THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Welcome to my weekly newsletter featuring a personal note on the ever-evolving world of real estate along with a few newsworthy updates. Enjoy!

the homes of our past

As agents with Compass, we receive a DAILY newsletter from our Chief Evangelist Leonard Steinberg. He's incredibly smart and interesting. Every day he highlights a few listings nationally in the "Compass Catch" section.

Imagine my surprise to see a listing in Chatham, Massachusetts, the "Listing of the Week" below, which was the home of my grandparents until they sold it some 40+ years ago. This was the home where I spent much of my childhood. My parents divorced when I was quite young. My dad had my sister and me every other weekend, and for blocks of time in the summer. Looking back, I'm guessing that he was a bit overwhelmed with what to do with two young girls at his apartment in Boston. So we always went to my grandparents in Chatham. And I realize how much these four walls provided me with a sense of place and certainty in an otherwise confusing time.

The house looked very, very different then. It was a big piece of property. There was no massive tennis court. In its place was a detached garage festooned with old license plates, antique car parts and upturned sail boats. There was no wing off the right hand side, but rather an outdoor shower where we hosed off after hours at the beach. There was no pool... just acres of land where I could ride my grandfather's riding mower for hours and hours, my sweet grandfather making multiple gas station trips to fill up a portable tank. And where my sister and I could fly kites until they got caught in the many trees on the property. And, of course, there was a small fraction of neighboring houses. Nothing obstructed the wide and wonderful views out to Hardings Beach. To my childhood eyes, this place was a kind of paradise.

It didn't have a 44 Buena Vista address. When my great grandparents bought the house in the 1930's it was simply known as "Near End," a bit closer than the wild "Far End" house they had lived in previously. This house was passed on to my grandmother, and their "in town" house to her sister, my quirky "Auntie Kay" who was an actress, drove a Mustang, only wore pants and, chain smoked cigarettes.

All of this reminds me of how strongly a HOME factors into our psyches. Places of rest, adventure, memory, family... homes are the backdrops of our lives. They burrow deeply into our sense of place and our sense of self. Thinking about the place where I spent so many happy hours as a kid underscored the privilege I enjoy working as a real estate broker, and the emotion that animates every purchase and sale.

My grandparents with detached garage in background.

My sister and I, on Hardings Beach.

real estate & the news

• Of all assumable mortgages, half have interest rates of less than 3.5%, mostly on loans $400,000 and lower. Of Assumable active listings, more than half have mortgage interest rates between 2% and 3.5%. Roughly 6.8 million loans are assumable at a rate of 4% or below, and 4.8 million have rates of 3.5% or less. Assuming a loan is not fast or easy. (FT)

• The U.S. unemployment rate for people aged 20 to 24 was 9.2% in August, more than double the overall rate. Last month, the national average rent fell 0.3% from August, the steepest September drop in more than 15 years. (WSJ)

• Owning collector-grade furnishings requires collector-level maintenance....including cleaning staff that understand exactly how to clean these often fragile and highly finished pieces.  Ultra-high-end housekeepers and cleaners are now earning record pay....sometimes $100k and more. (Bloomberg)

around dc

STAR POWER

Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age

@ The National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery will display 35 portraits by 36 artists, drawn from more than 3,300 entries. The showcase of emerging talent is the result of the seventh triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, which features contributions from 14 states, DC and Puerto Rico. More details here.

Lee Arrowood

Principal, Arrowood Advisory at Compass

M: 202.251.3175

O: 202.448.9002

lee.arrowood@compass.com

+$173M Sold In 2023

#3 Team Lead 2022