You answer a Maine real estate buyer call. The lights dim as energy is transfered over the phone line.

And one by one, in rapid fire succession, questions are posed, disected, answered with many more, a steady stream coming bang bang bang right after it in marathon fashion. Some easy but many in a sequence so you can feel suddenly drained of information as your brain starts to deflate, shrink from the one way flow out. You get easy questions, and other hard ones like "what will it cost, for sure, to make this $20,000 Maine home liveable..up to speed." Define up to speed. And quality of workmanship, materials used, time frame to get it done, etc.

     It can be like the question "what is a diamond worth?" If you ask the Maine real estate buyer this question, it can slow the pace of interrogation..I mean questioning so that a one sentence answer is not coming with out a few of my own questions to really say, it depends on you. And we need to know more about you, the caller. How talented you are with a hammer?

What does liveable mean to you beyond heat, good roof, clean and safe.

Detailed videos on the area, the property, lots of images and detailed thorough copy can help the degree of questions from callers. If they tap in to those media options. That is why well written real estate blog posts on area subjects, rehabbing a home, local weather, etc are part of the answer follow up after you get off the phone. A good collection of these gems, well written with helpful images, links, video embeds can add information without you the broker needing to tell the same thing over and over. Let your blog posts help you take some of the real estate work load. Kick your blog in to gear. How hard working is your blog and do you let it do much of the "heavy lifting" ?

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers

    

Maine surveys..in Northern Maine, everything is not up to date surveyed. Why?

Eleven people per square mile means you are not as concerned right down to the inch where you exact corners are on that 200 acres of Maine land. It if was a tenth of an acre you own, and if there were wall to wall neighbors getting ready to build garages, put up clothes lines, then where the heck is my corner becomes critical.

     Years ago in the late 1800's everything in Northern Maine, Aroostook County was laid out in big tracts. Range this, lot that in perfect grids. So usually the land your buy is tied to that original survey that in the Houlton Maine area is called the Roe and Colby survey, on record at the registry of deeds. A big book of maps for all the organized and unorganized townships, plantations. Don't just rely on a Maine  property tax map.

You will notice in the lower left hand corner of that four by three tax map sheet the words "Not legal for conveyances, to be used for tax purposes only".

Sure it is a map but the town does not have to survey everything out for you to run the town. The concern over potholes, plowing winter roads and keeping the school running smoothly is where your tax payer dollars go. Not surveying or helping figure out boundaries. That is why God created land surveyors with strict standards, licensing to keep boundary lines straight. In Northern Maine on the eastern borders of Aroostook County, a bulldozer and crews to remove vegetation show from the air easily where the America / Canadian border is. Plus there are concrete mounments in eye sight as you wander along that US / Canada border with it spelled out on each side which country you are in or leaving. The International Boundary Commision is in charge of keeping that line plain as the nose on your face. And with 9 / 11, lots of sensors like you see in the movies from Hollywood make anything happening along that border very obvious for security that has been beefed up to make the boundary more secure, safer, more drag net like. Little white helicopters with green stripes..soon to be changed to blue stripes troll, cruise up and down that border too.

     Back to the survey question and what the lay of the land shows. Many larger Maine farm fields were marked with rows of rocks. A new rock crop each year being brought up by Jack Frost in fields around Aroostook County. And by hand hauled to the edge of each field boundary line. The property line dividing farms and neighboring woodlots clearly established and not relying on a rebar metal rod that could be pulled, lost or repositioned more to the liking of the neighbor in disagreement of where the property line really is in his head, not tied to the lay of the land.

     It is pretty hard to miss a rock wall for all to see, stumble over. And if the property you are buying in Northern Maine has a colored capped piece of iron or steel 5/8" rebar protruding out of the grounds in the corners of what you think you are buying, remember sometimes those 3 foot pieces of rebar can spring legs and move, usually at night. You have a neighbor that does not care what your surveyor says.

     His grandfather's dying words were the property starts at the elm tree between he and your great uncle Billy.

The tree long gone, and distances of where this starts or stops property line wise long gone with the dying relative's recollection.

Also, the owner of property says the property was surveyed. But closer inspection of the paperwork shows a Class IV or Class D survey that is really a quick down and dirty recon look to see if on first glance without a formal full blown survey if it appears if anyone elses garage, driveway, well or septic is on you. And if your home, garage, well, septic, driveway and power poles are on your land under the new home you are moving furniture in this weekend that you just bought. The hedge out back, the fence may or may not really be on your property. Surveys are expensive but save problems later.

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers

    

On the way home from a trip downstate in Maine, as a kid I remember in the winter when we were driving a little slower during falling snow stories about my dad's service in World War Two.

     It was not that Dad did not talk about the war...it just seemed the stories were told more while driving back from some where to pass the time or on porches on summer evenings, depending on the audience.

     My Dad served in the 15th Army - Air Force as it was called at the time. In the 882nd bombardment wing and his job? He wanted to be a pilot of a bomber but they had plenty of those so due to being pretty wiry and skinny, he was able to squeeze into the rear of a B-24 bomber to run the two rear 50mm machine guns. Think of sitting, jammed in the rear of a four engine noisy plane, that smelled like a latrine, without a pressurized cabin, wearing an oxygen mask in sub zero winter weather approaching the enemy target you were briefed on before the sun came up this morning. Not knowing if the mission would happen or not due to the weather patterns as you tried to sleep the night before.

