Happens to the Best of Us

   Foreclosures happen.  More than usual lately even here in semi rural Maine where it has been no where near as bad as say Las Vegas or Phoenix. And I know it is a very traumatic thing for anyone to go through and I do not mean to  make light of it.  But we often hear the pundit class expound that this only happens to people who didn't understand finance, as if they imply these people were dumb or just not as sophisticated as... well... the pundit who happens to be pontificating.

   Well that's just not true.  In these difficult economic times it happens to the best of us.  Just today the news carries word that Broadway Partners of New York, certainly a group that knows a little of finance and real estate had one of their major property holdings sold at foreclosure auction.  The venerable John Hancock Tower in Bostons Back Bay sold for a mere $660m.  They had bought the property in 2006 at the height of the market for $1.3 billion.  And at that price you can bet they had the very best accountants and lawyers and bankers advising them.

   So you see it happens to the best of us. 

 

Jim Cosgrove

The Sap is Running

 

   Spring arrived on the calendar this week and Mainers came outdoors in droves for Maine Maple Sunday yesterday.  My husband Wally and I  headed down the peninsula in the morning towards Rice Farms on Split Rock Road in South Bristol.  There, Adam Rice was holding court in the Sugar House, multi tasking between bottling, explaining and selling. We bought a quart of the warm liquid gold, hot off the presses and walked about keeping our hands warm like it was a hot water bottle.

   Ricki Waltz from Two Sons Alpaca Farm in Damariscotta was there with two of her babies, Flo and Nemo, both less than a year old, along with samples of alpaca fleece.  Some wicked cute!

   There were several antique machines run by steam engines chugging along...a log splitter and ice cream machine.  Inside a barn chefs were flipping blueberry pancakes and smothering them with samples of syrup.  Families and friends patiently waited for Haflinger horse drawn wagon rides.  Even the mud puddles were a thrill for some.  What fun to see folks we hadn't seen for several months out and about on a sunny Spring day having a good old fashioned time.  The way life should be. 

 

Debby Schling  

Signs of Spring on the Maine Coast

 

   It's interesting to observe how our thoughts and emotions are influenced by visible stimuli.  Take for example the onset of the spring season. In the mid Atlantic states many people are eager for the Cherry Blossoms to signal the official arrival of spring.  In San Juan Capistrano, California, the swallows miraculously return every March 19 to mark the arrival of spring.

   In mid coast Maine, some of us await the "arrival of the jack barge" (also known as the dock rig) as our sign that spring has arrived. We spotted our first rig yesterday, here at the town landing on the Damariscotta River.  To the average person it may not be an attractive site. However, for boat and dock owners it probably has the same effect that a Burpee's Seed catalog provides to a gardener.

   For those who have never seen a jack barge before, yesterdays low tide provided a "photo op". The rig has 3 jacks with pads that are lowered when the contractor is constructing docks or working on moorings.  Most rigs are fitted with a crane for maneuvering the heavy timber and dock material.

   If you had any doubts about the size of our tides, this photo shows you how much water is drained from Damariscotta Harbor at low tide!

Lee Simard

    

Important Financial Thoughts

     Here at Newcastle Square Realty World Headquarters we do a lot of deep thinking.  Most of that lately has been about the current financial crisis and if the Obama Administration is serious about solving this they will call us soon. But this morning we are weighing an even heavier matter.

   We are focused on the strange and disturbing case of the great swindler, Bernie Madoff.  Not just how he swindled thousands of supposedly intelligent people out of billions of dollars.  Not how he let down the very people who trusted him most or important charitable institutions.  No we are focused on perhaps the single most curious fact among all the information that came out in court this week when Bernie pled guilty and was remanded to jail to await sentencing. 

   Specifically we want to know how the heck could he have a $370 cable tv bill?  This is no joke. As part of the investigation police have detailed all of Bernie and the Missus expenses and the records show that they paid $370 per month for cable. Now either this guy is no where near as smart as they have made him out to be or he watches a heck of a lot of pay per view movies.  Here in Maine you can get the Gold package for $149 month.  No one I know has the Gold package but I hear it has so many channels you couldn't watch one show on all of them in a month if you tried. Not to mention music, sports and movies galore.  Pay per view movies are at the most $3.99 a piece so even if he watched one a day that's only another $120.  And nobody watches a movie a day, do they? Not and have time to swindle billions of dollars.  I mean all that swindling had to take at least some nominal effort.

   I hope Bernie wasn't dumb enough to pay the extra fee for every TV in the penthouse.  I mean any electricians helper can wire you up so that you're splitting the signal from one TV.  This guy was maybe the biggest crook of all time in terms of money stolen so I doubt he had any moral roadblocks about stealing cable signals to worry him.

   So if anyone can shed any light on how in the world Bernie Madoff spent $370 a month on cable please enlighten us.  Maybe we've misjudged the poor guy, maybe he was just really bad at handling money?  I mean anyone that pays that kind of dough for cable can't be that smart, can they?

Jim Cosgrove

Winter's Retreat

 

   Slowly, almost imperceptibly winter is leaving the Damariscotta River watershed.  The sun is higher in the sky and the days are getting longer. The snow piles are going down and some days the roads are getting muddy as opposed to icy.  Seems like an apt metaphor for the way this recession will leave. It feels like a long time coming but it will happen.

   Will you be wishing you had bought your Maine home when prices were at the bottom?

Damariscotta River picture by Debby Schling

End of an Era in Damariscotta

 

   Big Dave's is closed.  A victim of a changing economy and a new reality in the convenience store industry, Big Dave has left the building.

   At one time if you wanted to know anything that was going on in town, if you wanted to run into anyone or you just wanted to see a friendly face or hear a joke, you stopped into Big Dave's convenience store.  Big Dave sold homemade donuts in the morning, the best cheeseburger in town for lunch and pizza anytime . You could fill up the gas tank, get your lottery tickets, buy beer and return the empties.

   20 years ago or so I first ran into Big Dave when he was just starting out.  He bought a rundown old store in Nobleboro and turned it into a thriving place that was and still is the center of that town.  When the chance came to pick up the old Hilltop store he jumped at it and made that THE place in town for a quick stop.   When I first got into selling real estate I think I made more deals standing around his coffee pot than I did in my office.

   But times change.  The chain coffee shop came into town.  Gas prices went through the roof and all of a sudden a few cents less at the oil company convenience stores was real important to people. There are a lot more places to get lunch in town now than there were years ago.  Dave worked really hard for a long time, that business isn't the kind you leave at the end of an 8 hour shift, particularly if you live right next to the store and he started to look a little tired.

    This past fall and winter as they did for so many people, things got tough, folks just had less money to spend.  I know Dave tried to hang on but at some point it just isn't worth it and you know you have to move on.  So Big Dave's Convenience Store is gone. It's a great spot and sooner or later something new will go in there.  Dave's a smart guy, he'll land on his feet.  Life will go on, it always does.

   But a little part of Damariscotta has died and it will be missed. Goodbye Big Dave's.

Jim Cosgrove