The reason why I made the commitment to work as an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent is that I do not believe real estate agents can do a good and responsible job of representing the buyer unless committed 100% to that focus --- 100% of the time. As an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent for real estate on Martha's Vineyard, I am able to give you the attention you deserve without reservation or any confusion as to my loyalty. I am not conflicted in any way. I am paid for my services out of the proceeds of the transaction and because I work to obtain the best terms and lowest price for my clients, my fee is affected proportionately. However, my reward for doing a good job is that my clients do not hesitate to recommend me to their friends and others who want the Martha's Vineyard experience, and that is how I grow my business.

Who I Am: A Short Auto-Biography
"I am a New Yorker..." he says, with a quick glance over his shoulder. Actually, it is more accurate to say I am a Vineyarder, because this is where my heart is now, although I still have a warm spot in my heart for the Yanks and Manhattan. However, when it comes to passion, the Red Soxs and my beloved Boston Patriots take the prize -- I love passion.

I was born and raised in northern Westchester County, just 35 miles north of New York City. My mother was a teacher; she taught music, French and English. My father was an Art Director for House & Garden magazine. In college I majored in advertising art and design. I spent four years in the military with the United States Air Force and I am a Veteran serving in Viet Nam where I was stationed in DaNang, South Viet Nam from 1969 to 1970. After my discharge from the military, I worked for a number of years as a textile print designer and then transitioned into a career in women's apparel, based in New York City. I was responsible for merchandising, marketing, sales management and startups for leading manufacturers in the women's fashion industry.

My first introduction to Martha's Vineyard Island was in 1967 when my family became seasonal residents here. I immediately realized what a very special place this is. During my career in New York I worked long hours and traveled quite a bit. Martha's Vineyard had made such an imprint in my mind and soul that I spent every minute of my limited vacation time on Martha's Vineyard and always left the Island with an ache in my heart, because I could not spend more time here. Like many people during the "me generation" 80's who were my age, I finally decided there was more to the riches of life than a 60 to 70 hour work week could provide, so I decided to follow my heart.

Peter and his first Bluefish Photo by J. Piekos

My life took a 180-degree turn in 1988 when serendipity showed me the way to make a dream come true. I became a year round citizen on this magical Island of Martha's Vineyard, and I have never looked back. I live in West Tisbury, in a beautiful location close to the water --- although every location is close to the water on this Island. My wife and I have four grown boys and one cat. We love the outdoors --- so does the cat. We enjoy gardening, beach walks, trips into Boston for the symphony and museums, as well as staying close to our sons, one who lives in Georgia, one who lives in Las Vegas, one who has found a good career here here on the Island and one who seems to be a professional student and is presently pursuing a Masters in music. When I am not working, my hobbies are tinkering with cars and motorcycles and activities at the MV Rod and Gun Club, where I started taking skeet shooting lessons. I have renewed my relationship with sport fishing, although I have to admit when I am out on our many wonderfulbeaches, I get lost in the wonderment of this incredible Island I live on. I forget I am supposed to be fishing. My wife works for a prestigious Island law firm as a paralegal, and is a professional photographer. It seems like everyone here does more than one thing. Her passions are music, photography, hiking, dance, our boys . and me." (No glance back over my shoulder on this one.)

My full time career has been in Martha's Vineayrd real estate sales and marketing since 1989. I earned my broker's license in 1991. I am a member of the National Association of REALTORS®, the Cape Cod and Islands Board of REALTORS®, the Real Estate Buyer's Agents Council (REBAC), the Massachusetts Association of Buyer Agents (MABA) and the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA), the Martha’s Vineyard Multiple Listing Service (MLS - LINK), and the Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce. I am a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (GRI) and hold the designations of Certified Buyer Representative (CBR), Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR®), Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES®) and an on-line Technology Expert (e-PRO). I also worked as a real estate appraiser for a number of years.

Martha's Vineyard Island is not for everyone. If you have never been here, you need to visit and see for yourself the varied life styles that are available here within the six distinctively different towns on Martha's Vineyard Island. If you have been here and if you experience an ache in your heart every time you leave the Island, let me show you how to make that ache go away and your dream come true."

Why I'm Passionate about what I do
This is a true story. I bought my first home in the 70's. I was young, newly married with a new family and starting to build my career. Even back then, buying a home was a huge decision, and we were very nervous about spending what to us was a fortune. However, our advisors told us to make the investment. We were able to put a considerable amount of money down so that our monthly loan payments would be manageable. House hunting became somewhat of a full time job for my wife and the baby --- I had to work. We looked at night, we looked on weekends and my wife looked in between. I think we looked at 60 to 75 homes, "our" real estate agent ran us ragged. We told her what we were looking for, but she kept showing us everything. I never thought the day would come, but finally my wife called me and said she had found our dream home.

I will never forget the day I first went to look at our "dream home", accompanied by "our" real estate agent, who was also the listing agent. It was a picture perfect autumn afternoon, clear and sunny and the tree leaves were a blaze of color The 2400sf multi-level contemporary 3-bedroom house sat dramatically up on a rock ledge and looked down through the woods onto a lake. It was a beautiful 3-acre lot of majestic oak trees and huge rock outcroppings. The sun was streaming in through the plate glass window wall and the owner was baking brownies in the kitchen, so the house smelled delicious. The house looked beautiful and I loved the land (location, location, location).

When we first started our property search, I made it clear to "our" broker that I could not live in a house where there had been animals, because I had allergies. The broker assured methat there had been no pets in this house --- did I see any? Did I look? Should I have looked? After a brief discussion with "our" agent, we made an offer. Low and behold, it was accepted. I always wondered if our offer was too high.

It was time to do our due diligence. I wanted a structural home inspection. My wife's uncle was an engineer and graciously volunteered to inspect the house for free saying he knew what to look for. He looked at it and said everything was fine.

I am going to fast forward to a few days after the closing. We packed up all of our belongings into a rented U-haul and drove to our new dream home. I finally started taking a really good look at the house and what is my second most favorite "man area" next to the garage --- the basement. I went in and closed the basement door, something I had not done from the inside of the basement. There, on the back of the door, were huge scratch marks that were obviously made by a large animal. I continued to look around and in a small dark corner under the stairs, I found an area that had obviously been used for a long time as a kitty litter box --- without the box. It was disgusting. I found out subsequently from a neighbor that the former owners did have pets, a Great Dane and cats. I also found out that the couple was getting a divorce, so that may explain why there were no pets when we were looking at the house --- someone had custody of them. Needless to say, I was plagued by allergies all that winter, especially when I went into my second most favorite "man area".

Now let's fast forward to late winter when the snow is on the ground and the ice is starting to thaw. I was down in the basement one day and noticed some wet spots. Those wet spots got wetter as the winter thaw progressed and finally there was a stream running through my basement. It was a mess and cost thousands of dollars to mitigate with an elaborate foundation drainage system and foundation sealing. I realize that we cannot be protected from every single defect in a house, but if I had contracted a licensed structural inspector instead of my wife's uncle, I would surely have been made aware of pre-existing problems like moisture in the basement, etc. Remember my other favorite location --- the garage; well, the pipes froze that winter. My inspector would also have found the plumbing defects and related structural deficiencies. If I had hired an exclusive buyer agent, instead of thinking that "our" agent would work in our best interests, I would have had a better chance at learning more details. I also think we would have paid less for the house. This is one reason why I am so passionate about what I do, and I promise you I will do my utmost to ensure that you are informed about the property you spend your hard earned money on.



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