Archive for June, 2008
Northeastern Maine Lakefront Real Estate - No Small Potatoes
June 30th, 2008 categories: Observations and Commentary
While the Presque Isle Region may be best known for growing potatoes, this northern Maine region has its share of wilderness, woods, and water and provides recreational opportunities to those who crave outdoor activities.
In addition to the hiking , fishing, canoeing and kayaking that can be enjoyed on the many good-sized lakes and rivers in the area, winter brings deep snow and, with it, unparalleled snowmobiling, snowshoeing, and Nordic skiing.
This region is also well-populated by good sized towns, so area activities also include many fairs, festivals, and historic sites. The town of Caribou has an Arts and Crafts Fair in October, a Performing Arts Center, and the Nylander Museum featuring exhibits on natural history. Fort Fairfield has its Potato Blossom Festival and an 18 hole golf course. Fort Kent hosts the Can-Am Sled Dog Races and is home to the Maine Winter Sports Center. Houlton has a historic downtown district with 28 architecturally significant buildings, and Presque Isle has the Crown of Maine Balloon Festival every August.
The preeminent lakes in the area make up the well-known Fish River Chain that includes Long Lake, Mud Lake, Cross Lake, Square Lake, and Eagle Lake, then further south, St. Froid Lake and Portage Lake. The area also has many smaller lakes and ponds and two major rivers, the St. John and the Aroostock.
Whether you crave the remote beauty of northern Maine or warm to the energy and pluck of the people who live and work here, the Presque Isle Region is a fun place to visit and a great place to live.
Lakefront Locator will get you to available listings in the Presque Isle Region. LakeSmart is a research tool that will give you important information about area lakes.
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Maine Waterfront Property - What To Do When You Get Here
June 24th, 2008 categories: Sebago Lakes Region
Summer in Maine is all about balancing activities with relaxation - and eating! If you’re coming to the Sebago Lakes area this weekend or next you might want to check out several things to do to locally besides just dangling your bare feet in the lake.
Here’s a short sampling of some of the area events. Make sure to check the local paper, The Bridgton News, or the local Chamber of Commerce website at www.mainelakeschamber.com for a complete listing of area activities.
June 25 thru 29 - 8 pm “In Good Spirits” by Howard Odentz at Deertrees Theatre in Harrison. Sat/Sun matinees at 2 pm. A musical comedy about ghosts, an old theatre, and a small town in Maine that could almost been written about Deertrees itself. FMI: 207-583-6747 or www.deertreestheatre.orgJune 28 - Barn Sale to raise money for both Pondicherry Park and the Lakes Environmental Association. 8 am to 2 pm at home of Nina Keene, 76 High St., Bridgton, rain or shine.
June 28 - Strawberry Pancake Supper, 5 to 6 pm, Casco Village Church, Rte. 121, Casco.
June 28 - Horse Show and fundraising events at Waterford’s World Fair, Green Road off Rte. 35. Chinese auction fundraiser, preview 11 am, auction 1 pm. Horse show and livestock demonstrations begin at 9 am.
June 28 - Strawberry Festival, Poland Spring Resort Inn, Rte. 26, Poland. FMI: 998-4364, 782-1077.
June 28 - Mary Kaye with Professor von Wienerschnitzel at Denmark Arts Center. FMI: 207-452-2412.
June 28 and 29 - Lakeside Grange #63 Ninth Annual yard sale starting at 7 am at the Grange in Harrison Village. Early birds welcome!
June 29 - Painting a Maine Garden at McLaughlin Garden in South Paris. 10 am to 3 pm. FMI: 207-743-8820.
June 30 - Open House at Narramissic/Peabody Fitch House in South Bridgton. FMI: 207-647-3699.
June 30 - Portland Symphony Orchestra at Shawnee Peak. 7:30 pm. Fireworks following show. Pre-event tickets on sale at Shawnee Peak or online at: www.porttix.com
July 3 - Spaghetti Feast at Bridgton Academy in North Bridgton, 5 to 7 pm.
July 4 - 32nd Annual Bridgton 4 on the Fourth Road Race begins at 8 am at Main St. and Rte. 117. FMI or to register online: www.4onthe4th.com
July 5 - Friends of the Library Annual Book and Bake Sale at the Bridgton Public Library, 9 am to 3 pm. FMI: 207-647-2472.
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Maine Lakefront Real Estate - Questions For The Code Enforcement Officer
June 17th, 2008 categories: Observations and Commentary
When buying a Maine waterfront property always make your offer contingent on having a satisfactory discussion with the local Code Enforcement Officer. No matter how knowledgeable your buyer’s agent may be, he or she has no jurisdiction over the application of state and local rules and ordinances. The Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) does.
