The day after the last school bell rang and the warm winds of summer beckoned, my family would begin packing for our week at a rental cottage not far from a beach called Point Breeze. Our family of ten shared this four bedroom place with my aunt and uncle and six cousins, creating the kind of pandemonium only children can love. And as Buffalo city kids who spent eight months of the year wearing sweaters, we whined and paced like dogs in a boarding kennel until the day of departure for the beach finally arrived.
All photos copyright Moxie Gardiner.
Point Breeze would probably not make the list of the Most Beautiful Beaches in America. There is no soft white sand, no boardwalk or amusement park, no high rise apartments or cabanas to rent. Like all Lake Erie beaches, it was painfully rocky and filled with the unlovely debris of winter storms, prompting some families to come equipped with small rakes to clear a place before laying down their blanket and picnic basket.
Nonetheless, we loved it. We would dare each other to be the first one to dive into the cold lake, then hop out shivering to be wrapped in one of the many towels our mothers dutifully hauled with them. We would buy ice cream sandwiches at the nearby corner store and warm ourselves by a driftwood bonfire at night. When we got older, we would spend hours sitting on one of the lake’s many ragged outcroppings, letting the waves hit us and drag us into the water. Those hours along the shores of Lake Erie are among my fondest childhood memories.
Is it any wonder then, at this stage of my life, with the kids grown and a new appreciation for spending time with extended family, I would long to return to Lake Erie, this time in my own cottage with a view of my beloved lake?
Alas, it is not to be. At least for now.
When I began to look for a lake house last summer, little did I know that gazillions of other people had the same idea. Low mortgage rates, housing shortages, increasing opportunities to work remotely, more retirees looking for second homes, millions of Millennials simultaneously trying to buy first homes, people with stimulus money in their pockets, and an overheated stock market all combined to make this one of the worst times to buy real estate in history. Talk about the right idea at the wrong time!
A recent Buffalo News article[1] described the current Western New York housing market as follows:
- There are nearly three times as many real estate agents as there are homes for sale.
- The number of homes for sale is down 44% from a year ago
- The median sale prices of homes sold over the past 12 months has jumped by 12% to an all-time high of $177,000 (still a bargain, comparatively speaking).
- Sellers are consistently getting more than they’re asking for on each house. Real estate agents said it’s not unusual for buyers to offer $30,000 to $40,000 over asking, and still not win.
It seems hard to believe that less than a decade ago, Buffalo’s Urban Homestead program was encouraging Buffalo residents to buy fixer-upper homes in the city for a dollar. So imagine my surprise when I waded into this frenzied market and learned that even if I bid on an old house—with no contingencies, no inspection, all cash, with an offer significantly over the asking price—I STILL wasn’t likely to get it. My real estate agent said she is working with clients who have lost out on seven or eight houses and are becoming desperate, making offers far above the appraisal price.
My wise old grandfather once told me that when the milkman tells you he has decided to invest in the stock market, it is time to get out. Do the opposite of what the crowd is doing, he said, and you’ll be all right. It has proven to be sage advice. So I will take a step back and put my dreams of a lake house on hold, hoping that the market will cool in our lifetime.
But will it? It’s anyone’s guess.
No one knows how long it will take home builders to get ahead of the current housing shortage, or how soon all the Millennials will have bought their first homes, or when current homeowners will no longer be reluctant to sell. I wish I knew how long mortgage rates will stay historically low, or the stock market will remain historically high, before inflation runs rampant and everything comes crashing down.
Unlike many others, I am in a position to wait and am willing to gamble that prices will come down sooner rather than later. How about you? Are you considering buying real estate right now, or are you, like me, willing to put your dream on hold for at least another summer or two?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please share them in the comments below!
- [1] “Housing shortage hammers homebuyers,” Buffalo News, Jonathan D. Epstein, Apr 15 2021, Updated May 15 2021.
Moxie Gardiner is a writer and gardener who grew up on the West Side of Buffalo, NY. In a previous life she was a journalist, magazine editor, speech writer, and policy wonk. Back in the day she made three solo parachute jumps, flew in an F-15 fighter jet, and crawled through mud pits at the Jungle Operations Training Course in Panama. She now meditates and practices yoga. She is almost ready to publish her first novel, set in Buffalo.
My childhood growing up at Bay Beach instilled in me a love of the beach, boating and living on Lake Erie. There are beautiful beaches to be found along the lake in both countries. Take the beach in Angola, for example. Keep looking for a cottage. I found a lovely home this past year right off the beach in Angola and am really looking forward to watching the fireworks tonight explode overhead with the enormous bonfires up and down the beach. The 4th of July in Angola on the beach is truly spectacular! Affordable cottages near the beach can be found, but you have to never give up your search.
Lori–thank you. You give me hope! I will not stop searching until I find one. I hope you enjoyed your 4th at the beach. Who knows? Maybe next year I’ll be there watching too!
Hello Moxie. As a fellow West Sider I too have the best memories growing up there. From hanging along the break wall and river, as in jumping in it, looking back probably not the smartest thing, to riding our bikes through Delaware Park, to building forts in mounds of snow along the street.
Back then Grant Street businesses were bustling and had everything anyone could want. From Roc-Mar bowling and Unity theatre at one end to the W. Ferry business area at the other end, the memories of everything in between are cherished.
We were blessed with a plethora of family bakeries like Colonial, Blue Bird and Luigi’s (was Maria’s) and pizzerias like Pepino’s, Santora’s (original), Pizza Villa and Vieni Su to name just a few. And Ted’s under the Peace Bridge? I could go on and on about WS memories I occasionally reflect on.
