Montauk Summer Rentals Paradigm Changing

MONTAUK, NY - There are no better seasoned extractors of tourist dollars than the business and rental home owners of Montauk. With a short summer season, the business folks of Montauk have perfected the "maximize your profits in a short period of time" business model. Motels rarely rent by the day and usually force their clientele to buy an additional day or two to get the booking.

Summer home rentals have been creeping up steadily, so much that they are now no longer affordable by most of the blue collar /middle class families that once were the staple of the summer tourist population.

Now more than ever only groups of organized hipsters seem to have the cash to come out on weekends besides the dwindling regulars. Years back it was from Memorial Day to Labor Day contracts, now it's the month of July, and then other weeks. Still the gross dollars taken in seems to be increasing every year, but the trend is dangerous. Montauk as a destination for the new generation is red hot, but that can change as this group of hipster renters reach 30-40 years old and perhaps attempt to buy their first home or apartment.

If you have been attending the Friends of Erin St. Patrick's Day parades the last seven years you have witnessed the crowds getting smaller every year. I played a video of the 2009 parade on YouTube and then, one from this year — and, to say there were half as many people would not be wrong. So there is a change of who is coming out and why.

Montauk's fishing is perhaps as good as it gets anywhere, however, the cost of such expeditions is becoming a factor in folks fishing one or two less days each year. The popular fishing tournaments still draw the competitive fishermen and the money wagered is quite frankly staggering with sometimes first place Calcutta winnings close to $200,000. The flip side is there are less privately owned boats out on the water, and the charter captains are working harder and longer to do as well as they did in go-go era before 2007.

However, the family tourist business is shrinking as is the number of young families with lots of children. Also we are now in the golden era of the Baby Boomers with their achieved wealth over the last 50 years. Sadly, this group is beginning to expire. We all know how tough it is for the young to save any money these days if they are lucky enough to have a decent job. The shift seems to be to the Wall Street money winners who are finding better value in Montauk than in other oversold areas of the Hamptons. More McMansions are springing up than simple cottages and, somehow, down the road this development will have consequences.

Change is inevitable and Montauk will change from what it was, what it is and no one can predict what it will be. Old Montauk forces do not want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, meaning the way things have been and are. Right now Montauk is so hot, town leaders can regulate who can come in and who is not welcomed. Thus is the luxury of being a red hot destination. Warning: Atlantic City, New Jersey just a few years ago was a red hot summer destination.