Thinking of his girlfriend, my mom back home that he wrote to every day. (It's fun to read the letters now between the two and realize mom and dad had another name...John and Marylou. )

Serving in the war effort with ten other 19, 20 year olds and being superstitious to keep your flight crew in tact. Sleeping together in a tent with a gas heater in a field back in Italy. Playing cards, talking about home. A curvy not over clothed young lady painted on the nose of that bomber you flew in the back of. You got pretty close to the others you depended on to make the bomb run, and to high tail it out of harms way in a sky filled with the smell of cordite from shells exploding at your altitude.That's if the German 88 anti aircraft gun operators were doing their job with the help of radar. To mess up that radar, my Dad has a small chute to stuff tinsel, small metal strips into the air space behind him, beneath the Liberator plane they flew in. It confused, jammed that radar and bought them time to open the bomb bay doors to drop the 500, 1000 pound incendiary or percussion or whatever bomb type was needed for this mission. Bombs that had the pins to make them live pulled a few minutes before being over the target. The bombardier having a new Norden bomb sight that made more precision, accurate bombing possible later in the war.

     You had P-47, P-51 "little friends" Dad called them fighter planes to escort you like a date to the prom around the flying formations of B-17 and B-24 American bombers. But they bugged out close to the IP zone and are helpful to rid you of the raiding German ME 109's or whatever other planes the German's were putting in to production at the time. But you suddenly were by yourself without the fighter plane protection with enemy planes trying their best to blow you out of the sky before you dropped your present, the payload. The whole country in America, England and the free world were behind the war effort after Pearl Harbor's fleet sinking. They grew victory gardens, recycled copper for bullet casings, rationed gas, watched news reels about "Loose Lips Sink Ships" back home. In Houlton Maine, the local potato farmers benefited from German prisoner of war spud pickers at the local airbase where there were rows and rows of barracks.

    My Dad said the chatter on the intercom stopped as the target, a ball bearing factory or oil refinery outside Germany, the target of choice n today's war menu approached. Secondary targets in mind and planned on depending on cloud cover that might roll in. And the most dangerous place in the plane? The ball turret operator underneath in a plexiglass bubble. He had two 50 mm guns too that hopefully did not jam and that bubble swiveled to track fighter planes. But it was not a good place to be when hydraulics were shot out and the lift mechanism stopped working. Getting that crew member out of there if he was still alive was one of the biggest concerns as a crippled plane on less than the four engines hobbled back to the friendly Italian airfield that it had taken off from earlier that day. One or both landing gears not operational and that ball turret operator bleeding, not talking as the pilot, co pilot discussed how to land on the belly of that plane but where the can opener was to get a valuable, injured crew member out of that hole before running out of fuel and that ditched, forced belly landing. 

     Dad said  every 55 minutes the Ford plant in Detroit rolled another Vulcan B-24 off the assembly line when production of cars shifted to airplanes. I have a 1941 Cadillac that a fellow stores winters at a farm I own. He told me that car his grandfather bought after the war and it was the last Cadillac rolled off the assembly line when production shifted to making tanks out of that GM facility. So on veterans day, I think of my Dad in a rattling plane, in an electric flight suit and with a survival kit for a crash landing or parachute jump in hostile lands. That kit having an ampule of morphine, some silk thread, a chocolate bar, a map of the area for that mission on that day. And silver certificate currency in case the Germans, or whatever country folks worried if the money was any good or not. I am sure a bible verse was in there to remind you to stay strong, to fear not that God was protecting you (Isaiah 41:10) in the fight for freedom and the American way of life. Have two brothers too that were Vietnam era Amy soliders...but one was in intelligence in Germany, the other in the corp of engineers in California toward the tail end of the war as it wound down. They were lucky to have missed the recon walks thru a rice paddy with a gun over their head to keep it dry and all the worries of being "out of country" at a time when their efforts were not nearly as popular state side as the attitude during world war two my dad enjoyed.

     Thank a veteran, say a prayer for those in harms way around the country now. Men and woman, parents of children, sons and daughters of other veterans, civillians that know the risks. That are in danger and need our thoughts, prayers, support every day. Not just on Veterans Day.

    

It's no secret that for a smaller Northern Maine school, Houlton Maine's jr and sr high schools excel statewide in music.

Over 64% of the Houlton Maine junior high school students are active in 12 music ensembles. Over 42% of the high school student enrollment make the music program state reknown.  Houlton Maine is the home of five state championship high school show choirs and has hosted several state music competitions. The Houlton Maine junior high show choir is a two time state champion and award winning bands, choruses, jazz bands, jazz choirs perform year round in local presentations, state level programs and in out of state music festivals.

     Currently, a new Houlton Community Arts Center is being built and the Houlton Maine jr / sr high school auditorium is being totally renovated, expanded. Balcony seating, new lighting, new sound..stage, the works. The local Houlton Maine taxpayers approved a bond to get the project rolling and local citizens have put their shoulder in to the project.

