Now’s the time to get a deal on a Hamptons rental. According to East End brokers, increasingly desperate homeowners have halved prices for prime properties. Start by asking a broker (hreo.com has listings from all the major firms) to inquire just how low a home owner will go. “One client didn’t want to spend more than $30,000,” says Tina Fredericks, who owns an East Hampton firm. “And I showed him a $55,000 six-bedroom house after Memorial Day. The owner said he’d take $38,000.” Enter the real-estate race now, and you might also pick up a rental for just a month. Concerns about not having a summerlong tenant have driven some homeowners “to rent by individual month so they can realize some income,” says Brown Harris Stevens broker Andrea Ackerman. She recently got one Southampton client to drop $25,000 off the $85,000 asking price, and her client rented it for August only.

See also
• How to Get There Before "Are We There Yet?": Hamptons shortcuts

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Articles by Deborah Schoeneman
• Table of Contents: Jun 28, 2004 issue of New York | Subscribe!