Lovell Town Meeting

Lovell’s annual Town Meeting was held yesterday, March 2nd, 2013. Anticipating a close election for the Selectman seat held by John Ramsden, the large crowd gathered early to jockey for a seat for the 9am start. John Ramsden was being challenged by Rose McKenzie, owner of the Lovell Village Store (aka Rosie’s). Although Rosie ran a strong campaign, focusing on her Lovell roots as well as her strong accounting and business experience, she came up short when the votes were counted. The incumbent John was elected to a new three-year term and we wish him well. The three selectmen do a tremendous job throughout the year by keeping their budget pencils sharp, spending our money wisely and keeping the tax rate as low as possible.

Fire Chief Tommie McKenzie received an extended round of applause for the Department’s successful effort in containing the recent Lovell Village fire and preventing it from spreading to other buildings. There was limited discussion on a few articles, questions from the audience as why certain dollars were or were not spent on some programs and the longest discussion was on Article 80 which would amend the Lovell Zoning Ordinance so that the existing 20′ building setback on private roads would be increased to 50′. Exciting stuff, no? The change did pass narrowly.

And as always seems to happen, the last vote was done by noon, just in time for lunch!

This year’s town report was dedicated to Janice Arsenault and Sherry Bois who have both served the town of Lovell for more than 20 years. Janice is the tax collector and Sherry is the Treasurer and Town Clerk. Together they make the Town Office a friendly place to go for information and they always have a smile and a kind word. Even to folks like me who are Baltimore Ravens’ fans. No question that this recognition is long overdue!

Lovell Village Update…

Saturday, February 23rd, marks two weeks since the fire that leveled Lovell’s Main Street landmark. Visually and emotionally, it is still hard not to see the building as I drive by. The Association has moved quickly to remove the debris and to clear the site. Thanks to Norris Bennett and Robbie Drew for doing a great job that to me, looked like it would have taken weeks. During this period, I quickly went from the ‘dazed’ period to taking the many steps needed to move forward. I have learned more than I have ever wanted to know about the insurance process (which will be going on for quite some time). And that all of the little office supplies that one uses on a daily basis are no longer within easy reach in my desk drawer. For better or worse, I am now way too familiar with the location of every item in Staples!

219 Main Street, Lovell. The new home of Kezar Realty.

Here is some exciting news: Kezar Realty will be in the Village. Starting Monday, February 25th, Kezar Realty’s office will be at 219 Main Street. Just south of the Charlotte Hobbs Memorial Library and across from our previous address. As the process of rebuilding begins, our full-service Agency has not missed a beat (thanks to Rosie’s Lovell Village Store for the use of the back booth and our own locker)and we are looking forward to serving our clients in 2013 and beyond.

Although our physical location has changed, everything else remains the same. Visit KezarRealty.com for all of our contact information, our listings and our vacation rentals. Or better yet, stop in and visit.

The Fire of February 9th

In preparation for the big blizzard, I forgot to include an office fire on my list. In the days ahead I will provide information about Kezar Realty’s location and plans but in the interim everyone’s e-mails are working and you may reach me at home (207-925-2057) or on my cell (207-890-3834). We are working hard to minimize any disruptions.

This is also a tremendous loss to the town of Lovell. The building was always a center of activity and served as the general store for generations. Many people came in and spent time with me discussing their memories of the building and the good times they had there. From those visits sprang the idea for the local conversations sponsored by the Lovell Historical Society.

A great amount of appreciation, admiration and respect go out to all of the Volunteer fire departments–Lovell, Fryeburg, Stoneham, Saco Valley and Center Conway–the Stoneham and Freyburg Rescue units and the great efforts of Central Maine Power, FairPoint Communications and the Time-Warner Company to get 18,000 people back up and running. All worked in below freezing temps and heavy snowfall.

Here’s a short video of the fire.

Odds & Ends…

I think that a lot of my friends in New England don’t realize just what an incredible run their Patriots have had over the past eleven years. It seems that they are now not satisfied if the team doesn’t make it to the Super Bowl. Having an incredible string of winning seasons and playoff appearances is not enough. But all you need to do is look at the number of NFL teams that have either never made it to the big game or have made just one appearance without winning (list of Super Bowl Teams) to realize that getting to the big game, let alone winning it, is a difficult task.

The Baltimore Ravens won the Lombardi Trophy this year after a season that many consider to have been less than stellar. However, they got all of their injured players back and went on an incredible run, knocking off the two top-seeded teams in their home ballparks. The Ravens have had many great teams since their 2000 Super Bowl win. They had been to several AFC Championship games but did not manage to get back to the game. So Patriot fans, enjoy your team’s unbelievable decade of success because once Mr. Brady retires, it may be a loooooooong time before you get back to the playoffs and Super Bowl.