Make an appointment to meet the CEO at the property. Walk the property with him or her and be prepared to ask questions. Here are some suggestions.
A good place to start is to confirm the things you already think you know. Never assume! For example, how close to the water can I build? What are the sideline setbacks? How far do I need to be from the road? Is that distance measured from the middle of the road or the side of the road? What are the location requirements for my septic tank, leach field, and well? If there is an existing structure in the 100 foot zone, can I utilize the 30% expansion rule?
Regarding what can and cannot be done within the 100 foot protected zone, here is a list of questions you may want to ask:
What bushes and trees can I cut down?
Can I prune back the bushes that grow along the shoreline?
Can I remove a half-dead or diseased tree?
Can I disturb a wildlife habitat, e.g. woodchuck burrow, bobolink nest, or beaver dam?
Can I keep a field area mowed and fertilized?
Can I pasture a horse in this area? What about other animals?
Where can I put in a dock and how big can it be?
Are there any limitations for boat and motor size for this body of water?
Can I have a firepit down by the water?
Can I plant anything I want, from vegetable garden to trees and schrubs?
Can I use Round Up to kill off the poison ivy growing along the shoreline?
Can I move rocks, branches, leaves and debris that are currently under water?
Where can I move them to? To one side underwater, or can I remove them from the water and dispose of them?
These are some of the more common questions that come up when buyers contemplate a lakefront property purchase. Remember - make sure you protect yourself by always adding this contingency to your offer: “Offer is contingent upon having a satisfactory discussion with the local Code Enforcement Officer”. Do your homework, ask good questions and make sure to get clear, satisfactory answers. Do this and you may save yourself some bitter disappointments and difficulties after the sale has closed.
By the way, if you’d like to take a look at some current lakefront listings it’s as easy as clicking right here on our Lakefront Locator. View all the current lakefront listings for the entire state on this single website!
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Maine Lakefront Real Estate - Sandy Beach Tops the List
June 12th, 2008 categories: Sebago Lakes Region
Of all the attributes of a lakefront property, having a sandy beach tops the list.
I remember growing up in Harrison and learning to swim at the public beach at Crystal Lake. This was long before the ballpark and picnic area was put it. There was just a winding path through an open field for the village kids to follow that ended at a beautiful sandy public beach on the south shore of the lake. Having that long expanse of sandy beach and also having sand beneath your feet as you walked out into the water was wonderful, but we just took that for commonplace. How little we knew as kids and how lucky we were.
Now that I work in a real estate business that specializes in lakefront property I realize how rare that sandy beach/sandy entry can be to find. But don’t despair. If you’re looking in the Sebago Lake area for property, your chances for finding that sandy beach are far greater than if you’re looking up in the Rangeley area, for instance. For some reason, known only to geologists, sandy beaches are as rare as hen’s teeth in Rangeley.
The Sebago Lake area is another story, however. We are blessed with many shorefront feet of sandy beach on any number of lakes and ponds in the area. Realize, however, that a property in possession of a sandy beach will reflect that desirable attribute in its price. The more sand you have, the higher the price, generally speaking.
If you’d like to read about all five top attributes of a lakefront property including the sandy beach go to our Lakefront 101. If you’d like to search on your own for a property with a nice sandy beach, use our Lakefront Locator.
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Lincoln Region Offers Maine Lakefront Real Estate in the Wild
June 9th, 2008 categories: Observations and Commentary
The Lincoln region is anchored by two landmarks - the town of Lincoln, which sits just off the Interstate, and a fantastic, well-known body of water by the name of West Grand Lake.
This whole area is located on the east side of central Maine and has many lakes and ponds, but few towns and villages. North and east of Bangor and south and east of Katahdin, it runs from the Interstate, on its west side to the Canadian border and the Province of New Brunswick in the east.
Fishing and canoeing are the main areas of interest here along with the wonderful Maine wilderness experience you find in these more remote regions.
The major lakes and ponds in the region are found in the southeastern part, an area fairly remote and unpopulated. Find here the already mentioned West Grand Lake, also Nicatous Lake, Sysladobsis Lake, Junior Lake, and Big Lake. There are a couple of interesting groups of smaller lakes named First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Machias Lakes, and also First, Second and Third Chain Lakes.
Just outside of Lincoln are several small ponds, all in a group. They are Mattanawcook Pond, Crooked Pond, Folsom Pond, and Silver Lake. Then, just north of Rte. 6, find Stump Pond, Center Pond, Caribou Pond, Egg Pond, Long Pond, and Cambolasse Pond. Further to the east of here, nearer the Canadian border, find east and west Musquash Lake, Pleasant Lake, Baskahegan Lake, and Grand Lake.
