Blogging with Buddy, September 27th, 2019

What a fantastic start to fall with this glorious weather!  Mama and Charlie have been busy as bees this month with Charlie bringing the buyer to a close to million dollar home in Millidgeville and Mama getting an accepted offer at her exclusive listing in Rothesay at $985,000.  Top that off with a bidding war in Woodleigh Park, closing the lottery home, a multi-unit East, waterfront cottage in St. Martins, waterfront home in Morrisdale and one on Belleisle Bay, it’s been all over the map!  They listed and sold 51 Deveber Terrace, Millidgeville MLS# NB033120 within 2 hours which will close Monday!  Charlie’s listing, Mama’s sale, $285,000.  I’ve been having a time keeping them all straight but they seem to be on top of it.  As Mama says “you have to beat the iron while it’s hot”.

We had some real excitement when Ben Scholten and his grew from Scholten Landscaping came by and took our forty foot beach tree that was leaning badly from the hurricane and stood it back up!  Yes you are reading this correctly.  The tree is higher than our neighbours two-story house and was leaning at about 35 degrees.  Everyone said it had to be cut down but Mama didn’t want to lose our privacy so she said no, we’re getting in the expert to take a look!  The put three steel anchors in the ground, got out the electric winch and stood that tree right up straight and secured it!!!  We watched along with Papa and couldn’t believe our eyes!

Nicholas put up his new autumn flag this week which we picked up at The Feed Store on Rothesay Avenue.  We love this place, they are so dog friendly and we get to go right in and view the merchandise.  Nicholas almost got kicked out for trying to sample the variety of balls.  I said, “who wants a new ball after you slobber all over it Nicholas!”  He got the message.

We have two open houses on Sunday between 2 and 4 pm.  One at 31 Fox Point Drive, Drury Cove MLS# NB025863 offered at $449,000 listed by our colleague Rod Martens.    The buyer of this property now has the option of choosing their own interior colours and the seller will have it painted before closing!  How cool is that?  You choose and we’ll get it done!

  31 Fox Point Drive, Drury Cove

Our second open house is hosted by our friend and colleague David Nicholson the same day and time in Chapel Hill Estates at 11 Alexscot Court, MLS#NB025240.  Priced at $399,000 this beautiful bungalow with sunroom and finished daylight basement is great value with $458,000 invested! Hope you can drop by!

  11 Alexscott Court, Chapel Hill

Papa had a birthday yesterday and shared his birthday supper with Nicholas and I!  We gave him a special card showing our appreciation for all he does for us every day and Lisa surprised him with some awesome gifts sent from Ottawa via Purolator.  We were so excited we thought (as usual) that the gifts were for us!  There is not much that gets us as excited as the ripping of tissue paper!  Nicholas and I will be out and about this weekend walking the trails with Mama and Papa.  Mama will be showing some houses but always has time for us boys!  Have a great week and we’ll talk soon.

Your pal,

Big Buddy Bacon

Blogging with Buddy, September 20, 2019

We’re excited to announce our Global Luxury Open House this Sunday at 217 Germain Street from 2-4pm.  Mama will be hosting, along with a special guest, this mint condition historic home built in 1888.  What a beautiful restoration inside and out!  Kitchen with 6-burner gas stove & pantry, double parlours, separate dining room, second staircase, finished walkout basement and charming garden.  The work is all done, all that is missing is you!  Hope you can join us for this rare treat!

It will be a quiet weekend for us boys as Mama will be busy Saturday with buyers from Toronto looking for a second home here close to family as well as the open house on Sunday.  So many buyers come to our area from Toronto.  Many have a very different concept of the reality that is Saint John and the valley.  They are pleasantly surprised at the beauty of our homes and yards, the friendliness of the people and our scenic waterways and mountains in the distance.  It is never what they expect and they get so very excited about living here.

Charlie has been as busy as a bee racking up sales like crazy!  Congratulations to him on his listing at 51 Deveber Terrace in Millidgeville which Mama sold 2 hours later to her buyers from Moncton.  What a team, bam, bam, done!  Wish they all worked that way!  Charlie also sold his multi family at 189 -195 Bayside Drive and his waterfront listing at Long Point, Belleisle at 948 Route 850.  Mama has her waterfront property at 11 Morrisdale Beach Road sold and the lottery house at 11 Heritage Way.  It’s right next door to the new Hospital Lottery House at 14 Heritage Way.  Do you have your ticket yet?  Our Saint John Regional Hospital is a great cause that helps the whole community!!!

51 Deveber Terrace, Millidgeville – Sold

948 Route 850, Long Point, Belleisle Bay – Sold

   189-195 Bayside Dr, East Saint John – Sold

 

11 Morrisdale Beach Road, Morrisdale – Sold

 

 11 Heritage Way, Quispamsis – Sold

Hope you enjoy a great weekend.  Supposed to be above average temperatures (to tell you the truth I was enjoying the cool nights and frosty mornings where I go out on the lawn and roll in the frost every morning at 7 am.)  Guess it’s a Newf thing cause I don’t see Nicholas doing it!

