The MDIslander has won first and second place in the color ad category from the Maine Press Association and BOTH were Swan ads.
Maine Press Association Awards

Mount Desert Islander

Local Ad in Color

The Swan Agency Real Estate All Seasons, All Reasons - First Place

Judge??????s comments: ??????A great layout and composition with nice photos.??????

Local Ad in Color

The Swan Agency Real Estate Tour of Homes - Second Place

Judge??????s comments: ??????Clean and inviting layout. I liked the salesperson??????s pictures
in the ad.??????

We have been very, very busy getting ready for the launch of our new niche marketing division, Historic Homes of Maine.
It is very important to all of us at The Swan Agency Sotheby’s International Realty that when we make a representation about a specialty division, or the qualifications of a specialist, we are honest and accurate. The preparation for this new division has been exhaustive research and consideration of this very special market in Maine. We look forward to sharing more information with you soon!

Are you receiving our monthly newsletters? I know over 2000 of you are! If you want to be on our list, just send me an email at kim@swanagency.com and we’ll put you on our list. OR go to our PRESS page and click on newsletters - there they are!

On August 18th at 4PM, our Northeast Harbor Office brokers are hosting a talk with Mr. George Ballantyne. Considered by most, including me, to be the foremost expert on high tier properties throughout the country, George will speak on the past, present and future of the so-called luxury real estate market. If you would like to attend, simply call your Swan broker or email me at kim@swanagency.com for a personal invitation.

The Swan Agency Sotheby’s International Realty’s Innkeeping Boot Camp will be held at the Danforth Inn October 4th -6th. Visit Facebook to watch a segment about the Danforth on Bohler Productions’ Best of Portland 2009:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Danforth-Inn/144371910061?ref=ts

Join us to discover if innkeeping is in your future!

Looking at the first half of year for last three years for total sales production in Hancock County ~ 2009 - $83,230,474. 2008 - $147,988,584. 2007 - $225,951,412. And most interesting is that we have our largest market share ever. When the going gets tough….

So you want to be a real estate investor? We are currently working with local lenders to create a program to work with motivated sellers and buyers. Now is definitely the time to start your real estate investment path. There are compelling reasons to invest in real estate at all times, in all markets, but today you can make some great deals to start on your way. Stay tuned for announcements on participating lenders and properties.

The Swan Agency Sotheby’s Internataional Realty is having a great spring with Cumberland County properties.

Keith Henley and Erica Bates started us out with the sale of a condo at Portland Pier. Keith and Kim Swan handled the sale of The Danforth Inn. Jan Moore sold a beautiful home in Falmouth. The Brunswick Inn on Park Row is under contract. Kim listed two extraordinary properties in Portland’s West End neighborhoold. Things are good!

From today’s New York Times and an interview with Robert Iger about hiring people to join your firm. My thoughts EXACTLY.

A. Carefully. I try to get to know someone, and I obviously use references as an important guide as well. Warren Buffett, who was the largest shareholder of Capital Cities/ABC and someone I am fortunate to have both known and learned from, is fond of saying, ??????When you hire someone, you look for brains, energy and integrity, and if they don??????t have the third, integrity, you better watch out, because the first two will kill you.??????

Be a fan of The Swan Agency Sotheby’s International Realty on Facebook and keep up to date with breaking news of closings and listings and other Company information.

Just looked at statistics for 2009 production. Our Bar Harbor office is currently #12 in the entire State of Maine. We are #1 in Hancock County, which is not a big surprise but we are #6 in Cumberland County, even ahead of the SIR office there that doesn’t show up until #17. TWO of our brokers are in the top 15 in the State! Very, very proud of these accomplishments in such a challenging market and hope that they prove to all that our strategies work.

I read an interesting article in the New York Times this morning about people getting into the real estate business today. People had different reasons but one person made a lot of sense. She said that she figured this was a good time to get in the trenches and learn so that when the market comes back - which it will - she will be a seasoned professional.

There is no doubt that brokers today have to work twice as hard for half the results of a few years ago. Markets like this do cause a lot of departures from the business.

If you think that it is a good time to earn your stripes though, you might want to consider the profession. Those of us that have ridden out the ups and downs know that this is just one more and we’ll soon be talking about the deals we could have all had in 2009.

I was thrilled to hear from Earl Brechlin, Editor of the Mount Desert Islander this morning that he attended the New England Press Association meeting in Boston this weekend and the Islander won first place once again for General Excellence. Congratulations to them!

AND!!!! that The Swan Agency Sotheby’s International Realty ad won for them for the best weekly newspaper real estate ad in all of New England!

All of the credit goes to Tonya Gillespie, our AMAZING marketing director. Her creativity and original approach to our ads make them especially gorgeous and informative. Our clients deserve the best and Tonya makes sure they get it. Thank you Tonya and Congratualtions!

Now for our third blog topic, our lodging division. If you have questions or comments about any of our inns or B&Bs, feel free to ask here. We will also be posting all of our sales, with the new owner’s names so that you can contact them and congratulate them on their purchases. Stay tuned.

Welcome to our newest blog topic. People ask us all the time what a house sold for. It is public knowledge, just a little hard to find and takes a while to get reported to the Town Offices. Just post the address here and we’ll post the sale price.