Independent Building Inspections

   Editors note:  Today we begin what we hope will be a regular new feature; guest blogs!  From time to time, hopefully often we will offer our readers blog posts of interest and value from writers other than the brokers here at Newcastle Square Realty.  If you can write and feel you have something to say about Damariscotta-Newcastle, the Pemaquid Peninsula, Lincoln County real estate, blogging or even just general interest, let's talk.    Jim

    My name is Jon Angell and I'm the owner of Quality Inspections and a member of the Maine Coalition of Home Inspection Professionals and the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors.

   I remember well our first experience of buying a home!  Ann and I were newly married and living in the city.  We were planning on starting a family and we wanted a home in which our family would be safe and comfortable.

   We found a home out in the country that, today, would be called a "fixer upper". Ann, of course, was eagerly ready to purchase so she could start decorating and gardening. I however, was looking at the cost of home ownership in comparison to renting and trying to determine if this was the right move for us.

   Running through my mind were questions like; Was our estimate of the overall condition of the house correct?  Was there anything we were not seeing that would need repair?  Was the property safe for our new family?

   We looked at that property many times trying to be sure we were making the right decision. We also asked our parents to look at the house so they could offer us their comments.

   As it turned out, we did buy that house and it was one of the best investments we ever made. We were comfortable there and seven years later we sold at a very nice profit and moved up to a larger home.

   Today when the same questions I asked many years ago are asked there is professional help available to provide more surety that the decision to purchase a property is based on a solid estimate of that property's condition.  Your Realtor can provide you with the names of certified home inspection professionals who will work for you, the buyer in evaluating a property's condition.   In some cases it is becoming common for homeowners to have their property inspected prior to putting it on the market so that they can detect and correct problems before it negatively impacts on their sale.

Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have about the home inspection process.

Jon Angell, Owner/Inspector, Quality Inspections

Retirement in Your Future?

    We know that many of you reading this blog are doing so with the idea that someday you will retire to The Greatest Place in the World to Live so you just may find this interesting.  It's a Retirement IQ Test.  I was surprised to learn just how much I didn't know.  But with two teenagers, retirement isn't on my radar screen and besides I already live in The Greatest Place in the World!

Jim Cosgrove

Tee Time in Mid Coast Maine

    In most places where I've lived previous to moving here to the Pemaquid Peninsula the arrival of spring could be described in botanical terms.  Typically you would hear terms such as "my crocus and daffodils are up", "the forsythia are in bloom", "the lilacs smell so pretty".  Here on the coast of Maine the climate is such that we use different terms to announce the varying stages of spring.  The first two signs of spring are; the ice cream shops are open and the golf course is open! A few weeks after that we then relate to the blooming crocus, daffodils and lilacs.

   Today is April 27 and Wawenock Golf Club has officially opened for the season (Round Top Ice Cream opened two weeks ago)!  Considering the Patriots Day Monsoon we had last week the course is in good condition.  Paul Richmond, the new General Manager, and his staff have improved the course drainage in the off season and it shows.

   I arrived at the course early this morning looking for someone to play 9 holes with.  No such luck.  There wasn't a golfer to be seen.  I had the whole course to myself. Good thing!  After six months of not swinging a golf club it wasn't pretty.  Next stop for me has to be the practice range.  After I stop for an ice cream!

Lee Simard

For Real This Time

    Okay, I'm going out on a limb here, tempting fate, but this time I think Spring really has sprung!  It's a beautiful sunny day here on the Pemaquid peninsula and the forecast is beautiful as far ahead as they dare predict.  We have just survived the latest "storm of the century" which by my count is about the ninth one we've had so far and we're only 7 years into this century.

   Much of our area was without power for a few days, Main Street in Damariscotta had to be shut down and there are quite a few trees down that now need to be cut up and hauled off.  I know this isn't much of a selling point and this is supposed to be a real estate blog so let me tell you what is good about all of this.

   Despite all of the problems this past week and all of the stress folks were under I saw people reaching out to help their neighbors and perfect strangers.  I saw people dealing with all that was going on with good humor and I saw people stopping to thank Central Maine Power crews for their round the clock work. Folks were even polite to the politicians who made their inevitable stops here to get themselves on the news.  Mother nature sometimes likes to throw a challenge our way but I think we handled this  one pretty darn well.

   Now, let's get on with spring.  Does anyone know when the golf course opens?

