Bridgton, ME

The primary reason lakefront buyers come to the Mr Lakefront website, www.mrlakefront.net , is to look at lakefront real estate. That's as it should be.

The Lakefront Locator is designed to allow waterfront home buyers to narrow down your search to those properties that fit your criteria or meet your needs. There's lots of choices. What Lake Region? What type of property? What price range? What town(s)? What lake(s)? Once you've figured that out, then one can select how the results are displayed. From oldest on the market to newest or newest to oldest. Highest priced to lowest prices or lowest to highest priced.

There is also a Map Results feature. This feature allows one to display the results of one's search on a map. It took some effort on our part to bring it to you. Zooming in and out takes some getting used to, but worth the effort. If you haven't used it give it a go!

However, the map results feature is not perfect. It is not perfect because it relies on those pesky critters, my fellow real estate agents, to provide accurate street addresses for all properties. For example, problems crop up if an address is misspelled. It could be as simple as High View Avenue being entered in instead of Hi Vu Avenue.

To make matters worse, some real estate agents have decided not to allow the street addresses of their listings to appear. This results in Google Earth and Google Maps being unable to plot them on a map for us.

Nevertheless, the map results feature in Lakefront Locator, although imperfect, is still deserving of your inspection.

Many of our best ideas and features come from you folks, the users of Lakefront Locator. Let us know how we can improve the website and register to win a $100 Gift Certificate to LL Bean.

One of the components of most general home inspections in Maine is to test for the presence of radon, a colorless, odorless gas that is a known carcinogen.

Radon gas seeps out of fissures in granite bedrock and can find its way into the basements and living areas of Maine homes. Because we have a lot of granite bedrock in Maine we often find varying levels of radon gas. If too much gas is found then the installation of a mitigation system is usually recommended that reduces the amount of the gas to an acceptable level.

Here is what the Department of Environmental Protection has to say about radon:

"Radon is an odorless, invisible gas known to be a human lung carcinogen. Millions of homes and buildings contain high levels of radon gas. The EPA's efforts are directed at locating homes with high levels and encouraging mitigation.

As a means of prevention, the EPA and the Office of the Surgeon General recommend that all homes below the third floor be tested for radon. Because radon is invisible, a simple test is the only way to determine if a home has high radon levels. The EPA recommends mitigating homes with high radon levels and there are straight-forward reduction techniques that will work in most any home.

Most homes will not have a radon problem, but there is a simple test to find out if you do or don't have high radon levels in your home. - The US Environmental Protection Agency's position on Radon."

Mitigating the problem generally involves the installation of a ventilation system in the basement of a house that simply draws the air from the basement and vents it to the outdoors.

Radon can also be present in a private water supply. The danger here is not from drinking the water, but from breathing the air from around a water source where radon is present, for example when taking a shower. Simple filtration systems can be installed to eliminate harmful concentration levels of radon in the water.

Mitigation systems for both air and water run in the $1000 to $1500 level depending on the situation.

To learn more about radon you can simply Google it and find many helpful websites. I found one that was pretty concise and helpful. Click here to take a look.

Mr. Lakefront's opinion is that radon is often a part of living in a Maine home and is something that requires your attention and the attention of a professional if you're buying a home in Maine. However, the presence of radon is a situation that is usually easy to mitigate and should pose no health threat to you or your family if properly addressed by a professional.

Mr. Lakefront does not usually make it a practice to promote the sale of other agents listings. I have an obligation to my sellers to promote their properties.

However, we do care about getting our lakefront buyer clients great deals, whoever has the listing. Occasionally, some great bargains become available for whatever the reason. I think it's a good thing to let our readership know of these terrific deals.

I'm referring to lakefront building lots on beautiful Woods Pond in Bridgton. There are three lakefront building lots available . These lots all have over 200 feet on the water and are all over an acre and a half in size.

Lot #5, MLS# 903722 originally priced at $315,000 is now $169,000!

Lot #7 MLS# 869580 originally priced at $275,000 is now $149,000!

