REALTOR Andrew Mooers' Maine Real Estate Blog

     Ever heard people say "Brrrrr....it's cold" yet they have just a thin shirt on?  So they heat the entire home to feel warm.  With the concern about rising oil and energy for heating northern homes, dressing a little warmer and  tracking down your drafts / heat loss makes sense. And according to the Efficiency Maine people, turning down your heat one degree could save up to $95 dollars or 3 percent of the years heating bill!  Once you make a game of it and buckle down to conserve, the Maine site also helps you explore other cost savings from lighting to laundry.  You don't need to make more money to pay for heating / power costs, you can take control of that part of the household budget with a little homework. The US Department Of Energy wants to put their two cents in too to help with this winter's monthly expenses here.  Real estate brokers can order booklets to share with their customers to save everyone money year round for heating, cooling, driving habits and more!  For financial aid and subsidy in Maine for home heating retrofitting, here's one more page to eyeball.

     Get asked alot on property with low price tags in Northern Maine / Aroostook County..."How Come So Cheap?" When you get out the Rand McNally or Delorme gazateer, and squint to find say, Oakfield Maine on the map, you realize this is probably going to take a tank of gas, a few coffees and a little time to get to.  That is what makes the area private, not over populated and unspoiled.  The Average Joe is not going to make the trek every weekend...its just a little bit beyond his ideal drive "a couple hours" thinking.  This location is not for the average buyer...but is worth the extra time and gas to land here. Scope out this home that is not Donald Trump's vacation spot but a deal at $16,900!  Contact REALTOR Andy Mooers for more propaganda on this blue light special shoppers. info@mooersrealty.com 207 532 6573 and Visit www.mooersrealty.com for other kid in a candy store kinda properties you will want to purchase and tell your friends about where ever you live on the planet.  Maine..value, friendly but few people, no traffic, no crime, clean living scenic real estate.

     No...I did not just call you a turkey.  Maine turkeys have not been around or plentiful for many moons.  This video gives you the reader's digest version of the sport in Maine.  Now I am not a hunter with a gun....and prefer to capture wildlife with a camera (whispering chatter barely audible in background).  I heard those comments...no this guy is not a vegatarian...and hunts for his meat at the cooler section of this local Houlton Maine grocery like everyone else.  But since Maine's license plate says "Vacationland"....its important to realize one more reason folks look forward to traveling to Maine...reason number 1701, "turkey hunting".  If you're going to chase the gobbler, here is the inland fish and wildlife video on how to do it.  Make sure to duck when the guy with the gun swings it around to where you are sitting...and remember, there is no such thing as an unloaded gun.

     The usual advice like replace the dead light bulbs so broker and customers don't need to stumble thru "dark as the inside of a cow" cellar.  Remove the "stuff" or at least have one giant pile of cargo rather than spread around the entire property.  Clean the windows, remove "smells" with good old fashion cleaning and rug removal.  But one of the biggest "to do's" is ta da..the small leak stain in the dining room which is under the bathroom that had a little hurricane during last tub time bath adventure with the little pirates..I mean kids.  Instead of painting the entire ceiling...and you never get the right shade of white so it looks worse....just get some bleach.  Put it in a small  windex glass cleaner kind of bottle style sprayer. Don't get it in your eyes from the mist as you apply a little bleach right on the discoloration.  Do a little, squirt squirt and stop. Do some more tomorrow and leave it alone to dry without saturation or drippage .  After four applications or so the stain disappears and you save an entire saturday of painting that ceiling.  That full day by Mr Owner could have been used on seventeen other little projects as he begins to look at the place with new eyes..the ones of the buyer. For painting tips and other do it yourself help, visit here!

     This happens.  You wonder how did you get led down the twisty, winding, narrow path that like a funnel takes you into a site that catches your eye.  Just a random series of circumstance...  Figured out why the number of activerainers on line may be 1459, but why under 200 are actually chiseling out new blogs or adding comments with their stone tablets and chisels. They are off exploring, surfing, randomly driving around cyberspace. Check this site out !  Let's all laugh more in 2008! Just roll with it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2tqCRHtmv0

     Every year the same three new year's resolutions surface over and over.  One..want to lose weight, become trim AND fit.  Two, have a little more fun and stay connected with family and Three...do a budget and learn to live not with the juggling of Visa, Mastercard and Discover cards.  I hear it, read it, and get bombarded with  broadcasts that give how to talks to get out of a mountain of debt.  People pay debt settling services, buy books and watch self help books for their spending addiction. I knew a college friend who said her dad and mom always were on the brink of financial disaster growing up.  He was a lawyer, mom a teacher and together pulled down a healthy take home stack of currency.  But they spent it as fast as it came in, so it became a way of life.  Kinda like, if you have checks left in your holder , there must be money in theire to cover  purchases. I know when I asked her other than a car and mortgage, how about not having debt, she looked at me like it was a national american right to live a step from bankruptcy's door.  She is doing her part to stimulate the economy I suppose. Eat, drink and be merry.  If all else fails, have a heck of a ride cause you only go around once and maybe maybe Uncle Sam will have a safety net to catch you. Or you could always live with your kids.

