Cape Cod real estate (buying a house, buying, schools)

[missbusybody]

Used to live in E. Sandwich (moved from midwest). Lasted about 2 years before we left. Some of the nastiest people I have ever encountered. If you are not "from there" they sure have a way of letting you know it - I was told I was from a "filler state"! I think some of the nastiest were the retirees that just plain didn't want people around them. The only nice people were the ones trying to sell you something (i.e., real estate).

Tourist season is a real headache - you can't go out to eat because the restaurants are so crowded. If you actually want to get off Cape in the summer you have to deal with the traffic/bridges, which can easily tack on a couple more hours to get on/off. Labor Day is a big sigh of relief.

The only good thing I have to say is it is beautiful and quaint.

Sorry if I offended anyone but this is my honest point of view from having lived there. Not trying to start an argument with anyone. Just beware - it is not as it seems.

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by missbusybody

Used to live in E. Sandwich (moved from midwest). Lasted about 2 years before we left. Some of the nastiest people I have ever encountered. If you are not "from there" they sure have a way of letting you know it - I was told I was from a "filler state"! I think some of the nastiest were the retirees that just plain didn't want people around them. The only nice people were the ones trying to sell you something (i.e., real estate).

Tourist season is a real headache - you can't go out to eat because the restaurants are so crowded. If you actually want to get off Cape in the summer you have to deal with the traffic/bridges, which can easily tack on a couple more hours to get on/off. Labor Day is a big sigh of relief.

The only good thing I have to say is it is beautiful and quaint.

Sorry if I offended anyone but this is my honest point of view from having lived there. Not trying to start an argument with anyone. Just beware - it is not as it seems.

Sorry you had that experience. Mine has been the polar opposite and I live in East Sandwich as well. We were welcome with open arms by the retirees around us. My husband and I joke we want to be them when we grow up; lively, active seniors.

You're right about traffic and restaurants being crowded during the summer months. But that has to be expected. The Cape is a major tourist destination and the population increases exponentially during the summer months.

The reality is that in summer you just have to be less spontaneous and more of a planner.

You can go out to eat but you need to make reservations or go out for a late lunch/early dinner (2-4:30) or late dinner (after 8:30).

You can also get off Cape in a timely manner- it's just a matter of choosing the best days/times to do that.


I hope you found happiness wherever you moved to. It sounds like the Cape lifestyle just wasn't right for you from the get go.

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by Cape Cod Todd

You are right Beachcomber, I don't know why Falmouth popped into my mind when I was thinking about a higher tax rate. I should have checked my own website LOL.

I do know that we often have buyers moving to the Cape from out of state and they will ask about the tax rate and they say "is that per month?" No for it is for the year. There are some towns in states where the tax rate is ridiculous on an average house but there will be other perks like lower or non existant taxes that seem to level everything out.


The best buyer is an educated one and there is a wealth of info online that can really help a buyer find the right property for them.

I totally agree. People from NY and CT don't think twice about it. Even in Sandwich, with the highest tax rate on Cape, we are smack dab in the middle of the tax rate average for Massachusetts.

We are at a disadvantage in that we have the highest year round population, therefore more services are needed. It has been said numerous times that Sandwich is more like a South Shore community than a Cape Cod town for that reason.

I don't think we will ever lose that distinction though. I swear people like to talk about the taxes too much in town. Drives me nuts. I've actually had people say that they didn't know about the taxes. Who the hell buys a house and doesn't investigate that?

[Guineas]

Originally Posted by missbusybody

Used to live in E. Sandwich (moved from midwest). Lasted about 2 years before we left. Some of the nastiest people I have ever encountered. If you are not "from there" they sure have a way of letting you know it - I was told I was from a "filler state"! I think some of the nastiest were the retirees that just plain didn't want people around them. The only nice people were the ones trying to sell you something (i.e., real estate).

Tourist season is a real headache - you can't go out to eat because the restaurants are so crowded. If you actually want to get off Cape in the summer you have to deal with the traffic/bridges, which can easily tack on a couple more hours to get on/off. Labor Day is a big sigh of relief.

The only good thing I have to say is it is beautiful and quaint.

Sorry if I offended anyone but this is my honest point of view from having lived there. Not trying to start an argument with anyone. Just beware - it is not as it seems.

Thanks for the post with a different perspective. How were the schools? What were the winters like?

[missbusybody]

We retired to the Cape so our children weren't in the schools. I never heard anything bad about the schools, though.

