Vacation in Maine

News from Newcastle Square Vacation Rentals for February 2009

   We may still be digging out from our most recent snow storm, but vacation planning season is well underway in the Rental Office. This might possibly be the best way to chase away the winter blues - dreaming about a tranquil waterfront on Damariscotta Lake, remembering the call of the loons on Pemaquid Lake, or recalling the sounds of the surf at Pemaquid Point.

   If you're still dreaming about a vacation it's time to investigate the reality - Maine is an amazingly affordable vacation destination!  Our cottages are fully equipped, many offer great swimming waterfronts, some have kayaks or canoes (or guests can rent locally), and all locations are within an easy drive of the best that mid coast Maine has to offer.  Visit our website and click on the Rental News tab - listing 30 Things to do in 30 Miles!

 We're happy to announce that our rental offerings have expanded with the addition of 2 great properties from our affiliate, Newcastle Square Realty Associates.  Both cottages are currently on the market and the brokers at Newcastle Square would be happy to provide any purchase details.  Why come up and spend a week for a test drive?

     This cozy Damariscotta Lakefront cottage offers 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, screened porch, dock and float all in a terrific location.  It's only been on our website for a couple weeks but it is already generating quite a bit of interest.  See for yourself, on both the rental website, it's our Listing #106, or for those interested in purchasing, on the real estate web site.

   On the salt water side of our listings, we've just added another wonderful 2 bedroom, 1 bath cottage - not far from Pemaquid Point and the village of New Harbor.  Guests will enjoy the sandy/rocky tidal waterfront with wide open ocean views, and a large deck overlooking the lawn and the water.

View this property also on the rental website, Listing #117, or on the real estate site.

  So, stop dreaming and take advantage of two great opportunities to test out a summer home in Maine.  Call or email us to plan your vacation stay for this summer. And if these two choices don't meet your needs we have many more properties available.

  The snow will melt, the temperatures will warm up and you will want to be here.  Make that call today!

 

Anita Palsgrove is the Manager of Newcastle Square Vacation Rentals.

Winter in Maine

For all of you who have only ever seen the Twin Villages in summer...

 

...no black flies, no traffic and sometimes no power but, it sure is pretty! 

New Listing in Round Pond, Maine

     Tracy and I were in Round Pond a few days ago to work up a new listing.  It was a sunny day so we didn't pay much attention to the snow piled on the sides of the road.  It's only a short drive from Damariscotta.  We went through Bristol Mills, took the Lower Round Pond Road to Route 32, then a mile north to the village. I was singing "over the hills and through the woods," inspired by snow covered fields.

   Round Pond is a picturesque Village within the Town of Bristol.  It has its own Post Office, a couple of lobster places, a restaurant, a market and the best candy store anywhere.  Church steeples dot the landscape.  During the summer fishing boats and pleasure boats are moored in the harbor and you can watch lobstermen unloading their catches at the docks.  Several artists call the place "Home."

   The village gets its name from the shape of the cove it surrounds, as you can see if you follow this link and look at the map.  That page will give you the nitty-gritty statistics about Round Pond, but not the real flavor of the place.  Here are some thoughts from a former resident: A Special Place.

   Round Pond village is the scene of one of the wackiest and most popular, Fourth of July parades anywhere.  It attracts many hundreds of visitors from near and far, especially after being written up in The New York Times, which described the parade as "quintessential Americana turned on its head, a cross between a charming, Rockwellian parade, a roast and a political protest. Its claim to fame is that everyone- from the tourists who invade this village of 550 residents each summer looking for lobster to the current powers that be, regardless of party - gets made fun of."

   Even bigger than the NY Times piece was a blog post Tracy did right here on last summers parade!

   Getting back to the reason for our trip to Round Pond, pictured below is our new Listing, right in the heart of the village.  Visit our Newcastle Square Realty website for more information or see the home on Realtor.com.  You could have your own front row seat for this years parade.

 

   The village is the perfect place to spend your summers, close to many activities along the Coast of Maine.  It's an even better place to call home, your own home in Maine.

Bill Babcock 

Saturday "Solds"

   Another in an intermittent series showing properties that have sold lately here in the mid coast region of Maine.

 

   Located on Head Tide Hill Road in Alna, Maine this home was bank owned and listed at $105,000.  It sold after 12 days on the market for $118,900.

   

   Located on Eastern Avenue in Boothbay Harbor, Maine this home was also bank owned and "needed work".  It was listed for $99,000 and sold for $90,000 after 217 days on the market.

 

   Sitting up on a hill on the Bristol Road in New Harbor on the road to Pemaquid Point this home was listed for $134,900 and some lucky buyer got it for only $90,000. after 282 days on the market. Not bank owned.

 

   Beautifully sited on the Damariscotta River in Edgecomb this home sold for $822,700 and was originally listed for $949,000.  On the market 254 days.

   That's just a small sample of some of the sales made in Lincoln County in the past few weeks.  Winter is usually a very slow time for us around here and of course it's even slower this year.  But sales are being made and some buyers are getting homes at prices others will marvel at years from now. 

   The pace of inquiries and requests for showings has picked up and while we do not anticipate another year like 2005 neither do we anticipate another year like 2008.

Jim Cosgrove

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words. Even a Bad One.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Bad pictures do not help sell your home. In fact they hurt your chance that someone will find your home appealing enough to take that great big step of calling a real estate agent to get more information about the property or that even bigger step of making an appointment to see your home. Take this picture for example.

I am not sure what the picture is supposed to show but I can tell you that it is a wasted shot. The Multiple Listing Service allow a listing broker 8 pictures in their submission. Other brokers use the MLS to see those pictures and learn details about the property. If they see a listing that one of their clients will like they email the information, along with the pictures, to that client. The information that is used in the MLS is also sent to Realtor.com where it is accessible to anyone with an internet connection so then even more potential buyers have an opportunity to see homes that might interest them. Newcastle Square Realty even pays for an upgraded presence on Realtor.com so that we can showcase our seller’s homes by including more pictures, a huge amount of text and options like virtual tours and video. All of which leads me to the question “What was this broker thinking?”

Before you list your home take a little time and research how the agency you may decide to work with advertises other people’s homes. Look at the agency’s web site, look on Realtor.com and see how their other listings are shown. Then ask yourself  “if I was buying a home whose listings would look the most appealing”. Your home is most likely the largest asset you have, so spend a little time researching who you want to sell it for you.

 
Tom “Call me Ansel Adams” Field