Amagansett - Senior Vice President Krae Van Sickle of Corcoran Real Estate in Amagansett, answers our Broker's Oulook.

Van Sickle describes his background as "I was a child of the 1960s moving between the burgeoning art scene in New York City with my father to an early organic farm and garden in Santa Cruz, California with my mother to prep school in Vermont and college in Massachusetts. I became the World Frisbee champion and traveled worldwide in the late 1970s and early 1980s competing and doing demonstration tours."

Realtor Krae Van Sickle.

During the mid and late 1980s he served as the Director of Leasing and Operations for Monaghan Thorne - a commercial real estate development company that restored architecturally distinctive and historic landmark properties in New York, Boston and Chicago. In 1989, he moved to the Hamptons to be close to the ocean and the natural environment of the East End. He started doing real estate with Allan Schneider in 1994, took over the Management of the Amagansett office in 2002, opened the Montauk office a few years later, and was the Senior Managing Director of the Amagansett and Montauk offices for Allan Schneider Associates and then for the Corcoran Group from 2002 to 2009.

Van Sickle works with Lylla Carter, Vanessa Mothes and Francesca Channing and recently created a new website for their real estate team, Hamptonswaterfrontandestates.com. The site was created in part to do justice to visually representing the beauty of the East End and also features many of the special waterfront and estate properties the team have sold and are currently listing. The website also serves to provide insight and resources for their customers and clients.

Van Sickle lives in East Hampton with his wife, daughter and son and is crazy about kitesurfing.

If "location" is the first rule in real estate, what is the second?

Krae Van Sickle: Timing

What is your forecast for the real estate season in the Hamptons and North Fork?

KVS: See full analysis and predictions in my most recent Market Overview based on the Corcoran end of year 2010 reports by clicking on the following link and downloading the white paper at blog.hamptonswaterfrontandestates.com.

What are the emerging trends in architecture that you feel influence the real estate market?

KVS: Casual luxury, nouveau mid-century modern design, traditional exterior masses with clean contemporary interiors and above all 21st century low impact, low embodied energy, energy efficient, indoor air quality conscious design.


Do you feel that the 'Golden Age' of East End real estate is over?

KVS: Yes, because the Golden Age of Hamptons real estate was before the Golden Age of Hamptons real estate. Yes, because all but a very few of the trophy land locations that made the East End become so revered as a luxury real estate market have been developed - so little is left to be 'discovered'. Yes, because the rapid accumulation of wealth that happened in the mid part of this decade is unlikely to happen again soon, or if ever, so the opportunity for just anyone to make a great income by being a speculator/developer or real estate agent is likely to be over. No, in that I believe this area will continue to be a place where the ultra-wealthy will come to live and tear down and rebuild very opulent residences. And no because I feel the Golden Age of 'green design' is before us and this area tends to have some of the best examples of any kind of architecture because people have the budget and an interest in making a statement.

How have buyers/sellers changed over the past few years?

KVS: It has gone from a seller's market to a buyer's market. While the East End is still mostly a discretionary market, where both buyers and sellers have no imperative to buy or sell, there are more motivated sellers now than in the past. For most buyers they are still looking for a second home, but more buyers want to be here as a dual or primary residence. More people use their place out here not only as a beach house but as a year-round vacation home and as a place where extended family and friends can gather for holidays and special family events.

When it comes to unique features and amenities, what feature is the most influential or desired by clients?

KVS: Waterfront, water view, water access.


Which towns/villages are the most sought-after right now?

KVS: Sagaponack, Wainscott, North Haven, and to a lesser extent Water Mill and Bridgehampton south. Montauk is also gained a lot of attention, but the market is still seasonal and emerging.

What is an easy way to increase the value of a property?

KVS: Say that it is being sold by a celebrity.

What's the most extreme thing you've done to make a sale?

KVS: Paddled up the coast to a property inaccessible by road in my kayak and crawled and bushwhacked through tick and mosquito infested poison ivy riddled moorlands.

How important is 'staging' for a sale/rental?

KVS: Very, very important. There is so much competition from owners who are professional or excellent armateur designers. In order to not look terrible in comparison you need to take a comparably professional approach. Also, having great photographs is critical these days because everyone first sees properties on line, and staged properties photograph much better.


What are the pros and cons to MLS on the East End?

KVS: The Pros would be the ease of distribution of information about listings. The Cons would be that many agents from out of the area, who do not know the local market, and try to do business out here would cause poor results - and the occasional disaster - for buyers and sellers. This is a very nuanced market place. There are huge variations in values, as close together as on opposite sides of the same street. So it is not well adapted to the undifferentiated approach of uneducated agents which would be facilitated by a Multiple Listing Service.

What is one of your favorite listings on the market right now.

KVS: That is such a hard question to choose just one! I believe the value is all in the land and location out here. Right now there is one in the Georgica Association on Georgica pond with views across the still water of the pond over the sandbar to the ocean. I think that is a sublime setting. My other favorites would be either of the three in the Montauk Moorlands, Peter Beard's place, my listing Glenn or the Wilner house (which is priced such that it is hard to say it is a real listing). Also my listing, Dimatteo, on 57 Startop Drive (pictured in this article) is one of the prettiest modern houses anywhere and it has exquisite views and is next to hundreds of acres of parkland and trails. I also love certain listings on the Napeague stretch, in the dunes, where you can see the ocean and the harbor and bay from the same room.

For more information go to www.corcoran.com, or email at kvansickle@corcoran.com, or call 631-267-7400, or 516-769-7877.