The northern part of this area has fewer lakes and ponds, but several small towns. Travelling northeast away from Lincoln come to the towns and villages of Mattawamkeag, Macwahoc, Wytopitlock, and Danforth on the Canadian border. Travel for miles in this area without seeing much in the way of population - just vistas of forested hills, country roads, lakes and ponds, and abundant wildlife.
Lakefront Locator will get you to available listings in the Lincoln Region. LakeSmart is a research tool that will give you important information about area lakes.
If you have a question or need a friend in the business let us know. We love Maine’s lakes and ponds and want to share them with you.
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Maine Lakefront Real Estate - Kids and Fishing a Great Combination
June 6th, 2008 categories: Sebago Lakes Region
I was reading a recent dispatch from the local fisheries biologist about some of the Sebago Lake area fishing going on and was remided what a memory-making activity fishing can be.
Young children are so impressionable and giving them a good fishing experience can provide them with wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.
Take a minute to read this recent report and see if it doesn’t make you want to go find a young person, dig up a bunch of worms, and go try your luck at a nearby lake or stream.
From the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, June 4, 2008:
Southwestern Maine - Local anglers have reported some great trout and salmon fishing in southern Maine over Memorial Day week, and the cool nights should continue that trend for the foreseeable future.
An angler from Raymond reported a fantastic trip on Sebago Lake, where two fishermen each caught and harvested their limit of six lake trout. Although their primary target was togue, they also caught and released several salmon with a total of 19 salmonids boated!
My dad went out on Sebago on Memorial Day with my brother-in-law, nephew, and my niece’s boyfriend and they landed three salmon and a laker. My 11-year-old nephew, Casey Brown, caught a 16-inch landlocked salmon and a 24-inch lake trout. He released the salmon, but proudly harvested the trout. My sister stuffed the togue and baked it for dinner, and my nephew proclaimed, “I’m providing dinner for the family tonight!”
Stream fishing for trout also has been good. I ran into my neighbor’s son while shopping at Cabela’s and he reported catching some brookies and browns on the Little River in Gorham. He released the browns hoping they would grow up to the 24-incher he landed there a few years back, but decided to keep the “put-and-take” brookies that wouldn’t fair too well once the river warms up later in the summer. I was planning to take my 4-year-old son, Hunter, bass fishing over the weekend, but our plans were foiled by the weather. Saturday rained and it was blowing a gale on Sunday afternoon. A four year old, high winds and a canoe are not a good combination. Hunter was disappointed, so I took him down to the Presumpscot River below the Mallison Dam. We saw several fly fishermen, and two of them landed trout during the short time we were there. Hunter managed to get in a half-dozen or more casts in with his Scooby-Doo fishing rod before deciding that throwing rocks into river was way more fun! He had a great time, and I realized that I was probably going to have to invest in a rod that casts more than 6-10 feet if I ever want him to catch a fish and stop throwing rocks!
Smallmouth bass are spawning and largemouths will soon follow. It’s a great time to get out there and bass fish. Male smallmouths are extremely aggressive when guarding their nest, and it is not uncommon to catch the same fish multiple times in a day. However, spawning can be a difficult time on these fish and I wouldn’t recommend over fishing a particular individual. Besides there may be a bigger bass behind the next boulder, although less aggressive, largemouths will also be easier to target during their spawning season. Not only is the action good, but you combine that with sight fishing and quality sized adults – it’s hard to beat! In my opinion it can be one of the best fishing times of the year, and I’m a trout fisherman at heart.
Late spring bass fishing is also a great way to introduce kids to fishing, since the action and catching can be almost nonstop. Get outdoors and enjoy. It’s one of the best seasons for both trout and bass! - James Pellerin, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist, Gray .
My thanks to the Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for this report. You can check out an abundance of fishing opportunities at their website. Just click on this link.
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For Maine Lakefront Real Estate Buyers, Time + Gas = Real $$$
June 3rd, 2008 categories: Observations and Commentary
With gas now at $4 a gallon for regular the last thing you want to be doing, if you’re a buyer of Maine lakefront property, is driving all over hill and dale with a fistfull of listing addresses and your eyes glued to a GPS screen.
Your intentions are good - do a bunch of “drive bys”, get a feel for the area, and whittle your “potentials” list down to something manageable. Sure, you burn through a $60 tank of gas and the use of a sick day to take a self-guided tour of the Maine lakefront market, but to make this effort worth it you need to accomplish what you set out to do.
