Finding Your New Martha's Vineyard Home
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Finding Your Island Home - This is exciting!
Congratulations! You are ready to begin a new chapter in your life and are seeking a property on Martha’s Vineyard. Whether you plan to raise your family here, or are planning retirement and have more leisure time now, or you want your adult children and grandchildren to have a place to connect as a family, this purchase is associated with pleasure and joy and creating happy memories that will last forever.
The team at Tea Lane Associates want the process to be enjoyable and realize how important this decision is; we want to ensure that you have all the tools and resources available to be able to make sound and educated decisions.
Buying property on Martha’s Vineyard requires having answers to the following questions:
What purpose or purposes will the property serve?
Family summer retreat, a year-round home, a retirement property, a summer rental, an investment, or any combination of these purposes?
What kind of setting do you desire?
Private, Rural, Agricultural, Wooded, Waterviews, Pondfront, Oceanfront, In-town, Close to the beach, Historic?
How much work are you prepared to do?
Build a new house, Renovate, or Just turn the key?
Where do you want to be on the island?
Chilmark, Aquinnah (Gay Head), Menemsha, West Tisbury, Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Vineyard Haven (Tisbury)?
The good news is that we at Tea Lane Associates understand that often these answers take a while to evolve. We are practiced introducing clients to different parts of the island and we welcome the opportunity to show diverse properties to help our clients gain a sense of confidence and knowledge about Martha’s Vineyard real estate.
You can begin to learn more about the towns on Martha's Vineyard right here on our website
Understanding the Vineyard Real Estate Market
Similarly we take the time to educate our clients about the Martha’s Vineyard real estate market and how it varies from town to town and price point to price point. We explain what the recent sales and trends represent, which can be complicated as this is a secondary market and does not always reflect the same patterns of primary markets. The dynamics of our market are unusual; buying a home on Martha's Vineyard is more often a want than a need. The length of time that properties are on the market is often longer than in other markets, and the number of properties that are available and meet your criteria may be smaller.
We share how zoning, permitting, and planning varies from town to town and within specific associations, districts, and coastal areas. More importantly, we recognize when properties require further expertise and will facilitate consultations with engineers or surveyors when your objectives require it. Check our local island resources page here
Sometimes we encourage our clients to try a rental home over the summer first, and to take the time to discover the island for themselves. Many of our buyers have had a history of summering here. And often sellers become buyers and buyers become sellers as their needs and desires change over the years. Because these roles can shift, we take our responsibilities very seriously and value enduring relationships.