When our house was being built, the builder told us to throw out our snowblower - 'you won't need it." Well, you guessed it, our first winter there (2003/2004) was the winter of all winters - we never saw so much snow in our lives!

Another thing I just remembered is everyone taking their trash to the dump themselves (actually they called it the "Transfer Station." If you wanted garbage pickup you had to hire a company to do it because it wasn't included in the taxes. I'll always remember waiting in line at the dump for a woman, dressed to the nines, pearls and all, to finish emptying her Mercedes SUV of all her trash. Pretty funny.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by missbusybody

Another thing I just remembered is everyone taking their trash to the dump themselves (actually they called it the "Transfer Station." If you wanted garbage pickup you had to hire a company to do it because it wasn't included in the taxes. I'll always remember waiting in line at the dump for a woman, dressed to the nines, pearls and all, to finish emptying her Mercedes SUV of all her trash. Pretty funny.

There are many towns in MA where there is no municipal trash pick up. Many of them are very upscale towns as well. Personally, I'm not putting trash in my car. I pay to have it picked up.

[xo_kizzy_xo]

Members of my extended family retired to the Cape mostly because of the taxes.

I've had (and still have) coworkers who were priced out of most of the South Shore and had no choice but to move to the Cape. They quickly learned the back roads so to avoid Rte 3 during the summer. Even then they still had a pretty long commute, especially the coworker who lived in Orleans

[Cape Cod Todd]

Originally Posted by missbusybody

Used to live in E. Sandwich (moved from midwest). Lasted about 2 years before we left. Some of the nastiest people I have ever encountered. If you are not "from there" they sure have a way of letting you know it - I was told I was from a "filler state"! I think some of the nastiest were the retirees that just plain didn't want people around them. The only nice people were the ones trying to sell you something (i.e., real estate).

Tourist season is a real headache - you can't go out to eat because the restaurants are so crowded. If you actually want to get off Cape in the summer you have to deal with the traffic/bridges, which can easily tack on a couple more hours to get on/off. Labor Day is a big sigh of relief.

The only good thing I have to say is it is beautiful and quaint.

Sorry if I offended anyone but this is my honest point of view from having lived there. Not trying to start an argument with anyone. Just beware - it is not as it seems.

I have met some mean people, some crazy people but most have been good folk. I general I have found people to be very easy going on Cape but they do have the typical New England edge to them. I have never lived outside NE but my wife has and she does say that people are friendlier down south.
The Cape is what you make of it.

I'm nice to everyone even if they don't want to buy a house from me.

Tourist season can be a pain but it mostly revolves around the kids school schedule which means it starts in late June and wraps up for the most part the last week of August. September is the best time on Cape where the days are warm, the nights cool and we get our beaches back.

The Cape is beautiful and quaint. Whenever we head off Cape and "up to the world" to visit family we come back exhausted from all the people and traffic coming at us. I don't know how people handle it year round. I'm glad that we only have the traffic 2 months out of the year.

The Cape is a magical place. I was out on a secluded pond kayaking the other night with a friend and the milky way put on a show for us. Last night my wife and I were out in the boat for a nice sunset.

Life is good and easy on the Cape.

[LeavingMA]

Originally Posted by Cape Cod Todd

You are right Beachcomber, I don't know why Falmouth popped into my mind when I was thinking about a higher tax rate. I should have checked my own website LOL.

I do know that we often have buyers moving to the Cape from out of state and they will ask about the tax rate and they say "is that per month?" No for it is for the year. There are some towns in states where the tax rate is ridiculous on an average house but there will be other perks like lower or non existant taxes that seem to level everything out.


The best buyer is an educated one and there is a wealth of info online that can really help a buyer find the right property for them.

Again...tax rate means nothing without the assessed value. A town can easily brag about how low their tax rate is but have higher assessed values. It is essentially like telling me your getting 50% off, but you don't know what amount your getting 50% off of, if you don't have the price.

[Cape Cod Todd]

Originally Posted by LeavingMA

Again...tax rate means nothing without the assessed value. A town can easily brag about how low their tax rate is but have higher assessed values. It is essentially like telling me your getting 50% off, but you don't know what amount your getting 50% off of, if you don't have the price.

That is true but for the most part in my area of the Cape houses sell for more than the town assessed value, sometimes it is a lot more.

I own property off Cape and the tax rate and bill is almost double what we pay for a bigger nicer house here.

In real estate on Cape the location and desirability drives the market price.