You can't beat homeownership - Freeport ranch, log home!

This is a lovely 3 bedroom home in Freeport situated on 2.5 acres of land on Baker Road. I am the listing agent and it is scheduled to close on January 15, 2008. Once it closes, I can provide you the sales price.

It still makes sense to own a house and here is why. You have a "Use" asset that depreciates over time, while it grows in market value. Naturally, you need to keep the home in good repair to maximize your return on investment.

For example, with a stock you put in all your money for a little piece of a company. With a house, you put down a small amount of money (small is debatable) and you get all of the house. What other investment can you put in 5 percent of the cost of the asset, reap all the appreciation and pay no capital gains? Of course you need to own the house for two years and for singles you pay no tax on capital gains up to $250,000. If you're married, you pay no tax on capital gains up to $500,000.

Winslow Park Caretaker's house

I am hopeful that someone at the Freeport Historical Society will comment on my blog to interpret this house at Winslow Park. The restored house no doubt has a story including when it was last renovated. It appears to be the home provided to the caretaker of the park. I would think there would be a long line of applicants for the caretaker position when the current one decides to move on.

Freeport's Purple Pet Pantry & Webster's Proposed Septic Bill

The Pet Pantry featured here in this photo was the center of local media attention this fall with respect to whether or not it conformed with Freeport's ordinance for preserving the traditional New England village look. The owners prevailed when Fred Reeder, the code enforcement office, stated that in fact purple was an acceptable color. In fact, there were probably many colorful homes during the Victorian era around the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Freeport's David Webster is proposal a septic system bill modeled after a Massachusetts law that has allowed that state to have a thriving shellfish industry on Cape Cod, the Elizabeth Islands, including Nantucket. Webster's bill would require that failing coastal septic systems be corrected at the point of sale by the seller or the buyer.

Passenger Rail Update

There is much discussion about the Downeaster and how to fund the train in Maine. There is also talk in the state house about a proposal from the rail authority for Maine to pick up an 8 million dollar tab. In as much as I like the idea of the train service from Boston to Portland including an additional northern rail service to Freeport and further north, I'm a tax payer who is not willing to pay that kind of ticket. I think I've taken the train to Boston twice since the service began4 + years ago. I usually take the bus to Boston's Logan airport as an alternative to driving. It's still cheaper to drive to Boston for the occasional visit to Boston's back bay or to a sporting event.

On the real estate front, there is talk in the media about how home prices rose faster than rents. Since 2000, the price of buying a home shot up faster than the cost of renting one. This large divergence illustrates an overpricing of homes that can't be sustained. "Historically there's a relationship between value of a house and equivalent rents," says Bob Walters, chief economist at Quicken Loans in Livonia, Mich. Information gathered for the real estate news is from the Christian Science Monitor 1-2-2008 article written by Mark Trumbull In 2007, 22 parcels of land in Freeport sold, far fewer than during the peak of the market several years ago.

Forecast for the 2008 Housing market

The Wednesday, January 2, 2008 Christian Science Monitor had a front page article "Home prices: Where's bottom?" There were a few nuggets of information that I wanted to pass along to you including the National Association of Realtors data that said America's median home price is now $210,200, down 3.3 percent from a year ago but 7.6 percent above its 2004 level. In the last 3 months sales volume and prices for existing home sales, not new construction, were fairly stable. The current for-sale market has a 10 month supply of previously owned homes and a nine-month supply of newly built homes. An area of concern is that there is a higher foreclosure rate than in past housing downturns. Obviously a higher foreclosure rate could push prices down faster because a foreclosed home most often sells for a much lower price than a home sold with a Realtor. For a full report see Mark Trumbull's article at http://www.csmonitor.com/

Pound-of-Tea to Bustins - Winter canoe races anyone?

This is a racing canoe seen training on the St. Lawrence river for the upcoming race during carnival time in Quebec City. I propose that Freeport start such a competition especially this year with the early snowfalls we've had that normally don't come until February. In the Fall there is the Lobsterman triathlon here in Freeport. Why not a canoe race from Pound of Tea island to Bustins and back. Maybe I'll contact Beans to see if they want to be a lead sponsor. Who wants to join in and help organize this?

On the Freeport real estate front, there were 100 homes sold in town in 2007. 84 units were single family, the others were condos. Today I've shown property at the Running Ridge subdivision off the Baker Road. This is an affordable, convenient subdivision which seems to be selling well given the market that we are in.

New Year's Day in Freeport & at Pineland Center

Happy New Year! Here is a photo of Snowbird, a lobster boat tied up at the Freeport Town Dock. The easterly, raw wind was starting to kick up while I was down at the harbor this morning and you could feel a snowstorm brewing in the air. All the seasonal snowbirds who enjoy Maine in the warmer months are missing out on all the fabulous snow we are getting this winter. My wife and I went to Pineland Center www.pinelandfarms.org after lunch today to enjoy the miles and miles of groomed cross country ski trails. I saw many Freeporters at the Visitor Center or on the trails this afternoon. What a great way to kick off the new year.