Statement of Purpose

     This website has two goals...
   1 - To become the best resource possible for anyone who is in search of a place to stay, whether it be for one night, a week’s vacation or for a lifetime, in Fort Kent, Maine.
   2 - To provide a place for Fort Kent and Aroostook residents to buy and sell things they have for sale.
 

         Listings in all categories can be added for FREE!

     Listings can be created by any property owner who is in search of a way to advertise, sell or rent a property or item for sale. The various categories of listings (for example, ‘Houses for Rent’, ‘Cars/Trucks’)  are
self-explanatory.
Listings may be placed free of charge by the owner, agent or dealer who is selling or renting the property. Up to 4 images can be added to the free listing. Up to 15 images can be added to a Featured Listing. 
 

       About Featured Listings

Featured Listings have a number of advantages. Primarily, they are always displayed first, at the top of the listing page. They also can contain as many as 15 images. This makes an extensive gallery that can show all the best features of a property or item for sale. Any listing can be made a Featured Listing at any time simply by making the Payment on the Payments page using Visa or Mastercard. Cost for Featuring a Listing is as little as $5.75/month. Once payment is received, the listing will be converted to Featured status and remain in that state for the chosen term or until the item is sold. When the term exprires, if the payment is not renewed, the listing simply returns to the status of a free listing. All payments are made for the chosen number of months ‘or until the property is sold’. There are no refunds when a property is sold before the term expires.

The Featured Listings in a given category are ranked in position according to the number of months that were pre-paid. For example, if 2 Featured Listings were paid for 3 months and a third was paid for 6 months, this third one would appear ahead of the other two. More details about the sort-order of all listings are given below.  
 

       If you prefer, we can place your Listing for you

     Listings are easy to create and maintain. However, a property owner can also opt to have their Listing created and maintained for them by us. The listing information can be obtained by telephone interview and email or taken from an existing website. The charge for this service is $30 per property listed in one category. Or $40 to list the same property in two appropriate categories.  Updates of information on existing Listings can be done at any time by email or telephone at a charge of $15 per update.. To initiate any of these services, simply fill out the order form on the Payments page or give us a call at 834 3417.

                     Helpful Information     
     How to...

  Create Listings

     To create a listing for your property in any category, follow these simple steps:

1. Click the ‘Create a Listing’ link on any page to be taken to the user area of the site which begins with the ‘Login’ page.
2. Click the ‘Register’ link below the login fields on the page.
3. Register, using your email address and the password of your choice. Use this combination of ‘user name’ and ‘password’ in the future to login.
4. Once registered and logged in, click the category on the menu at the left of the page in which you would like your listing to appear, for example, ‘List Vacation Rentals’. Click ‘Add Listing’ to be taken to the form with all the fields that pertain to that category of listings. -- See Screenshot --  Fill these fields and submit your listing. It will become immediately visible in the search results for that category.
   Please note: Though many properties may appropriately be listed in 2 categories, no property may appear in more than 2 categories.
5. To add a Map reference to your Listing (not required, but very helpful), follow the instructions for this below.
    

IMAGE TECH -- Successfully Upload and Display Images

• The ‘Main Image’ field of each listing is required to contain an image of the property. Listings that are posted without an image will be removed without notice.
• Hints on uploading images:
   1 - Images in ‘Landscape’ (horizontal) layout display generally better than those in ‘Portrait’ (vertical) layout.
   2 - IMPORTANT - Web-friendly images are around 100kb in size. But images direct from digital cameras can be 10, 30 or 50 times bigger. UGH! Although the system will accept an image up to 5mb in size, uploading many large images can cause the upload to fail. If your images are large, we recommend initially uploading only the first 'Main Image' to your listing. Then, once  your listing is successfully created, complete it by repeatedly 'Updating' it, adding images gradually until all your images are in place. Detailed instructions for updating listings can be found under the heading 'Update Listings' below.
    3 - When updating a Listing, images can be added or changed but they cannot be deleted. To ‘remove’ an image, it can only be replaced with another one.
   

