The Nantucket Land Trust employs a three-pronged approach to keeping housing attainable for year-round islanders who work to sustain the community.

1. Tax write-off for selling your home to the Trust. Let’s say, for instance, that you have a home on the island that you bought for $300,000 some years ago but could sell today for $2 million. Your windfall might land you in the position of having to pay a hefty capital gains tax — perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Another option is to sell your home to the Nantucket Land Trust for something less than $2M. That could potentially net you a tax write-off that would leave you with as much as you would have if you sold your home on the open market. Your tax advisor can go over your own particular situation with you, but if it works, you’ll be doing good right where you live without paying extra for it. The Trust will then sell the home to a year-rounder earning up to 240% AMI, and the home will remain forever available only to year-rounders in that income bracket.

2. The Trust sells only the home and not the land on which the house sits. That keeps down the price. Retaining the land and selling just the home itself cuts the price down to a level that is attainable to the buyer and ensures that the property stays in the year-round family.

3. Donations help bridge the gap. Some year-rounders who meet the salary requirements may earn enough to make monthly mortgage payments but haven’t been able to amass enough money for a downpayment. Contributions will help stop the drain of needed year-round workers from Nantucket. Contributions will also allow the Trust to buy land that if it becomes available and then sell only the houses built on that land to qualified applicants in order to keep down their costs.

Our 501© 3 status is pending and expected in fall 2023. In the meantime, we have established a charitable fund at the Community Foundation for Nantucket. Please consider making a donation.