Jim Cosgrove

April Showers

    First we had the Valentines Day Blizzard, then we had the St. Patrick's Day Storm and now we have the Patriots Day Nor'easter.  I can't wait to see what Memorial Day will bring.  For the uninitiated, Patriots Day is only celebrated in Maine and Massachusetts and commemorates the battles of Lexington and Concord that began the Revolutionary War.  Until 1821 Maine was a part of Massachusetts and although we severed all ties with them we're no fools, we kept the holiday!

   We're getting quite a rain and wind storm today but so far at least the damage has been minimal.  Main Street in Damariscotta is closed because there is a chimney on one of the taller buildings that has lost a few bricks and flying bricks at 50 mile an hour winds are what we refer to as a "safety issue".

    Redirecting traffic through the municipal parking lot brought some challenges of it's own like a high tide that just barely avoided flooding the entire lot.   And speaking of high tide, when did Schooner Landing become a floating restaurant?

Tom Field

The Sub Prime Mortgage Question

    A question that comes up often these days with both Sellers and Buyers is; how will the problems with the sub prime mortgage market affect me?  The answer is; probably not much.  First of all the sub prime mortgage market was never a very big factor here in the Midcoast area of Maine.  It may be in other parts of the country but not here.  Secondly this is a story that in my opinion has been blown out of proportion by the mainstream media.  If one news outlet, be it newspaper or television does a story, all of the other outlets feel obliged to immediately copy that story.  The news is virtually the same every night on all of the networks and most major newspapers have interchangeable front pages.

   Now I'm not saying there aren't problems and that some people might actually be losing their homes because they can't make their payments but it doesn't take a genius to know that buying property with little or no equity on top of a highly leveraged personal balance sheet is risky.  There 's a reason to be a sub prime mortgagor.  Sub prime mortgages start off with low teaser rates but these expire and higher, usually adjustable rates take their place.  With rates adjusting upwards the problem is naturally exacerbated. That this should come as a surprise to anyone is the only thing that is surprising about all of this.

   The facts of the matter are that 80% of all mortgages are prime mortgages.  Less than 20% are sub prime.  Of that 20% the failure rate right now is up to 13%.  So 87% of all sub prime mortgages are current.

   I suspect that what gives this story legs is that there are concentrations of failures in some urban areas and so those areas are affected to a greater degree than elsewhere. I'm sure loans were made that shouldn't have been made.  But a lot of people have used sub prime mortgages to achieve homeownership and it has worked for them.  In my opinion the entire mortgage brokerage industry could use some tightening up but show me one industry that doesn't have some incompetent and worse practitioners.

   Except as much as there is a general tightening of credit in a down market and the sub prime problem contributes to that I do not expect it to affect our real estate market here in the midcoast much, if at all.  I would think that for prime mortgage customers the credit market may be even better.

   We are fortunate to have several excellent banking professionals whose offices are located right here in the twin villages of Damariscotta and Newcastle.  Give us a call and we'll be glad to make a referral.

Jim Cosgrove 

Maine Real Estate Market Report

    Continuing with our series of monthly market reports for real estate in Lincoln County, here's a brief snapshot of what transpired in the month of March.  According to the Maine Real Estate Information Service (MREIS) which manages our Statewide Multiple Listing Service there were 66 single family residential sides closed in March with a total dollar volume of $21,709,744.  This compares quite favorably to March of 2006 when only 40 total sides closed with a dollar volume of $9,729,800.

   This compares even more favorably with our report for February, where you will recall both sales and dollar volume were off around 50% from '06 with a paltry 22 closed sides for the month in '07. January of this year and December of last were similarly gloomy with volume off in the 25% range.

   So what are we to make of this resurgence?   Before we get too excited we should look carefully at just where in the market these sales are taking place.  The highest priced sale for the month was a property on Damariscotta Lake brokered by Newcastle Square Realty that sold for $925,000 after 337 days on the market.  There were only 3 other sales over $500,000. for the entire month!  A home in Boothbay sold for $870,000 after 231 days on market, we brokered a sale in Sheepscot at $650,000 after 171 days on market and another property in Boothbay sold for $605,000 after an astounding 400 days on market.  Every other sale was under $500,000 with 10 homes selling under $200,000.

   The homes that are selling now are for the most part selling to people who already have some connection to the area and do not represent an influx of new residents.  It remains to be seen if the retiree's and second home buyers from out of state will be able to buy this year or if we will have to wait out the market downturn to our south. When they do come back they will find a market loaded with inventory and plenty of properties to choose from.

