In affordable housing

Who Will Do the Laundry? Fixing the Hamptons Housing Crisis

November 13, 2025 In affordable housing 4 Mins Read

Real Talk on Housing the Hamptons

Real Talk. Real People.

The Hamptons is beautiful, but beneath the sunsets and sailboats, the East End is struggling with a housing crisis that affects everyone. This isn’t about traffic or celebrity real estate. It’s about where the people who keep this community alive can afford to live. Teachers, doctors, nurses, hospitality staff, and tradespeople are driving two hours each way just to make the Hamptons work. That is not sustainable, and it is not fair.

The Real Talk: You Can’t Build a Community Without People

If you live or work anywhere from Westhampton to Montauk, you can see the imbalance. Homes worth millions sit empty most of the year while workers struggle to find a one-bedroom apartment they can afford. A healthy community needs all kinds of people, not just those who can afford luxury real estate. The Hamptons runs on real people with real jobs, and we need real solutions to keep them here.

How Did We Get Here?

Rents across the East End have soared, with $3,000 to $6,000 a month now considered normal. The average worker earns $50,000 to $70,000 a year, which makes those rents impossible. Add in bridge closures, construction, and traffic, and workers spend more time commuting than being home with their families. We can and must do better.

The Good News: We Can Fix This Together

Here’s how we start making housing work for everyone on the East End.

Build smarter, not just bigger. Support mixed-income developments and creative reuse projects. Convert unused buildings, vacant motels, or municipal spaces into year-round workforce housing. This keeps local character and creates attainable homes faster.
Empower local housing authorities like TSHA. The Town of Southampton Housing Authority is showing that real progress is possible with projects like Watermill Crossing and Sandy Hollow Cove. Let’s expand those models across every East End town with public-private partnerships.
Incentivize landlords to accept housing vouchers. Create tax incentives and grants for property owners who rent to potential tenants using HUD or Section 8 vouchers. This opens doors for working families and helps stabilize neighborhoods with reliable, long-term residents.
Encourage homeowners to build accessory dwellings. Offer financial assistance, reduced permit fees, or tax rebates to homeowners who create small rental units on their property for essential workers such as teachers, doctors, nurses, hospitality, retail, and trade employees. These accessory dwellings help fill the desperate housing gap while giving homeowners a steady income stream.
Incentivize year-round rentals. Offer property tax credits or local grants for landlords who rent year-round instead of seasonally. This builds stability for tenants and ensures that local businesses can count on a consistent workforce.
Improve transportation and access. Reliable, year-round public transit and carpool programs can reduce commute times, cut costs, and improve quality of life for workers traveling from outside towns.
Change the narrative. Affordable housing does not lower property values. It raises community values by keeping neighborhoods diverse, strong, and thriving.

It’s Time to Stop Pretending and Start Partnering

Everyone says they support affordable housing until it is time to approve a project near them. Real talk: that has to change. The East End needs collaboration between towns, nonprofits, builders, and residents to turn words into action. When we all work together, we can create housing that reflects our values and supports the people who make this community work.

Imagine This

Imagine a Hamptons where teachers live near their schools, nurses have apartments close to the hospitals where they work, and restaurant staff can afford a place nearby instead of sleeping in their cars. Imagine seniors being able to downsize locally and young professionals buying their first home without leaving the area. That is not a dream. It is entirely possible if we start treating housing as a community priority, not a luxury commodity.

So, Who Will Do the Laundry?

We all will, together. Because this is not about charity. It is about community. When people can live where they work, they invest, they participate, and they stay. That is how you keep a community alive. The Hamptons does not have to lose its heart to wealth. It just needs to remember its people.

Real Talk. Real People. Real Solutions. The East End can do this if we choose to.

Ways to Take Action

Support local workforce housing projects from TSHA, CDC of Long Island, and other organizations.
Attend zoning and planning meetings and make your voice heard.
Encourage your town board to fund incentives for landlords who accept vouchers and homeowners who build accessory dwellings.
Volunteer or donate to Sag Harbor Food Pantry or Sag Harbor Helpers.

If you love the Hamptons, fight for the people who make it home. Real talk, real people

When the Claws Come Out

October 28, 2025 In Real Estate 3 Mins Read

Real Talk: The Hamptons may be home to champagne sunsets and multimillion-dollar listings, but behind the glossy real estate signs, there’s a whole lot of side-eye and fine print. The new buzzword in broker world? Clawbacks. And no, we’re not talking about lobsters.

🏠 What’s a Clawback, Anyway?

