an acre. Okay. And we have and and the houses on those half acre lots are 5.5 to 5.775. We have one smaller lot, which is a four-bedroom house, and that we are listing at 4.2. And then we actually have two larger lots. The the lot that you mentioned, the 0.83 acre with eight bedrooms, but we have a lot right next door to that that is just a little bit smaller, but that's also featuring eight bedrooms with the eight baths that you have.

Steve Glick 3:26

I'm gonna ask you, I'm gonna drill you a couple questions. Yeah, finish lower levels.

Romaine Gordon 3:29

All finished lower levels. And those finished lower levels have wet bars. There is a place to have a gym, a media room. Wow. Yeah.

Steve Glick 3:38

All right, next, first floor master.

Romaine Gordon 3:42

First floor primary.

Steve Glick 3:44

First floor primary?

Romaine Gordon 3:47

Yeah, so all all eight of the homes offer first floor primary suites with fireplaces, and the two larger homes actually have two primary bedrooms, first and second floor, both with fireplaces.

Steve Glick 3:59

You're checking all my boxes here as I'm looking. And you said pool house on on one of the one of the properties have a pool house?

Romaine Gordon 4:07

All all of the properties with the exception of the smallest lot, the third acre, we don't have room for the pool house. At least not the pool house that we're putting on all the others. Maybe there's a way to put something there. But the plan for seven of the eight lots is a 200 square foot pool house with kitchenette, half bath, outdoor shower, and an indoor outdoor bar. Oof.

Steve Glick 4:26

And you said heat a gun eye pool.

Romaine Gordon 4:27

All heated gun-eye pool and spa. When can people go?

Dave Rattiner 4:31

When can people see these? Are you having an open house?

Romaine Gordon 4:34

So people can call up for a showing, and I can actually walk them through two of the properties right now, and probably soon I can walk them through three. But um, Saturday, November 27th, 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock, I want to do a block party open house. So you can come to the house. Yeah, exactly. So you can come get some snacks, get a hot chocolate.

Steve Glick 4:55

Save the day. We'll talk about that in how in in your happening uh. Now let's talk about the builder, architect, designer. Who's doing this? Who's putting the show?

Romaine Gordon 5:05

Terence McKean is running the show. Terence McKean. Terence McKean is um, you know, he's the architect designer, he is the developer builder, he's you know, that's the name that you need to keep in mind. Terence is the guy in charge. Yeah. Yeah.

Dave Rattiner 5:22

He's an impressive guy. Yeah, I met him briefly. He came in for a meeting, and he was really interesting. You could tell he was just like so cerebral about the house.

Steve Glick 5:30

Like, what I like, what I what I think is unique is that there's eight homes, but eight each of these homes are unique in their own way. You know, there's different styles to some of them, there's different architecture roofing and windows, like everything looks a little different. So you're not coming into like the cookie cutter, like every each house is exactly the same. You're gonna have a different aesthetics through each of these eight homes.

Romaine Gordon 5:52

Yeah, and we have six that are on the market right now, with two that are coming soon, and the two that are coming soon are actually modern farmhouses. So they're a little bit different than if you go online now, you'll see the six, they're all beautiful. Um, they're basically traditional, um, more so, and then the two that are coming up, the smallest lot, number 24, is a modern farmhouse, and then number 52 is also a very sexy modern farmhouse.

Dave Rattiner 6:17

We hear early in the cool like customized stuff. Like can you do that?

Romaine Gordon 6:21

So you can make some changes, but because of the the COVID backup for builders right now, a lot of the materials and appliances and things like that are hard to get. But Terence has really been on top of getting everything ordered, you know, in advance for everything. So on on the one note, it's that's great because we'll be able to deliver that. That's important.

Steve Glick 6:42

That's important because you're looking at these new construction homes, and someone's like, I want it, but then like, oh well, you're not gonna be able to move in because we're waiting on this material or this and that, and there's huge delays. Right. So you're saying that they already have it ordered, some of it has already arrived in the table, they're able to move quickly on putting this together.

Romaine Gordon 6:58

So you can put so you can customize some things for sure, but um, you know, we would just ask that it's something that's in stock, so it's not gonna slow the delivery down. So, you know, if you want to change out a countertop, if you want to change the finish on a cabinet, you know, obviously you can pick some of your own floor color for the wood floor, change out a tile as long as it's in stock. So you can customize, but he really is on top of getting everything ordered.

Steve Glick 7:21

So, you know, and they're building multiple houses at the same time. Correct. So not just focusing on one.

Romaine Gordon 7:27

No, when you go down the cul-de-sac, you'll see, you know, and they're over there seven days a week. So when you go down the cul-de-sac, if you went down there today, you'd see, you know, someone working on the foundation on one, someone's clearing trees on another, the roof is going on one, the they're wiring number 42, so they'll be able to sheetrock that as soon as wiring and plumbing is done. So there's something happening.

