First time buying a home in Maine?

Or too many moons ago since you bought your last house? Buying a home is a pretty big decision. It's not something most of us do very many times in life. How to help make the real estate experience exciting and successfu? Rather than a horror show of unnecessary high emotions and total frustration.

This helpful blog post will avoid sleepiness nights and lower anxiety levels for first time home buyers.

The mission in every single house listing is a short, smooth flight without turbulence. So the real estate sale transfer is suppose to be "home sweet home" successful.

Never forget owning is better than renting too. (Over and over it should be fade to black after long shot of a happy ending buyers holding a baby. A SOLD sign rider screwed on the top of the silent salesman out in the front yard.)

Seller moves out the back door. Rides into the sunset while the sweating home buyer is gruntiung and straining. Making trips back and forth through the front door. Unloading the van quickly hustling from the other direction. Carrying lots of heavy boxes ;abeled marked with a laundry marker of what goes where. The new home owner needs to scramble to get the truck emptied, their deposit back and to stop further rental charges.   

What helps or hurts the home sale for a first time buyer?

The purpose of this real estate blog post is to share some important do's and don'ts to make buying your first home as trouble free as possible. To spell our what it feels like being a brand new house buyer. And how if you are in the dark on the process, you don't understand your role in the house buying time line.

This blog post hopes to set the expectations of what's ahead to prepare for getting your own set of house keys. To pull you up and out of the nasty rent rut.

Community pages , real estate listings, they do go together like peas and carrots.

Yes Jennie, you need both if the audience of buyers includes local AND brand new to the area outside real estate buyers. Locals like being in the know of new events, the buzz of anything happening around them. And out of state Maine real estate buyers are alway hungry, starving for local information.

To help them feel safe and secure and not left out in the dark with anxiety. About the relocation to Maine decision making and the thorough study of just exactly where is the best local community to land. 

So besides the fully stocked shelves of Maine real estate listings of all types, locations, size and price, our website contains community pages.

Many of the local communities around Houlton Maine are low population and very small bedroom towns, platations and unorganized townships.

But they all have unique characteristics to appeal to the appetite of the Maine real estate buyer. 

For example, if you love the water, the Weston Maine community page would be an attractive portal to visit. To learn about the local area and then dive into the search filtering of what is for sale in Weston Maine. 

If the real estate buyer wants to homestead, his farm and wooded land might be smart to be around other agricultural neighbors.

The Littleton Maine community page is a valuable resource. What is on the the market, what's for sale in Littleton Maine all sliced and diced would just make the hide and seek for listings that much easier. Saving time, frustration and getting the best deal for your hard earned dollar is what Maine frual living is all about right?

Marijuana law, what does the latest legislation surrounding pot do to affect the Maine real estate listing, selling process?

Since the state legalized marijuana at the polls, lots of balls to juggle went sky high up into the air. A few have dropped but many remain still hanging in mid air waiting. For clarification on how does Maine and its muncipalities actually move forward with legalized marijuana.

Back in 1999 Maine started allowing  medical marijuana prescribing and limited possession of personal grass.

But much more to tackle and do's and don'ts on just how to administer such a marijuana program was needed.

To shape the policy for growing, licensing, testing, packaging, marketing, distributing and policing pot. For both sides of the coin. The medical care taker kind and the recreational adult marijuana regulations variety of eat or smoke. The statewide approach and then from a home town perspective to be hammered out and applied.

Over the years, in our day to day as a Maine real estate broker, what used to be hush hush and behind the scenes has suddenly become out in the wide open.

For so long, "Reefer Madness" and the evils of the saw tooth edge leaf plant caused much debate but its actual use was hidden. In high school I remember seeing a class mate wearing an orange jump suit, playing Frisbee with inmates. He was held behind bars at the local Aroostook county jail for possession of quantity of marijuana.

Welcome to the round up, the Maine real estate market report on how single family homes are selling.

