Fire Island Summer Shares 101

There are house rentals, and then there are house rentals. The former is fairly simple: Find a place, contact the owner or her broker, book the dates, pay the bill, show up at the appointed time and enjoy the property without forcing an insurance claim.

The latter is a share. And for first-time vacationers wanting to rent in Cherry Grove or Fire Island Pines, shares’ additional complexity can be intimidating. Especially considering the terminology associated with it, such as half-shares and quarter-shares. What does all this new math mean?

Ken Lesser, Guru
Recently I decided to play dumb and pose the question to Ken Lesser. If anyone, Lesser can explain shares quickly and easily. He is a licensed real estate broker, and owner of Pines Harbor Realty. Lesser focuses mostly on sales and rentals in the Pines and Water Island, although he has some connections to Cherry Grove, too.

Remember, shares are called shares because they’re group projects. “If one group takes the whole house, then that’s a full share,” he says. To understand the fractions, we then talk hypothetical numbers: “Say a full share is 20 weeks. But a group only wants 10 weeks. So in actuality you rent to two different groups and you have a schedule that sorts out who gets which weeks.” Voila. A half-share. And never shall Groups A and B meet.

A more recent phenomenon is the quarter-share. “Some people only want to be there one weekend a month,” Lesser says. So now a house may host Group A (10 weeks) as well as Groups B and C (five weeks each).

And to clarify, “weekend” is actually a whole week. In the case of fractional shares, weeks usually start and end on Thursdays or Fridays, with a visit from a maid service filling in the gap between one group’s departure and another’s arrival. (Most people enjoy only weekends, with the occasional week break during the summer. Those of us with exemplary work-life balance can swing weeks-long vacations to take full advantage of the share.)

And by “want to be,” Lesser is referring to a group’s desire to be at Fire Island, of course, but the phrase also refers to affordability. Fire Island house rentals, particularly in the Pines, aren’t cheap.   

Real Estate Tasks
It’s very rare that the homeowner finds a full share, or multiple groups, for his Fire Island house. Rather, a broker like Lesser does the juggling. Yet the broker does not deal with a share group in its entirety. Just the person signing the lease.

Meet the housemother. Besides signing the lease, the housemother shoulders the burden of filling the house and collecting payment from the other housemates going in on the share. The housemother determines utilities and other accessory fees with the broker or homeowner.

In the case of a new share situation, the housemother also assumes the task of finding the house to rent. Simply put, this person bears the most consumer responsibility. He or she will occasionally enjoy the assistance of one or two housemates.

In a four-bedroom house share, expect two fellow renters per room. The housemother can organize a smaller group, as long as all the participants agree to the higher cost. Then there are the discussions to be convened concerning visiting friends, romantic partners, grocery and cooking responsibilities, and so forth.

In sum, housemothering is a thankless task, but as Lesser puts it, “Somebody has to be leader. Without a leader there’s nothing. You’ve got some people who are aggressive and some who are not. Some are better organized, some are better at being the boss. But he only has one share like everyone else.”  

So, to the natural leaders among you, consider stepping forward for the position. You won’t be treated to a hero’s welcome come the weekend, but at least playing housemother will give you peace of (controlling) mind.