Real Estate Information

It is always such a treat to leave for a sunny destination in Feb.  We escaped with few problems and arrived at our resort at Sandals in Montego Bay. Our room was breathtaking with it's own balcony steps from the clear green warm sea. Jamaican music floated in the background. Our personal butler arrived with a cell phone to allow us to reach him at any time.  Nagging thoughts of guilt were drowned out by our desire to embrace the warmth and the celebration of escape from routine and the Maine winter. Also it is always a pleasure to leave our country and experience other cultures. Because of spending most of my childhood in the underdeveloped world, this always feels like home.

I have recently had conversations with several past clients who are struggling with the decision of whether or not to place their homes on the market this year.

They all know that they wish to sell, but it is a matter of either waiting to sell until next year or selling this year.

On the surface, a reasonable response might be, of course, to wait until next year, because of so may uncertainties. Surely, the market will be better next year. But will the market be better next year? or will it be worse?

Since I have been in real estate since 1985, I  lived through the last downturn in the late 80's and early 90's. In the last downturn, it took a year or so, after the Boston marketplace started to fall, for our marketplace to follow suit.

Essentially, I believe, we mirror to a large degree the Boston marketplace. If folks in Boston[or Mass. in general] can cash out of their homes, and buy a retirement or vacation, or a primary home in Maine, for much less, and pocket the difference; then we will get their business up here in Maine. But if they can't sell [in large numbers] then we will be impacted by a shrinking marketplace.

So will a seller get less for our home next year, if he/she chooses to wait? Perhaps he/she will get less, if the pattern initiated in the last downturn in greater Portland repeats itself.

 

I have recently had conversations with several past clients who are struggling with the decision of whether or not to place their homes on the market this year.

They all know that they wish to sell, but it is a matter of either waiting to sell until next year or selling this year.

On the surface, a reasonable response might be, of course, to wait until next year, because of so may uncertainties. Surely, the market will be better next year. But will the market be better next year? or will it be worse?

Since I have been in real estate since 1985, I  lived through the last downturn in the late 80's and early 90's. In the last downturn, it took a year or so, after the Boston marketplace started to fall, for our marketplace to follow suit.

Essentially, I believe, we mirror to a large degree the Boston marketplace. If folks in Boston[or Mass. in general] can cash out of their homes, and buy a retirement or vacation, or a primary home in Maine, for much less, and pocket the difference; then we will get their business up here in Maine. But if they can't sell [in large numbers] then we will be impacted by a shrinking marketplace.

So will a seller get less for our home next year, if he/she chooses to wait? Perhaps he/she will get less, if the pattern initiated in the last downturn in greater Portland repeats itself.

 

This winter has been snowy. Strangely enough, I have realized that I actually enjoy the silence and calmness that it provides. Life slows down a little. On heavy snow days, It is sometimes not possible to leave the house so there is more time for cooking and reading and just escape from multitasking. It offers a chance to think about the big picture.This is a rare opportunity in todays world. I actually remember life before email and sometimes I miss it.

 

I have been a Realtor since 1985 [continuously] but getting a transaction to the closing line is always a challenge. This is due changes that are continuously taking place in the industry.

Last week we encountered several issues closing on an upscale condo in an upscale popular community. Approximately 1 week prior to closing, I received a call from the sellers notifying me that a pipe had frozen[but not burst] in their  all new granite kitchen. Additionally, to further complicate matters, the pipes in question were located in the abutting neighbor's garage so any work needing to be done had to be done with their[the neighbor's] permission.

I advised immediately that the sellers draft a letter to the buyers[ a busy surgeon from out of state] immediately to notify them of the situation and that they[the buyers] would be closely informed of any decisions the sellers would be making.

Once this was done, the buyers called the neighbor and obtained permission to schedule a contractor to view the problem and suggest a solution. This was done and agreed to by both parties. The work was scheduled to be done 1 day prior to closing.On this day, there was a major snowfall. But the contractor true to his word, completed his work. During the process, the buyer called the contractor and had dialog with him to receive comfort in the job being done.

The day of closing came [the next day] and the buyer did the final walkthru and was approving.

The closing went off without a hitch. However I forgot to mention a radon problem that had to be resolved simultaneously. The radon test was very low in all living areas but slightly above the[Maine] limit in a basement room behind the garage that would never be used for living space.