This blog post is a snap shot of listing, selling activity in Maine. But remember, the state of Maine is one tall, wide area to sum up in one cut and dry current real estate market report. In the beginning of the blog post on the real estate market, the inventory will be discussed and then the listing prices, the actual sale dollar amount figures.

There is a sharp contrast when putting a small rural northern, western, eastern section of sparse, rural small town market area under the microscope snap shot lens.

So so different than the market activity in the Portland, Lewiston, Biddeford, etc areas where more population, larger pay checks shake things up. How not the same percolation in each real estate market segment. Each region behaves uniquely today.

When talking single family home sales in southern Maine's handful of cities and their metro ring of listing sales activity. There is a sharp contrast when put along side the small community rural statistics found  further inland. As you spread out and push north away from the coast and inland.

The numbers, the stats for a current Maine real estate market summary move the recording needle wildly.

But through out the state, you will find today 10,446 residential listings currently on the market. When you peel off the under contract, continue to show segment of the housing inventory, the weigh in number today is 9390 residential listings. The list today September 14, 2019 shows 4351 of these statewide listings feature three bedrooms.

The home buyers we deal with factor in their animals, all of their pets in most Maine real estate purchases.

Studies show over eighty percent of home buyers consider their furry friends in any house selection. Fully ninety five percent in one Harris poll survey show the home owner considers their pet as part of the family. Spot is not a dog, he is a little person in a fur coat right? Your grandmother does spoil the little feisty ankle biter. Your sister's cat is treated like a child as having one is put off until heavy college debt is reduced.

So like the need for a granny flat, a mother in law apartment, a man cave, the household pets weigh in as highly important in the property buying.

Close to eighty percent of recent home buyers survey said they would pass on a house not meeting the needs of their pets.

The majority of our pet heavy house buying decisions involve big yards and lots of land for a pleasure horse. The search for real estate centers around lots of pasture acreage for livestock. A big dog like a St Bernard or many pets sharing the same household space makes it mandatory to find a home with space inside and out for Rover.

If you were a home owner with cats looking for a Maine property, what would be the features Puff would want? Southern exposure for those cat naps could make Puff purr loudly. Built in cat doors to come and go without relying on the owner to open or shut the exterior door would be an added plus.

Buying a cheap repo home in Maine to fix and flip.

What about the resale? What needs to be considered and never forgotten? Like every other real estate market on the globe, no two behave carbon copy. No matter where you look, there are local customs of what features bring more or less in the resale of any home. In any property market, there are areas worth improving and others to leave alone when flipping a home.

This blog post focuses on what to do, what to avoid for repairs or updates when buying a cheap repo home in Maine to fix and flip.

The sluggish Maine economy in sparsely populated rural areas means "easy does it" on pouring money into the Handy Man Special property. What you do in the Fix This Old Home house resale bracket on a twenty, thirty and forty thousand dollar four walls, roof, floor.

The right approach to tackling the property is so different than the treatment a high end residential market listing would demand.

No granite counter tops please. Nope. Not quartz either. Price it to sell, keep it red hot affordable with the best pricing below the rest of the pack.

Never put in an inground pool expecting it to increase the value of your low cost Maine home you want to resell quickly. Too many lakes nearby and unless you plan to play hockey on that rink size outdoor pool, the diving board and deep end only get so many months of use.

In the low end single family residential house sale corner of the market, the most important element is your price. What does the sticker on window or tag hanging off the newly improved house for sale read? You hope to roll up your sleeves, fill up the dumpster, paint inside and out, landscape, repair broken glass or leaks in the plumbing or roof. Then push the place back out onto the open real estate market to not linger or eat up more resources waiting for a buyer.

Your house color, does it really impact how high or how low the final real estate sale price is?

Does the wrong color for your home for sale hurt the days on market figure? All of us have different favorite colors right? But the same shade ofthe color pigment is not applied to everything we purchase in life. First impressions, a neat clean house of any color speeds up the sale process.

