ON CAPE COD THE MOVE TO ASSISTED LIVING CREATES GOOD LISTINGS
During yesterday’s MLS Tour in Yarmouth, here on Cape Cod, I was once again reminded how the move to assisted living creates good listings for all of us. Of the twelve listings on tour, four were the result of a move to assisted living.
An extended stay in one of the great assisted living facilities here on Cape Cod is fairly expensive, whether the facility is in Yarmouth or the neighboring towns of Barnstable, Dennis, HarwichBrewster, Chatham or Orleans, averaging $50,000 to $60,000 per year. Someone who can afford this generally has a home that is fairly nice and reasonably well maintained.
Here are some quick observations of what we saw on the tour.
Each of the properties we looked at were priced somewhat within the realm of being reasonable – figuring the normal list to sell spread in Yarmouth you take off about 5%. Three of the properties were in a market segment ($300,000-$400,000) with average 75 DOM and a 8 month supply, so you do have to figure that if they don’t sell within 30 days, which is statistically unlikely, there will be price reductions which will bring them in line for the Fall market (on the Cape the summer real estate market is slow).
All were in typical older resident condition, which is functional, reasonably well maintained, but dated.
In South Yarmouth, in the desirable Blue Rock Heights area, near but not on Blue Rock Golf Course and near, but not on, Bass River, we saw a 3 BR/2 BA ranch with a nice private backyard and a huge (38′x17′) kitchen/family room area. It had hardwood floors throughout, a two car garage and a first floor laundry.
However, as is typical in many homes of people going into assisted living on Cape Cod, it had the tell tale smell of smokers. Though the listing agent insisted no one currently smoked, the smell was strong. According to our ERA Cape Cod Real Estate Cape Cod real estate guru, the smell of tobacco smoke knocks $50,000 off the value in this price range – that wasn’t factored into the listing price of $349,000.
In the second home, located in the northside village of Yarmouthport, off Center Street, which is right on the way to Gray’s Beach and the Bass Hole, we saw a house with decent curb appeal. With three bedrooms and two baths, a cathedral ceiling with skylight in the kitchen/dining room area the house looked good on paper, a little high at $399,000.
Unfortunately, the spell was broken as soon as we entered the front door and saw what I consider to be a cardinal sin in real estate – they had removed the carpets and installed laminated, ‘Pergo” type flooring in the living room, dining room, hallway and bedrooms. Nothing screams “CHEAP CRAP” louder than over 500 square feet of obviously ‘NOT REAL HARDWOOD”, and, in fact, “NOT EVEN REAL PERGO”. For $399,000 put in a real hardwood floor, or put in new carpets or just leave the old carpets and factor their replacement into the price.
Additionally, they had replaced what was probably an old outdated hanging light fixtures in the dining room with an obviously cheap, Big Orange Store quality fixtures. In my opinion if you are not going to do “improvements” to Mom’s house right, don’t do them, especially in this price range – leave them for the new buyer.
The final property in this price range was a nice enough condo, in King’s Way, again in Yarmouthport. This is the development where Heatherwood, one of Yarmouth’s three beautiful assisted living facilities is located. It was an “O” unit, good sized (1249 SF), two bedrooms, two and a half baths, overlooking a pond and the golf course, eleven years old, used maybe twenty times for a week or two – but for a golf/retirement community is seemed to have a lot of stairs. There is a good supply of units in the development, most much larger, many in Class A condition — but at $315,000, it’s not bad.
The final house in the assisted living category was of special interest to me – it is in my neighborhood, not on Dancing Brook, two streets down, but still, a close comparable to mine, listed at $238,500. In the Town of Yarmouth there are 27 houses for sale in that price range, DOM 87, 93% List/Sell, and there is a bank owned on the street.
This model is a little bigger than mine (1128 SF), two bedroooms, one and a half baths, irrigation system, vinyl siding and replacement windows. We don’t have the half bath yet, and still have the original siding, roof and windows.
I was nervous on this one. We paid $235,000 for our house on Dancing Brook 3 years ago – we bought in a declining market, hoping we bought low enough not to be upside down for too long. If this house goes for $221,800 in it’s present condition we’re OK for now. In fact, we’re up a bit.
So once again we saw, in very simple terms, how the move to assisted living on Cape Cod creates good listings for the local real estate industry.
For more information about any of these listings, and for all your Cape Cod Real Estate needs, call or text Steve at 508.241.3547
On Steve Gregory’s web site [Mom's House on the Cape] you’ll find Cape Cod Resources for Aging, Assisted Living, Elder Law, Estate Planning and Real Estate. On his Facebook Page you’ll find current information on assisted living, elder law, real estate etc., plus Mom’s Recipe Box and Dad’s Tool Box. Check it out.
