Ten foot marks all over the property.  Unrealistic expectations. The property is not selling...and sometimes a seller has a light bulb come on. "Hey..maybe the place is priced too low..that's why it is not selling."  If you over price a property, it sits there. It gains shelf life where folks that see the place wonder..hmmmm...must be something wrong with the place, its not selling.  Maybe lack of marketing and hefty pricing or both are the reason despite whatever the real estate market climate is.  Price your property fairly with the help of a trained, experienced REALTOR. Sytematically hammer out a consistent, exposure strategy for the marketing of your real estate. There is ALWAYS a market, always.  But the supply of "just like your property" listings coupled with how clean, how attr... 10/18/2008

Fall in Maine. Clean crisp air, soccer season underway, and wrap up of the fall potato harvest. Warm days, chilly early mornings and evenings. Autumn in "Vacationland" is hard to beat. Sometimes there is an injury, and health care providers are right there. This accident with a broken leg was quickly responded to and part of the game. The local high school teams in Maine are just as big a deal to watch, cheer for, hoot and holler with your friends, neighbors and other parents as if it was the Red Sox in an world series game! Small town values, home made fun, community pride.  That's Maine, the way life should be. Come up to see the foiliage. Plan to picnic, camp, hunt, and get ready for snowsledding that is just around the corner. Four season living in Maine.  Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers 10/13/2008

     There are a gazillion banks around the planet, but when you buy real estate in Houlton Maine you have a good selection of local financial options! Scope them out in this video to help show you what we have for financial players in the Aroostook County Seat or "Shiretown". Then buckle up and we'll spin you up and down Main Street to give you a feel of the local turf in Houlton.  Come up and see the peak fall foliage and scope out our area.  Fall potato harvest operations underway too! Remember, New Jersey has 1000 people per square mile. Alaska has 1 for that same square mile, and Aroostook County, which is the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island has 11 friendly folks each mile. Elbow room, bluer skies, brighter stars, unspoiled countryside.  No traffic, no crime, plenty of wildlif... 10/05/2008

     Fall is here. Everyone is economizing and many are wondering why didn't they run a tighter ship when money was freer and the economy was rosier? Being frugal and being cheap are not the same thing.  Cheap is not paying your waitress much or anything for a bang up job of getting you served with a smile.  Frugal is wrapping up in a blanket or afghan on the couch while you are watching a movie in the dead of winter.  Does not mean the home is set at 50 degrees or that your houseplants are dying and your pets are blue and shivering.  It means you don't have it cranked to 78 degrees on the thermostat and leave it soddered to that setting from September to May in New England.  Its weather stripping the doors, making sure cellar windows are in, that you have adequate insulation in the att... 09/24/2008

     The brilliant fall colors in Northern Maine are starting thanks to the work of Jack Frost in early morning potato harvest weather.  School is recessed for three weeks and the students are helping area spud growers get the golden nuggets harvested.  Picking crews, if they are trained and attentive, can do a better job than harvesters of "picking them clean" which means not leaving potatoes behind, unpicked to make the trip to the storage bins. Harvesters cover much more ground quickly than the average picking crew and the clock is ticking to get them out of the ground before frost damage.  So what about that winter's free supply of potatoes that brought you into this blog entry? Local farmers who harvest field A today will gladly let you glean the turned up hills of potatoes for spu... 09/23/2008

      Cool mornings, warm afternoons as area youth help local potato farms in Aroostook County get the golden nuggets out of the ground. Youth learn work ethic, know the farmer needs them to harvest the crop.  As a kid, our winter clothes were bought with money from our earnings. Part of the harvest savings could be spent on a toy...but saving it, and using it to buy our winter jacket was the tradition for all families in the area.  Everyone growing up picked potatoes, enjoyed their lunches lovingly packed for the field, had friendly spirited potato fights during break downs of the digger or during lunch.  Local field workers learned frustrations of running out of barrels and getting behind, having their water jog run over by a farm truck picking up barrels.  The fellow next door is get... 09/22/2008

    You're traveling North to the Atlantic Canadian Provinces with your motor home, and are saying "Gee...wouldn't it be nice to access the internet to see what we are missing for news from home?" Swing that big RV into the Houlton Maine Tourist Information Center, flip up the screen on your laptop and enjoy high speed internet wireless access.  The State Of Maine has the right of idea for thr traveling tourist passing thru Houlton Maine / Aroostook County.  Spread the word on this neat feature from the MTA.     Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Aroostook County Information And Houlton Maine Real Estate 09/15/2008