You may look great in black. It's slimming right? Or your skin color gets you lots of compliments when you wear pink or yellow or purple.

Red cars used to cost more for insurance. The color picked indicate how heavy your right foot was driving it.

Blue colored websites perform better than orange and black color schemes. Trick or treat.

But what about your house color?

Do certain colors on the exterior really help or hurt the home owner trying to get the highest price possible for a house? Does picking the right color speed up the home selling process?

What is everyone else doing in the local and national real estate market? Polling the paint stores and vinyl siding companies could tell the tale today. On what's hot and what's not. So much of what we buy or don't purchase is influenced by marketing. The kind you are aware of and the bigger section that a person does not even realize is influencing their buying decision making.

So does the color of your home really matter in the eenie meenie miney moe selection process on the open market?

Applying the wrong shade of paint or square of vinyl siding on a home. Does an unpopular color make a property stay on the market for a longer time in the search for a buyer?

The impact of say the color of just your front door. It not that easy to study real estate sale comps in a small rural market. To know without a doubt  and put your finger on how a house with a red front door would have sold quicker and for more money. How many other homes with the same color schemeavailable today could affect which one buyers flock to as well.

Maine home building inspections, how they are used beyond determining the condition of the property.

And what happened to 'as is' where is" condition real estate home sales? Where it is what you see, is what you get.

Some history is needed to explain what is happening. In the beginning of Maine real estate home sales, it was buyer beware. Check out whatever you are considering buying with your hard earned money. Make sure the home you are mortgaging for twenty, thirty years does not have any surprises you are not aware of before you purchase.

Now in Maine it is the age of full property disclosure. So if the home has had a fire, been in a flood, or has water well or septic problems you find our before buying. Either from the owner, by hiring tradesmen to check it out or by tracking down a home inspector.

Maine home building inspections, what they are meant to do and how they evolved to harm a perfectly good real estate sale.

Like the used car you are thinking of buying, it is a good idea to put the vehicle up on the hoist to take a looksie underneath. In all the dark places on a vehicle where the sun does not shine. To study the good, the bad, the ugly on what you are thinking of buying.

The same under a microscope inspection on the real estate stress test treadmill can be a fruitful exercise. To know what you the new home property owner are getting in the exchange for the largest investment most ever make in their lifetime.

But here in Vacationland, home building inspections are a relatively new exercise. Back in the late 1980's when I got my Maine real estate broker's license to hang on the wall, building inspections had not been invented.

Currently there still is no licensing in place to be a home inspector in Maine. Licensing for appraising a Maine home just started during my four decades of practicing real estate and my Dad was among the first to obtain the legal authority to do home valuations.

But back to Maine home building inspections.

In a rural state like Maine, usually the home buyer was pretty well versed in the building trades. Survival in Maine is like that where money is always tight. Where some say we live like we are always ready for a recession and play it safe. It is easy does it on the spending and take better care of what a Mainers does purchase.

Farms for sale in Maine, properties with homes or just land to buy.

When the state you list and sell in is big, rural and offers low cost per acre land. Then an agent is going to be busy filling the property listing orders. When a Maine real estate broker performs the brokerage in lower populated areas where there is lots of land, not so many people. Then farms for sale in Maine becomes a big part of what's offered to buyers.

All sizes, types of agricultural farm land properties are listed for sale because every real estate buyer has a little different wish list.

The needs today for any real estate buyer are not all the same. Like McDonald's you better have a variety hot and ready to serve up to customers coming through the drive through round the clock.

New farm land property for sale in Maine listings are always in demand. Have any of those to blog about today? Sure do. Growing up on and owning a Maine farm personally helps in the sale process too. Who to call, what the lifestyle entails, where to get financing and many questions fielded daily on what's my unique local area of Maine like.

But farms for sale in Maine, how about this 160 acre listing on a US RT 2A in Linneus Maine? You get 160 acres without the old home, minus the buildings. Plus there are a variety of field and pastures, mixed woodlots to this Maine farm. Lots of road frontage too. The fields are level to rolling and could go organic. Big views, plenty of wildlife, total privacy. You supply the home when the time is right. You are not paying for buildings you may not need. More on the Maine farm land in Linneus.