TAGS:cape cod real estate,south yarmouth,yarmouth port,heatherwood,assisted living facilities on cape cod,assisted living in yarmouth,assisted living on cape cod
SELLING MOM’S HOUSE AND MOVING HER TO ASSISTED LIVING CAN SHORTEN HER LIFE?
After this morning’s MLS Tour in Yarmouth, here on Cape Cod, you can see that selling Mom’s house and moving her to assisted provides us with great real estate inventory, but I wonder if selling Mom’s house and moving her to assisted living can shorten her life. Of the twelve houses and condominiums on the tour, four were owned by older residents who put the house on the market after moving into assisted living.
An interesting fact to me was that of the four, only one of the residents moved into one of our fine local assisted living facilities – the listing agent didn’t know if it was Thirwood Place, in South Yarmouth, or Mayflower Place in West Yarmouth, but it was one of them. Even the woman that put her condo in Kings Way in Yarmouth Port up for sale wasn’t moving into a local facility (Heatherwood is located in King’s Way), but rather one close to one of her children in the Westboro area.
On my website, www.momshouseonthecape.com, which I am trying to build into the premier resource for aging, assisted living, elder law, estate planning and real estate, I write about questions that need to be asked before moving Mom into assisted living.
We have a list of questions to ask the assisted living facility, whether on Cape Cod or not, but more immportantly, we have a list of questions adult children have to ask themselves before moving Mom into assisted living. We caution the ‘boomer’ generation, probably the most selfish since the days of Noah, to think of their Mom’s life, rather than their convenience.
If Mom and Dad retired here in the seventies, even though Dad is no longer with us, Mom may still be integrated into her Cape Cod community – church, volunteer activities, garden club, senior center, etc. When they first retired here they got hooked up with a network of fellow retirees from the old home town – a lot of them are gone, but the ones who remain are more important than ever.
Taking Mom out of her community is certainly easy for her selfish off-spring – no long trips to the Cape at the Holidays to see Grandma, or great Grandma. But Mom will never see her friends of the past thirty years again. I know from my parent’s experience that type of isolation is deadly – I don’t know of any scientific studies, but I know in my heart that the trauma of not just losing your home, but losing your community, shortens Mom’s life.
This question is difficult for soon to retire Baby Boomers – they are entering into their ‘Golden Years’, Mom is in the last stages of her ‘Brass’. They worked hard for their fortunes, they want to be able to do whatever they want, whenever they want and Mom has lived a lot longer than they expected she would.
Assisted living on Cape Cod, living with just one survivor of the old home town gang, one friend from church, one occasional vist from her neighbors and from the Family on Thanksgiving and Christmas sounds pretty good. Moving off Cape to a center near the kids, where she knows no one, except the dutiful child – hmmmm.
For all your Cape Cod Real Estate needs, call or text Steve at 508.241.3547
On Steve Gregory’s web site [Mom's House on the Cape] you’ll find Cape Cod Resources for Aging, Assisted Living, Elder Law, Estate Planning and Real Estate. On his Facebook Page you’ll find current information on assisted living, elder law, real estate etc., plus Mom’s Recipe Box and Dad’s Tool Box. Check it out.
TAGS:assisted living on cape cod,assisted living in yarmouth,real estate,cape cod real estate,cape cod
On Cape Cod, In South Yarmouth, Jobs Are Scarce But Real Estate is an Opportunity
Here in South Yarmouth, by the little Dancing Brook in the middle of Cape Cod, it’s like the rest of the country – jobs are scarce and real estate is an opportunity.
Having been born and raised on Cape Cod, I have been immersed in the development and selling of real estate on Cape Cod since infancy. My Dad was a broker in Hyannis since way before I was born, and through my childhood he bought a land with buddies, subdivided and sold it off.
In elementary and high school (Barnstable High School, ‘74) my friends parent’s were mostly developers, builders, brokers or something to do with real property. On Cape Cod since time immemorial, a major form of entertainment is driving around and remembering when this house sold for $79,900, Alan’s Dad built that one or ‘can you believe they paid $$$$ for that.’
I hear in upstate New York the locals entertain themselves by tipping cows – driving through neighborhoods looking at houses probably sounds just as entertaining to some folks. But unlike cow-tipping, you can actually make money in real estate on Cape Cod - not much more, maybe a little walking around money, but something. And unlike cow tipping, being succesful in real estate doesn’t necessarily take ‘book smarts’ – one of my buddies from High School whose Dad was a somewhat successful developer now has a grand house in Oyster Harbors, a really exclusive island off Osterville, where truly ‘old money’ lives. We never expected that of him, but he’s done very well.
