REALTOR Andrew Mooers' Maine Real Estate Blog

Entire households of furnishings hauled away and no one saw it happen.

My brother who lives in Boxford Massachusetts told me a story about a home down the street that a moving van backed up to and in Indy 500 pit crew fashion, the contents were hauled away unnoticed. Like the Grinch that stole Christmas style. Just evaporated. Disappeared. How does this happen? In neighborhoods around Boxford where the couple both are away at work to pay that $900,000 and up mortgage, these areas are prime targets. Large wooded lots with acreage, quiet dead end streets, homes set way back from view. Loaded with lots of nice furnishings too and maybe and inside job. Where thief has knowledge of who patrols these streets. Or the home owner themselves cooked up the controlled crime. Alarms that get hacked into or deactivated from an inside job.  Not a good situation all around.

     Here's the real kicker though. After that intial shock of coming home to an empty home with only odds and ends of personal items scattered here and there, you contact the insurance company. And after about three weeks, you have a brand new set of everything thru out the home in place from insurance claim.  Then, bingo. You get hit again because the "Pirate Moving Company" like your collection in the first heist. And the second time, the stuff is even better, all brand new and along the same tastes of the first shipment.

     In Northern Maine with eleven people per square mile, that kind of operation would not happen. Why? For starters, house holds filled with items collected by "Double Income, No Kids" couples or partners do not fill secluded neighborhoods with no one home. One income families are common because the $40,000 mortgage is easy to handle, and some one at home during the day and when kids get off the bus. Second, neighbors would get involved and you know each other. Something suspicious gets noticed and folks act on it knowing they would get the same consideration if the shoe was on the other foot. Thirdly, who is going to drive six and a half hours from Boston with today's fuel prices to help themselves to some used, not so fancy furniture? There are easier pickings right around Boston in neighborhoods where no one is home, the incomes are so much higher and the loot is more precious, easier to fence. Even burglars and thieves have a common sense, business practical side despite going to work to steal other people's treasure. 

     Another reason to consider living in smaller, friendlier rural towns where communities entertain, protect and help each other raise their families.  That's why I am lucky, privledged to live and work in Maine! People do not come and go in neighborhoods in Maine to the point that you don't even know or care to know your neighbor.  We do know who lives down the street and bump into them alot in a small Maine town at local events and thru family gatherings. Maine is the 4th lowest crime state too! We don't steal other's people property they worked so hard to buy and want the same treatment in return.

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Lower Cost, Less Hassle Maine Real Estate For Sale

The place is busy, eat in and take out orders making the phone lines hum. Communication important but what we thought we heard can vary from what the customer thought he ordered. 

"Yes, I would like a large pizza...2/3'rds green pepper, tomato, onion and one third mushrooms."  You took the order, you tell the caller "See you in twenty minutes."  

     Now what kind of pizza do you make? One that is has only mushrooms on that one third section or everything plus mushrooms too on that portion of pie? And when you find out from the customer you did it wrong, how do you make sure the next time they order, that whoever is working gets it right? Some preparers could lay the green peppers, tomato and onion on the entire pizza too thinking just about the mushroom one third request because they think that's what the request means. You can see where the confusion comes in in a hot, busy, crazy Friday night five oclock order in a noisy place that is easy to miss bits and pieces of information on a simple order.

      Bigger companies with more people inheritly can drop the same ball due to lack of a memo to self to share what was learned to streamline the process and gain accuracy in order satisfaction.  It's easy when an order is simple..like one large pepperoni pizza, one medium sausage pizza. But when you get into fractions and variations on a theme, subjectivity and a difference of interpretation can kick. Whether it is property or pizzas, the same dynamic can kick in.  Getting it right requires clarification questions even when it is busy, and maybe seemingly obvious to all. If your goal is customer satisfaction which is not an easy chore in some cases, more communication and back and forth questions to assure getting it right can show the buyer how hard you work to get it right. Customers whether for a pizza pie or a property can be shark like when they don't get what they ordered. And for the record, because AR inquiring minds want to know, what is your favorite pizza order or what you typically phone in to drag home for your little "sharks" to have a feeding frenzy on?