The residential real estate market report for Maine in May, what is happening on the property listing buying and selling scene today?

Like the weather, it is not quite wait twenty minutes for conditions in the local and statewide real estate market to shift radically. Aroostook County is the top "crown of Maine"' and a smaller rural real estate market that does not just deal in residential listings. Being a little ways up Interstate 95 insulates our corner of the World.

Maine land sales are a big component in our local real estate market numbers. It is not just homes or houses that are bought and sold. Marketing time extends. But prices do not spike wildly up and down in small rural Maine real estate markets. The only exception can be waterfront... because there is never enough. Only so much made of the Maine waterfront real estate flavor.

Houlton Maine is the cross roads for US RT 1, 2, 2A. Aroostook's County seat and oldest town is where I-95 connects to the Trans Canadian highway to the Atlantic Maritimes.

Small rural markets off the beaten path behave differently than the hustle bustle fast paced ones more populated areas experience. And what is listed and sold is not just homes and houses. Large population areas are colder, more impersonal and not everyone makes eye contact. We hear that observation a lot from folks relocating to small town, home grown friendly Maine communities.

Micro brews in Maine, they number over one hundred craft makers of the barley pop suds.

The Thirsty Dawg in Houlton Maine is one outlet for over one thousand unique micro brew craft beers. Ever been there to do some sampling? Each one has a story and some interesting artwork to go along with what's hiding in the dark colored bottle or can.  Why the hoopla over the beer explosion of varieties? Because the days of limited numbers of beer producers are gone. And live and local is everything when sampling a new area on the Maine map. 

Why the increase in micro brews and how can they all monetize what's produced on such a small scale to stay in business?

Well, to answer the first part of the question. Dare to be different, seek out new anything avoids boredom for the adult refreshment guzzlers in the audience today.

Pop a top, twist the cap or look for an opener. What's on the grocery or convenience store shelves is no longer just what your dad or grandfather opened the door to reach in and pull out when it was Miller time. Or this Bud's for you. Maybe it's used to be an ice cold Schaeffer. The one beer to have when you are hoisting more than one as the advertising people burned into the beer drinker's memory banks. Nasty Gansett... did you like the riddles under the caps? Ready for another Black Label or Old Milwaukee?

The monetizing the micro brew platform part of the question brought up above now pondered.

It helps to have investors or a "ticket" to pay your regular bills. An income from other sources. While you get your brewery license, all the paraphernalia rounded up and connected. Overhead costs pile up and burdens any business. Which just adds to the rigor of staying alive and financially solvent. Let alone becoming competitive when you are out of the gate.Off and running to develop a following of week after week take me home beer drinkers. Or bar patrons to ask for their favorite lager to be put on tap to pour in 16 or 22 ounce glass wear or pitchers. 

All the marketing begins after the technical aspects of vendor supplies and production dynamics are fine tuned. Allagash Brewing Company touts one craft beer flavor called Sixteen Counties. From their website we quote what's so special about this particular brew offering. 

"This beer’s name honors the rich tradition of farming in the sixteen counties of Maine. Keeping with that sentiment, we brew the beer with grains exclusively grown and processed in Maine, including: Maine Malt House 2-row Malted Barley from Buck Farms, Blue Ox Malthouse 2-row Malted Barley, raw wheat from Maine Grains, and oats from Aurora Mills & Farm.

Sixteen Counties has an amber hue with notes of honey, tropical hops, citrus, and a hint of cereal grain. The beer’s malt-forward flavor is meant to showcase the next generation of quality farming in Maine."

Aurora Mills & Farm mentioned in the except is in my neck of the Maine woods. The William family farm's rolled oats, grains make them a Maine micro brew craft beer frenzy component player.