The fellow that owns the agency I work for (ERA Cape Real Estate) has been selling property in the South Yarmouth/West Yarmouth/West Dennis Mid Cape area since the Mid Seventies, he’s still solvent, and his business is growing. We’re up in the top five real estate agencies on the Cape, so we’re doing soemthing right. At first meeting he has a happy go lucky, who cares kind of thing going on, but he’s got that special, extra added ingredient that’s made hime a success. His wife laughs when she talks about his success in the business – “90% of it is simple,” she says. “He shows up.”
I have learned over the years that ‘showing up’ is a major part of most acccomplishments in life. In the eighties, we had a commercial real estate company in Dennisport – we had the building, the equipment, the properties and the vision. We had development plans that were phenomenal, and we had the national and international contacts to make them happen, and they were happening. But so was the 1987 market disaster, and suddenly our contacts weren’t ’showing up.’
And right now, in South Yarmouth, by the little Dancing Brook, jobs aren’t showing up, buyers aren’t showing up and sales aren’t showing up. But the opportunity is still here, and this is still Cape Cod, and no matter what happens there will still be Summer, and there will still be the great beaches on Nantucket Sound, and people will rent cottages and people will be born and people will die.
So I show up. And plan. And build. And believe – “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” [Hebrews 1:11]
Real estate – it’s not a job, it’s an opportunity!!
For all your Cape Cod Real Estate needs, call or text Steve at 508.241.3547
On Steve Gregory’s web site [Mom's House on the Cape] you’ll find Cape Cod Resources for Aging, Assisted Living, Elder Law, Estate Planning and Real Estate. On his Facebook Page you’ll find current information on assisted living, elder law, real estate etc., plus Mom’s Recipe Box and Dad’s Tool Box. Check it out.
TAGS:south yarmouth,cape cod,cape cod real estate,era cape real estate,dancing brook,showing up,opportunity
PROGRESS REPORT ON OUR CAPE COD ASSISTED LIVING, AGING AND REAL ESTATE PROJECT
Every once in a while we like to give a progress report on our Cape Cod assisted living, aging and real estate project. We are developing a great resource for off-Cape people who need help dealing with assisted living on Cape Cod, including the cost and quality of local assisted living facilities, the range of care options available on the Cape and the real estate issues involved – conditions in the Cape Cod real estate market, how to sell real estate on Cape Cod, etc.
We laid out the general plan for the site (Mom’s House on the Cape), and we’ve been working hard over the past few months to improve it and build it out. We intend that it will become a great resource for information, commentary and advice for ‘kids’ who’s Mom has a house on the Cape they are called upon to handle.
While we are starting with assisted living on Cape Cod, the plan is to expand to most all of the areas involved with Mom and her house – skilled care facilities, estate planning, elder law, local real estate market conditions, plus simple things like getting her house cleaned out, cleaned up and ready for whatever comes next.
So far we’ve written a number of posts talking about the great number of high quality assisted living facilities on Cape Cod, especially here in Yarmouth, which refer to our website, www.momshouseonthecape.com. We’ve skimmed the surface of the three facilities in our hometown on Cape Cod, Yarmouth, but we intend to go deeper into each facility featured to develop a comprehensive, detailed portrait on each one.
On our blog we recently wrote about three very nice facilities here in my town, Yarmouth; Heatherwood at Kings Way, Thirwood Place and Mayflower Place. As might be expected in a town built on retirement, all three are top flight facilities, oriented toward the high end consumer, all delivering on their promise of quality care, excellent service and well designed facilities.
This week on our website we published the outline of what we intend to do for all of the assisted living facilities on Cape Cod – a master listing, which names the various facilities and the village where they are located, with links to a general description, commentary and discussion, videos (and virtual tours), financing options and the official facility website.
We are building a resource where a visitor can see which facility might be best for their Mom by reviewing comments from residents and employees and viewing videos from the facility, provided by residents and their family, employees and other independent sources. In addition, visitors will be able to examine the various options available for paying for Mom’s stay at the facility, including how much Mom’s house is worth, real estate market conditions in Mom’s Cape Cod village, various financing options, and of course, listing Mom’s house for sale if that is a desirable option.
This is an ambitious project, but we feel once it gets rolling, it will be a very valuable resource for the hundreds of thousands of ‘kids’ [i.e. people our age] across the country who have parents who retired to Cape Cod and are now ready to move on to the next stage of the aging and care process.
