38 Crescent StreetRockland, ME 04841Price: $539,000

Some houses wait to be totally finished before they let you love them. This one doesn't. It stands on an open corner in Rockland's South End, the town's only walkable waterfront neighborhood, where the Breakwater Lighthouse keeps turning up in the view, no matter where you are. Walk to Sandy Beach in the morning. Take the dog to Snow Marine Park. Follow the Harbor Walk downtown for coffee, galleries, a good dinner, live music, all within ten minutes on foot. The house itself is something of a hybrid, part island summer place, part year-round home, and welcoming in every season. 4 bedroom and 4 bathrooms, high ceilings and large windows keep the rooms bright, and a covered porch makes it easy to stay outside until the light goes. The kitchen has been updated with new cabinets, new appliances, and granite counters, and the bathrooms have been refreshed as well. It's relaxed, uncomplicated, and full of character. It has immediate soul: great energy and personality right now, no flawless finish required. In other words, it is comfortable in its own skin. The hard, unglamorous work is already done, and done well. New footings, vapor barrier, and slab below. A carrying beam added to open the new layout. Updated plumbing, a new electrical service with a sub panel, entirely new wiring, a new roof overhead, and a robust heat pump system that heats and cools efficiently, whatever the season throws at it. The new attached garage has room for the car, the boat, or both. The bones are incredible, and the house is ready to be lived in, comfortable and quietly confident from day one. A few finishing touches are left for the next owner to make their own, the best kind of project, the kind you get to live inside while you do it. Immediate comfort, a little sweat equity, and room to add value at your own pace.