Located in Linneus, Maine the small family Aroostook County farm is making a name for itself. David York from Houlton Maine who now works at Allagash Brewing Company in the Portland area started his employment when there were thirty employees. His dad who I ran into recently shared that Allagash has now roughly 130 employees. So however they are carefully adjusting the dials, whatever they are doing is working as the numbers support.

More varieties, tied to the holiday and four seasons in Maine helps beer sales. More than chocolate and vanilla two choices in what you feel like for a beer, for anything these days of big selection. 

Besides grain, you need a hops crop to help fuel the Maine micro brew recipe. Hops grown in Maine take years to establish. What's grown are supported by baling twine attached to aircraft cable running between 16-foot-tall posts that create a trellis to support the hop plants.

Hop farming is labor intensive, long ranged and how to live until a successful crop is the biggest challenge facing new micro growers. Prior to Prohibition, Maine grew lots of hops. That farming was curtailed when the country went dry (on paper).

Which beer pleases the pallet and what to pick is a lot like wine selection.

What's the event in addition to what's being served up for food. Mexican food goes well with beer from the same country. Canadian beer is not too shabby eh? Grains, hops, yeast, water are the four main ingredients of beer. The color, flavor, aroma all contribute to the overall beer drinking experience that wins over or turns away a customer.

Do you like a hoppy pale India IPA or a Belgian style white wheat beer? To lubricate the party or to go with the slow cooked locally sourced meal? Maybe you just mowed a big lawn by hand. Mainers are famous for lawn mowing akin to weekly "haying". The thought of a tall cold glass beer bottle with sweat droplets sliding south on the outside. Adding a fresh sliced lime wedge forced down the tall neck can be the refreshing treat when you stop pushing or climb off the lawn mower.

An orange slice on the side of the New Moon glass of beer is another citrus addition some favor. Grapefruit added to your beer recipe or other fruit extracts are requested by others asking their waiter or waitress. The big question. "What do you have for local micro beer brews on tap for draft?"

For awhile there, it was just a ski area, a high end city restaurant that supported the in house micro brew. Heck now cruise ships even have their own onboard Red Frog and other tappers to pull and pour. To fill the growler and create a unique home grow beer drinking establishment.

The Maine micro brew to go with the meal or to sample during happy hour sitting on the bar stool.

Bartender, make it something local to wash down the appetizers of hot spiced wings, the salty pretzels. Or if you dare to sample the bowl of who knows who has had their hand in those mixed nuts. To slurp and nurse watching the highlights of the Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics or whatever game is beamed in on the flat screen.

The Thirsty Dawg is a located Northern maine craft beer outlet.

 Thirsty Dog owner Kent Good when asked how many beer brands he carries admits he surrendered after getting to 1000 bottles of beer on the wall.

Good says he makes a trip to meet the four Portland area beer distributors that don't service Aroostook County too. To meet them half way in Bangor to do the transfer. To load up the truck to back haul the bottles and cans of beer toretail display at the Houlton store outlet.

 Located at 9 Florence Avenue in Houlton ME, the Thirsty Dawg gets a lot of out of town traffic. The over the top beer selection and the off the beaten path location. Next to the bottle redemption sister business on the other side of the party wall both have a strong following. Peter pays Paul with returnable cash money.

Laws to make it legal, how to brew and sell beer, what about the licensing? Here's the make it legit link for anyone considering a Maine micro brew operation. To keep the ATF people happy in the alcohol, tobacco and firearms division of Uncle Sam's government hierachy. There are no speak easies, asking for the password to gain entry to beer halls or gin joints since Prohibition was repealed. 

This weekend is the 4th annual Black Fly Brewfest at the Millar Civic Center.

If you are not tied up with work or down time chores around your home. Between spring yard work, here is more about the Black Fly Brewfest. You might wanna go. If you are looking at an opportunity to meet a lot of micro brew craft beer makers under one roof, you might head up to the Millar Civic Center in Houlton Maine this Saturday to check it out.