We certainly welcome links to the site – if you have a website that deals with any of our issues, please connect with us. If you know of any particularly good sources of information, please leave them in the comments or email them directly to me. We appreciate the help, and of course, if you know anyone who’s Mom (or Dad) could benefit from what we have to offer, send them on by!!
For all your Cape Cod Real Estate needs, call or text Steve at 508.241.3547
On Steve Gregory’s web site [Mom's House on the Cape] you’ll find Cape Cod Resources for Aging, Assisted Living, Elder Law, Estate Planning and Real Estate. On his Facebook Page you’ll find current information on assisted living, elder law, real estate etc., plus Mom’s Recipe Box and Dad’s Tool Box. Check it out.
TAGS: assisted living on cape cod,aging,real estate,yarmouth,cape cod,cape cod real estate, selling real estate on Cape Cod
Even Though My Cape Cod Favorite Was Eliminated, American Idol is a Great Story, and We Are A GREAT PEOPLE
I live on Cape Cod, in South Yarmouth, a hop skip and jump away from the home of American Idol contestant Siobhan Magnus, who lives in the town where I grew up. On Route 28, a little bit south of here, the Picadilly Deli had a “vote Siobhan” sign in front of the restaurant. Those signs were all over the place a few weeks ago.
Having a top ten American Idol contestant from your area is a big deal — even when she get eliminated. I’m not sure of any impact on real estate values, but the significance of Siohhan’s accomplishment is evident even today, when the Cape Cod Times, our local newspaper, has a story about her return to the Cape.
Tonight I watched the final three – Casey, Lee and Crystal, and their returns to their home towns, Chicago, Beaumont, TX and Toledo. This is a story about how great America is, even though it is fraught with the trappings of network publicity and all the crap that goes with that.
This is a real American kind of story – Siobhan worked for a local glass blower, Lee working in a paint store, Crystal (Mama Sox) is an aspiring local singer/songwriter and apparently single Mom. Only in this great land can these nobody’s get plucked from obscurity and thrust into the national spot light and shine. The truth is, talented people with unbelievable skills are everywhere in America – you have to kick them out of the way as you walk down the streets.
The post I had prepared for today was a bit of a downer – it is about how we’re being lied to every day in the government run media about the state of our economy, and especially the real estate market. I’ll post it another day, becasue it will still be true, but after seeing American Idol tonight I am inspired by the greatness of my fellow Americans – screw the politcal parasites who seek to suck the life out of us, we are a GREAT people.
I teared up watching the final three return to their home towns – thousands tuned out to cheer them, and support their shot at the brass ring. There were no socialist redistributionists talking about how they were making, or were going to make, too much money, no fascists telling them that their beautiful voices were the property of the State, to be used only for the glory of our glorious Leader, no radical fundamentalist Muslims telling them to cover their faces.
Nope, just American kids, doing their thing, inspiring other American kids to do theirs.
You have to give them credit for creatively using new technology that most of our fellow real estate brokers find baffling. Those wacky Craigslist scammers are taking on Cape Cod real estate, working hard and presumably making more money off their “listings” than the legitimate listing agents would – if we could only sell the properties!!
The scam is a twist on an old classic – find something desirable, offer it at an unbelievable price and get a small down payment. It’s breathtakingly simple, and so easy to pull off. Like every good scam it takes advantage of the greed of the ‘mark’ and takes a small amount of money. In the age of the internet it can be run on a grand scale involving thousands of ‘marks’ and hundreds of small payments, and it can be pulled off from anywhere. On Cape Cod in summer rental season the bait for the scam is willingly supplied by legitimate real estate professionals who have no idea what’s going on.
In today’s version of the classic, the scammers have introduced a second level of scam that is pure evil, taking advantage of hard working folks who may have run into financial difficulties, lost a job or are on the verge of losing their homes. The scammers use ‘work at home’ advertising to recruit hundreds of unsuspecting people who they pay to carry out their scam, with one small wrinkle – they often pay their ‘employees’ with counterfeit checks, and sometimes use them to launder illegal cash!!
Yes, these scammers are creative, hard working and cynical – and they have really big brass balls. And no, this is not the Nigerian, and it’s not equity stripping. KISS!!
Here’s how they work the “Cape Cod” – and they are not here on the Cape, and in most cases, neither are their victims, but the bait is here. This is a real life example of how it works. Last Sunday (Mother’s Day, May 9, 2010) I posted this listing for an open house on Craig’s List.