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Mainers Work Hard To Get It Right The First Time

And you thought your neighborhood was tough or had harsh conditions.

Space flight thru the Mars atmosphere which presents lots of new variables than what we have dealt with in low orbit earth flights.  Ever watch the NASA channel with your kids?  The analogy of a manned mission to Mars was equated to the two story house example in the lead in above. 

     Since houses are the "staple" that most of the folks in here at Active Rain deal with day in and day out, it made me think of various style two story homes ker plopped on the red planet's surface. New neighborhoods on a brand new planet and what it would involve if you were the planet planner in 2030.   It made me think how hard the space folks work, how they thrive on success, figuring out the unknown, calculating the odds where the stakes are so high and space travelers human life is in the balance.  The goal of the Mars manned mission is simple, the implementation a little bit bigger science project.  Remember the moon landing? Where were you when it happened, where did you watch the 1969 Apollo 11 mission? "Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed."  The folks around the world, at NASA started breathing again after those words were heard and again with Astronaut Neil Armstrong's famous quote "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for man kind" at 10:56 PM Mon July 20th. I remember being at my Aunt Ruth's horse riding summer camp and watching television with other campers crowded into a living room watching, thinking, dreaming about the event's coverage. 

     This year is the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 space mission. It will be a few decades before the Mars mission.  But can you imagine being a broker, banker, stager, home inspector, web or video whiz and blogging on another planet? On Mars, or the Moon some where other than planet earth? Open houses, video and image taking, new subdivisions, working on local Mars planning, zoning boards, setting up schools, police and fire, etc. Writing ads about "Own your own crater and 20,000 acres or hectars with a stunning view of earth and the three solar systems from the second story window!" 2030...it's sooner than you think!

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Lucky To Live, Work And Play In Maine.

Remember two distinct Maine land buyers who specifically bought a spot to run away to, just in case prior to Y2K.  With the unsettling roller coaster ride in some markets, the attraction of a a getaway tugs hard on a some people's heart who do not feel safe where they are.

Smaller remote areas are attractively priced and land is something "underneath all". Safe, secure and won't evaporate like some stocks have when CEO's stumb their toe.  Often times the real estate is not what drives the process either. It's the location and price being so easy to add to their holdings that makes the sale. Often the attraction to an area is what is NOT in the area.  I have had folks want to own on a side road that does NOT have power and where it is not likely to come in to protect the back to nature, back to the land option they have chosen. What is a drawback for some is a bonus, a protection to a lifestyle that is simpler.

As a broker, it is not what you would want to do in life, but how others feel about options that you might never consider personally. That's why an open mind, broad thinking is needed to promote all those options and features whether you would be attracted to them or not. It's like a radio station that you only play your favorites on. Your listenership would be narrow, and fewer in number because you need to offer music/talk/programming in areas way beyond your personal taste to broaden the market. So list and sell those starter mobile homes that you used to turn your nose up at, those handyman special homes that you would never touch yourself with a ten foot pole. Inventory...you needs lots in all price ranges, shapes and sizes because you can not "sell meat from an empty wagon" being the old tried and tested rule of thumb.

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Maine Offers Many Varied Lifestyles-One For Anyone To Be Happy With.

What is your audience looking for? Why did they tune in? What can you offer them?

You are on a stage, with a desk, with a set and it's your job to assemble a show filled with worthwhile information, colorful and even funny guests that help educate or entertain.  These guys help you fill out the show, add flavor, new perspective and like a band, all have a part in the music. Blogging can be like that..not just a solo voice but blog rolls with other voices helping increase the volume, the following, the scope.

     And you can do "guest appearances" on other people's "shows" I mean blogs. More than one blog with different direction, theme, feeding viewers of a special niche or genre.  Here's Johnny Blogger...let's give it up for Johnny.  We are all on the AR network here.  But other venues to venture into. Friends made here in a following that like assembling a band, give you options for forming association, collaborations to round out your project and in turn the other blogger's project. Are you developing, networking and working on projects along these lines to promote, bring attention to and increase the helpfulness/popularity of your brand and real estate?  In making comments here, posting blogs, you have found others that share your passion for special areas of the real estate industry that you do. You have located, followed and sought advice from other bloggers way more versed or further down the highway on various subjects that can save you getting lost or taking the wrong exit.  On your second and future blog projects, consider forming a team of regular outside contributors and return the favor. Tag team blogs written with segments, modules from three others. Not just links to their blogs on this or that but special contributions when you ask them for a specific paragraph or two on a subject project you are hatching. Feed your audience.They are curious like the Maine wildlife in the image above. You have their attention, can you deliver? Can you keep it? Do you have any apples, golden or otherwise?

