From left: Wayne Farrin, Alitha Young, and Jim Matel stand in the Peninsula Properties office in Damariscotta on Thursday, Dec. 21. Young and Matel, who have worked for Farrin Properties for the past few years, are opening their new real estate agency on Jan. 1. (Maia Zewert photo)
The new year will bring about many changes, including to the Midcoast real estate industry.
For Jim Matel and Alitha Young, the changing of the calendar will coincide with the launch of their new real estate agency, Peninsula Properties. For Wayne Farrin, it will mark the first time in decades he has not owned the real estate agency for which he works.
Round Pond residents Matel and Young, also known as “Team Round Pond,” have known for years that they wanted to open a real estate agency together, a fact that they disclosed to Farrin when they joined his business a couple years ago.
“We wanted to be upfront about it, so we told Wayne straight off,” Young said. “And at the time, he said ‘who knows, maybe we’ll work something out.’”
Farrin said the time was right about to take a step back from owning his own agency with business ramping up at Jefferson Market & General Store, which he and his family opened in 2021. He will still continue as a real estate broker with Peninsula Properties.
“For us it’s great,” Young said. “(Farrin’s) got 30 years of experience, so that’s decades and decades of experience we’re starting out with.”
“We got the best of both worlds,” Matel said, joking that it was now Farrin’s turn to call them “boss.”
Meanwhile, although Farrin Properties will no longer be doing business as a real estate agency, the corporation will continue to own and manage properties.
“I’m not retiring, (I’m) just not running an agency,” Farrin said. “Farrin Properties will still be around, just not as a real estate agency … and I’ll still be a real estate broker.”
Conversations about the changeover began in earnest in the summer, as Young will earn her broker’s license in mid-March. It was Farrin, Young and Matel said, who suggested the switch-over happen the first of January to allow for a clean end to the accounting year.
The slow months of winter will also allow Peninsula Properties to get its office set up and procedures in place before the spring. Farrin will act as the agency’s designated broker for the first three months or so before Young obtains the license.
The nine agents from Farrin Properties, as well as the one office employee, are making the jump to Peninsula Properties, with the possibility of new agents joining on the horizon, Young said.
Peninsula Properties will keep Farrin Properties’ phone number and will have a robust website, which is currently in progress, Matel said. He obtained the website – peninsulaproperties.me – years ago, not knowing then he and Young would work for Farrin, whose first company was named Peninsula Realty.
“So it was Peninsula Realty, and then Farrin Properties, and now Peninsula Properties,” Young said.
“It’s a full-circle moment,” Farrin added.
Also bringing the experience full circle is Peninsula Properties’ location. Before moving to its location in the Pine Grove Plaza at 767 Main St., Farrin Properties was located across the street at 752 Main St. The space was most recently home to the office of State Farm insurance agent Mike Sprague.
Farrin owns the building, making him Peninsula Properties’ landlord.
With Pemaquid Peninsula’s strong staff, Matel and Young are looking forward to hitting the ground running come Jan. 1.
“We’ve had really good success with our team,” Matel said. “Now we’re just adding more people.”
Farrin is looking forward to continuing his work as a broker while also supporting Matel and Young.
“As an owner, it’s a 24/7 business, and I’m hoping to make it more of a 9-5 on business days,” Farrin said.
For more information, call the real estate agency at 563-2750.