   The Houlton Maine Rotary Club is part of district 7810 . One of the biggest fund raisers the Houlton Rotary Club has done for over 50 years is the fall auction. Over $50,000 worth of items are collected, labeled and marketed thru a newspaper supplement listing the treasures.  Thru the local WHOU radio, Polaris Cable And on line with help from Pioneer Wireless, the local Houlton Rotarians push the product and have fun doing it in a local community down home sort of way.  Watch the video on the Houlton Maine Rotary Auction 52nd auction. I finished up my solicitation today and cards with the items outlined and sponsor information are due back to Nancy Ketch by September 15th's meeting. The auction is always held around the three nights before Thanksgiving and lots of folks home for the ... 09/11/2008

   In America, the fast paced do business now hectic approach is so vastly different than doing business with other cultures and nationalities.  Joe Salesman who rattles off that he can provide this service for this fee and is tapping his fingers for approval or written authorization is in for a suprise.  Hold your horses.  Put down the contracts explaining the fine print. Out of country business people want to sit down, have some tea or local drink, and get to know the person they are considering doing business with.  Hold off on the product cost if they buy so many gross, etc . The potential client wants to know  are you married, have any kids, what ages and learn the values of the person they may do business with.  On the presidential hoopla for the Republican Convention, the media, ... 09/10/2008

     Houlton Maine has been  nicknamed "The Music Town of Maine'. Year after year, show choirs, percussion ensembles, jazz bands and other state wide Maine competitions find the Shiretowners come out on top! The reason for such musical excellence is youth grow up singing in church and playing in McGill's Band summers. Students start in early elementary school playing a musical instrument and singing difficult challenging works taught by band / music directors who all have the same passion and vision.  This year's band or music director passes the student to next year's director trained and there is no wasted time or lack of continuity to "build" a top performer.  The instructors sail and socialize and are thinking music on the job and off! The youth look happy, excited and without cocki... 09/02/2008

     The secret to life is to make the most of the circumstances you are dealt, to remember that family is everything, to think of others and be a good neighbor, to work hard and be passionate about your job. To make your community a better place to live, work and play. Local Houlton Maine and Aroostook County youth work growing up for their spending money.  They are taught respect for others, for property and to appreciate all they do have not what they have for a list of galloping gimmees.  The Northern Maine potato harvest will start in about three weeks and that is a time enjoyed by young and old alike as a tradition special to the "County". Already, youth have jobs lined up in the potato fields and spud houses to make money for those expensive A&F pants, or a new downhill ski coat,... 08/26/2008

    What's Cooking In Your Home Town? If You Only Had One Channel To Watch For Entertainment And Information, It Might Be Like Living In A Government Controled Country.  Fortunately We Have Lots Of Choices And We Like To Explore Them Quickly.  As A Maine Real Estate Broker, In Addition To Promoting Property, Our Biggest Job And Responsibility Is To Market Maine.  "Vacationland" Has Lots To Offer And Rather Than One Blog, One Website, One Video Outlet....A Maine REALTOR Needs To Have Many "Broadcast" Options.  And There A Slug Of Them Out There.  One Other Blog We Feed Is Blogger. We Upload Video To Many Sources But Still The 800 Pound Gorilla For History And Name Recognition Is You Tube.  You Have The Property Information, You Know Your Area Of The State You Live In, Make Sure To Not Li... 08/19/2008

     Hear The Question Daily..."Got Anything Cheap, Nothing Special, Doesn't Have To be Large Or Filled With Fine Features...Just Want To Own Something, Anything In Maine."  The need to just own something in Maine is a strong one.  Motivation?  If all heck broke loose where John or Jane Real Estate Buyer live now, they have a small parcel of land or a second home to retreat to in a hurry. Recreational value of local property is extremely high while the price tag for it is incredible low in comparision  to where the buyer hangs his hat at the end of the day now. Property is so inexpensive compared to the rest of the world that buyers feel like a kid in a candy store.  They want to, and can buy multiple properties due to the real estate dollar's buying power in Maine!      Last week close... 08/14/2008

