Greetings

People who know me well know that I am not a big weather person. If you ask me what the temperature is out, I rarely know. That has certainly changed this winter though. Between February spring in Maine, snow rain showers and the closest thing to a hurricane that I want to experience, it has been wild.

I enjoyed the Winter Olympics more this year than any other. I especially appreciated them being on through the night of our February windstorm so that I could turn up the volume all night long to avoid listening to the wind and flying debris, and of course most importantly to distract a puppy who was completely out of sorts with the crazy wind and pounding surf that made us think a train was coming through.

On top of all this, and maybe in spite of it, a LOT of real estate business got done in February. If you are a subscriber to our eflash program or a fan of our Facebook page, you saw the many SOLD and UNDER CONTRACT announcements coming through this month. Our Blue Hill office is leading Hancock County in production and, in fact, has completed sales in the first two months of this year equal to their entire 2009. All three offices have more under contract today than at this time last year. Things are good. There are concerns though; the market right now is very, very price sensitive. Many sellers are deciding better to wait, hoping for an even stronger recovery. From exhaustive research, we believe that while the market will come back this year, the prices will not recover – certainly not to the highs of a few years ago. Properties, priced right, should get lots of activity.

Our Inn/B&B brokerage is making a steady comeback. It is truly a challenge though, and fortunately a challenge that our experts eagerly accept. No longer are the days when a lifestyle could get easily financed. Today, regretfully in some circumstances, the banks are all about the numbers; income and expenses. They want their customers to buy realized potential – not potential yet to be proven. This scenario has forced clients and brokers to really work hard to come up with creative ideas and strategies to sell properties. We have more inn closings and pendings on the books for 2010 than any other brokerage and look forward to using our experience and creativity to make even more dreams come true.

March is shaping up to be a really great month for all segments of our business and I hear from our entire team that they are making arrangements for showings and listings at a great pace. Hopefully the weather will help us out and the traditional spring selling season will be a big success for all.

Kim Swan

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