Lot#2 MLS # 869558 originally priced at $310,000 is now $199,000!

These prices are beyond end of season pricing. These are fire sale prices on nice lakefront lots on a lovely body of water.

Opportunity is knocking. Is anybody listening? Two years from now I hope not to hear one of our clients say "I shoulda, I coulda, if only I woulda".

If you are interested in knowing more, let us know. We love Maine lakefront properties and want to share them with you.

Check out all the current lakefront listings on our Lakefront Locator.

A recent report from the Maine Association of Realtors reports that July home sales in Maine fell more than 17% from the same month last year.

There were 1,032 single family homes in Maine that changed hands in July, a 17.2% decrease from the 1,247 homes sold the same month last year.

Meanwhile, the statewide median sales price dipped 3.5% to $192,000 in July. See the full press release here.

Meanwhile, anecdotal evidence in the Sebago Lake Region is that activity is picking up. I thought I would continue presenting some listing and sales figures for some area lakes and ponds as my recent blog post on activity on Sebago Lake, Thompson Lake and Long Lake proved pretty popular. Below, see a list of other lakes and ponds in the area followed by numbers for C (current properties for sale), P (under contract/sale pending), and S (sold - year to date).

Brandy Pond: C-5, P-0, S-2

Crescent Lake: C-4,P-0, S-2

Hancock Pond: C-5, P-0, S-3

Highland Lake - Bridgton: C-2, P-0, S-3

Highland Lake - Windham: C-7, P-1, S-3

Little Sebago Lake: C-27, P-3, S-3

Lovewell Pond: C-5, P-0, S-0

Moose Pond: C-16, P-2, S-4

Panther Pond: C-6, P-1, S-4

Raymond Pond: C-7, P-0, S-1

Thomas Pond: C-6, P-0, S-2

If you don't see your favorite lake or pond in this list, send me an email and I'll send the figures to you. Also, if there is other data that you'd be interested in reading about, e.g. sales prices, days on market, etc., let me know. I may have some future posts digging deeper into the numbers.

Hardly a day goes by that I don't get the question from some prospective lakefront property buyer, "How's the market?"

Well, of course, the answer is, "That depends." It depends on whether you're a buyer or a seller, for one, and, for another, it depends on who's interpreting the data.

I've compiled a few numbers about lakefront property sales in the Sebago Lake Region - defined by 26 towns and 60 lakes and ponds - and want to share them with you. I'll present the numbers - you can provide the interpretation.

I will say, with some validity, that inventories are high and that listing prices are coming down, at least in some cases. There would appear to be some buying opportunities out there. Any further interpretation I'll leave to you, dear reader.

As of today, August 19, 2008, there are 344 lakefront properties for sale in this Sebago Lake region; 151 were listed under $400k, 193 were listed over $400k. 141 of those 344 have reduced their price from the original listing price.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been 70 lakefront properties that have sold in this region; 33 were listed under $400k and 37 were listed over $400k. Of the 70 total, 28 had seen a price reduction before selling.

There are currently 19 properties that are pending - that is, an agreement to sell has been reached, but the sale has yet to close. Of those 19, 7 are listed under $400k and 12 are listed over $400k, with 9 of the total having had price reductions.

I took a closer look at three of the most popular lakes in the area - Sebago, Long, and Thompson. Here's what I found:

For Sebago Lake there are currently 55 lakefront properties for sale, 25 have had reductions in price. Year-to-date, 9 properties have sold, with 4 of those having reduced their price.

For Long Lake there are currently 39 properties for sale, 14 have lowered their price. Year-to-date, there have been two properties sold on Long Lake and one is pending. Of the sold properties, one had reduced its price prior to its sale.

For Thompson Lake there are currently 20 lakefront properties for sale, 10 have had price reductions. Year-to-date, three properties have sold and, of those, two had reduced their price prior to sale.

What does it all mean? As I said, I think there's an abundance of inventory, some prices are moderating, and there are opportunities for buyers. What do you think?