I’ve had success with open house listings on Craig’s List in the past, but now we are in summer rental season, and thousands are looking for a deal on a West Dennis, West Yarmouth or South Yarmouthsummer rental and the scammers are like flies on cow pies. Within hours I had a half dozen e-mails asking me for more information. [I got three more while writing this post]. Here is an actual example;
Mariah Wood [alexis@digitalrewards.info]
“Hello, just saw your listing: $299900 / 3br – Cute West Dennis Ranch, Close to West Dennis Beach!! (65 Teal Circle, West Dennis) and was interested. Please let me know asap if it’s still available. Click Here for my contact info.
(That’s the real e-mail address, but the link isn’t active. I know that no one reading this would ever click on a link in an e-mail like thus, but your children … no, they know better … your spouse … no, they definitely know better … OK, your DOG might be tempted, so it doesn’t work).
But, if you clicked on the link you MIGHT immediately download a pile of spyware, even that rouge anti-spyware thing (that is a BITCH, with a capital B I T C H). But you also might go to a pleasant little site that offers to give you huge, international, no, intergalactic exposure for your listing, and of course, it’s absolutely FREE. Just confirm the details of the listing, and soon thousands of buyers, pockets stuffed with cash, will be lined up on your door step.
So far, so good. Hasn’t cost you a penny.
Within a short time, check the “vacation rentals” section of Craig’s List and you may be surprised to find YOUR open house/for sale listing for rent!! And at a really good price, too. And don’t mind the “For Sale” sign, and PLEASE, don’t call the real estate company, because they are already upset with us for whatever, and we don’t want to pay them a commission on this rental and we live off Cape, and can’t get down there because my husband’s sister has a dread disease and just take a look through the windows and send a small check for a deposit.
And soon, as the broker with the sign in front of the house, you’ll get the call. “Are we set for the week of the 7th? We sent the check, but haven’t heard anything yet, and …”
Good Lord, how could anybody be such an idiot? Hold on, my phone is ringing again …
For all your Cape Cod Real Estate needs, call or text Steve at 508.241.3547
On Steve Gregory’s web site [Mom's House on the Cape] you’ll find Cape Cod Resources for Aging, Assisted Living, Elder Law, Estate Planning and Real Estate. On his Facebook Page you’ll find current information on assisted living, elder law, real estate etc., plus Mom’s Recipe Box and Dad’s Tool Box. Check it out.
TAGS: cape cod real estate,cape cod,south yarmouth,west dennis,west yarmouth
Real estate sales climb dramatically on Cape Cod? Are we in the middle of a ‘dead cat bounce’ or is there a recovery going on? Traffic going through the real estate offices in West Yarmouth, South Yarmouth, West Dennis, South Dennis, Yarmouthport, in fact all over Cape Cod, is nil. There is very little in the pipeline.
Take a look through the Cape and Island Association of Realtors MLS. Get into the sales, and compare sale prices to assessed values, then see how many properties on the market are properly priced.
I did a one mile radius search yesterday on a summer cottage/beach house area of Dennis Port and West Dennis – 21 sales since November or ‘09. FIVE were over assessed value. The municipalities are obviously going to be taking a big hit, but what about sellers who are asking 20-25% over assessment?
Around here real estate signs come out every Spring, just like daffodils. We laugh about Cape Cod houses that have been for sale since we were kids – someone who says, “if I can get a million for this house I’ll sell”. There is a lot of that kind of real estate for sale on Cape Cod now, but the sad fact is most anybody who bought in the last for to six years needs to be prepared to come to the closing table with a check.
Sales are up since the depths of a disasterous ‘09. Inventory is rising. Is this the recovery we’ve been waiting for? Read the story …
By CAPE COD TIMES May 05, 2010
BARNSTABLE – As the window for homebuyer tax credits closed, real estate sales climbed dramatically on Cape Cod, the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds reported yesterday.
The registry, which issues a monthly report analyzing all sales over $50,000, said 509 deeds were recorded during April, a jump of 49.7 percent from the same month in 2009.
April was the last month to qualify for an $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers or a $6,500 credit for existing homeowners who bought a new primary residence.
Meanwhile, the median April sales price recorded at the registry jumped by 10.7 percent from the March median, halting three consecutive months of decline.
Last month’s median price was $300,000, the registry said – the highest amount since December’s median of $315,000 and the fourth time in the past year that the median has reached at least $300,000.
The median price last month was up 3.5 percent from April 2009’s value of $289,750, the registry said.
For all your Cape Cod Real Estate needs, call or text Steve at 508.241.3547
On Steve Gregory’s web site [Mom's House on the Cape] you’ll find Cape Cod Resources for Aging, Assisted Living, Elder Law, Estate Planning and Real Estate. On his Facebook Page you’ll find current information on assisted living, elder law, real estate etc., plus Mom’s Recipe Box and Dad’s Tool Box. Check it out.
