GREENVILLE, MAINE – “It was very stressful,” Kirt said, without any hint of levity. A shadow passed across his face. “We just needed a roof over our heads.” By “we” Kirt meant his wife, Tammy Rowe, and their five rescue dogs: Snickers, Lilly, Trixie, Moxie, and Ace.
As Kirt told his home buying story, Trixie, with her basset hound ears and begging eyes, nuzzled next to Kirt. Light streamed through their office skylight – and the shadow left his face. December of 2019 was crazy, but thanks to help from REALTOR® Scott Harding, they found home.
“I had known Scott since we were kids. The other day I found a picture of us in kindergarten and sent it to him,” Tammy said with a laugh. Kirt was no stranger to Scott either.
“I had been talking with Scott since about 2016 about buying a house,” Kirt said. “It seemed pretty out of reach though. I was out of the Army after 21 years and had found this job as a superintendent at a golf course. The pay wasn’t great, but it came with housing. Well, that job turned out to be just a seasonal thing. So here we are, coming up on a Maine winter, and they tell me I have seven days to move out.” Seven days. No income. Five dogs.
“We told Scott to just find us whatever he could – if it’s not ideal, well, a year or two down the road we can find something else,” Kirt said. “He somehow convinces our landlord to give us 45 days to move – just enough time to close on a house. Then, he sits us down and says ‘What do you want in a house? What are the amenities that you want.’ And we told him. If we could have our dream house, we would have skylights, a wrap around porch, a three car garage, a fenced yard, and enough room for the dogs to run around. It wasn’t a week later, he said ‘I got you a house. Come look at it.’” Kirt didn’t believe him.
“I said, no way. Well, as soon as we took a look at it, we put a bid on it,” Kirt recalled.
“As soon as I walked through the door and saw the high ceilings and the skylights, I thought ‘Oh my gosh we’ve got to have this house,’” Tammy said. They got another surprise when they looked out the back window and saw the little creek that runs through their property.
“It’s like a fairy tale,” Tammy said with a laugh. “And they love it,” she added, playfully rustling Lilly’s ears. “Our first day here, I couldn’t believe this was my home.”
“I still can’t believe it, I really can’t,” Kirt added, all traces of stress now gone from his face, “We have apple trees, pear trees, and all kinds of wildlife that comes through.”
“Oh, the other day there must have been 20 turkey that came through the yard,” Tammy added. “And there’s a fox that gets these dogs all riled up.”
“It’s peaceful and quiet, and that’s the beauty of it,” Kirt said. “It’s amazing how hard Scott worked for us. Man, he went out on a limb. Now, this is our forever home, it absolutely is.”
