REAL ESTATE

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Jerry Seinfeld is alleged to have refused to pay a commission on a property he bought because the broker who first introduced him to it wasn't available to show it at his whim. The story goes that she took him to court and settled to her satisfaction.

One family asked Lenz to live for a weekend in a home they wanted to buy and let her know what they thought later.

"That was not just out of protocol. It was crazy," argues Lenz, who declined.

Then come the only-in-the-Hamptons stories, such as families who rent summer homes by e-mail—and move into a nearby house by mistake. About once a summer, Lenz says, she gets a panicked call from crazed owners who open their doors only to discover that some strange family has taken root, like alien pods.

"Only in the Hamptons do people leave multimillion dollar homes unlocked," Lenz explains. As for client demands, she says: "Many of the requests they make don't relate to buying at all. You would think it would. That's why we try to bend over backwards, but someone inclined to buy will buy either way."

Each year, the value of Hamptons property keeps breaking staggeringly high records. This year, the big deals, the best homes, are already gone, thanks in part to unbelievably high Wall Street bonuses—about $24 billion paid last year. "People are buying very big at unheard of before numbers. The only things I see left may have one or two issues," Lenz adds.

When Wall Streeter Ron Baron paid $103 million for 40 more acres to add to the adjacent 11 acres he bought for $23 million five years ago, the price didn't include an actual home, which he'll have to build from scratch while somehow maintaining his privacy. (The nearby beach there, Two Mile Hollow, is a popular gay-cruising area after sunset, which allegedly has already upset Baron.)