One of my favorite outdoor activities has always been to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Many years ago when walking across the Bridge, you would encounter just a handful of people. Now it is like Grand Central Station at rush hour but the trip is still spectacular and unique. (A recent addition to the bridge is the large clusters of padlocks–a romantic gesture started in Rome several years ago Daily News Story). And the transformation of downtown Brooklyn over the past 20+ years is staggering. Blocks that used to be filled with vacant and vandalized buildings are now vibrant with parks, residential and commercial buildings. This area is known as DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) and I suggest a visit to the Brooklyn Bridge Park to take in the view of the Freedom Tower rising as well as to ride Jane’s Carousel. You wouldn’t know that this gem opened in 2011 was under water during the Sandy surge. Even though they have reopened, they are still working on repairs. And the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets, at Atlantic Avenue seems to have sparked additional investment. If you are visiting NYC in the near future, I recommend a detour to Brooklyn.

January 2013

Most of the country has been experiencing a cold snap and it got pretty cold here earlier this week. Our house had a -7 reading one morning while a number of people at Rosie’s said they had a low of -12. Either number, with the wind blowing hard, meant it was wicked cold outside. The good news is that I will now feel safe going onto Kezar Lake to walk with the dogs or go for a ski.

The Lovell Lions is sponsoring a two-day Ice Fishing Contest on Saturday February 16th and Sunday February 17th. The 4th Annual Derby uses all lakes and ponds over 100 acres in Oxford County with a weigh-in at 4pm each day at the North Lovell Grange Hall. Lots of prizes for heaviest fish plus additional raffles prizes. Entry fee is $10. Click here for more information.

On the home sales front, 2012 finished strong with a busy December. Sales increased 11.84% from December 2012 to December 2011 with the median sales price increasing 6.25% to $170,000. For the 2012 calendar year, Maine REALTORS sold a total of 11,521 homes, a jump of 1,684 homes with the median sales price increasing 3.03%! Click here for complete details. With two January 2013 settlements already in the books and one scheduled for early February, Kezar Realty is optimistic and ready for the upcoming year.

Not only is WordPress a great platform for blogs and websites, but the company provides access to great stats as to how many people are viewing your posts, what they are reading and just how did they come to KezarLife. Here is a summary of KezarLife’s 2012 activity:

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 9,600 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 16 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Vacation Rentals

Who would imagine, that when a nice snow is coming down and football conference championship games are about to be played, that the phones are busy with summer vacation rental inquiries and bookings? The number of visits to KezarRealty.com has spiked dramatically over the past 40-60 days. As they begin planning for their 2013 summer vacation, many of the visitors are looking at the Vacation Rental listings.

Since Kezar Realty opened 3 1/2 years ago, both our sales and vacation rentals have continued to grow. Jeanne Bonner, our Vacation Rental manager, says that in 2012 Kezar Realty booked a total of 75 weeks whereas in 2010 we booked only 33 weeks. And the number of owners with cabins available for rent continues to grow. So there is a cabin for every family size and budget!

Please don’t hesitate to contact Jeanne with Vacation Rental questions. She can be reached at 207-925-1500 or jeanne@fairpoint.net.

A Look Back and A Look Forward

Over the past four to five years, nothing in the housing market has resembled “normal“. Foreclosures and short sales seemingly were everywhere, prices were dropping fast while potential buyers were not confident of their future employment. Uncertainty was everywhere and adding to the local market problems, vacation homes were not a major priority for many people. No question, it was a dark time.

Little more than a year ago, we started to see some small changes. For the first half of 2012, the majority of my business was related to year-round,first-time homebuyers. That, to me, was a major sign of hope as it indicated that they were confident of retaining their jobs. This segment of the market had been absent for a very long time. It also suggested that buyers sensed prices were hitting bottom (why buy now if the house will be worth less in four months?). And many sellers listened to offers as they grudgingly acknowledged that prices were not bouncing back to pre-collapse levels. A sense of optimism returned!

This trend continued through the summer and fall as we had a number of Kezar Lake transactions. The activity was welcomed, especially since there were few waterfront sales during the previous three summers. Some of the camps sold were on the market for multiple seasons which indicates that buyers were ready this year but not in previous years.

As we enter 2013, will this slow and steady trend continue? Despite the uncertainty of the shameful budget shenanigans occurring in Washington, most signs point in that direction. The number of jobs keeps expanding, interest rates remain low and prices don’t appear to be snapping upwards. Visits to our website, KezarRealty.com, have increased significantly over the past twelve months. November year-to-year sales for the state of Maine jumped up 23.6 percent while the median sales price increased 1.92 percent to $172,250 (Maine Real Estate Information Systems).

We are heading in a positive direction and while it appears that we might have a balanced playing field it is still a buyer’s market. However, if sellers price a home properly, chances are that it will be shown often and attract potential buyers.

Whether you are a buyer or a seller, please do not hesitate to call Kezar Realty (207-925-1500) with any questions. We would be happy to help.

Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!