Steve Glick 7:48

That's a sight to see too. If you just didn't just want to see how it's going up, check them out right there and I'm against it.

Andrew Doud 7:53

It's worth just to that if you you know we've talked a lot about these houses and and what they'll look like. On saunters.com, we have these listings up, and there's some really great renderings of what the finished product will look like. So and we're gonna update them too as well.

Steve Glick 8:08

We people want to see the progress. We'll we'll put those up online so people could see the progression of these houses as they're being built, as the framing gets up, as the window package goes in, and landscaping, the siding, et cetera.

Romaine Gordon 8:19

Yeah, but if you do drive down there to check out what's going on, every one of the eight lots has a sign in front with a QR code. So if you drive down and you're like, oh, I really like that particular property, I want to know more about it, you can actually just scan the QR code, and there's a 28-page brochure that pops up, and we have all the finishes, the floor plans. That's great. We have everything in there. That's cool. So you can just scan the scan the sign and just sit there and go through every brochure if you want to. Wow. That's smart.

Andrew Doud 8:45

Just walk lots a lot. Scan each one, figure out which one might be best. Exactly. Um, so let's talk. So that that sounds like it's gonna be a really amazing product when that's done. Hopefully, as you said, we'll see the first couple coming on this summer. Um, if all goes well. Um so for more information on that, obviously reach out to Romaine. The other thing that we talked about at the top was the inventory, which uh, you know, a new construction home in a low inventory market. I mean, that's like what we're looking for. Yeah, exactly.

Steve Glick 9:15

Like I said, I'm I'm checking off all my boxes that Romaine went through. The new construction, south of the highway. I finished the lower level, the first floor primary bedroom, um, a pool house, heat it gun I pulled. So it's unbelievable. Every primary with a fire. The list goes on and on. That's nice.

Dave Rattiner 9:31

So we gets it of all places. Yeah, against it's unbelievable. What does the inventory look like?

Andrew Doud 9:37

Right. So Mr. Glick.

Steve Glick 9:39

Over the past week, there were 39 listings that went into contract from West Hampton to Montauk. Compared to the same week last year, 2020, there were 85 listings that went into contract, which is a year-over-year decrease of 54%. The same week in 2019, there were 45 listings that went into contract. So this is a first that we're seeing 2021 compared to 2019 with a decrease, and this is a decrease of 13%. So it's not that much, but you know, when we we're talking before the podcast about the inventory and the listings and the activity out here, there's 39 listings going into contract, but that's also reflective of a really low inventory market. You know, ever we talk to these agents all the time, and they all say they have plenty of buyers out there, but no product to sell them. So that's why these handy lane properties are a great thing to show your customers because they're eight new construction homes hitting a low inventory market. So that 39 listings are going into contract is reflective of the low inventory. The breakdown of those 39 transactions, there was one between eight and ten million dollars, one between six and eight million, six between four and six million dollars, eleven between two and four million, and twenty under two million dollars. The inventory coming on to the market, there was twenty-eight new listings. Uh-huh. So that decreases our overall inventory by 11 listings. And at the breakdown of those 28 listings that came on, there was one over 20, two between 10 and 20, one between eight and ten, three between six and eight, three between four and six, four between two and four, and fourteen new listings under two million came onto the market this week. There you have it. So the question is, is is it slowing down? In the sense of if you just look at strictly new construction, I mean strictly in contract numbers. Um this week it it did tick down uh a little bit, but the inventory is sort of feels like there's just not enough inventory to keep up with the biggest.

Andrew Doud 11:31

There's gotta be a balance.

Steve Glick 11:32

It's right, exactly. You want a good balance. And right now it's off balance a little bit, but there the demand is still out there. There's there's plenty of buyers that are looking at these homes and they want to be in the Hampton. So it's just a matter of getting these licenses onto the market. Things to buy.

Andrew Doud 11:49

I mean that's why it's something like Handy Lane coming out of the market at this particular time.

Steve Glick 11:52

It's perfect timing. And they're gonna be completed by the spring summer.

Romaine Gordon 11:57

Well, yeah, we'll definitely have a few homes that people will be enjoying this summer. That's awesome. One or two that we might start a little bit later this winter, that might go into fall, but for the most part, people will definitely be able to enjoy it for the summer.

Steve Glick 12:09

Exciting.

Romaine Gordon 12:10

Yeah.

Andrew Doud 12:10

Cool. What are you doing for? Well, it's your turn, man. That's it, man. What tell us what there is. Look, we know what there is to do during the summer out here, but what am I gonna do this weekend in the house? It's November now. Yeah. Halloween's over. Pumpkin picking, the Apple stuff, it's behind us. It is. But we're not to Thanksgiving yet, so what do we do between now and then?