Currently, sale of new seating in honor of your class, a departed love one, or your tax deductible business contribution is gaining momentum.

The Houlton Maine music program has out grown the number and size of musical productions. The new facility will also be used by dance groups and other cultural opportunities with traveling productions. If you would like to be part of the exciting project, contact 207.532.6551, ext 22. Also, it's hoped the new auditorium will be fully operational for the opening of the this year's musical "Damn Yankees" November 20,21,22. In the mean time, McGill's Band in Houlton Maine practices year round, has over 100 members that perform in parades, in the Houlton Amphitheatre behind Cary Library in Memorial Park. Watch the video of one of their performances.

This Houlton Maine music image says it all.

    

As a kid, Maine Halloween trick or treating, what a concept I thought with glee.

Going up to total strangers houses with your cousins, ringing the bell after hopping up the front porch stairs and the light comes on. An older lady or gentlemen look a fake surprise or fright and everyone screams "Trick or Treat"! Other goblins up and down the street are moving like the plague from house to house as most front porch lights are on. As an adult, can still remember the houses where the best treats were. And before the Facebook, Myspace, Twitter social networking, word spread on which home owners took this Halloween concept seriously and went all out. Kids spread the word on homes, neighbors to put on the must visit list before curfew and the ones not worth door knocking, that ate in to house to house production, collection. It was more than candy quantity...it was quality of treats, the experience you went thru to get something plopped worth keeping in to the open sack.

     Had a fellow in from Arkansas that remembers a local home town home owner giving out silver dollars..and this was in the late 1960's when silver dollars would buy more than a happy meal. I remember the Chamberlain sisters who would invite you in to their big federal style Court Street, Houlton ME home and fresh, hot donuts..usually chocolate and molasses were waiting with hot cider.

That stop was a highlight of the door to door candy or cavity campaign but getting out of the place took some effort as everyone had to remove their masks, let the ladies know who your dad and mom were and socialize a little before eating, drinking and running to the next neighborhood home.

That stop did eat into production but the donuts were addictive. The home was a definite must stop and on the top three of places to visit. I knew of some kids carrying another mask, disguise that would double back and try to hit the same candy bank again.

     I remember a stop with my own 4 kids on Commonwealth Ave Houlton Maine, where three families joined forces and dooryards. It was like Disney land in Southern Aroostook County. A big Army tent was set up with blacklights, and zombies roaming the premises, in jerky motions indicated they may have been to the other side and come back for unfinished business, to haunt little kids with costumes, pillow cases full of various forms of sugar. There was a fellow in an open coffin, and a BOO hollers as the kids got closer to see if that was a real, sleeping or dead person in that final resting place. Snakes hooked to a pulley with piano wire or fishing line danced in the trees operated by an old geezer with a chain saw in his lap on the front porch. Lots to see and everyone pretty quiet as the kids went thru the "stations" weaving in to get a glimpse, grab a treat and then pick up production in the door to door frenzy.

Another neighborhood with a kid in a tuxedo, white gloves, spats and a nylon over his head making mime like robot, Michael Jackson moon walk motions. Saying nothing and just in the neighborhood we were marauding. Getting curious, who is this guy glances as kids steered a wide path around, not sure how to take his presence and out of place attire, look. He has since gone on to work in a circus, juggling, high wire acts, and carnival like with his skills honed with the Halloween opportunity to entertain, amuse in Houlton Maine. Another home owner worked at Nabisco and that home's candy bowl had oversized treats like you get in the movie theatre. There was always a line, take a number, have a seat or stand in line reaching in for a treat from the treasure chest to sample, munch on to keep your energy up.

     I personally like the home where there was a small orange, black and white bag with the blackened witch on a broom outline in the moon lit sky that was filled with a variety of treats. My personal favorite in the trading the next day in someones living room with other short door bell ringers? Paydays. I was not a sweet tooth or obsessed with candy as a kid because of the sound of a high speed dentist drill in the back of my head, a fear from my mom who like most folks, was not sending the dentist a Christmas card or looking forward to the six month check up. But paydays, Nestle Crunch that were a close top three treats and enjoyed in the potato field breaks each fall were always involved in a trade. The peanut butter chocolate anything rounded out the top three and the first treats to download, cast off and just be rid of? The popcorn balls that were dryer than a desert, maybe left over from a decade before that got tossed into the bag but almost rejected by this goblin.

Small, tiny apples that were brown from bruises, or early frost and had black blight spots were not traded..they were tossed immediately. I remember one drunk apartment owner who called my trick or treat posse into the home and in to the kitchen, opening up the cupboards and saying help yourself...forgot to buy candy. Somehow reaching for a can of Dinty Moore beef stew or baked beans seemed not right. Giving him, Mr Hammered from a thirty pack some popcorn balls, apples if they had not already been jettisoned to "re-gift" or "re-treat" seemed appropriate and Robin Hood like. Kids have a sense of honor, rules of the game and fairness at the earlier age. when they are under 44 inches tall and can not go on all of life's rides.

Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Maine, It's Safe To Trick Or Treat Here, Live Here.