The buyer, decided initially to mitigate this to the new state standards[not the Feds] but found out it would require condo association approval prior to this. Ultimately, the buyer decided to seal up the cracks in the basement [after many discussions with radon labs and mitigators and architects] and have it retested professionally. It tested much lower but not under the new state limit. However, because it was not a living space, the seller decided to not re-mediate this. The buyer was notified and gave this his approval. However this was all 48-24 hours prior to closing.

 

I would like to mention that we[agents] are under extreme pressure to close with all issues having been "resolved" The lenders are now all extremely nervous about all outstanding issues being resolved prior to closing. We realtors must have everything on the closing statement or we could be accused of "bank fraud" This makes the lead up to closings rather "tense" due to the need to having all problems taken care of and resolved prior to closing. This is good but it still "drives" the process and makes it stressful.

 

 

 

I have been in real estate in greater Portland [Maine]since 1985. 1990- 1993 were challenging markets, but I learned that there are definite benefits to this marketplace for certain people. It is a great opportunity to achieve significant equity, fairly quickly, that would be unobtainable otherwise in a hot sellers market.

The first category of folks is the group who own a starter home and wish to move up the ladder to a more expensive home. They will take a small hit on their starter home but will reap much greater reward by selling their starter home and buying the more expensive home. It is a great opportunity to get much more of a home for less money and when the market takes off again, instant equity occurs.

Of course, the wild card is always interest rates. Monthly payments can be much higher when interest rates increase. Bingo! That is why now is a good time to lock in your very low fixed rate and close on your more expensive home, which you will  pay much less for.

Stay tuned for another group who benefits from this marketplace.

Are you thinking of buying a home or selling your current home, but want to educate yourself more on the current market? The following service is free and easy.  Just fill out the linked form and you will immediately receive a free current market report in your e-mail. The report includes graphs showing recent sales vs. homes currently on the market, an interactive map, and much more. 

Click Here For your Customized Market Report!

Have we bottomed out? The number of units in July '07 compared to the number of units sold in July '06 actually increased by 4% in Maine. The median sales price edged up a little bit also.

Next month will tell us more. Stay tuned! Actually there are advantages to this current marketplace which does not seem to be appreciating quickly as in the several past years. If you are a seller of a "starter home" and you wish to buy a larger more upscale home, This market may work for you. Think about the following: You will take a small "hit" on your current home but you will have a much larger negotiating advantage on your purchase of a larger home. Therefore you will have gotten a "leg up" in terms of your equity position.

This is the advice we gave our clients in the late 80's and early 90's in Southern Maine during the last real estate downturn. It turned out to be true and they have thanked us ever since. I can't believe that I have been doing this for over 20 years! Stay tuned for other advantages to this marketplace. Until then.     Deb Barouch

 

 

It was interesting the new twist that occured in a recent closing. The sellers did not decide that our transaction could be under their employers' relocation benefit program until after we were fully under contract and all contingencies had been negotiated, Therefore the buyers had no obligation to comply. Nor did they feel any obligation to comply. After all, why dissolve your legal contract with the current sellers for a "Relo company", who has no obligation to move forward?

This created hard feelings all around. The buyers feeling that they have been taken advantage of and the sellers feeling that they have lost out on benefits they could have received if the sellers had co-operated.

It was ultimately resolved, but the buyers felt slightly out of sorts being "jerked around" by a complication they had nothing to do with, and which they were not contractually obligated to comply with.

"INTOWN PORTLAND, a peninsula swirling counterclockwise into Casco Bay, lies in thick cultural layers. Starting at New England's third-largest fishing port, Portland Harbor, men and women in foul-weather bibs unload lobster traps and tubs of Atlantic cod. Next is the cobblestoned Old Port, with its boutiques, "commitment ring" jewelers, and Irish pubs. A few blocks away sit the studio and arts districts, with tattooed baristas at gritty cafés, agitprop-chic galleries, and, by sundown, live punk behind closed doors. A quarter of Maine's population lives in and around Portland, but you'd hardly know it come rush hour. Young professionals wear L.L.Bean fleeces and duck boots for all manner of business, even dates, thanks to the company's headquarters being 20 minutes up the road. With relatively mild winters, it's possible to commute by bike almost year-round, and with thick neoprene you can surf in winter. Twenty-six-square-mile Portland has more than 2,000 public-arts events, including free concerts with the likes of Carbon Leaf and the Rebirth Brass Band, and, rumor has it, more ultimate-Frisbee leagues per capita than anywhere else. Maine's highly educated twenty- and thirty-somethings are thick on the ground, keeping their kayaks and snowshoes handy and talking about how they've got it made."

-Outdoor Magazine