In plain English: it’s when a brokerage gives you a big shiny bonus to join their team — and later says, “Actually, we want that money back.”

Picture it: You’ve switched firms, maybe scored a Main Street office and a fancy new headshot. Then business slows down, the market tightens, and your old firm comes knocking, claws out, asking for their $400,000.

That’s what’s happening right now, not just in Manhattan, but all the way out here in the Hamptons, where the deals are big, the margins are thinner, and the claws? Sharper than ever.

💼 How We Got Here

It started when Compass entered the chat — dangling big, juicy signing bonuses and perks to lure top agents. Suddenly, every major brokerage had to play the same game. Bonuses became the new bait.

But what looked like easy money came with strings attached “vesting periods,” “performance triggers,” “repayment terms.” Leave too soon, or don’t hit those numbers? Boom they come for their money back.

As the market cooled and luxury sales slowed, those friendly incentives turned into courtroom showdowns. Firms like Brown Harris Stevens and Douglas Elliman are now facing lawsuits from agents who say their commissions were unfairly withheld or clawed back after they left.

👉 Read more on The Real Deal

The Hamptons Connection

Out here on the East End, where single listings can carry seven-figure commissions, these fights hit different.

The Hamptons is a small pond with very big fish — and everyone knows everyone. Recruiters woo agents with perks like:

Custom office build-outs
Marketing budgets
Assistants and admin support
Bonus checks that sparkle like the bay

But leave too soon, and suddenly that “free money” looks more like a high-interest loan.

Some brokerages — like The Agency Hamptons — are now flipping the script, ditching clawbacks altogether to attract top talent tired of corporate handcuffs. Smart move? Maybe. Refreshing? Absolutely.👉 Catch that story here: The Agency Hamptons Drops Clawbacks

💬 Real Talk for Agents

If you’re in real estate, take this as your wake-up call before signing that next “too good to be true” deal. Ask yourself:

Is this bonus mine or on loan?
What happens if I leave before the ink dries?
Who owns the marketing budget — me or them?
Are those perks perks… or bait?

Sometimes, the most expensive thing isn’t what’s in the contract — it’s what’s hiding between the lines.

What It Means for the Community

Here’s the thing: Hamptons real estate has always thrived on connection not contracts. Deals are built on trust, reputation, and those quiet conversations that happen over Rosé at Dopo La Spiaggia.

So maybe this is the reset moment. Less about clawbacks, more about collaboration. Less about who can pay the biggest bonus, and more about who actually shows up for the community they sell to.

💬 Final Thought

Contracts protect your money. Community protects your name, and out here, your name is everything. Real Talk, Real People — Hamptons Mouthpiece

Southampton and East End Housing Crisis: Why Rents Are Out of Reach

September 2, 2025 In affordable housing 2 Mins Read

Southampton & East End Housing Crisis: Why Rents Are Out of Reach

Affordable housing has become one of the most urgent issues in Southampton, the East End, and New York City. A new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition confirms a startling reality: there isn’t a single state—or county—where a full-time minimum wage job can cover the cost of a modest two-bedroom apartment.

What This Means for Southampton

In Southampton Town, local workers—teachers, nurses, firefighters, restaurant staff—can’t afford to live where they work. Rising demand for vacation rentals has pushed year-round residents out, forcing many to commute long distances or leave the East End entirely.

The East End Rent Crisis

Across the Hamptons and the East End, modest rentals are disappearing. Apartments that once housed families year-round are now marketed as summer homes at triple the price. Even a one-bedroom apartment is out of reach for many hardworking locals.

The NYC Housing Wage Gap

The problem is just as severe in New York City, where the average rent is now above $3,500. The median renter wage falls far below what’s needed, leaving millions of New Yorkers severely rent-burdened—spending more than half their income on housing alone.

Why It Matters

Affordable housing isn’t a luxury—it’s the foundation of community life. Without it, schools struggle to keep staff, small businesses can’t find employees, and younger generations are forced to move away. Projects like those led by the Town of Southampton Housing Authority are making a difference, but the need continues to grow.

Real Talk, Real People

No one should have to work 116 hours a week just to afford a modest home. If we want Southampton, the East End, and New York City to remain thriving communities, we need bold action—higher wages, smarter zoning, and more affordable housing.

📖 Read the full Out of Reach 2025 report: NLIHC.org/oor

👉 Real Talk, Real People: What’s your housing story here on the East End or in NYC? Join the conversation on my social media. Instagram and Facebook @Hamptonsmp