Find a buyers agent on Cape Cod with the experience and local real estate knowledge to guide your home search in this complex, competitive market.

Most people shopping for a home on Cape Cod arrive assuming the process mirrors any other real estate market in Massachusetts. The inventory, however, moves on a different rhythm.

The regulatory landscape carries layers that simply don't exist in Newton or Boston, and the buyer pool is genuinely mixed: locals competing alongside out-of-staters who sometimes don't fully grasp what they're stepping into.

Getting up to speed on all of that before touring homes tends to save a considerable amount of frustration down the road.

What actually makes this market harder than it looks

A listing in Harwich can go under agreement before a buyer two towns over even receives the showing notification. That's not an exaggeration. It happens regularly in the spring, and it catches people off guard with some consistency.

Adding to the difficulty: the factors most likely to collapse a deal here tend to be regulatory rather than price-related.

Factor	Why It Matters
Title V Septic Compliance	Failing systems require replacement before closing, with costs that vary considerably by town
Flood Zone Designation	Reshapes your insurance costs and sometimes mortgage eligibility entirely
Waterfront vs. Water View	A legal distinction with genuine consequences for value and financing, not just a marketing label
Year-Round vs. Vacation Zoning	Governs what you can do with the property, including rental income potential
Local Deed Restrictions	Cape towns carry covenants that standard searches often miss
Seasonal Timing	Spring compression is real; some listings never make it to a second showing weekend

Septic regulations alone vary from town to town, which is why an agent who knows Sandwich doesn't automatically know Barnstable, even though they share a county line.

And that specificity marks the difference between agents who know Cape Cod and those who simply know real estate.

The agents people actually trust here

Barnstable County has no shortage of buyer-side agents. These are the names that come up most consistently, along with what each is actually known for.

Agent / Team	Focus	Known For
Livia Monteforte, Freitas Monteforte Group at Compass	Coastal, luxury, waterfront buyer representation	ABR designation, nearly 600 team transactions, working Cape Cod since 1999
Eric Rollo, The Agency Boston	Buyer-centric residential	$165M+ closed, 20+ years experience
Bob Churchill, Buyer Brokers of Cape Cod	Exclusive buyer brokerage	No seller-side conflict, by structural design
Melanie Gundersheim, Gundersheim Group	Barnstable County residential	5.0-star rated, deep local market knowledge
Tia Lilly, Property Cape Cod	Waterfront and luxury purchases	Known for high-expectation client work
Tim Brown, SeasCape Realty	Outer Cape vacation and investment	Rental property and investment expertise

To put that in context: this market has been home territory since 1999. Livia started with Kinlin Grover, ran her own brokerage for several years, and built the Freitas Monteforte Group into its current form under Compass.

Close to 600 transactions across the Cape, the ABR credential, and enough coastal and waterfront deals handled that very little in this market registers as genuinely surprising anymore.

One other thing worth knowing: the team works both sides of transactions. In negotiations, that background is useful, because understanding how a listing agent evaluates an incoming offer changes how you position yours.

Exclusive buyer brokers vs. a full-service team

But here's the thing: this question surfaces regularly, and the answer is less straightforward than most people anticipate.

Exclusive buyer brokers

Exclusive buyer brokers, like Bob Churchill's firm or Buyers Brokers Only, represent only buyers. By structural design, there's no seller relationship creating a conflict — that's a genuine advantage.

The trade-off shows up in listing agent relationships, which tend to be thinner, and in pre-market inventory access, which becomes harder to come by. And in a market where some of the better coastal homes sell quietly before appearing on Zillow, that gap carries real weight.

Full-service teams

Full-service teams that do buyer representation well carry the opposite dynamic. Knowledge of how listing agents operate, familiarity with how sellers price waterfront properties, and enough time at deal tables to understand where actual room for movement exists.

The risk with full-service teams lies in dual agency, where the same agent ends up representing both sides. Ask directly how your agent handles that before signing anything.

Neither structure holds a categorical advantage. The right choice depends on your specific search, your price range, and how competitive the inventory is in your target towns.

What to ask before you commit to anyone

Reviews and star ratings communicate something, but they don't communicate enough. These questions tend to be more revealing.

How many buyer-side closings do you have in my target towns over the last 12 months? Career numbers are less useful here. Recent, local, and specific is what matters.

Walk me through a multiple-offer situation you navigated for a buyer in the past year. Strategy in the answer is what you're listening for, not a vague reference to writing clean offers.

How familiar are you with Title V requirements in this particular town? Any hedging in the response is itself an answer.

If a listing goes under agreement before I can schedule a showing, what does your process look like? Pre-market access depends on genuine relationships; this question reveals whether those exist.

How do you handle dual agency if it arises? Worth asking directly, and the answer should be equally direct.

The costs that catch buyers off guard

Case in point: most buyers encounter these after they're already emotionally attached to a property. Knowing them earlier tends to be more useful.

What Gets Missed	The Real Impact
Flood insurance quote before the offer	Waterfront premiums can reach $8,000 to $15,000 annually, which alters your monthly math in meaningful ways
Your agent's actual listing agent relationships	Determines whether you hear about properties in the 48 hours before they go live
Rental income projections for vacation properties	Shapes financing decisions and long-term return calculations
Town-specific resale trajectory	Appreciation rates differ across Cape towns more than most buyers anticipate
Broadband and cell service at the actual address	A practical concern for year-round buyers working remotely, and straightforward to verify early

The team works across Falmouth, Mashpee, Sandwich, Barnstable, Harwich, Chatham, and most of the towns in between. For an honest read on what the market looks like right now in a specific area, that conversation is available before you're in the middle of a search.

Why local, experienced representation matters more on Cape Cod

Simply put, the Cape Cod real estate market rewards buyers who are prepared and penalizes those who are not. An experienced agent who knows this market — who understands what a fair price looks like in Harwich versus Chatham, what a coastal property's flood history means for your insurance, and how to write an offer that a seller's agent takes seriously — is not a luxury. They are a necessity.

The Freitas Monteforte Group exists because we believe buyers on Cape Cod deserve representation that is as sophisticated as the market itself. Our team brings decades of real estate experience, buyer-specific credentials, and a systems-driven approach to every search and every sale. If you are seeking an experienced buyer's agent on Cape Cod, start by interviewing agents who can demonstrate deep local knowledge, recent transaction volume in your target area, and a clear process for protecting your interests from search through closing. We welcome that conversation — and we are confident in what we bring to it.

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