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Tour Guide For Maine, Exploring Your Real Estate Options.

     Just got out of a Bangor Savings Bank /Gateway Title seminar here in Houlton ME on title insurance issues and new tighter bank regulations for appraisals, approvals, mortgage insurance,etc. Probate, divorce, added documentation checks, subdivision questions...all effect the title, insurability and ultimate financing operation by any bank. If you thought a thirty day turn around time with a bank loan would be getting even faster, think again. Banks are not doing closings thru their drive thrus. If you thought trying to do things with lines of credit and juggling properties thru a commercial product reduced paperwork and reduced sharp edge programs, restrictive adjustments happening there too. And lots of realtors, bankers, underwriters and attorneys all trying to get their minds around the new layer of changes.

     The added scrutiny to tighten up and protect the consumer just got racketed up a notch.  Add to it more confidentiality, more protections, more regulations and getting the money from the bank has more obstacles to clear for everyone involved prompted by the sour assets that are a hot potato these days.  New hoops for appraisers to leap thru, special training all the way around to complicate the process. So if you have a property where the owner does not need the money, like say in the case of an estate sale. And say there is only one or two family members that inherited the place, you might consider turning that property sale into a nice annuity with owner financing for the heir(s).  Bank avoided, no appraisal, custom made payments that may stop once the buyer's other home sells, which it will. Better rate than the bank for the buyer and savings in closing costs. Better return for the seller than the interest rate they would get with a CD parked in a bank account with the first mortgage on that property for collateral. IN a market like Houlton Maine where you can buy a home for in the $30's, $40's, $50's that you would want to live in, the numbers work. For the neighborhoods in other parts of the planet where the price tag has lots of extra zeroes hanging from houses, this option may not be as good a risk or practical.

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Maine, Simple Healthy Practical Living For Sale And Low Cost Real Estate

Chances are when you were a little kid, dreaming of some day planting signs in lawns, running ads, showing real estate was not what you saw yourself doing a few decades down the road in your life path.

And looking for to a commission check for a job well done was not something rolling around in your head as you lay your head on the pillow after bedtime stories from mom and dad. But here you are anyway...a property peddler, agent, broker, dealer.  Have you looked at your job description lately? The job of real estate broker has evolved from carbon copy contracts that were walked into banks and attorneys.  Before fax machines and internet, it was mainly a local, fish bowl community market. But if you check paragraph seventy two in your job description addendum as a real estate broker, your new duties since you hung your shingle have broaden. Have you added new moves and new hats to wear to your day to day operation as a broker? Like a farmer who used to just like planting, watching things grow and harvesting them, that profession has become part scientist, part gambler, part marketer 101, and now well versed in more subjects than his grandfather who used to till the same dirt. He had to change, evolve to survive.

     With change, new developments and techniques like in any industry, you whine and complain and die on the vine or your embrace and re-invent your profession like a pioneer that thrives on survival. Have you looked at your job description lately and have you been performing the many tasks, developing the many new skills you need as a real estate warrior? Multi tasking, higher rpm real estate. Video, podcasts, blackberry 101, better writing, sharper image taking and over all ways to market your property, your area, yourself to create a strong brand with a loyal following? You want to be someone's agent or broker for life right? Dig out that real estate job description and speed read down thru the new pages added nearly daily for you to dove tail into your repertoire.  The Amish above in Smyrna Maine are trying to maintain a lifestyle like many years ago. But in real estate the industry demands learning new ways to market you, your area, your property.

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Maine Is Simpler Living, Heathier Lifestyles With Community Spirit

The process will go on and on or smoothly. Seems to be those two speeds. Hot or stone cold.

