Damariscotta Construction Behind Schedule

    One day into Damariscotta's Main Street Construction Project aka The Little Dig, and the work is already behind schedule.  Those of you who are paying attention will recall that the project was all over the media last week including articles in The Lincoln County News, pieces on Channel 6 and even a mention here (see below). Officials from the State of Maine D.O.T. came to Damariscotta and met with members of the Main Street business community and assured us that they would do their utmost to minimize disruptions to our businesses.

   Well, they accomplished that.  There was next to no traffic downtown this morning as most people heeded the warnings and found other routes into or out of town. But what also kept the traffic down was that no work occurred!  Some flaggers in orange vests showed up and for a brief time one lone truck raised it's cherry picker and worked on the wires.  A few supervisory types showed up and stood around down by the bridge but other than that nothing happened. Not one shovel full of dirt was turned over.

   Was it too cold?  It was only in the high 40's today.  Was it the rain?  That didn't start until after 3 this afternoon. We have a bad habit in this state of waiting until the busiest time of year to do our road work.  There was hope that this project was going to be different but this is not a good beginning.  Let's hope that come June 30, the date that the crews were expected to pack up and leave, we won't hear that they have to work further into the summer because they got a late start.

Jim Cosgrove

Damariscotta Traffic Delays are Coming!

   Traffic delays are coming to Damariscotta and Newcastle in the form of The Little Dig, also known as the Main Street Construction Project.  While The Little Dig has so far not caused the disruption or cost over runs of the more famous Boston Big Dig it is sure to be a pain in the toochis.

   On Monday March 26th the traffic on the Damariscotta Newcastle Bridge will be delayed so that construction crews can bore a big hole in the bridge and create a new storm drain.  What this will mean for traffic is unclear but I for one will be taking a different route to the office. There will be updates in the Lincoln County News and I'm sure, more pithy commentary here at Maine Coast Properties blog so check back often to keep up with this project.

Tom Field

Damariscotta River Harmony

   Anyone with an interest in the Damariscotta River should be sure to check out a great article in the Portland Press Herald about the Voice of The River Conference being held at the Darling Marine Center in South Bristol.  The conference is sponsored by the Damariscotta River Association and is being attended by people and organizations from all along the Damariscotta River like Boothbay, Newcastle, Edgecomb and Bristol. 

   One of the people quoted in the article is old friend Glenn Mitchell who runs Midcoast Kayak and has a great perspective on who uses the river and the spirit of cooperation that travels like a current up and down the river.

   I have spent a fair amount of time on the water in New England and while most boaters are friendly and try to be helpful I have never experienced the level of kindness that I have on the Damariscotta River.  I recall one spring when I had just bought a new boat and temptation overcame good judgment.  I dropped it into the river and off I went for a quick ride without adequate and proper preparation.

   Well of course something did go wrong, an empty fuel tank, and I found myself in a small motorboat floating down the river as the tide was going out.  I was lucky that a local oyster boat was on its way in, saw me waving and didn't mistake my motions for over enthusiastic friendliness. Even though I didn't have an oar or a suitable line to be towed with he patiently helped me back to the dock without the lecture that I certainly deserved.  All he did say was " You might want to get yourself a few things for that boat before you go out again."  Words of wisdom, gently passed along.

   Since that time I have had a few opportunities to pay back the kindness to other people along the river who have needed a tow and I hope that each of them has had a chance to pass it along as well.

Tom Field

Bristol Maine Real Estate

One of the most popular locations in Midcoast Maine for prospective buyers is the township of Bristol.  Within this township you'll find Pemaquid Point, New Harbor, Pemaquid Harbor and Round Pond Harbor.  The history of property sales for Bristol speaks volumes about the popularity of this location.

                  Year                       "Sold" Residences             $ in Millions

                 1997                                   31                            $ 5.4

                 1998                                   50                             10.6

                1999                                   49                               9.6

                2000                                   42                               8.2

                 2001                                   44                             11.5

                2002                                   40                             10.4

                2003                                   44                             18.4

                2004                                   38                             15.8

                 2005                                   57                             21.5

                2006                                   30                             11.1

                                             Source:  MREIS Data Base

Bristol has approximately 3,500 units on its grand list (includes land and residences).  Historically, the number of units sold publicly has been below 2%.  More importantly, the average time to sell a residence in Bristol has been 9-months ---- until 2006!

Overall, Bristol residential sales for 2006 were down nearly 50% from the record level for 2005.  All price categories were affected.  However, those residences with listing prices over $400,000 were hit the hardest.  For example, in 2005 there were 16 sales with a listing price of $400,000 or over.  In 2006, only 7 were sold in this price range.

Interestingly, the number of units sold in 2006 (30) was one unit below the number sold in 1997 (31), yet the sales dollar value in 2006 was double that of 2005.  This underscores the increases in sales prices over the ten year period, particularly for waterfront residences.

As we enter the 2007 buying season, the inventory of residences currently for sale in Bristol is over 60 units.  Based on 2006 sales level, this represents what we call an inventory of 2-years sales.  For buyers, this means they will have many options to choose from and potentially some good bargains.  For sellers, this inventory requires discipline to avoid overpricing their property.

