Letters

Listening to the “Express Sessions” event on WLIW this morning [“WATCH: Taking the Pulse of the Hamptons Real Estate Market,” 27east.com, February 19] was extremely disheartening.

I’m single, in my 30s, lived across the country, finishing up my master’s degree at the college, and currently working at a local educational nonprofit. I didn’t grow up on Long Island or the East End but have lived here for seven years now. This is where I’d like to keep living, start a family (if that is in the cards) and spend my life.

I didn’t know what to expect when I moved to Long Island from the Midwest, but I did not expect to find a community that is so welcoming, and that I love.

As a graduate student, you make about $30,000 per year. I have been able to live with that salary here, as I am frugal. Thankfully, my salary has increased — but my rent is 60 percent of my income and is probably $500 a month cheaper than nearby rentals.

Listening to the program talking about housing as people’s “investments” and “assets,” summer rentals, and all the “problems” with the market cuts deep. I can’t even buy a one-bedroom cabin, or rent one. All I’d like is a place to call home, where I’m not dealing with a rental with foundation issues, mold issues, pest issues, weekend AirBNB rentals downstairs in the summer.

I know there have been grants to help first-time homebuyers, but for a purchase price of $485,000 or less. That doesn’t exist in Southampton or East Hampton towns. I can’t live farther west, as it will just contribute to the traffic problem, and my community is here in Hampton Bays. Living in Hampton Bays, I can take the train to work every day and not make the traffic worse.

I am so tired of seeing houses empty, to be rented just for the summer. Or purchased to flip and rent as a short-term rental. Or torn down for something bigger to be built, because that is what does well in this market. And I’ve just been here seven years.

My marine science degree always meant that I would have to live in a more expensive place than the Midwest, but the “Express Session” really didn’t “express” anything to help people living here and struggling. Obviously, there are other economic issues that affect home buying and markets, but listening to the panel being concerned about changes to town code affecting sales and inventory, with affordable housing only being brought up at the end, with the implication that the Community Preservation Fund and zoning codes were the main culprits for the reason there isn’t more affordable housing, really missed the mark for the people struggling.

Everyone just wants a safe home.

Rebecca Rogers

Hampton Bays