Michelle Flaherty

Last Wednesday, I got a mid-week break from work to take a 5-hour sail aboard one of the Windjammers on display in Boothbay Harbor for the town's annual Windjammer Days festival. Each year, the town organizes the festival, which includes sailing, a parade, food and games for kids, along with some private receptions and parties put on by various local groups. I was there with my boyfriend, who works on our Senator Susan Collins' campaign staff.

That morning, he picked me up with Mister Bagel and a coffee in hand (if you visit Portland, go there for breakfast - I'm addicted), and we headed up Rte. 1. When we got to Boothbay (about an hour from Portland), we met Dawn Gilbert, owner of the Heads of the Harbor hair salon, and the Lincoln County chair for the campaign, and headed down to the schooner, The Spirit of Massachusetts. The boat is one of three owed by Ocean Classrooms, a local non-profit that takes at-risk kids out of school to attend classes on the water. According to the teachers, something about being away from normal life and relying on their classmates as teammates really changes kids' demeanors and helps them grow.

We set out to sea on a perfect morning, and during our cruise Dawn pointed out the islands in the harbor, and told us stories about their history. We also got an up-close look at the Navy Warship that was in the harbor for the day, along with a closer look at some of the other windjammers. At one point, we had a musical battle with the Spirit of South Carolina - they had a bagpiper who was blasting out tunes, to which one of our crew members played back her fiddle.

After the sail, we went straight to the high school, where we prepped for the parade. Our float was a montage of patriotism, and staffed by Uncle Sam and some cute flag-waving kids. But the best part was that a nice man donated his '65 Beetle convertable to the parade, which we got to lead the float in. It was a standard, and a little scary on hills, but all in all the crowds were cheering and Herbie was a big hit!

After the parade and dinner, we reluctantly got back in the car and pointed it South, with thoughts of work-day Thursday creeping in to our rejuvinated minds. Sometimes the best vacations are taken one day at a time...

As one of my real estate role models Barbara Corcoran said recently on the Today Show, "You can never know. But most people agree that we are IN the bottom, and the smart people - the sharks - are out there buying right now."

Those people - the sharks - are the ones who know how to find the right segments of the market and take advantage of the opportunities they have to offer. What does that mean for Portland?

As we approach the end of the 2^nd quarter of 2008, I thought it would be helpful to take a look at a few of the more popular markets and see how they've been performing.

Since much of my business is in the condo market, I'm looking at the median sale prices for condos in three neighborhoods: Portland's East End, Downtown/Old Port, and West End.

The periods of time I'm comparing are January 1, 2007-June 20, 2007 and the same period for '08.

In general, the median condo price in Portland (FYI - the median condo price will generally buy you a 2-bedroom, 1-bath condo between 1,000 and 1,100 square feet) dropped from $210,000 in 2007 to $202,000 this year.

Keep in mind that when the median price goes down, it doesn't necessarily mean that values have gone down. It can simply mean that there are more affordable products available (smaller condos, for instance, or condos that need more work).

East End: Prices are down, and sales are up - indicative of a buyer's market.

2007: 8 sales, MSP $272,500

2008: 11 sales, MSP $250,000

Downtown/Old Port: Prices are down, and sales are up - indicative of a buyer's market.

2007: 13 sales, MSP $335,000

2008: 22 sales, MSP $243,000

West End: Prices are up, and sales are down - much of the affordable conversion inventory has been flushed out - we could have already seen the bottom here.

2007: 60 sales, MSP $176,250

2008: 38 sales, MSP $189,950

To explore the segment YOU're interested in, check out my website below to conduct a property search WITH ADDRESSES.

http://michelleflaherty.mainelistings.com

As many of you know, I am part of the community focus group for Westbrook Housing. Westbrook Housing has many roles in the community (affordable developer (ownership), market-rate developer (ownership), property management company, and facilitator for affordable and/or subsidized rental housing in Westbrook and the surrounding towns). I represent the needs of homebuyers, but at our meetings, some of the best commentary is from the lively group of seniors who call Larabee Village, Larabee Heights, and the other WH apartment complexes home.

Recently, the bus the seniors use to get around town started to encounter some problems. So this year, the organization's annual golf tournament proceeds are going to be allocated toward purchasing a new one. But with all of the other charity scrambles this summer, the seniors felt like they needed to stand out a little to get their bus. So they decided to see if they could get a celebrity guest to come to their tournament to attract players and sponsors.

The following video is what ensued... and it's hilarious!

www.youtube.com/westbrookhousing

To learn more about Westbrook Housing and the great work they've been doing in our community, go to www.westbrookhousing.org.

I heard a talk recently given by Rich Casto, a trainer with RealEstateCoaches.com and former Prudential Franchisee, and although much of what he said irritated me (that is not a criticism, but a mark of success in his signature "break-you-down-to-build-you-up" approach), one thing really hit home and changed the way I'll be giving listing presentations from now on.

Six words: "How do you want to compete?"

I won't speak for anyone else, but when I was taught to determine market value, I was told to include comparable pending and current sales in the presentation, but only really talk about the solds. After all, that is what an appraiser will do. I also was taught to add on 1% each month for "time of sale" - what I would give to go back to THOSE days!!

Today, the market is different, and Casto's point was that our approach should be different too. He argued that for a property to sell, it must be better than its CURRENT competition, regardless of what properties have sold for recently.

I think the problem we run into as agents is that we advise sellers to price their properties based on seeing all the data and making a decision that works for them. However, often times what works for them is based on how much they owe, "have to net" on the sale, or what the property appraised for recently. Unfortunately, those factors have nothing to do with what a buyer will pay.

He also pointed out that 40% of properties that sell sell in the first 30 days, and 90% of properties that sell sell in the first 90 days, so if sellers don't compete out of the gate, they can plan on a long journey ahead full of lowball offers and missed opportunities. And for agents, that means time and money drained indefinitely to market properties that may never sell.

If we shift our thoughts about value from the appraiser mentality to that of today's savvy buyer, we'll be doing ourselves and our clients a huge favor.