Your pal,

Big Buddy Bacon

 

Blogging with Buddy September 13, 2019

Some may not like Friday the 13th but around here we love it!  This was always Mama’s father’s lucky day contrary to what most believe.  All good things happened to him on this day and it seems to follow suit with Mama too.  She looks forward to Friday the 13th and today was no exception.  This morning she listed a beautiful waterfront home on Belleisle Bay with main floor master, large open concept kitchen/great room, stunning gardens and sandy beach on a half acre lot.  Stay posted for more details as it hits the MLS this coming week!

Well we had buttoned down the hatches for the big storm last weekend and we sure were glad we had prepared.  Nicholas and I helped Mama and Papa put away everything off our back deck and stone patio out front.  It was really scary!!!  The wind was coming straight at our front door with that norwester and let me tell you we were not one bit impressed going out in that storm after supper Saturday to do our business.  Mama felt sorry for us as we wandered down across the lawn with our fur practically backwards with the high wind pushing against it.  Wasn’t too long and we were back in the shelter of our cosy house.  We had all just finished our supper which Mama made early just in case we lost power and POW  the power goes out at 6:45 pm.  It’s getting dark so much earlier now that it was completely black out by eight o’clock.  Sure did seem strange to us but Mama and Papa reassured us that everything was okay.  We were well prepared for the storm with food in the house that needed no cooking and lots of fresh water.  Our Uncle Tom (Mama’s brother) who lives close by in Quispamsis keeps a close eye on us when the power goes out.  Mama said we were the first ones out so we’d probably be the first ones on and she was right.  Our power came back on at 9:30 Sunday morning!  Just in time for breakfast!  We all went for a drive in my red truck and were heartbroken to see the big century trees down in King Square!  Nicholas and I just couldn’t believe it.  We were hanging out the back window and I’m sure our jaws were dropping!  Mama was sooooo upset.  She said it takes a hundred years or more to grow trees like that!  At our place we have one big beach tree leaning over.  We don’t want to cut it down as we’d lose some privacy in our yard so our friend Ben Scholten came by to have a look and he’s going to stand it up with anchors and pulleys so we won’t have to cut it!  Always great to know an expert in the business!!!  If you need help with any real estate needs call Mama or Charlie, the local experts in the real estate business.  They’re always available with a smile and some helpful advice ready for the offering!

Well on to clean up this weekend around the yard, probably what you’re doing too.  Have a good one and we’ll talk soon.

Your pal,

Big Buddy Bacon

Blogging with Buddy September 6, 2019

Button down the hatches as Hurricane Dorion heads towards the Maritimes this weekend!  Who would ever guess on this gorgeous blue-sky Friday that anything is amiss?  Is this the calm before the storm?  I’ve heard Mama talk about ‘The Ground Hog Gale’ of 1976 as an event that she will never forget.  Nicholas, Papa (who was living in Ontario at that time) and I listen in awe to the horror story that was the worst gale in Atlantic Canadian history and was broadcast on news stations around the world.  One of Mama’s aunts was visiting Sydney, Australia and was shocked when she turned on the TV and saw Saint john NB being pounded by this unbelievable storm with the footage showing telephone poles falling like matchsticks along Main St and Rothesay Ave.  It hit at 11 am on Ground Hog day and Mama says the morning up to that point was so still and quiet with not a drop of wind.  Then it hit with a vengeance and the large office building where Mama was working quickly had the roof torn right off.  All the staff were looking up from their desks at the sky and took off for home on the bosses order!  Mama was a young girl in her teens, still living at home in Hampton with her parents and she’ll never forget the terrifying drive home.  Roofing shingles and debris were flying everywhere and siding was floating across fields through the air like ribbons.  Winds gusts reach 120 mph/193 kph and it raged on all night.  Her family had horses and a pony who were petrified and everyone was so worried that the barn would come down during the night but it stayed standing!  The neighbour next door was not so lucky and his 30 milk cows were found running wild through the town of Hampton the next day.  It was excruciatingly cold as temperatures plummeted and everyone lost power for many days.  Her parents had 3 wood stoves and a wood-burning fireplace and all were kept stoked until power was restored and the furnace came on days later.  No wonder Mama and all of her generation who lived through that terrible gale cringe at the sound of high winds!

Good news for first time home buyers and those who have suffered a marriage or common law partnership breakdown!  As of September 2, 2019, the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive became available for qualified first-time homebuyers and those who experienced a marriage breakdown. For many, especially young people and first-time buyers, finding an affordable place to call home is not just a challenge – it feels like an impossibility. This initiative is designed to make owning a home more affordable.  You are considered a first-time homebuyer if you meet one of the following qualifications;  you’ve never purchased a home before, you’ve recently experienced a breakdown of a marriage or common-law partnership or in the last four years, you did not occupy a home that you or your current spouse owned.  Keep in mind you still need a down payment to qualify, you can apply for a 5 or 10% shared equity mortgage, your income can’t be any higher than $120,000 and your total borrowing is limited to a 4 x the qualifying income.  There are many details to review for mortgage qualifications so please call Mama or Charlie if you are thinking about buying a new home.  If they can’t answer all your questions they can head you in the right direction to mortgage specialists who can help!

Due to the pending storm Mama and Charlie will not be having open houses this weekend as they had originally planned but will continue on with those Sunday September 22.  Please watch for details.  Have a safe weekend and be very careful on the roads if you must go out!  Nicholas and I will be staying close to home curled up on the sofa!

Your pal,

Big Buddy Bacon