Dave Rattiner 12:27

You go on the internet and Google vacations. All right, so this weekend, what do we got? We have JC McLaughlin's festive sip and fall shopping. So you can on Saturday, November 6th, from 4 30 p.m. to 5 30 p.m. go to Jay McLachlan. McLaughlin. Jay McLaughlin. McLachlan. We got stuff from there, once. That's a great clothing stream. We went there and got some sweaters. Sweaters and dress shirts. Yeah. That was a great day. So you can celebrate the season with festive sips and fall shopping in support of the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation. So when you buy something, money goes to the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation, and you get to have some festive sips. And what is it? What's a festive sip? A festive sip, I think, is like spiced wine, I would I think.

Andrew Doud 13:26

I I I imagine there's some alcohol involved in these things. Or there's spiced wine. Yeah. Like pumpkin spiced wine? No, like. Are we out of the pumpkin spice now? Is that not pumpkin spicy?

Dave Rattiner 13:36

Maybe eggnog. Ooh, eggnog. Eggnog wine? That just goes right to your stomach.

Steve Glick 13:41

Eggnog is a little too early for the nog. It's just pure.

Romaine Gordon 13:44

What about cider? Spice cider.

Dave Rattiner 13:46

Eggnog is just pure. It's pure.

Romaine Gordon 13:47

Romaine, I'm going with Romaine. Romaine's probably right.

Dave Rattiner 13:52

Okay. It's probably spice cider. Go on. Speaking of apple cider, the Southampton Farmers and Artisan's Market on Sunday, November 7th, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. So pretty much all Sunday. Except for the time after 3 p.m. Got it. In Agawam Park, you can enjoy a farmer's market and you know get do some shopping. I know what they have there. They got pickles. They do. They got the good pickles. They got the pickles. They got the pickles, they got the honey. The honey. Which is very good for your immune system, which helps prevent COVID. Which is good. Honey's important. Alright, and so my third, my my third is the West Hampton Beach Performing Arts Center is presenting Big Shot, which is the Billy Joel band, which is fantastic. What's your favorite Billy Joel song? I like Vienna.

Romaine Gordon 14:52

Vienna.

Dave Rattiner 14:52

You know that song? Vienna? I love that song.

Romaine Gordon 14:55

Sing us a little bit out of it.

Dave Rattiner 14:56

It's like so relaxing. It's like so crazy child. People want to be entertained on this podcast.

Steve Glick 15:05

My favorite is Piano Man.

Dave Rattiner 15:07

Oh yeah.

Steve Glick 15:08

That's my favorite.

Dave Rattiner 15:10

Piano Man. That's like saying your favorite food is pizza. You know? Well it is. Pizza's delicious. That's like you can't do like that's like I'll have pizza at the handy line. Vienna at the house is like there you go, pizza at the handy lane open houses.

Romaine Gordon 15:23

Tell your friends in the house.

Dave Rattiner 15:24

When someone says Vienna, it's like, ooh, Vienna, what's on? Oh yeah, that is a great song. You're gonna Google Vienna later.

Steve Glick 15:30

I'm doing it right now.

Dave Rattiner 15:31

Yep. Mike Del and Mike Mike Del Guidas. Mike Mike Delguidas is also gonna be performing. And supposedly he's pretty good too. So that is from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Uh and the West Hampton Beach Performing Arts Center. And then did you did you mention something? Oh, your open house. Right. Your open house in a couple weeks. The block party in a couple of weeks on handy lane. More details to follow. More details, potentially pizza.

Romaine Gordon 16:02

Not potentially pizza. Pizza truck.

Dave Rattiner 16:04

There will be a pizza with cooking the legit pizza truck.

Romaine Gordon 16:06

Waffle fries.

Dave Rattiner 16:09

I will say when it comes to Shredmills will also be there to work off the pizza.

Romaine Gordon 16:14

No, you're gonna walk around the coffee.

Steve Glick 16:16

You just do a couple laps around the cul de store. Part of the appeal is living in any way.

Andrew Doud 16:21

Exactly. What's going on? That's it? That's what's happening in the Hamptons? It's a lot going on. It's a good one. It's a lot going on. That's good. Especially as we get into the colder months. So Romaine, thank you so much for joining us. Uh Dave and Steve, thank you. Once again, the Happening in the Hamptons podcast is sponsored by NeuroTotal Abstract, the Hamptons leading title insurance firm. Visit NeuroTle.com or titleinsurance.com. That's it, everyone. Have a great Thursday. I'm Andrew Dowd, and that is what's happening in the Hamptons.