An advertisement from Arthur Radtke, REALTOR®, eXp Realty — publisher of Celebrate Lower Cape
For people buying on the Lower & Outer Cape

Does what you're picturing exist at your number?

I'll give you the straight answer — in writing. Which towns your range actually works in, what you'd have to move to get what you described, and whether the rental income you're counting on is even legal in the town you picked.

Ask for a read →

Two minutes. Or skip the form — call (508) 408-7958 or email me.

Selling rather than buying? There's a different page for that →

No costand no obligation
3 daysto your written answer
Nothingto sign today

Arthur RadtkeI've written Celebrate Lower Cape every Thursday for sixteen months — 4,361 people read it. I'm also a REALTOR® with eXp Realty. That's been in the footer since the first issue; this page is me saying what it actually means.

Most people looking out here are working from a picture and a number that don't quite meet.

That's not a criticism — it's near-universal, and it's usually off by one town rather than by a fortune. But nobody tells you. So you drive down from Boston four Saturdays running, see six houses wrong in the same way, and slowly decide the Cape is impossible.

It usually isn't. It's that the number works in one town and not the next, or that what you actually want is a 1978 ranch you skipped past in the photos, or that the rental income the whole plan depends on isn't allowed where you're looking.

Twenty minutes will tell you which of those you're dealing with — before you spend the Saturdays.

What you actually get

Not a listing alert. Not a market report. A written note about your specific search.

  1. Whether your number and your picture intersect. Stated plainly, first. If they don't, I'll say so — that's the most useful sentence on the page.
  2. Which towns your range works in, and what changes between them. Eleven minutes of driving can be worth a hundred and fifty thousand dollars out here.
  3. What you'd have to move — price, town, condition, or the picture itself. Usually only one of the four, and usually not the one people expect.
  4. The rental question, answered honestly. Short-term rental rules are not the same across these eight towns, and in some they'd materially change your plan. Much better known before you're under agreement.
  5. What has to be in place before touring is worth your time, and a straight read on whether ninety days is realistic for you.
This is the thing you actually get

Most people have never seen one, so here's a real one — same format, fictional buyers. Everything on it is specific to their search: whether their number and their picture actually meet, what each town on their list buys at that range, the rental rules where they'd wreck the plan, and what to move first.

Sample one-page buyer read for fictional buyers looking in Chatham, Harwich and Brewster: the verdict on whether their budget and wish list meet, a town-by-town table of what their range buys, the short-term rental and septic questions, what to move first, and a timeline.
Sample — fictional buyers, illustrative figures. Yours is about your search.
Open the full page →
How I work through these

Everyone who writes to me gets an answer, in the order they arrive. August is the busiest month of the year out here, so if you want the written note back inside three days rather than the following week, this week is the week to send it.

And if you're also selling a place here to make this happen, say so on the form. That's a different and more interesting conversation, and it changes the order I'd do things in.

Ask for a read →

Right for you if

  • You've been looking online for months and can't tell if what you want exists
  • You're off-Cape and the driving time makes casual looking expensive
  • You know what you can spend, not what it buys where
  • The numbers only work if you can rent it part of the year
  • You've been out looking and everything's been wrong the same way

Not for you if

  • You've signed a written buyer agreement — go use your agent
  • You're looking outside the Lower and Outer Cape
  • You want listings emailed and nothing else — the portals do that free and faster
  • You'd rather an agent didn't ask whether you want to work with him. I'll ask once, and take a no

How it works

  1. Fill in the form. Four short steps, about two minutes.
  2. I write back within a day, usually sooner, with two specific times.
  3. We talk for twenty minutes. Phone or video, whichever suits.
  4. The written note follows within three business days.
  5. I ask you one direct question: do you want me to do this with you, or not?
One thing worth knowing up front

In Massachusetts an agent now has to have a written agreement with you before showing you houses. That's the rule, not a tactic — and it's in your favour, because it puts in writing what I owe you and how I'm paid. Practically: the conversation about working together happens early rather than after five Saturdays. I'll explain exactly what it obligates on both sides before you sign anything, and the call and the written note happen whether or not you do.

Ask for a read

Five short steps · about 3 minutes · no cost
1 · Where
2 · You
3 · Numbers
4 · Plans
5 · Detail

Which towns are you looking at?

Tick everything you'd consider — including the ones you're unsure about. The unsure ones are often the answer.

Where do I send it?

So I can reach you if you don't finish — I'd rather have a way to follow up than lose you at step three.

With a number I can send you two times that work and have this booked today. By email it's usually a day of back-and-forth first. I only use whichever method you pick below — leave this blank and I'll use email.

Whatever you pick here is what I'll do — it's the only permission I'm asking for.

The numbers

No wrong answer — it just changes what I'd tell you to do first.

Your plans

Then you're already represented, and I should step back. That agreement means someone owes you a duty and I'd be stepping on it. Go use them — that's what it's for.

Last few questions

Bedrooms, whether the water matters, whether you'd take something needing work. Two sentences is plenty.

Nothing's come up, the numbers don't work, you can't get down to look, you're not sure the towns are right — whatever it actually is.

By sending this you're asking Arthur Radtke — a licensed real estate agent with eXp Realty — to get back to you about your search, using the method you chose above. Nothing automated, no marketing list. If you gave a number, standard message and data rates apply. Say "stop" any time, in any reply, and it stops.
One email, early March. Not a mailing list.
No costNo obligationNothing to sign today

Everyone who writes gets an answer. I read every one of these myself.
Rather not use a form? Just email me the towns and your range.

✓ Your progress is saved on this device
✓

Got it.

I read every one of these myself — there's nobody else at this end.

You'll hear from me within a day, usually sooner, with two specific times. If you said you're looking to be in something inside thirty days, today.

The next email from me will be about your search — which towns your number works in and what I'd tell you to do first. Not a template.

If you'd rather not wait — just call. (508) 408-7958

— Arthur

Where your information goes

I use it to prepare for our conversation and write your note. That's it.

I don't sell it, trade it, or hand it to a lead service, a lender, or a title company. No lender is going to call you because you filled this in.

Calls and texts only if you asked for them above. Pick “email only” and that's all I'll use.

Afterward: if you're not buying now, I'm not going to keep contacting you. You'll hear from me if you ask to, or on a date we agree together.

Ask for a read →