     I know a broker who when he need a little motivation about the mid winter time to belt tighten one more knotch, he would go out and buy a very expensive car.  The worry about making payments fueled him to force himself to have self inflicted financial pain to take his job more serious.  In a small town, that expensive car does not help you business and make people happy for you.  If you have a better car, new ride albeit saddled with 300 more payments, the locals are not happy.  Do well....just don't do too well or get too far ahead.  Unfortunately, learninng at an early age to hang onto money, is an art form of survival.  It is the best thing you can teach your children to take with them to instruct their kids, your grandchildren.  I remember my oldest daughter Elizabeth at age 9, after a hard week in the potato fields going with me to Walmart.  She picked up an item that cost $3.60, eyed it, put it back on the self and said "Dad..that's not worth six barrels of potatoes" . She quickly consider the exchange of how hard the work to pick a 165 pound barrel of potatoes was for the 60 cents youth get at the end of the day per barrel.  Just handing a child $4.00 and turning them loose in a Walmart would not be the same exercise.  They spend it and enjoy the momentary thrill. They may not take care of the item and it's often forgotten a half hour later.  Like the happy meal toy from the fast food shacks.  But have the child earn the same $4.00 and you see a child suddenly evaluating whether to let go of their own money that easy. Suddenly a light bulb comes on and an effort to get the best deal on that item if they deem they really really need and want it comes into play. 

     Good luck with that debt load if you have one.  There is a difference between frugal and cheap.  Frugal is not wasting a resource...it does not mean you don't spend money on yourself. Its often better impulse control to know you have the savings to buy it, so you could.  Or you decide to do a little more research on whether that item or service is the best deal.  You are all business people right?  Good luck touring the facility looking for slack in 2008 in your homes and businesses.  Wise use of money is an attitude and choice.  In northern Maine, the live within your means from days of living on family farms is common place.  You learned to hang onto money because there were years when you did not make any due to crop failures, capital improvements, poor timing in investments.  Two dollars is a lot of money if you have none. It became a game to get one more year out of that piece of equipment or using your noggin to come up with better ways to get the job done with what you had to work with. This as opposed to trotting down to  a dealership for brand new equipment or parts you could not afford.

[houlton+maine+real+estate,mooers+ realty, aroostook+county, new+years+resolutions, saving,budgeting,spending]

    You hear alot of complaints by folks that just don't want to wait any time when they go thru customs, airport security, or the pick up of their burger. But from my experience on the Houlton Maine border, traffic moves right along and both the US and Canadian side are doing a good job processing travelers / cargo! One complainer locally did admit that the wait was short but this person was late to get to a kid's hockey game.  That is not the fault of the border personnel.  It is poor planning on the parent's behalf.  He cut it too close and hoped there would not be anyone ahead of him and expected to sail thru the Canadian port of entry on the way to Woodstock New Brunswick.  It is easy to criticize but the strong canadian dollar has added traffic at the border. And  homeland security with future passport usage is a change many would like to not have to deal with.  And according to Houlton Post Office's Leigh Cummings many folks could have gotten their passports quickly if they had not waited until the last minute like so many.  Its human nature for most..wait until the last minute and hope the paperwork won't be needed and things will just return to the good old days! Just like getting to the airport a little early to avoid the stress of running down the concourse like OJ Simpson in the old commericals. Planning a little time at the border for the processing wait takes away the anger from a delay.  For more explanations on the border crossing situation and dealing with it, visit this CBP site!  These folks at Customs and Border Patrol are staffing extra help during peak periods.

     You see a blog title that pulls you in like a tractor beam.  You read and comment.  Then the flood of comments from others that come at you like asteroids on a blog that you are surprised got that kinda of response.  Other blogs you really really gained insightful points from and you seem to be the only person on the planet that thought it had merit enough to jot down a response or comment. Ever gotten a few comments a day from folks that discover and respond months later to a blog you intially wanted to know about other responses and later regret asking for the other feedback?

     Where to lay your head after a long day of driving to and tramping for northern Maine real estate in the Houlton area of Aroostook County?Where do you stay?  Well, you are not in an area of a zillion Motel 6's, Holiday Inns, Best Westerns and Day's Inns.  In Houlton you have four choices for motels...Iveys Motor Lodge, Shiretown Motor Inn, Stardust Motel and Scottish Inn.  In Smryna Maine, there is the Brookside Inn to consider.  Vacationland Estates is another option timeshare to consider. Tall Timber Lodge is a collection of log sided cabins on Drews Lake that can be rented for extend stay periods! Poor Shots Sportsman's Lodge is another option for lodging in Houlton Maine area too! Seasonally there are camps on the lake to rent by the week and traveling across the border into Canada is not a bad option...it was a better one when the US dollar are stronger.  For a link to Woodstock New Brunswick Motels and Inns to consider, double click here. But the trip to look at property can also be a well needed vacation.  As for the Houlton Maine weather day or night, quick peek here will help you in that department!

We do as we're told here.. Technorati Profile You want to work hard, making the effort to pour over your inspirational writing that promotes your area, your real estate for sale and hopefully causes a ripple that benefits and locates other life forms who can be better for it. You hunger for the same thing and this is the platform to find it. Turn up the hailing frequency and the search continues....

Technorati Profile