KEYWORDS:real estate sales,cape cod real estate,south yarmouth,south dennis,west yarmouth,west dennis
To pet owners there’s nothing worse than one of our beloved animals getting sick, unless it’s when the cat gets sick … and it’s Saturday night.
This really unnerving horror happened to us this past weekend – my beautiful Harry, who I call my ‘Google’ cat (put “cat” into Google and Harry is what shows up!!) was acting weird when we woke up on Saturday morning. He’s usually bright and chipper, sitting on my chest, purring and occasionally giving me a gentle ‘rowf’ to let me know it’s time to feed him, but this morning he just laid there, limp, warm and looking raggedy.
His kitten (yes, Harry has his own little kitten to play with) jumped up to play, but he could only muster a half-hearted hiss, then he put his head back down and closed his eyes. No rapid thrashing of his big fluffy tail, no gentle batting at Alice as she climbed on him – nothing. Harry wasn’t looking good.
My wife and I examined him (puncture wounds, cuts, abscesses or sores) but could find nothing. His nose was warm and dry – not a good sign. He had been fine the night before, so we decided to keep an eye on him to see how he did.
Harry is an indoor cat, so there’s not a heck of a lot that can happen to him, but a very similar episode happened a couple of months earlier – it went on a couple of days and he went downhill fast. First thing Monday morning we decided it was vet time, so I packed him up and took him for the long ride down to Eastham Veterinary.
We live on Cape Cod, in South Yarmouth now, and there are quite a few ’small animal’ vets within a short distance (Veterinary Associates right here in South Yarmouth, Barnstable Animal Hospital in Hyannis, Pleasant Bay in Harwich, etc., etc.), but Eastham Veterinary has a small town, animal lover approach. For a long time we lived in Brewster, right on the Orleans line, so Eastham was only ten minutes away. Someday we’ll eventually get someone closer.
Anyway, the last trip to Eastham cost me $250 to get an expert diagnosis – “fever of unknown origin“, a shot of B vitamins and antibiotics and a prescription for amoxicillin. He recovered quite nicely, but here in South Yarmouth, particularly in Brookhaven, $250 bills don’t grow on trees (they do in Chatham, or Oyster Harbors, but not here). I really didn’t want to bring him in again for another “fever of unknown origin” diagnosis. I can do that for free!!
As the day went on, Harry didn’t seem to be improving. He was licking his lips, swallowing a lot, listless, damp and warm. By two in the afternoon we started force feeding him water with an eyedropper, putting little tiny pieces of chicken on his tongue and generally hovering around him like he was our young child. By four o’clock he didn’t seem to be getting any better.
The wife started demanding I take him to the vet — except not to our regular vet, who closes at noon on Saturday. No, she wanted Harry to go to the animal emergency room – the Cape Animal Referral and Emergency Center in Dennis. At this place, $250 won’t even get you into the parking lot. The care is as sophisticated as any human hospital, and not quite as expensive, but still, they could blow though $1,000 just like that.
I let her know that I was not going to spend $1,000 on Harry – not because I don’t love Harry, but because we simply don’t have $1,000 to spare. I endured being called “cat killer”, “murderer” and “heartless” while trying to think through what had happened to Harry. There simply had to be some reason Harry was sick – something he was eating, or not eating, or … SOMETHING.
What was it? I had potted some rooted cuttings and put the over-wintered plants outside … plants that were inside for the winter. Plants the cats dug in, tossing soil all around the room. Plants Harry chewed on, especially the lemongrass that he decimated over the winter, eating stalk after stalk after stalk. It went outside last Monday – Harry’s lemongrass was now in the herb garden, beyond his reach. Could that be the cause of the “fever of unknown origin“? Was “lack of greens” the mystery diagnosis? Hmmm. This was a $1,000 question.
The moving and planting of the lemongrass was a touchy subject. I had back surgery two weeks ago, so I’m not supposed to doing any gardening, but last week I planted four teeny weeny plants in the herb garden. You would think I had gotten out the mules and plowed the back forty or wrestled some alligators in the fish pond or something. Through my flagrant irresponsibility I forever forfeited the right to mention any kind of pain, without hearing something about “gardening against doctor’s orders.”
Well, I had to bring up the concept up to the wife – could Harry’s system be out of whack due to lack of greens? He’s a long haired cat; he ate lemongrass, a particularly raspy grass, every day. I moved it outside last Monday, and Saturday Harry was hurting. Would she consider digging up some grass, putting it in a pot and putting it inside where Harry could get at it? And, would she do this BEFORE we rushed Harry to the Animal Emergency Room?