More often than not, however, the ugly truth is you end up more scattered and confused than when you started and you come to the grim realization that the road to real estate hell is, indeed, paved with your “good intentions”.
The sequence goes something like this: you start online and find ten properties that look pretty nice on the laptop. You’re able to get the addresses, so you plug them into your GPS, you call in sick, you buy that $60 tank of gas, and you tool up I-95 to Maine. So far, so good. You’re determined to see all ten properties.
You drive from one lake to another, down camp roads and on main roads; you see camps that don’t seemed habitable and year round houses that seem gorgeous - all priced the same; you look at the same lake three different times, in three different towns and don’t realize it; some addresses the GPS can’t find and others are flat out wrong; you wonder how far it must be to buy a loaf of bread or charcoal or dog food after you’ve driven two miles on a private road that doesn’t go anywhere. When you get out to look at the water you see all kinds of things: weeds, leaves, and muck, or sand, rocks and clear water. You see bushes growing along the water, dead trees on the shoreline, and a black hose going out into the lake. It seems that no two places are remotely similar and each property raises a host of questions, yet they’re all priced pretty much the same.
Finally, you get to the last property on the list and you really like it. There’s a real estate agency “For Sale” sign there with a phone number. You call. They answer. They tell you the seller needs a 24 hour notice to show it. Can you come back tomorrow? Arrgh!
You’re already two hours late in getting back home. Your tired, dejected, and can’t remember if it was the fourth or fifth place you saw that had that beautiful dock system and two car garage. You wonder what went wrong. How could driving around looking at houses be so exhausting? You thought it would just be a nice drive in the country.
But then you remember that buying a second home is a big decision, one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll ever make. This is serious stuff. You’re a smart person, but there are so many issues that come to mind, so much to think about. And you really don’t know all that much about the area, or what lake is better than another, or how far it is to the nearest hospital or movie theater, or who pays for the upkeep of a private road, or how do I get the septic system checked out, or why can’t I build a deck on the front of the house, or what is that black hose doing running out into the lake?
Now you’re getting stressed. You can feel the weight of all these questions bearing down on you as you drive in the twilight, back down I-95, back over the bridge to somewhere other than Maine. On the way, you have to stop in Kennebunk to get gas.
Don’t let this be you. How? Very simple. Call a real estate exclusive buyer’s agent first. Get to know them. Build a relationship. When you’re ready to come to Maine, come to the buyer’s agent office. Sit down with them and discuss what your needs and desires are in a lakefront property. Have a lakefront real estate expert explain the services he or she provides and let them help you find just the right property using the information about yourself that you provide to them. They know the market, they know the questions to ask, and they work exclusively for you.
A buyer’s broker will not only save you time and gas money, but also negotiate the best price for you, help you with financing, facilitate all the paperwork, aid in any inspections, and go with you to closing.
And now, a shameless plug for the buyer’s brokers at Mr. Lakefront. The buyer’s brokers in our office are lakefront experts. Lakefront property is all we do. Just in the Sebago Lake area alone there are 60 lakes and 20 towns. Today there are over 240 lakefront properties listed in this area, $200,000 and up. Our brokers know these lakes, know these towns, and are familiar with most of these current listings. They can save you a lot of “looking around” on your own if you would just call them first and have a no obligation, introductory meeting. How easy is that?!
So, continue to use our Lakefront Locator to view current lakefront listings. But when you’re ready to come and have a look, call us first. We’ll help you find just the right property and alleviate a lot of the stress that can come with making such an important decision for you and your family. Oh yes, the number to call is 207-655-8787.
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Maine Waterfront Property - Allagash Just Woods, Water, Beauty
June 1st, 2008 categories: Maine Waterfront Living
One would be hard pressed to find a more remote wilderness area in the lower 48 than this most northwest area of Maine that we call The Allagash. It is also referred to, quite accurately, as The Great North Woods.
Largely owned by paper company and timber interests and encompassing no towns, save Allagash, this huge area features several large lakes in the south and rivers in the north.
The Allagash and St. John Rivers bisect the northern part of this region providing canoeists and fishermen with an unparalleled wilderness experience as they follow the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. To the south are the large lakes - Chamberlain, Caucomgomoc, Allagash, Churchill, Munsungan, Eagle, and Chemquasabamticook. The region is also spotted with many more smaller lakes and ponds.
Criss-crossed by logging roads and hiking trails, the Allagash is remote and harder to access than any other area in Maine, but holds a wonder and a unique beauty for any who are bold enough to explore it.
Lakefront Locator will get you to available listings in the Allagash Region. LakeSmart is a research tool that will give you important information about area lakes.
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Tom - MrLakefront
