Surette Real Estate

An in-ground pool AND a three-season hot tub room, how often does that combination come up in Kennebec County?

This colonial at 8 Westview Dr. sits in one of Waterville's most walkable neighborhoods, one mile to I-95 for an easy commute to Portland or Bangor, yet close enough to downtown to walk to dinner. Inside: four bedrooms including a primary suite with its own bath (2.5 baths total), and 2,136 square feet built around natural light, a vaulted kitchen ceiling and skylight with southern exposure, and a living room anchored by a wood-burning brick fireplace. A separate room off the main floor works as a home office, guest space, or first-floor bedroom, whatever the next owner needs. Downstairs, a partially finished workshop in the basement adds even more flexible space. Step through the sliders and you're at the pool, set on a large, level lot with room to spread out.

Would this layout work for your household?

Listed by Jeff & Joanne Jolicoeur, Surette Real Estate | eXp Realty
207-649-6893 · surette-realestate.com

Contact us to see this beautiful property!

Huge congratulations to two awesome young men who just closed on their first home together!

This search took some persistence, a few offers on different properties, and a final multiple-offer challenge, before we closed on the one that truly fit. And along the way, there was a moment that really stuck with me.

One of the brothers was nervous about buying a home, and rightfully so, it's a big decision. He wanted to know he had someone in his corner looking out for him, making sure he got a fair deal. He's such a positive, glass-half-full guy that every time we walked through a house, he'd light up telling me everything he loved about it... and then turn to me and say, "Now Jeff, bring me back down to Earth. Tell me what I need to know."

So I would. A horizontal crack in the foundation here, an aging 1970s septic system there, the kind of details that are easy to overlook in the excitement of house hunting but can add up to real money down the road. That's the job: helping clients see the whole picture, not just the parts that are easy to fall in love with.

We finally found the one, a home on the lake that worked not just for him, but for his brother too, who joined in to help make it happen. Two brothers, one home, and a whole lot of trust built along the way.

It was an honor being in their corner through this process. Wishing you both many happy years on the lake. Congratulations! 🎉

A house on Mile Hill Road in Rome sat on the market for 35 days before it sold, $32,500 under its original list price. Not because of the price alone. Deferred maintenance knocked it out of FHA, VA, and USDA financing entirely, cutting the buyer pool in half before the first showing.

That story kicks off our latest Central Maine market update, and it's a good reminder that the county headline doesn't tell the whole truth.

Kennebec County's median sale price is up 5.3% year-to-date to $333,150, but Belgrade Lakes is up 24% while Sidney is down 11.6%. Oakland is technically a buyer's market on supply, yet prices there are still climbing nearly 15%.

Six towns, six very different stories this year. Watch the full breakdown to see where yours stands.

If you're weighing a move in Central Maine, what's the one number you wish someone would just tell you straight?

Call or text 207-649-6893 or visit surette-realestate.com.

Sidney's median sale price is down 11.6% this year. Before anyone panics, here's the rest of it.

At $420,000, Sidney still has the highest median of any town I track in Central Maine. It's a seller's market by supply, at 3 months. Homes are closing at 99.7% of list price. And fewer than a third of sales needed a price cut to get there.

Those are not the numbers of a market in trouble. They're the numbers of a market correcting off a very high point.

Practical takeaway if you're listing in Sidney: don't price off last year's comps. Adjust. But don't discount out of fear either, the demand is clearly still there.

If you're house hunting in Waterville or Belgrade Lakes and it feels like there's nothing to look at, you're not imagining it.

New listings in both towns are down 50% year-to-date. Winslow is down 35%.

That's why Waterville is sitting at about 3.5 months of supply and Winslow is under 3. Both are firmly seller's-market territory, and the shortage is doing most of that work.

For buyers: "I'll wait until more comes on the market" is not a strategy in these towns this year.

For sellers: this is exactly the kind of market where you shouldn't be competing on price. Scarcity is doing that job for you.

Homes built in the early 1900s don't hide their craftsmanship, you can see it the second you walk in. That's the case at 298 Main Street in Waterville, and we're opening the doors this Saturday, August 22 from 12–2pm.

Rich crown molding and deep wood casings frame every doorway. Hardwood floors run room to room. Cast-iron radiators are still standing watch, and a hand-turned staircase anchors the front hall. Upstairs, one bedroom still has its original vintage wallpaper, real, honest period character you can't fake.

Our favorite spot in the house is the east-facing glassed-in porch, it fills with morning light and it's the kind of room that makes you want to slow down with your coffee.

Set on a corner lot at Main Street and Johnson Heights, you get two driveway entrances, a 1-car garage, and a walk to downtown Waterville's shops and restaurants, plus Colby and Thomas Colleges.

Come see it in person Saturday, we'll have a treat waiting. What's your favorite detail in an old New England home: the moldings, the radiators, or something else entirely?

📍 298 Main Street, Waterville
🕐 Saturday, August 22 | 12–2pm
📞 207-649-6893 | Jeff & Joanne Jolicoeur |surette-realestate.com

"The market's up about 5%."

True for Kennebec County. Possibly meaningless for your street.

That 5% is an average of six towns going six different directions this year. Belgrade Lakes is up 24%. Sidney is down almost 12%. And Oakland is the strangest one, prices climbing nearly 15% while its supply numbers put it in buyer's-market territory, the only town of the six there.

When price and supply point opposite directions like that, it usually means a handful of higher-end sales are pulling the median up while the rest of the inventory sits.

Averages are comfortable. Your town's number is the one that decides what you net.

He waited eleven months. When he came back, three things had gotten better, not one.

His savings had improved, which changed what he could carry comfortably.

He'd settled the question of whether he was staying in the area, which changed how long he'd own the house.

And the slice of the market he could actually afford had more in it than it did the fall before.

People hear "he waited" and assume he was waiting on the market to do something. He wasn't. He was waiting on his own situation — and that's the part you actually have some control over.

Full story on the channel.