FREEPORT – It now has been 10 years since Amy and Matt Cartmell went from owners of a Freeport bed and breakfast to begin careers in real estate. The couple, owners of Cartmell & Associates, a team at Keller Williams Realty Greater Portland, concentrate largely on the Freeport market, which has enjoyed solid growth in the past two years. They once owned the Brewer House, which they purchased when it was a three-family home in 1993 and opened as a bed and breakfast the next year. They sold it in 2002.

Amy Cartmell, 47, got her real estate license the next year, and her husband, 53, got his license a few years later. He just became president of the Freeport Rotary Club.

Both originally from Connecticut, the Cartmells have lived in Freeport for 21 years. They have two sons in college, and two daughters who attend Freeport High School. Matthew is 22, Nicholas is 19, Lindsay is 16 and Sarah, 15.

The Cartmells have distinct responsibilities in their business. She handles all of the listings of homes and land, and he works with the buyers. It’s a system that works for them.

The Cartmells answered questions regarding their business and the real estate market in general recently for the Tri-Town Weekly.

Q: Owning a B&B and working in real estate might seem a lot different, but both involve an appreciation of a home. Did your history as B&B owners have anything to do with going into real estate, or totally unrelated?

Amy: I decided to go into real estate a year after we sold Brewster House in 2002. We enjoyed the B&B but were ready for a career change. Real estate was a natural choice because meeting people and helping them have a great experience – tourists at the Brewster House or clients buying or selling a home – is all about customer service.

Matt: I got my real estate license in 2006 and joined Amy who was already a successful agent. Running our own business was also something we liked about owning the B&B. We are now able to work as a team, Cartmell & Associates, at Keller Williams Realty. I concentrate on working with buyers while Amy focuses on working with sellers. We have an assistant who helps us with administrative tasks and marketing.

Q: You read and hear the commercials all the time, that the market is on full rebound. What’s your assessment?

Amy: The real estate market in the Freeport area has been improving steadily for the past few years. Certain price ranges and locations are doing very well. The recent surge in building permits for new home construction in Freeport has meant that we have had more sales of both lots and spec homes than we have had in years. Since we live in Freeport, we do a large percentage of our business right here where we have a lot of friends and family. That being said, Matt has helped people buy properties from Old Orchard Beach to Cushing and inland to Auburn.

Matt: We have definitely seen an increase in high-end sales. Our team has had more sales over $500,000 this year than ever before. The good news is, all price ranges are selling well when priced correctly.

Q: What’s changed in the past 10 years in this business?

Amy: One thing that has changed quite a bit in the past 10 years is the most effective way to market a house for sale. With the economy becoming more and more globalized, it’s hard to know if the buyer for your listing is coming from across town or from another state or country. Advertising in a local paper is effective for local buyers. Listings can also be marketed to buyers in all corners of the world on countless real estate related websites. This makes photography more important than ever since multiple photos are often displayed. Most recently social media has become a hot trend in marketing, as well.

Q: Is there a typical age of home buyers? Are they people with young families? Retirees?

Matt: We help a wide variety of buyers. Just this year we have had first-time home buyers, people who are upgrading to a larger home and people who are downsizing from a house to a condominium. And while some sell their Maine home to move south, a surprising number of people actually retire to Maine. This can be for any number of reasons; they might have adult children in the area and want to move closer to them or they may have vacationed here and decided it is where they want to live year round.

Q: Would you consider going back to a B&B when you retire?

Amy: As much as we loved the B&B, it is a 24/7 enterprise (OK, not unlike real estate!). We might decide to do something a little less busy in our retirement.

Matt: We also enjoy being involved in the community and would plan to continue to volunteer when we retire. I am currently president of Freeport Rotary Club and Amy is president of Freeport Housing Trust.