Neat how technology links you to the events as they happen! Local drive Lucas Grant is in the top nine..the winner of the local Houlton Northern Maine Soap Box Derby Race 2008!  Proud of the parents and driver...and in a small town, everyone knows the folks they are cheering, hooting for.  Here is the link for live streaming of the big world series of racing in Akron Ohio!  Houlton Maine has been the site of the largestr local race in the country five years in a row!  Go Lucas Grant!  For local derby program visit website.  Lucas Grant and Sara Heath are in Akron Ohio for the week.  Here is the live link address...its a long one but to make sure you get it all  http://media.myfoxcleveland.com/livestreaming/FF_NEWS_CHAT_B.html  07/26/2008

Houlton Maine...with under 7000 population is a vibrant community found at the beginning of I-95 In Aroostook County.  Next door to the Atlantic provinces of Canada, the quality of life with clean air, unpolluted water and low population add to the beauty of 4 season living.  Recreational opportunties abound whether your fancy is paddling lazily around a nearby lake, or hiking the steepest trail Abol on Mt Katahdin at Baxter State Park or playing the challenging Houlton Community Golf Course.  Enjoy the local McGill's Community Band playing most thursday nights behind Cary Library in a special outdoor amphitheatre offering a chance to meet the local population  of down to earth, hardworking individuals.  You come for the day and may stay a life time.  Houlton Maine has superior schools ... 07/23/2008

 Video for the 208 Northern Maine Soap Box Derby Race has been posted...the winners imaged...but the rest of the scenes....they are parked here! Fun with the family in spirited down hill soap box derby race on "Derby Hill" at Community Park in Houlton Maine.  Over 50 racers in this year's gravity race...up to 172 in previous years as new groups of kids enter the racing circuit from around Aroostook, Washington and Penobscot County Maine!  The Houlton Maine race was the largest in the country 5 years running...pretty awesome for a town of 6700 and an area spread out over Northern Maine.  It is an example of the kind of people..the type of parents that live here. Volunteers, family oriented...giving kids an event to be proud of with tons of local community spirit!  Here are some of the hi... 07/22/2008

A Maine REALTOR cares about his community with fierce pride.  He or she is involved in the civic organizations, local events and has a volunteer heart as big as the Pine Tree State.  Home grown involvement makes the local flavor of Maine towns special.  These three videos show you a taste of that local flavor...Maine REALTORS capture it..package it, broadcast it thru blogs, podcasts, vidcasts, website placement and videos thru the many options available. Maine..the way life should be. Just now it is not a secret or known by just the locals.  Spread the word, beat the drum for how vibrant your home town is!   Local Northern Maine Soap Box Derby Race!                                                                                Local 4 Day 4th Of July Celebration & Fair In Houlton Maine ... 07/17/2008

Northeast of Baxter Park and Katahdin lies the Houlton Region. Part wooded wilderness, part agricultural landscape, this region stretches from Sherman Mills in the south, up through Houlton and the end of the Interstate, then due north to Mars Hill. Most of the towns in this region are located on or near the Interstate and Rte. 1 and the lakes most populated with properties are generally the smaller ones that are closer to the towns. Spaulding Lake and Timoney Lake are 116 and 55 acres respectfully - quite small comparatively - but generally have properties listed for sale on them. Conversely, the northern reach of East Grand Lake, which bumps into this region and is one of Maine's largest lakes, usually has properties for sale. Also check out Small, Pleasant, and Mattawamkeag lakes and... 07/17/2008

     Aroostook Internet, Fairpoint DSL (formerly Verizon), Pioneer Wireless, GWI, and a slew of other high speed internet options exist in Houlton Maine & Southern Aroostook.  Maine in general is pretty savvy when it comes to offering fast internet service in remote areas you would not expect to be able to log on without the standard pokey dial up option.  Make sure to do a site evaluation if you plan to telecommute to your regular job on line where you live now in the move to Maine.  And BEFORE you buy a particular spot of real estate in Maine.  The terrain and mean even removing a limb or tree will not yield the high speed you desire! Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Houlton Maine & Aroostook County Real Estate & Area Information Links 07/13/2008

You have shelled out a tidy sum for new windows and  new siding with insulation board added underneath.  You have updated heating systems, added new insulated doors..you are all set right? No...many Maine homes or business property that are one floor have no hatch or a small opening to access the attic.  What is in your attic in this Northern state that needs to be added to for insulation? Make the opening in a closet ceiling...and beef up what is there..heat rises remember? And around a chimney, there may be a gap causing a major draft. Don't just lay insulation over that gap..seal it off..put gasket insulation into the crevice in the attic and in the cellar to stop the draft.  Duct tape and seal off the heat loss and make a blanket of 2 feet of insulation in that attic before next win... 07/12/2008