Now as for the Lake …. I was fortunate to have lived several years in the Angola area almost entirely within walking distance or on the beaches. So I again have cherished memories of the Lake and look back at them as some of the best times of my life. I remember the Pt. Breeze Hotel, that burned down. I sat many times at Eddie Stroh’s tavern sipping on a bucket of Rolling Rock splits waiting for my laundry to run it’s course at the Pt. Breeze coin laundry. And like you, I would like to a place there to return to. Aaaaah. The memories.
Looking forward to your book.
Thank you so much for your comments, Don. We have many West Side experiences and Angola memories in common (especially the bakeries and restaurants!), but I forgot all about the Point Breeze laundry. Imagine doing laundry for 14 kids. Our poor mothers!
Let us both hope that one day real estate prices along the lake will be reasonable again, and we can spend our golden years watching golden sunsets!
If Buffalo elects a Socialist mayor, there will be housing available after taxes and crime goes up.
The market is wild now, but our family home in the Allentown section just had a $3500 tax increase. It will only get worse if the tax base shrinks.
Lake shore homes were usually at a premium. I am not surprised prices are higher right now. There was fewer places to spend your earnings during the pandemic and bank rates are so low they encourage home buying. That market moment will pass.
Thank you Ron, for your comment. I am counting on that “market moment” passing.
I am seriously wanting to come home. At least for summer. Retired. Home paid off in Tx. Love Newfane area or Tonawanda near canal or Ellicot creek. Or just walking or eye distance to waterways . I hope……
I hear you Ron, loud and clear. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Thank you for your comment and for reading my blog!
From another fellow West sider, I harken back to my adventurous college days and biking with my childhood buddy Jimmy to Point Breeze. I had purchased and collected army salvage camping gear complete with cooking kit and stuffed all into a “backpack”. We got as far as setting up a tent site in an area we thought was ideal near the waterfront; however, Mother Nature had other plans for us … a classic lake effect rolling thunderstorm!
Needless to say, we pulled up stakes and “camped “ in the nearest port in the storm… a cozy tavern on Rt 5!
Thank you Nick for your story. I had to laugh, picturing you guys in a tent in one of those wicked storms. We used to love to run around in them while the lightning flashed and the thunder boomed, driving our poor mothers crazy with worry. But that’s how we rolled back in the day–taking risks kids aren’t allowed to take anymore. Please keep sharing your stories!
I’m hoping to sell in a year or two and get an apartment so I’m in slightly the opposite spot. I can’t sell yet because still need space for the boys of course!
Thank you Jessica, for your comment. I’m hoping the market will simmer down in a year or two and still be good for sellers, but not outrageous for buyers. Lots of people today can’t sell because there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to purchase another place, leaving them temporarily homeless and so frantic to buy anything they end up overbidding. Crazy situation. Best of luck when you do downsize.
Love this—our place was Horseneck Beach in MA. So many happy summers there in the same little white and red cottage with cousins in nearby cottages!
Thanks for your comment, Mary. It sounds like you had a similar experience to mine. I think part of our delight, like yours, was enjoying the experience with relatives. Neither the beach nor the cottage really mattered, as long as your cousins were there. Such good times.
Hi Moxie
We bought a house in Tonawanda in Oct 2020. We offered 15,000 above asking and got it but we joke that this is the worst, smallest house we’ve paid the most for. We moved back to WNY from Tampa Bay, Fl to be close to grands and great grands. Moving long distance at the height of a pandemic in a crazy housing market in our 70’s might be the wackiest thing we’ve ever done. So here we are, settled and happy having paid way more than we expected to!
Hi Marilyn. I have to say, despite probably paying too much for your house, I envy you being close to family again. If there is one thing we learned from the pandemic, it’s that you can’t put a price on being close to your loved ones. Thanks so much for your comment.
So many thoughts! I’ll start with one that’s easy: It’s a shame that no one thought of water shoes when we were kids. I love the idea – no more mincing steps on rocky lake bottoms. I have some.
Last summer – when people were trying to manage social distancing outside – I visited my sister at her home on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution. I said, let’s go look at housing; I couldn’t bring my dogs with me, and that chafed (people who rent their places here are a cabal, and they have banded together to refuse pets). I found a home (1200 sf) that is steps from the lake: in realtor-speak, “winter water view”. It needed a lot of work. I thought it would be a summer home.
This spring, I sold my house in NJ. I spent 3 months getting it ready, a la realtor’s advice. It sold the first day it was shown, 3% above list price, no contingencies. Good for me, hard for buyers. I have 2 realtors in the family, and I have been looking at places in Elmwood Village – but it won’t happen in this environment. I don’t think the stratospheric prices are going to last – as you point out, whenever builders begin adding to housing stock, the pressure on prices of existing homes will dissipate. (When I lived in MI, there were more homes than owners, bc builders were constantly putting up new homes.)
So, I downsized to my Chautauqua home. The winters here are fierce – worse than snow-belted South Buffalo, and that’s saying something. My sister and brother have places in Elmwood Village. If I need to decamp from here anytime soon, I’ll try to find a ground-floor apartment to rent.
Your lake-house dream reminds me of the current fad for Airstream trailers (a long-held fantasy that I set aside last year). The pandemic will end, families will go back to Disney World, and you’ll find the cottage of your dreams.
Ha! I agree with you on the water shoes! We used to try to wear our flip flops into the water but no sooner would we dive under, they’d be floating away. I thank the genius who thought of water shoes.
Happy to hear that you do have your home on the lake, even if, for the moment, it has become your year-round home.
As far as the Airstream fad, we looked into RVs too. It’s not just Airstreams: every camper van, truck camper, small to medium pull-behind and fifth wheel (and that’s if you can find one) is ridiculously expensive, as people put off overseas and air travel for the foreseeable future. Oh well. As you say, some day my dream will come true. Thank you for your comments, as always.