If anyone would like to know more about Bristol or other townships, please send us an email.  We've got enough real estate statistics to fill-up your email box!

Lee Simard

Bill Byrnes

Damariscotta River Sunset

   The sun may not be very warm this time of year but it can be bright.  This picture is looking west from the municipal parking lot in Damariscotta (behind the Mediterranean Cafe) across the river towards Newcastle and was taken just as we were leaving the office last night.

Why Do We Blog

    Let me state right in the beginning that I am totally against chain e-mails.  At last count I believe I had received 1,786,342 of them and never sent one on. I do not believe that Bill Gates will give me a free computer ever, I do not believe that a little girl will survive some horrible fate if I only spam my friends within the next 30 seconds and I do not think I need to forward anything to the people I love in order for them to know I love them.

   But now I have received or been mentioned in a sort of chain blog and while I am philosophically against this sort of thing I'm intrigued enough to play along. There's a game of tag going on in the blogosphere and Rich Brooks from Flyte New Media has tagged me.  The object is to give 5 reasons why one blogs and tag 5 other bloggers.  No mention was made of either a prize or a horrible fate so...what the heck, here goes!

1. We started blogging because we perceived that we needed a new way to reach our potential clients and customers.  The old method of using print media almost exclusively just wasn't working anymore.  There are more media outlets now competing for peoples attention and at the same time prices for traditional media advertising have gone sky high (haven't you ever wondered why newspapers and TV stations are so in favor of public funding for political campaigns?). Blogging has allowed us to reach those people who are interested in being reached directly.

2. We blog because not only do we reach people but we can now give them a chance to get to know us. Having a website to provide information about our Listings was the first step. The blog provides information about us. Not every professional is a good fit for every client whether we're talking about Doctors, Lawyers, Stock Brokers or Real Estate Brokers.  If people have a chance to get to know us a little through our blog and like what they see and decide to use us for their next real estate transaction then it is more likely things will go smoothly.  I hate to think that we might lose some business but if it wasn't going to be a good fit, we're probably all better off.

3. We blog to give folks a chance to get to know our area.  We're extremely lucky, we live in the greatest place in the world, the coast of Maine. OK, right now at the beginning of March, just after receiving about a foot of heavy wet snow it might not seem all that great to everybody but check back  a little later.  We want to share our lifestyle and area with everyone who's interested and we'll post plenty about that right here.

4. I think it's mandatory that I put in SEO which stands for Search Engine Optimization.  Supposedly if we blog about things people search for, the search engines will rank us higher and more people will find us.  Or something like that.  I'm not a computer guy so I pay people to tell me these things.  But I'm not really sure this one works.

5. And finally here's the real reason we blog; chicks dig it!  I'm serious. Women love guys who blog!  I see the twinkle in my wife's eye after a particularly good post. I assume it works the same for female bloggers, too.  Bloggers are going to be the new celebrities.  The day is coming when Brian Brady will be bigger news than Tom Brady.  Brian Brown and John L. Wake will be household names and Teresa Boardman will be mentioned more often than Paris Hilton and Hilary Clinton combined.  I'm pretty sure Sadie is already more famous than Lassie but if she isn't she soon will be.

   And now they can consider themselves tagged!

Jim Cosgrove

Maine Real Estate Market Report

    Last month we looked at real estate sales for Lincoln County, Maine and compared actual sales, as measured by the Maine Real Estate Information Service (our Statewide MLS), for the months of December and January in both 2006 and 2007.  Sales were off but while dollar volume was off by almost 25% we saw that actual sales were only off by 8%.  This was somewhat encouraging and many in our industry saw this as a sign that the "soft landing" that we had all been hoping for had occurred and things would soon be back to the way they were in '04 and '05.

   Now February is behind us and a quick look at the raw data for that month suggests that maybe our exuberance was irrational.  In Lincoln County for the month of February 2007 there were 22 closed sides with a total dollar volume of $7,378,000.  For the same month last year there were 42 closed sides with a dollar volume of $11,627,000.  Inventory continues to climb and average days on market has increased, too.

   Statistically speaking this is way too small of a sample to make the kinds of predictions that people much smarter than I make all of the time.  Was the increased activity at the end of the year the beginning of a better market or the "dead cat bounce"  of a market at the bottom?  My perception is that we are in a period of readjustment and that we will have up and down months for some time.  Todays market is not bad because of some economic calamity like a large employer leaving the area.  Our market is primarily driven by retirees and second home buyers.  While this time of year is traditionally slower than others I think the bigger problem is that our buyers have usually just sold a property.  Because of that they have adjusted to the new market realities, i.e. lower prices.  Our sellers are still adjusting.  Those properties that are priced realistically for todays market and not the 2005 market are selling.

   Quite simply the law of supply and demand is at work here and I'd refer you to Adam Smith for a more in depth analysis of how that works but suffice it to say, price rules.  If your property is not priced correctly, there is no place that we can advertise, no magic phrase we can use, no picture we can take that will make it sell.

   If you are thinking of selling your home and would like an objective and realistic idea of where you fit in todays market to help in your decision making please contact one of our professional brokers for a confidential analysis today.

Jim Cosgrove