Sure, it was preposterous, and it wouldn’t make a difference, but she did it. Within a half hour of bringing the potted mounds of fresh grass inside, Harry got off the couch, dragged his sorry tail into the kitchen and started chomping on the green stuff. His recovery was nothing short of amazing – within another half hour he was sitting at the kitchen island, a hungry cat, begging for chicken scraps. He ate a dozen pieces in minutes. He jumped down, walked over to his kitten, wrapped her up in his big paws and started mauling her, just like he always does.
A Rose of Sharon completes the Circle of Life on Cape Cod.
We’re new in our little neighborhood, having moved to our little Dancing Brook ranch in Brookhaven (that’s in South Yarmouth, on Cape Cod) only three years ago. We haven’t met a lot of folks in the neighborhood, this being New England and all, although we have tried.
One of the people we did meet I’ll call “Laurie”. She’s an older woman (I’m pretty sure she said she’s in her late eighties) who accomplishes more in a day than most people do in a week and is always looking for new and interesting things to try. She’s an avid gardener like myself, although Father Time has ordered her to reduce her hours a bit.
I met Laurie on what started as a walk around the block. It was a glorious Mid-September day – all the fall flowers in bloom, everything was still a healthy green. She was driving down our little street like a bat out of hell, nearly running me down as I stood on the side of the road, admiring her plantings. She pulled into her driveway and jumped out of the car, oblivious to my existence, headed to her front door.
“Your gardens look wonderful” I called out, and she stopped short, turned around and gave me a great big smile. “Why thank you. My dear husband planted most of it years ago …” she started, and I was off on a whirlwind tour of her gardens, her new gazebo, the grape arbors and then the house, her wood carvings, needlework, oil paintings and afghans, all accompanied with the story of her life.
She had seen my gardens when she flew by my house, so as we were neighbors and fellow gardeners, we got into detail about her plantings (she apologized that she couldn’t remember any of the plant names, but she knew who planted them and when). As we walked she pointed out plants here and there and noted which child, grandchild or friend they were being grown for.
My gardens, being new, are still a little bare in spots and kind of a work in progress, so I’m always on the lookout for fellow gardeners with attractive perennials they might like to share. As we walked she pointed out a little twig growing amidst a crop of day lilies. “That one is for you” she said. “When is the best time to move it?”
It was a little baby Rose of Sharon, and around here the best time to move one is in the spring, so she made a note (she said she couldn’t remember much without writing it down), and we continued rummaging through the artifacts of her eighty plus years in this world and over thirty in her little retirement ranch in South Yarmouth on Cape Cod.
The winter of ’09 kicked in shortly thereafter. I have to say it was the worst winter I ever faced in my life. The weather was nasty, but that’s to be expected. The national news was horribly depressing, our family economics were treacherous, my physical condition was deteriorating and it seemed it would never, ever end.
That horrible winter took its toll on our little street too – our neighbor across the street underwent chemo, the woman in the house next to his was hospitalized and never returned home (she went into assisted living in Harwich) and we suddenly lost a neighbor two houses down. There are only ten houses on out little street, and just six live here year round.
I thought about Laurie a few times over the winter – I didn’t see her little white car bombing around the neighborhood and I was concerned. She was such a spirited, fascinating person, anachronistic to be sure, a living reminder of a time rapidly passing away, but a time I saw as superior in many ways to what was happening around me. I wondered if she would remember the little tree, or if the little thing would make it through the winter.
Spring is here in South Yarmouth on old Cape Cod – it’s actually been pretty nice (which is rare here). The daffodils are in bloom, tulips are up and lilacs ready to go (they generally don’t come out till Memorial Day!!). Our family finances have stabilized somewhat, the news, though grim, is shot with rays of optimism, and I’m recovering from back surgery and feel 100% better.
I can’t work in my gardens yet (Doctor’s orders, rigidly enforced by the Mrs.), but I can walk around and look at all the new life, and plan what I’m going to do when I’m able. I was walking through the front gardens when up the street strode an old woman, big, floppy straw sun hat on her head, carrying a big plastic bucket of dirt, in it a little tiny Rose of Sharon.
“I think it will be OK” said Laurie, putting her bucket on the garden bench. “I think it will be OK.”
On Steve Gregory’s web site [Mom's House on the Cape] you’ll find Cape Cod Resources for Aging, Assisted Living, Elder Law, Estate Planning and Real Estate. On his Facebook Page you’ll find current information on assisted living, elder law, real estate etc., plus Mom’s Recipe Box and Dad’s Tool Box. Check it out.
