Newest Trend: Well-To-Do Hamptons Residents Go 'Glamping' In A Trailer Park
MONTAUK SHORES, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- As summer approaches, some families are trading their year-round homes in East Hampton, for "trailers." And it's all to make some serious cash.
"It's a piece of paradise. That we live here [is] a blessing to me," Montauk resident Jeanette Esposito told CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan on Thursday.
Esposito was talking about the Ditch Plains Trailer Park at Montauk Shores sitting at ocean's edge -- for 200 lucky families, complete with swimming pools and playgrounds.
Some call it "glamping" -- or glamour camping.
"We don't like to refer to them as trailers. Some people have the connotation it is rundown. I would say 90 percent of our residents live elsewhere for most of the year and they spend their summers here," said Hugh Herbert of Montauk.
And some savvy Hamptonites are taking full advantage, squeezing in for the summer and renting out their sought after luxury million-dollar digs for the season.
Even owners of more modest homes are collecting $50,000 in rent for July and August. They will pay $1,400 a month to lease trailer space at Montauk Shores – quite a profit.
Hamptons realtors said the new trend makes financial sense.
"We are finding a lot more homeowners are putting their houses up for rent, due to paying for college, or economic distress," said Jacqueline Dunphy of Corcoran Group Real Estate. "We have a place in Montauk called Ditch Plains is a very trendy trailer park. The homeowners go and live in that for whatever time period they've rented for."
The Roupells from England are renting a trendy Hamptons home. Its owner went on a cruise with the cash collected. When asked if they feel they are getting bang for the buck, one said, "We definitely feel we are getting warmer weather than we ever have in London."
Matthew Bergman lives full time in East Hampton and said he plans to rent his home for the month of August
"It's just too much money to refuse," Bergman said.
But the trailer park in Montauk is full and there's a waiting list for interviews. The trailer park in Montauk has been around for more than 50 years. The people who run the place said this is the first time they remember seeing Hamptons families moving in for the summer.
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