   I said last month that, "we are in a period of readjustment and we will have up and down months for some time". I still believe this to be true.  The job market locally is very good, our biggest employer, Bath Iron Works is actually calling laid off employees back to work.  Reasonably priced, average homes will sell and there will be some movement at the upper end. But gone are the days when brokers could tell someone the price they wanted to hear and still have a chance that the home would sell.  Several companies are learning that the hard way and unfortunately so are their clients.  Some of them don't even appear in the stats for March as they had no sales.  Before you list your home for sale be sure and ask the broker you're talking with to tell you exactly how their company is doing in this challenging environment.

   If you're ready to sell there's no secret and no magic formula.  Put your house in the best possible condition (email me for a free copy of our Market Preparation Guide), price it sensibly and hire the top company in town to market it for you.  Newcastle Square Realty brokers are standing by.

Jim Cosgrove

    

Newcastle Square Realty Welcomes a New Broker

    I am very pleased to welcome  Deborah Schling to our group of Associates here at Newcastle Square Realty.   Debby holds an Associate Broker license and has worked for the past several years at another Damariscotta area real estate agency.  She first came to our attention when she worked on a couple of co broke sales with several different brokers here at NSR.  It was apparent to everyone that came in contact with Debby that she is smart, energetic, incredibly efficient and pleasant to be around.

   So, when a desk opened up here I decided not only to try and get Debby to come over but to also see if I could get her to join my team.  Now maybe it was because we have the highest market share in our area, or maybe it was because I told her she could blog any time she liked or maybe it was because we are the only office in town with a cappuccino machine in our kitchen but whatever the reason she's here now and I'm not sure how we ever got along with out her!

   Debby is a graduate of Wheaton College (MA) and worked in a law firm handling real estate transactions prior to managing the Human Resources Department of a major corporation with offices in Wellesley MA.  In addition to getting to know our Listings, listing new properties, showing property and following up on multiple contracts in various stages of development Debby has managed to totally reorganize a most chaotic set of files (I always knew where everything was, it just wasn't a system anyone else could understand).

   Debby lives in Damariscotta where she and her husband Wally have raised two fine daughters; Becky a graduate of Skidmore College and Abby a freshman at Ithaca College. In her spare time ( I told you, she's incredibly efficient, who knew there was "spare" time) Debby plays tennis, umpires field hockey games and teaches a sewing workshop.

   Debby and I are working together to provide our clients with the highest possible level of service so you can call either one of us with any questions or to arrange a showing at your convenience.  But be aware, if you do call, you may get stuck with me.

Jim Cosgrove

Spring has Sprung, part ll

   Oh, man. When will I ever learn!  Why tempt fate by writing about the gorgeous spring weather in early April in Maine?   I think it was T. S. Elliot who said "April is the cruelest month" and I'm certainly not going to argue with him.  Mother Nature dumped about 10 inches of heavy white stuff on us last night.

   The old timers call this "poor mans fertilizer" because, supposedly, spring snow is loaded with nitrogen and this will make everything grow better.  All I know for sure is that it is heavy, very heavy.  I'm not going home until Mother and the kids have it all cleaned up. So please, call, I'd love to talk real estate with you!

Jim Cosgrove 

Spring has Sprung on the Coast of Maine

    We've been a little lax lately about posting to this blog and I sincerely apologize to all of our readers, faithful and otherwise.  You see, in addition to showing a whole lot of property to potential buyers who are (finally) coming out of winter hibernation we've also been trying to spend some time outside of the office.  Up until today the weather has been absolutely as perfect as it can be for late March and early April. 

   Now this is Maine we're talking about, not Miami or Tuscon, so it's all relevant.  There is still some snow left but it's back in the woods where the sun can't get at it. Our lawns are all a  nice shade of muddy brown and speaking of mud, that's what our roads are, at least the ones that aren't paved.  Still when that sun gets high in the sky and the thermometer hovers near 50 degrees it sure does feel nice out.  Everyone smiles a whole lot more and it's easier to stop and chat on the street than say in January when the wind feels like it's going to slice right through you if you don't keep moving. I saw boys throwing baseballs in a field the other day and it won't be long until the golf courses open up.

   So if you've been south for the winter, it's time to start planning for your trip north.  There might be one or two more snow storms left but don't worry they'll melt off fast. If you've been planning on coming to the Damariscotta - Pemaquid area to look for real estate this would be a good time to do it.  but if you call, let it ring.  We might be outside and it could take us awhile to get in to answer it.

 

Jim Cosgrove