To the Editor:
My name is Samuel Hayes. I was born and raised on M.V. in 1975 and grew up on the water, 7 Acres in Chilmark, across from Ables Hill. I worked as a lifeguard in Edgartown for five summers, played football for the MVRHS, and was on the team to win the Vineyard’s first state championship. My dad owned the Chappy Ferry for 20 years.
Currently, I work in construction for the same money I made in high school. I live in a barn, and have no running water or heat. I am capable of paying rent, yet can find no place. Does the Island have any plan to prevent more and more locals from losing their homes? 500 empty houses in Edgartown alone? Yet other parts of the community are thriving, buying houses and opening businesses illegally. Can I be permitted by the town to have the same leniency? Why is this happening, and what are the elected planning board members doing about it? Ms. Dolby should research 5G dangers; I know they just put a huge tower behind her house. How far away is safe? Any more youth lots? If affordable housing operates here, and all of the locals make too much too live there, will we get New Bedford locals like Nantucket did? I would appreciate a response to all of my questions. Thanks.
Sammy Hayes
Edgartown
I’ve often heard this lament from islanders yet I can’t understand how someone who has grown up here, benefited from a terrific school system and has a network of friends and family on island can’t make a go of it yet immigrants from all over the world, many less well educated and often not knowing the language can thrive.
Ask any landlord about their prior experience with year round tenants. Summer rentals provide wear and tear on a home for 2-3 months. Tenants pay in advance and leave. I can speak from my own experience renting to year round, summer, and winter residents. Not one experience with winter or year-round tenants was a positive experience. It would take up too much space to detail all the negatives, but there is zero benefit for a homeowner to make property available for rent on an annual basis. Thankfully I sold the property and never again in a thousand years would be a landlord. Thank those that ‘came before you’ for making a short supply of year-round rentals. Their actions have left many property owners unwilling to ever do a year round rental.
When I moved here 25 years ago to manage a business the first thing I was told was to never hire a native islander, they had no work ethic. Time has proven that to be true.
not new– I have 2 year round rental units on my property. Both have been occupied by the same tenants for about 10 years. I charge a less than a reasonable price, and value a good tenant.
proper vetting is a must before you rent. There are many people who would make great year round tenants. you apparently rented to the wrong people.. I understand that can happen, and i certainly would not blame your judgement. However, there are many people who could use a solid, reasonable year round rental that would be responsible tenants. Your bad experiences do not reflect the reality of year round rentals. To only do seasonal rentals is a money grab, and does nothing to help the housing crisis on the Vineyard.
@ dondondon12.. You’re wrong. I rented to those who constantly whine they are the ‘fabric of the community’. Teachers. Police. Bartenders. Servers. Construction workers. Realtors. etc.Not a good one in the bunch. Go tell them they are the ‘wrong people’. The reality is, renters don’t care about something they don’t own. No ‘pride of ownership’. “No pets” clauses ignored. Windows left open during rain, damaging the sheetrock and floors. Leaking washing machine not reported until the floor underneath almost rots and falls into the cellar. Washer becomes laundromat for all their friends, overloading septic system. Never bother to take trash to the dump until the skunks have gone through it. Dozens of ‘visitors’ with their pets. Chasing deadbeats for late rent payments. Again my personal experience after 10 years renting to the ‘fabric of the community’. Fortunately i saw what these year round and winter tenants were all about and limited it to the seasonal rentals before i thankfully sold the place. So the housing ‘crisis’ that I have been hearing about for all my life on this island is contributed to by those who expect others to solve their own issues.
Agreed- I rent the guesthouse on my property year round to a reliable tenant who takes good care of the house. Annual revenue is a bit less than short term rentals, but it’s steady income without hassle. The extra benefit is that my tenant is a great neighbor. I strongly encourage other landlords to do the same.
Mr. Hayes, thanks for your letter to the editor. Keep pushing those elected officials to do something about it! I hope you get some answers to your questions and wish you the best in finding a place.
Bad experiences DO reflect the reality of year round rentals and lots of people testify to that fact. Dead beats, con men and opportunists thrive on this island and the bankruptcy of the hardware store is just one measure of it. Prudence by landlords is not a money grab, it is simply protecting ones assets. This is an island of misfits——- good people on both sides as the saying goes. Alcoholism and drug addiction and poor work habits and accountability is legion and everyone knows it. Foreclosures and unpaid mortgages, accounts receivables at Tisbury water to name just one.
Year round rentals….thankfully, we have our own home now. I remember several years ago, before I got married, I was the perfect tenant, all I did was work, no smoking, no pets, no partying and I always took care of anywhere I rented.
Each new winter rental was always a hassle, I would explain my work and my habits and more than once I was told, “yeah right, you’re the perfect tenant”, they were saying I was a liar when all they had to do was check my references for work and past rentals.
To say that all Americans don’t have a work ethic or won’t take care of your rental property is discriminating and not true.
If you have a property to rent, do your background checks thoroughly or don’t rent, it’s up to you. Housing is an issue nationwide, not just here, if only people would realize that and just because you were born and raised here does not mean the island owes you anything, we all have to make our own path.