Whittemore’s Real Estate
Whittemore’s Celebrates 50th Anniversary | January 2019
By Maria Landry
It’s not every day a 92-year-old man buys his first home, but it happened at Whittemore’s Real Estate in downtown Skowhegan.
“He was a little concerned that he wouldn’t be able to get financing,” recalled Van Ames, who along with Chris Perkins owns Whittemore’s. “But you can’t discriminate because of age, and so I was able to find a lender who was willing to give him a loan. That was probably one of the most exciting sales I ever had, to see somebody 92 years old get their first home,”
Whittemore’s is celebrating its own milestone this year—50 years in business—and for Ames and Perkins, the real estate business is all about the people.
“I’ve sold people their first home and I’ve sold people their third, fourth, fifth home. It’s always rewarding to see the excitement they have and how good they feel.” Ames said.
Ames has owned Whittemore’s since he bought out original owners Alton and Loretta Whittemore in 1977, and Perkins joined as a partner in 1990.
“I like working with people,” Perkins said. “We’ve dealt with all sorts of interesting people, and the vast majority are absolutely wonderful.”
He continued, “I think what’s gratifying is repeat business. I like to think one of the strong points of Whittemore’s and the reason we’ve been around for 50 years is our ethics as well as our hard work, and we do a fair amount of repeat business because of that. A lot of times you get to watch people through the stages of life, which is kind of interesting.”
Ames noted, “I’ve actually sold houses now to the grandchildren of people that I had sold houses to years before.” He added with a laugh: “It makes you feel like you’re getting old when that happens.”
Prior to getting into real estate, Ames was working as a carpenter. “I fell off a building, broke my elbow, was disabled. That was the third time that elbow had been broken. I had an older brother that was in real estate in Connecticut, so I talked with him and decided maybe that was something I should try.”
Perkins came to real estate via the insurance business, starting out with MetLife and then helping form Skowhegan Insurance Agency. “In ’86 we decided to expand and get into the real estate business, and I got my real estate license,” he said. “I enjoy sales. It’s kind of like operating without a safety net. When you get into sales, you better start performing and earning because it’s not like you’ve got a base salary to get you by. I like the challenge of it.”
Both men agree that real estate has gotten a lot more complicated over the years.
Ames reflected, “When I started in 1975, purchase and sale agreements were one page long, there was no such thing as property disclosures, there was no such thing as buyer agents. We would write a purchase and sale agreement on Monday, and if all went well we would close that sale on Friday.”
With more complex purchase and sale agreements, multi-page disclosures, and financing that often takes up to 45 days, today’s real estate transactions can be daunting.
“Buying a house is one of the more stressful things that you do in your life,” Perkins said. “You have to be not only a good real estate agent but, I almost think, an amateur psychologist. You really have to help people through the process. I like to think we give a lot of value added because we help explain the process and we interact with the lawyers and the appraisers and everyone else that’s involved to get it done.”
Getting it done at Whittemore’s is a team of eight independent contractors, one office manager, and the two owners.
“We’ve had a lot of people stay with us for very long periods of time, sometimes upwards of 20 years,” Perkins said. “We take pride in that, that they enjoy being here that much that they stay for so long. In the real estate business there’s a fair amount of turnover, but here not so much. We certainly have had a lot of continuity… We’re very proud that this business has made 50 years.”
For more information on Whittemore’s, visit their website or call 207-474-3303.
