Fixer Upper - Hamptons Style

Achieving the Hamptons Dream for under $1 Million – The Kitchen

Home sales in the Hamptons have been strong the last several years – especially for homes priced under $1 million. Several years ago you could find a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, on average 1,500 sq. ft. home, in a good rental area in the $600,000 range. Now $800,000 is the new $600,000. Homes in East Hampton selling for under $900,000 almost always need work. They tend to have the original kitchen and bathrooms and an overall dated appearance. Most first time buyers looking to buy their first Hamptons home want a house that is move-in ready with all the style and design of an HGTV program. It is not going to happen.

It is time to reset your expectations. You need to decide what is most important and non-negotiable from your long wish list. My non-negotiable it is always the one thing you cannot change after you buy the house – location. Do you want to be close to water? Do you want to be closer to Town? Or, do you want privacy and only a 1 acre lot or larger will do. Everything else on your wish list can be added overtime and before you know it you will have your ideal Hamptons home for under $1 million.

So where do you start? With a fixer upper of course. My business partner and fellow Nest Seekers International real estate agent, Lynn Ronchetto and I recently completed a remodel of a 3 bed, 2 bath home in the NW Woods. Last year we purchased the home from the original owner for under $1 million. The house was built in 1986 and was in good condition. However, the kitchen and baths were original to the home. The floor plan was dated and need to be opened, the wood floors needed to refinished and the whole house needed to be refreshed for today’s buyer.

This is not our first rodeo so we already had in place our team of trades. Our overall goal was to create a contemporary style home and to have the home renovated and ready for the summer rental market, MD – LD. The first task was to gut the kitchen and open it up to the main living area.We installed a new over-sized window over the sink to let in more light, new Hanseem cabinets with solid plywood boxes and self closing doors and draws and Ikea cabinet pulls, new LED lighting, Samsung Chef appliances; including two convection ovens, custom-stained the oak floors and installed a glass tile backsplash. The paint color is Benjamin Moore Super White (The sink wall also had to be extended to accommodate the plumbing for the new bath that we added upstairs. And the walkway to the dining area was closed to accommodate the refrigerator.)

For photos go to my blog HamptonsHomes