How a purchase goes

1. A first call. Which island, how you will live there, and what you want to spend. Twenty minutes.
2. A viewing day. Four to six houses planned around the ferry schedule, with lunch in Teal Harbor.
3. The offer. Island sales usually include well, septic and bluff inspections as conditions. Dana writes them in.
4. Inspections and closing. Thirty to forty-five days, with the inspectors booked the day the offer is accepted.

What to inspect

Wells, septic systems, bluffs and anything metal near salt water. Ask for the well flow test and a water quality report, a septic inspection with a pump-out, and a geotechnical report for any home near a bank.

Second homes

About a third of island homes are second homes. If you plan to rent yours out in summer, check the island's short-term rental rules before you make an offer, and budget for a caretaker who checks the house after winter storms.

Before the listing

• A price based on island sales from the last two years, not mainland averages.
• A well test and septic inspection done in advance, so buyers see the reports with the listing.
• Photos and a drone flight on the first clear day, even if that means waiting a week.

While it is listed

Viewings are grouped around the ferry so buyers from the mainland can see your home and two others in one trip. You get a short note after every viewing: who came, what they liked, and what worried them.

Moving help

Moving off an island takes planning: ferry reservations for the truck, a storage unit on the mainland, an estate sale for the furniture that will not fit. Dana keeps a list of movers, cleaners and caretakers who work on the islands, and books them for you.

Dana's parents ran the hardware store in Teal Harbor, so she grew up hearing which houses had bad wells and which roofs leaked. She sold her first house on Brannock Island in 2007 and has worked only on the Kestrel Sound islands since.

Most of her clients are buying their first island home, or selling the one their family has owned for decades. Both need someone who explains the island details plainly: wells and septic, shared roads, bluffs, and the ferry.

How Dana works

• One agent from the first call to the keys: you never get passed to an assistant.
• Calls and messages answered the same day, seven days a week in summer.
• A written list of what to inspect for every house you are serious about.

Client stories

A family moving from the city wanted a house within walking distance of the Teal Harbor school. Dana showed them six houses in one weekend, timed around the ferry, and they moved in before the school year.

Two sisters selling their parents' farmhouse on Brannock lived on different continents. Dana handled the well test, the septic pump-out and the estate sale, and sent photos after every step.

These stories are sample content for the Shoal demo.

Teal Harbor is where the islands do their errands. The marina, the clinic, the K–8 school and the Saturday market are all within a ten-minute walk of the ferry dock.

Most homes are 1920s cottages and 1990s family houses on small lots. Waterfront here usually means a view across the marina rather than a private beach.

Buyers who work on the mainland like it because the first ferry leaves at 5:40 and the walk from the door to the dock is short.

Ferry to the mainland

35 minutes

Typical home

3-bed cottage on a 5,000 sq ft lot

Good for

Year-round living, families, commuters

Brannock is the biggest island and the least built up. Many properties are five acres or more, with wells and septic systems, so inspections matter more than the listing photos.

The north shore has the sunsets and the steep driveways. The south end has the farms, the flat land and the best soil for a garden.

Internet is good along the main road and patchy in the hills. Ask for a speed test before you fall in love with a view.

Ferry to the mainland

50 minutes

Typical home

Farmhouse or cabin on 5+ acres

Good for

Space, gardens, working from home

Larkspur Point is a peninsula at the south end of Fennick Island, joined to it by a single causeway. Its rocky shore and deep water make it the place for boat owners.

Homes are few and change hands rarely. Most sales happen before they are listed, so tell me early if this is the place you want.

Wind is part of the deal. Houses here are built low, with storm shutters, and the gardens are grass and rock.

Ferry to the mainland

45 minutes via Fennick

Typical home

Waterfront house with deep-water moorage

Good for

Boat owners, people who like weather

Fennick faces east, towards the mountains, and its bluffs are covered in wildflowers from May to July. Many homes here are second homes that the owners let in summer.

The bluffs are beautiful and they move. Before buying near the edge, read the geotechnical report and ask how far the bank has retreated in the last twenty years.

Beach access is public at four points, so a home a street back from the water often costs half as much and loses little.

Ferry to the mainland

40 minutes

Typical home

Bluff-top house or beach cabin

Good for

Second homes, summer rentals, retirement