You can call and call and start over and over each time with a different work out person. Lots of dead ends, many on holds, bob and weaves in automation while you work on other real estate duties while you listen to Kenny G on and on. Or if you are lucky you get one person, live and ready to help that gets to know you, that directs the mission from the very first contact. He or she knows the score, has done a few hundred of these and can help get from A to B in your life time.  Keep your eye on the short sale ball.

     One other thing to save headaches and delays is to find out who has the deed to the property and see a copy from a fax, a trip to the registry or a call to the law firm handling the legal process. The title to the property, the foreclosure notices, the whole nine yards done correctly? Or are you looking at set backs you never saw coming? And the buyer...thinking this is like a fast food drive thru or does he have patience? Willing to work thru the delays or ready to bolt? It is easy to spend alot of steps locating whose lap the property is going to end up in and when. The owner does not know often and you are missing certain notices they received but did not relay. And so many other short sale work outs are being proposed and dealt with with only so many workers on the other end to help the process. Short sales are not for the short attention spanned individual. Can you say "expect delays?"Sure you can. Auctions, cancelled auctions, back and forth and like a hot potato, you wonder will this effort have a happy ending or is most of the time on the phone keeping the buyer in the picture who asks over and over for an exact closing date when you know appraisals, pay offs, and last minute liens you did not know about that were not on record an hour ago.  Short sales. Fun and games. But we wear R's on our lapels...the hardest working letter in the the alphabet.

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Simple Living, Honest People, Low Cost Real Estate, That's ME.

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Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers -Houlton Maine Area Real Estate Broker

A watershed is the area that "drains" into a lake, brook, stream, pond, reservoir, ocean or wetland.

Wood cutting operations and development can change the lay of the land and natural drainage to cause water that drains downhill to pick up speed and carry silt into precious waterways. The trick around these natural resources is to slow the water speed and to filter it with natural riparian buffers that slow, retain or clean this water before it ends up where the fish live and you enjoy recreation. The drainage basin acts as a funnel and the water's course depends on the topography from adjacent watersheds, mountains, rolling fields. Exposed land that is not seeded down can have soil erosion from the water drainage and from wind. I grew up on a potato farm and loss of top soil is always a concern. Air harvesters that blow the dirt from the conveyors to the bulk body that holds the spuds that are destined for winter storage is just like loss of hair. Ledge or rock out croppings can show thru and suddenly there are spots of land in the field you can not plant on because the soil is gone. You could and farmers do scoop up soil from one area and over lay it on these ledge "bald spots".

     I am president of the Drews Lake Owner's Association and we have worked hard to spot the erosion areas, studies the watershed that is roughly 19 miles large around the lake. The lake itself turns over, or "refreshes" every 13 months so new water with [potential for contanimants can change the overall health of a clean Maine lake. Erosion, silt, pollution from say a dairy farm's manure pile or fertilizer nitrogen can be toxic to a lake too. These elements along with man using weed and feed on lawns, or pressure treated arsenic laced docks and decks all contribute to the stability or decline of a lake. The pressure from pollution and silt destroys habitats, spawning beds and can cause fewer game fish and more rough fish. And the worse culprit to impact our lake enjoyment in Maine is too much weed and algae growth.  The word milfoil is a scary one for southern Maine lakes that have out of control evasive plants life going wild. All land uses have the potential to add pollutants to Meduxnekeag (Drews) Lake or any precious natural resource.

     A cutting operation in a woodlot five miles away can pollute a lake with silt, run off, phosphorus and other contaminants. Property culverts on roadways, proper grading of those roadways and installation of "punge pools" can help buffer a lake. The plunge pool is a series of rocked "holes" that fill up with run off during spring snow melting or heavy summer rains so that water does not race down a steep hill, taking dirt, debris from decaying leaves, etc into a body of water. The pools fill up, over flow and fill up the next hole to slow the water's speed and what it carries with it. Planting vegetation along the shoreline helps hold the soil in place and acts as a filter between land and waterway too. Maine lakes are a blessing, a privledge and we all need to be good stewards, passing them on to our kids in better shape than we received them if they are to be saved and preserved. 

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Maine Is Not Over Populated And The Way Life Should Be.