Five Questions With: Desa DeVore Buffum

DESA DEVORE BUFFUM is a broker associate with Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty in Westerly. / COURTESY MOTT & CHACE SOTHEBY'S INTERNATIONAL REALTY
DESA DEVORE BUFFUM is a broker associate with Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty in Westerly. / COURTESY MOTT & CHACE SOTHEBY'S INTERNATIONAL REALTY

Desa DeVore Buffum is a broker associate with Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty in Westerly, who recently was the buyer’s agent for a $3.8 million sale in Watch Hill. The house at 2 Niantic Ave. featured a classic shingle style. Buffum responded recently to questions posed by the Providence Business News about the luxury market on the coast.

PBN: The house on Niantic Avenue had a classic, shingle-style architecture. Do you have clients who are looking for that quintessential New England beach house? I wonder how often that specific exterior is requested?
BUFFUM:
Don’t we all love a beautiful shingle-style home? The house at 2 Niantic Ave. had just the right mix of shingle-style architecture, southern sunshine, great porches, beach, fishing, salt air and proximity to Watch Hill village to beckon my buyers. I am honored to have represented them and excited to see them turn it in to their family gathering place. I like to encourage buyers to avoid limiting their options with too many must-haves or wants. Inventory is limited in some of the shoreline communities, so keep an open mind. My main suggestion to buyers is simply to act and buy something soon, then make it suit you and your family. There is only one summer per year and you can spend many years hunting. Figure out your desired community and then create your place by selecting which property you will use as your canvas. Most people create their own quintessential New England beach house rather than buy it in perfect form. I just listed a beautiful shingled, postmodern, contemporary-style home on over 4 acres in a shingle-style community in Westerly. It has the feel of a magical tree house near the beach.

PBN: Ocean views are also what many luxury buyers want. Is there enough on the market, available for sale, to satisfy that requirement? It seems like many homes could be near the beach, but not on the beach.
BUFFUM:
Water views top nearly every shoreline buyer’s list of desires. When you really start to explore the shoreline, you sometimes realize that there are not that many homes right on the beach. Beach proximity can sometimes be better than or at least equal to ‘on the beach.’ If you are thinking of selling your water view home, we would love to help. Demand is high and supply is low.

PBN: What draws a buyer to Watch Hill, versus Narragansett or Newport? Is there a particular attraction to the Westerly area?
BUFFUM:
Westerly has a beach for every day of the week and then some. Westerly’s beaches are an absolute treasure. Mix in the interest of a number of neighborhoods – Watch Hill, Weekapaug, Misquamicut, Avondale and the historic downtown to name a few. Add a lively art, music and restaurant scene. Legendary blues music at the Knickerbocker Café is worth a road trip. Summer Pops, art shows and concerts in magnificent Wilcox Park. A train station, access to the highways and ferries and flights make Westerly an easy place to visit. The Savoy Bookshop and the Westerly Public Library for the book lover. Westerly is the draw and Watch Hill is one of the many gems within it.

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PBN: How would you describe the 2016 luxury market, versus five or six years ago? Any changes in demand, what people want, why they’re selling?
BUFFUM:
In the 2016 market versus the 2010-2011 market, I see the biggest difference in the strength of the buyers’ side. Today, there are far more buyers who are ready, willing and able to act quickly to buy that perfect second home when they see it. Luxury supply was high five or six years ago and there were very few buyers ready to commit to a second home in Rhode Island.

PBN: How has the market changed since you entered it as a real estate agent?
BUFFUM:
Since I was originally licensed in 1986, the tools that today’s buyers, sellers and agents use in searching for and marketing a property have changed the most. Today’s real estate market tools bring a powerful flood of information to buyers and sellers. Real estate agents of today help buyers and sellers filter and navigate through the information rather than act as their sole source of information.

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