Rhode Island 50% Rule: RIGL 23-27.3-106 Explained

Posted by Tim Bray on July 31st, 2026

Rhode Island · Renovation Limits

Rhode Island’s 50% Rule Applies to Every Building in the State

Not just homes on the water. It’s written into state law, it runs on a fixed twelve-month clock, and it has three tiers — not one line.

Seaport Advisory  ·  Southern Rhode Island & Southeastern Connecticut

Most people first hear about the 50% rule in a flood context — renovate a house past a certain point and the whole structure has to be brought up to current flood standards. That version is real, and it comes from the federal flood insurance program.

Rhode Island has its own, and it is broader. It sits in the state building code rather than in a local flood ordinance, which means it reaches a farmhouse in Hopkinton the same…

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Connecticut 50% Rule: Substantial Improvement Explained

Posted by Tim Bray on July 31st, 2026

Connecticut · Flood Zone Renovations

The 50% Rule Isn’t One Rule. That’s Why So Many Renovations Go Sideways.

Three separate rules share the same number. Almost nobody separates them — and in Connecticut, the one that decides your project is written by your town, not the state.

Seaport Advisory  ·  Southeastern Connecticut & Southern Rhode Island

A few days ago a group of us got into it over the 50% rule — the one that says you can only renovate a house in a flood zone so far before the whole building has to come up to current code. Everyone in the room knew the rule. Everyone in the room had a different version of it.

That’s not a knowledge problem. It’s that three separate rules share the same number, and almost nobody…

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Relocation Guide to Southeast Connecticut

Posted by Gino Penasa on July 30th, 2026

Which Towns Near Electric Boat and the Submarine Base Are Good to Buy In? A Local's Guide

By Gino Penasa, Seaport Real Estate Services

If you're relocating to Southeastern Connecticut for a job at Electric Boat or Naval Submarine Base New London, you've probably already discovered that the internet's answer to "where should I live?" is a list of five town names and the word "depends." That's not a guide. That's a shrug.

I live in Waterford, right in the middle of this corridor, and I work this market every day, so I thought I'd weigh in with an actual answer — one with real drive times, real price ranges, and the honest trade-offs of each town. This is the guide I'd give a friend transferring in.

First, what's your reporting location?

…

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How to Establish a Fair Market Value of Your Home During Divorce

Posted by Jodi Serapilia on July 14th, 2026

How to Establish a Fair Market Value of Your Home During Divorce | Seaport Real Estate Services

Navigating Divorce & the Marital Home — Part 2

How to Establish a Fair Market Value of Your Home During Divorce

By the Seaport Real Estate Services Team | Mystic, CT

This article is educational and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Always work alongside a qualified family law attorney, CPA, and financial advisor for guidance specific to your situation.

Introduction

Welcome back to Navigating Divorce & the Marital Home. In Part 1, we explored the four primary paths forward for the marital home — selling, buying out, co-owning, or deferring a sale. Every one of those paths shares a critical foundation: an…

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Town Meeting Minute Issue #12: The Rules Are Starting to Move in Southeastern Connecticut

Posted by Tim Bray on July 12th, 2026

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Town Meeting Minute • Issue #12

The Rules Are Starting to Move

Over the past two weeks, Southeastern Connecticut towns have moved from planning language into real regulatory consequences: Groton approved a major open-space development framework, Waterford rejected a large housing rezoning request, Stonington advanced its POCD review, East Lyme continued housing-growth implementation, Norwich processed incremental infill, and Ledyard studied whether its land-use governance structure needs to change.

Real estate value is often shaped before a property ever hits the market. It changes when a text amendment passes, when a rezoning fails, when a subdivision hearing is scheduled, when a POCD moves to public review, or when a town…

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Community Calendar: July 13 – July 26 Events Across New London County, Middlesex County, South County RI & Newport County

Posted by Tim Bray on July 12th, 2026

Seaport Real Estate Services | Community Calendar

Community Calendar: July 13 – July 26, 2026

A coastal guide to events across New London County, Middlesex County, South County Rhode Island, and Newport County — including concerts, festivals, theater, beach events, farmers markets, art, family programming, food, and summer traditions.

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A Wider Coastal Calendar for Mid-July

Welcome to the next Seaport Real Estate Services Community Calendar, covering Monday, July 13 through Sunday, July 26, 2026.

This issue expands beyond New London County and South County Rhode Island to include Middlesex County, Connecticut and Newport County, Rhode Island. The result is a broader coastal guide for readers looking for summer…

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The Working Waterfront Series #2

Posted by Gino Penasa on July 9th, 2026

Working Waterfront Report — Market & Investment Insights

What Makes Marinas Strong Commercial Investments in 2026?

Tight boat spacing maximizes revenue potential.

Waterfront real estate has always carried a certain mystique. But beyond the scenic appeal, marinas represent a distinct and often underestimated category of commercial investment, backed by real data behind its durability.

If you’re a commercial real estate investor, developer, or marina operator trying to understand why capital continues to flow toward working waterfronts, here’s what the numbers and the fundamentals actually show.

A Supply-Constrained Asset Class

One of the most compelling characteristics of marina properties is simple: you can’t build more coastline.

…

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Rhode Island’s “Taylor Swift Tax”: What Coastal Homeowners Need to Know

Posted by Tim Bray on July 8th, 2026

Rhode Island Property Tax · 2026

It’s nicknamed for a pop star’s Watch Hill mansion, but Rhode Island’s new second-home tax reaches far beyond the ultra-wealthy — all the way to century-old family cottages on the shoreline. If you own, or are buying, a coastal property in Rhode Island, here’s what you need to understand.

What is the “Taylor Swift Tax”?

Officially, it’s Rhode Island’s Non-Owner Occupied Property Tax (R.I. General Law § 44-72). It picked up the nickname because Taylor Swift owns a roughly $28-million oceanfront estate in Westerly’s Watch Hill — but the law itself has nothing to do with celebrities. It’s a new state-level surcharge, separate from and on top of the property tax you already pay your city or town.

The…

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2026 Rhode Island Property Tax & Mill Rate Report

Posted by Tim Bray on July 8th, 2026

2026 Property Tax Report · Rhode Island

The list price tells you what a home costs to buy. It says nothing about what it costs to own — and in Rhode Island, that second number swings hard from one town to the next. The same home can cost three times as much to hold depending on which side of a town line it sits on.

$4.79 Lowest rate
(Little Compton) $21.52 Highest rate
(Foster) $12.70 Statewide
median 39 Cities & towns
in this report

The number most buyers never check

Everyone shopping for a home watches the price. Far fewer ask the question that actually sets the monthly payment: what’s the property tax? In Rhode Island, that answer comes from your town’s tax rate —…

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2026 Connecticut Property Tax & Mill Rate Report

Posted by Tim Bray on July 5th, 2026

2026 Property Tax Report · Connecticut

The list price tells you what a home costs to buy. It says nothing about what it costs to own — and in 2026, that second number is where Connecticut buyers get surprised. The same home, one town line apart, can carry a tax bill that differs by well over a thousand dollars a month.

10.85 Lowest rate
(Washington) 68.95 Highest rate
(Hartford) 28.39 Statewide
median 169 Towns in
this report

The number most buyers never check

Everyone shopping for a home watches the price. Far fewer ask the question that actually sets the monthly payment: what’s the property tax? In Connecticut, the answer comes from the town’s mill rate — the dollars…

3418 Views, 0 Comments