Local Rentals, And Rental Woes, Post On Facebook

Looking for proof that locals have been priced out of affordable rentals?

Take a look at Bonac Rentals, a members-only Facebook page created specifically for local rentals in 2011, which has more than 4,100 followers and dozens of posts a day. The rules are simple:

Would-be landlords post photos and full details about the rental, including price, location and duration. Would-be tenants, who range from longtime local families to young singles, including Spanish-speaking users, post details about what type of place they are looking for, where and what they can afford to pay.

At times, the page also serves as a place to vent about how difficult it can be to find year-round housing.

“It’s now pointless to look on here,” one frustrated user wrote. “It’s either ‘ISO,’ [in search of], or ‘Rent this room for 5k a month’ absurd. Just absurd. Good luck to all of you.”

A more typical would-be renter is Brenda MacPherson, an East Hampton Town employee and lifetime local who posted in search of a two-bedroom house where she and her 30-year-old daughter and their dog could live. “Bonac Rentals is becoming the new Craig’s List,” Ms. McPherson said, adding that Bonac Rentals is more locally focused.

“So many people respond when somebody puts something [up for rent] on there,” Ms. MacPherson. “It’s like a frenzy. They’re in panic mode.”

Reasonably priced rentals tend to be snapped up in a matter of days, if not hours.

Ms. MacPherson, who is temporarily living in a winter rental in Amagansett, had been in contact with a couple of real estate agents who told her that they did not have anything in her price range unless she wanted to move out before summer.

“I’ve lived here my entire life and never thought I’d be in a position where I’m in my 50s, worrying about where I’m going to live,” she said. “I’ve had lots of leads in different places, but it’s way too expensive. We can’t afford $3,000 a month.”

A would-be Sag Harbor landlord, who posted a two-bedroom winter rental for $2,000 a month and asked not to be named, said she has used only online sites like Bonac Rentals, TripAdvisor.com and Homeaway.com ever since they became available to advertise her property. The landlord echoed what Ms. MacPherson had said:

“There’s a huge problem out here in terms of affordable housing,” she said. “It’s because of the resort aspect of the area, and people tend to want to maximize the revenue they can get in the summertime. The number of affordable year-round rentals are few and far between.”

That is why Drew Charles of Sag Harbor created yet another Facebook page in May of this year—this one called Bonac Year-Round Rentals.

As the name implies, only year-round rentals, and no seasonal ones, can be posted on the page. Only 320 Facebook users are members of Bonac Year-Round Rentals.

“Bonac Year-Round Rentals addresses the fact that, from Southampton to Montauk, all these people are looking for year-round rentals,” Mr. Charles said. “It’s not about people who can get however much they can.”

The Facebook page administrator himself is in search of a home. “I’m not looking for a mansion on the beach,” he said. “I’m just looking for a place to park for a while.”

“The last place I rented was in Springs and it was a one-bedroom cottage for $1,800 a month and it was stinky and moldy as hell,” he continued. “It’s amazing how I was spending so much money on something so substandard.”

Mr. Charles said he had lived on the East End for many years, but was thinking about leaving for somewhere more affordable.

“Bonac Rentals has become extremely flooded with seasonals; it does not address the fact that for a ton of people that housing is becoming an issue,” he said.

Tom Ruhle, the director of East Hampton Town’s director of housing and community development, had never heard of either Facebook page, but said they were “a great idea.”

“I’ve always told people that the best way to find year-round rentals is through friends and bulletin boards in stores, places like that,” he said. “Bonac Rentals could be an electronic bulletin board-like store.”

According to Mr. Ruhle, the town had once considered setting up a registry of its own as a resource for those who want to rent out or to rent a home or apartment, but officials were concerned that a registry would undermine real estate agencies in the town.

However, Courtney Ratcliffe, director of communications and brand management at Douglas Elliman, said registries like Bonac Rentals were highly unlikely to undercut brokerage firms.

“The people who are using Bonac Rentals are there to find properties and list properties that are not traditional customers anyway,” she said. “The housing they are looking for is below market rate. We have not had one agent who hasn’t listed a year-round rental with us because they went on Bonac Rentals.”

An associate broker at another brokerage, NestSeekers, is in fact herself using Bonac Rentals to search for a place to live year-round.

“The cost to live on the East End is simply out of reach for young families and why many of my counterparts are moving out of state,” said Mia Cartalemi Mullally, who currently lives in Westhampton. “The newly tightened guidelines for mortgages have further increased the struggle, compounded with the increased cost to rent; Staying on the East End or Long Island in general is becoming unrealistic.”

This is her own post on Bonac Rentals:

“My husband, son, and I are looking for a home to stay in this district where my husband is a volunteer fireman so we can continue to run our business and raise our son. If you have something or know of something, please keep us in mind.”