For all your South Yarmouth Real Estate needs, call or text Steve at 508.241.3547
TAGS:dancing brook,south yarmouth,cape cod,gardens,rose of sharon
During yesterday’s MLS Tour in Yarmouth, here on Cape Cod, I was once again reminded how the move to assisted living creates good listings for all of us. Of the twelve listings on tour, four were the result of a move to assisted living.
Additionally, they had replaced what was probably an old outdated hanging light fixtures in the dining room with an obviously cheap, Big Orange Store quality fixtures. In my opinion if you are not going to do “improvements” to Mom’s house right, don’t do them, especially in this price range – leave them for the new buyer.
The final house in the assisted living category was of special interest to me – it is in my neighborhood, not on Dancing Brook, two streets down, but still, a close comparable to mine, listed at $238,500. In the Town of Yarmouth there are 27 houses for sale in that price range, DOM 87, 93% List/Sell, and there is a bank owned on the street.
After this morning’s MLS Tour in Yarmouth, here on Cape Cod, you can see that selling Mom’s house and moving her to assisted provides us with great real estate inventory, but I wonder if selling Mom’s house and moving her to assisted living can shorten her life. Of the twelve houses and condominiums on the tour, four were owned by older residents who put the house on the market after moving into assisted living.
Here in South Yarmouth, by the little Dancing Brook in the middle of Cape Cod, it’s like the rest of the country – jobs are scarce and real estate is an opportunity.
The fellow that owns the agency I work for (ERA Cape Real Estate) has been selling property in the South Yarmouth/West Yarmouth/West Dennis Mid Cape area since the Mid Seventies, he’s still solvent, and his business is growing. We’re up in the top five real estate agencies on the Cape, so we’re doing soemthing right. At first meeting he has a happy go lucky, who cares kind of thing going on, but he’s got that special, extra added ingredient that’s made hime a success. His wife laughs when she talks about his success in the business – “90% of it is simple,” she says. “He shows up.”
And right now, in South Yarmouth, by the little Dancing Brook, jobs aren’t showing up, buyers aren’t showing up and sales aren’t showing up. But the opportunity is still here, and this is still Cape Cod, and no matter what happens there will still be Summer, and there will still be the great beaches on Nantucket Sound, and people will rent cottages and people will be born and people will die.
Every once in a while we like to give a progress report on our Cape Cod assisted living, aging and real estate project. We are developing a great resource for off-Cape people who need help dealing with assisted living on Cape Cod, including the cost and quality of local assisted living facilities, the range of care options available on the Cape and the real estate issues involved – conditions in the Cape Cod real estate market, how to sell real estate on Cape Cod, etc.
This week on our website we published the outline of what we intend to do for all of the assisted living facilities on Cape Cod – a master listing, which names the various facilities and the village where they are located, with links to a general description, commentary and discussion, videos (and virtual tours), financing options and the official facility website.
I live on Cape Cod, in South Yarmouth, a hop skip and jump away from the home of American Idol contestant Siobhan Magnus, who lives in the town where I grew up. On Route 28, a little bit south of here, the Picadilly Deli had a “vote Siobhan” sign in front of the restaurant. Those signs were all over the place a few weeks ago.
I’ve had success with open house listings on Craig’s List in the past, but now we are in summer rental season, and thousands are looking for a deal on a West Dennis, West Yarmouth or South Yarmouth summer rental and the scammers are like flies on cow pies. Within hours I had a half dozen e-mails asking me for more information. [I got three more while writing this post]. Here is an actual example;
Within a short time, check the “vacation rentals” section of Craig’s List and you may be surprised to find YOUR open house/for sale listing for rent!! And at a really good price, too. And don’t mind the “For Sale” sign, and PLEASE, don’t call the real estate company, because they are already upset with us for whatever, and we don’t want to pay them a commission on this rental and we live off Cape, and can’t get down there because my husband’s sister has a dread disease and just take a look through the windows and send a small check for a deposit.
To pet owners there’s nothing worse than one of our beloved animals getting sick, unless it’s when the cat gets sick … and it’s Saturday night.
short of amazing – within another half hour he was sitting at the kitchen island, a hungry cat, begging for chicken scraps. He ate a dozen pieces in minutes. He jumped down, walked over to his kitten, wrapped her up in his big paws and started mauling her, just like he always does.
We’re new in our little neighborhood, having moved to our little Dancing Brook ranch in Brookhaven (that’s in South Yarmouth, on Cape Cod) only three years ago. We haven’t met a lot of folks in the neighborhood, this being New England and all, although we have tried.