  Add a MAP Reference to a Real Estate Listing

1. By default, the ‘Map’ field in the ‘Add Listing’ and ‘Update Listing’ boxes contains a link to ‘Aroostook County, Maine’ at ‘Google Maps’. However, much more desirable is to have a link that points to the location of the listed property itself. The following details how to make this link for your property.
2. In a new browser window, open the Google map site at: www.google.com/maps
3. In their map search box, type in the street address of your property in the format:
              4 state street, presque isle, me
4. Click ‘Search Maps’
5. Verify that the location shown on the map is correct. (You can zoom out with the controller on the left.)
6. Click the ‘Link’ link at the Top, Left pane  -- See Screenshot -- This will cause a small box to drop down. Click ‘Short URL’ as shown in the screenshot.
7. Use your mouse to ‘Copy’this link.
8. It’s a good idea to first test this link to be sure it gives the desired results by ‘Pasting’ it into the address bar of a new browser window and seeing what happens.
9. Finally, if the above test is successful, ‘Paste’ this text into the ‘Map’ field of the Listing
   -- See Screenshot

  Make a Listing come to the Top

Featured Listings always appear first. As explained above, these are ranked according to the number of months for which they have been paid. A Listing paid for 6 months will appear ahead of one paid for 3 or 4 months.

Free Listings: There are two rules of sorting that control the order in which free listings appear... 

1. Free Listings are first sorted alphabetically by ‘Town’ to make it easy for the person using the site to navigate the Listings and find Listings in the area that they are interested in.
2. Each time a Listing is updated, it will appear FIRST among the Free Listings for a particular town. Thus, it’s a good idea to keep Listing information fresh.
   
   ----Besides the option of adding Featured status to your Listing, by far the most important factor in having your Listing stand out on the site is the Photo that you choose to place in the ‘Main Image’ field. It should be the very best possible.
    

  Update or Delete a Listing

• You can update, change information, add images or delete Listings at any time. Simply Login, select the Listing in its category (refer to the screenshot above) and click the ‘Update Listing’ link at the bottom of the Listing Info Box to make changes. -- See Screenshot -- Gallery Images can be added or replaced this way at any time. Click ‘Delete Listing’ to delete the listing entirely.
   

  Deactivate a Listing   (When an apartment is rented, e.g.)

• Especially with Apartment and House Rentals, there is the need to ‘Deactivate’ a Listing so that it remains in the system for future use, but does not currently show up in search results. To ‘Deactivate’ a Listing, ‘Update’ it as above and check the ‘Inactive’ radio button. This will remove your Listing from search results until you activate it again.
   

  View the Listing Account

• To view all pertinent information about a Listing, click the ‘Listing Account’ link at the bottom of the Listing Info Box. See Screenshot above for it’s location.
   

  View or change Registration Information

• To view registration information click the ‘My Registration’ link on the main left menu
• To update registration info, click the ‘Update Listing’ link at the bottom of the Registration Info Box
• To view registration account details, click the ‘Listing Account’ link at the bottom of the Registration info Box. 
• Please note: It’s not possible for a user to change the email address that was used to create the account. For changes of email address, please contact us.
   

  Leave the Site

• If a user would like to leave the site completely, they can do so by simply Logging in to the Registration page and clicking the ‘Delete Listing’ link at the bottom of the Registration Info Box. Once the delete is confirmed, all user information as well as all the Listings associated with this user will be permanently and completely deleted from the system.
   

                   User Agreement - Fine Print - Privacy Policy

• The registered user of this website agrees to be fully responsible for all information or content that is posted in his or her Listings and to release the owners and administrators of this site from any and all liability for loss or damage that may result from the use of this website.
   
• According to the Federal Fair Housing Act and Maine Fair Housing laws: It is illegal to discriminate against any person because of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, disability, familial status, or receipt of public assistance. The user of this site agrees to create Listings only in accordance with these laws. Any Listing that is worded contrary to these guidelines will be removed.
• All payments for Featured Listings are made for the chosen number of months ‘or until the property is sold’. There are no refunds when a property is sold before the term expires.
   
• Except in cases where they have explicit instructions from the user to do so, the Administrators will not change or alter the textual information given in a Listing.
   
• Images will be altered in size and quality to meet the requirements of good website design and presentation.
   
• The Administrator also reserves the right to remove Listings without notice under the following conditions:
     Irrelevancy - Any Listing containing content that is in any way irrelevant to the purpose of selling, renting or advertising a particular Lodging or Real Estate property or item for sale will be removed.
     Spamming Listings- Multiple Listings of the same property in the same category are considered spam and will be removed. Only in the category ‘Apartments for Rent’ can more than one ‘unit’ in the same physical building or complex or at the same street address be posted by a single owner or agent.
     Spamming Categories - No single property may be listed in more than 2 categories.
     Dormancy - Please keep information up to date. A Listing or Registration that has not been updated or used in more than two years will be removed. Prevent this unintended deletion of listings by occasionally logging in to update your information on the site.
   
•  Privacy Policy
  User information and email addresses will never be sold or made available to any third party for any reason.