The question comes up a lot, how big a real estate deposit is needed to hold the property?

The one the out of state buyer really is interested in but can not just drop everything to trot up the pike to see it in person. That is one reason we shoot, edit, upload real estate videos so there is not lacking the show and tell property information that makes it necessary to do the expensive travel. Each time something good comes up for the property buyer to consider one by one spaced out over time. 

Holding the property is not in the best interest of the seller of real estate.

Because someone else that is ready to buy is held off until the out of town, gotta come see it buyer gets here and decides to buy or not. With a deposit, a signed contract contingent upon personal inspection it creates a log jam stop on the marketing availability of the listing. Until he decides to buy or not. And you the agent can scream "Next".

He may never get here. Or come up and decide this is not something he will buy. Or he likes the property but not what is around it or the community where it is located that takes time when the property is put on hold while he clears his schedule to check it all out.

Plane tickets, paying for motels, the tolls traveling and eats on the road. They all cost money and take time out of a person's life. We get that but put anything on layaway, telling future buyers the place has a hold on it. Hurts the seller. That is not what other buyers in line want to hear and they don't hang around wasting precious time on property that may or may not be sold.

Lost opportunities to selling happen when a previous buyer who was not ready to becomes in a position to proceed with a purchase.

But is held off because someone has a first right of refusal to buy. So taking a deposit contingent on a long time getting here or a slew of contingencies is not the wise course of action. Because this buyer has loose ends, is not ready, willing and able to buy today.

Maine land, the soil quality of the dirt from the surface down is not all the same.

To someone not around the Maine land, it is easy to call it pretty much all the same. The soil profile on Maine land, important stuff to study before you buy acreage. Because the health of the dirt, the soil character better be a match to however you intend to use the Maine land.

So farm soil profiles on Maine land as a state.

More on shoreland zoning, being a good steward of the Maine waterfront land.

Small rural Maine real estate markets, they rock and roll differently than urban ones.

Eight out of ten people live in a city, not all by choice. But given their druthers, many would rather be in a Mayberry small town setting. To own a spread like the Waltons and be tucked away on a mountain farm with the woodlot for income and heat source. The dirt to scratch to raise what they place farm to table to feed their families.

So when you and I watch the news, scan the headlines and the topic is the real estate market.

What we are told online and in the newspapers, magazines and trade journals concerning real estate does not translate so well to how things groove locally. The price tags on the local real estate in Maine is not loaded up with zero places. The property prices are lower to the ground in small rural Maine community real estate markets.

Part of the difference with the real estate market city and country mouse enjoy is simply financial based.

High priced markets support layers of players to keep them lubricated and the real estate listing inventory moving to successful property closings. Home owner associations (HOA) are not going to be a thorn in a local rural real estate market. In some swanky luxury locations near population centers, HOA's carry a big club.

The land on a Maine lake, a lot of property acreage.

Just land and nothing built on it or whatever was there is long gone. Has no pulse but does have a location on the parcel that can get you up close to the waterfront. Don't tear it down yet or you lose your place in the shore land zoning regulations for land on the water in Maine.

What can you do, what you see done around the Maine lakes means time for the shore land zoning homework.

Because changes are made on the state level and local municipalities tweak the regulations concerning shore land zoning. Going above and beyond the Maine state law on lake development happens most in towns where the price tags are highest. Where there are enough people to serve on the local boards that police and protect the local Maine lakes.

So back to the blog post headline, the question about what can you do, where do you start with lake land? Or whatever lot is on the water whether a river, pond, ocean front or simple stream location. The size of the land, can it support a septic system and will it be pressure-rized water or not?

Simple is best and hurts the natural habitat less when talking building on a Maine lake lot.

Treading lightly and protecting the wildlife, the fish and the waterfront is respect. That if ignored will mean no more waterfront worth passing down to the next generation. Here is the link to the latest Maine shore land zoning regulations for development.

Being 100 feet back from the high water mark, if no structure for camp or boathouse is on the Maine lake lot makes the depth of the parcel critical. You don't want to have to try to buy more land that may not be available. Or the price too steep because the owner knows you have to have more land to complete the waterfront lake lot development.

What's lurking out there for title problems that affects the enjoyment, value of the land under all the improvements? Legal issues with real estate start when the property is listed for sale. If the seller is aware of them. Often they are there hidden and not always known about in the discussion around the kitchen table during the listing of what's for sale.

If the agent or broker takes the time to look into the deed with the seller's copy or from the registry of deeds.

That talk with the owner about right of ways or easements right up front, whatever the title issue is best handled early on. 

We talked earlier about the importance to secure the letter, to get pre-approved for a bank home mortgage loan.

And moved on to what happens when you find the house of your dreams and start down the home ownership pathway. The appraisal process buying a Maine home was discussed in an earlier blog post on this channel too. But this time up is the legal hurdle, the last leg of the home buying routine. Approached once the buyer is approved to buy, the property is appraised and good to go. If the title to the real estate is squeaky clean or can be made that way with checks written and passed out at the property closing.

Legal issues are lots harder to wrestle with then a few credit issues that can often be fixed with an explanation letter, few  phone calls and a little check in the mail to make them go away. 

Bad FICA scores, high debt ratios, a new job or no credit can impact the getting ready to buy a home in Maine. The house appraisal can come in low and a new valuation can be sought out if the mortgage bank allows for flawed ones.

But the legal issues in a real estate sale don't go away so easily. Unless it is a garden variety property tax lien stuck on the title like a burdock. From years before when someone was slow to pay the taxes on time and a lien was placed against the property after eighteen months passed. And the yearly taxes went in arrears and someones name ended up in the town report. 

A discharge of a property tax lien on the real estate for sale is an easy title issue. Getting a release deed for taxes owed that needed payment or that were paid but never released. With the tax lien removed with a simple release deed from the municipality where the property is located.