Use the handy mileage calculator to Houlton Maine. To determine just exactly how far it is from where you are to Houlton Maine for driving times. The Thirsty Dawg is a proud sponsor of the 4th annual Black Fly Brewfest.

Who else is going to be onboard for beer distributors at the Black Fly gathering of er, beer flies?

Over 40 beer exhibitors and wine, cider peddling producers too will be on hand. The time 2:30 to 6 PM for the sampling to get you in condition for the Saturday night plans.

Please drink responsibly or not at all. And find a designated driver if you can not drink responsibly. But here is a chance to learn about micro brewery, the home grown culture of what's produced for suds with a kick in Maine. More on Maine micro brew beer culture.

Interested in learning more about simple Maine living?

You don't have to be a beer drinker or partake in any spirits to get high about Maine. Visit the Me In Maine blog post website for more local flavor. Experience first hand, up close and personal from someone who lives here. Why the rural state called Maine in the upper right hand corner is where it's life the way it should be.

Ever thought of owning a piece of Maine that could be used year round for Vacations or more? Buying, selling, trading Maine real estate, here to help in the process to make it fun, easy, money saving. 

I'm Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 |  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  | 

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

Properties for sale in Maine needing work or repairs.

A picky no or low down mortgage financing program lending outfit might not be so hand stand happy about a Mr Fix It / Handyman Special home. But the public in rural Maine sure does gobble them up. This real estate blog post points out why less than perfect homes in need of repair are a still a pretty popular category of Maine listing sales. There is a good reason. We are home grown, DIY hands on and farm to table kinda people. Not store bought expensive or flashy nor hired out costly on all the house repair work.

Every real estate market behaves oh so differently. Sparse populated Maine does not rock and roll the same way as urban hot spots of crowded home owners in Atlanta GA, Boston MA, LA, CA or NYC, NY do. Local home buyers have an amazing skill set or know someone that does the is more than willing to lend a hand.

Had a relocating house buyer who was recently widowed and looking to move back to Maine from Florida in the office yesterday. He and his little Heinz 57 variety dog Baxter wanted a country location, some acreage wrapping around a solid but cosmetically challenged home. We toured a country home for sale that did the trick on paper and based on his video cyber walk through experience.

The former builder of the home did an admirable job in house construction. In many ways the Jack of all trades real estate buyer appreciated what he saw on the actual you are there showing. He was ready to buy with cash in hand something from the properties for sale in Maine needing work bargain bin of real estate listings.

The property for sale in Maine needing work had been rented too long and the home seller already owned another house.

She too had been widowed, did not like carrying the burden of two properties to keep up with so a cash buyer showed up at the right time. Sure location times three is pretty darn important. But what trumps that real estate triple stutter is timing, timing, timing. It is time to sell and a buyer pointing out the tasks ahead of him that is shared in a discussion with a home owner was reacted to with positive joint agreement. Discount for cash means the seller does not have to tackle the deferred maintenance issues. Or replace the month to month renter scheduled to move in two weeks.

What's available for waterfront properties for sale in Maine?

There is no other category of property listing that is sought after as much as waterfront real estate.

The reason for the increased demand? Part of it is the supply is never great enough. The other drawback is waterfront real estate is always a super investment.

It holds its value and appreciates. Which makes buying waterfront properties in Maine always expensive.

More pricey than other real estate listing near the waterfront but not smack dab on it. 

So what to consider when looking for anything on the water in Maine?

If it is an empty river, pond, lake lot, make sure the waterfront land is buildable. Being up to date on current state of Maine shoreland zoning regulations is a big requirement wading into a waterfront property purchase. Because you want more than a day lot that you can visit but not build on.

Also, besides being schooled on the latest shoreland zoning rules and laws, you better visit the town office where the property is located. To make sure there are not above and beyond beefed up regulations to know about because you get a cease and desist order from local code enforcement officials. More on shoreland zoning in Maine when considering a purchase of waterfront property.