Hows maine (Portland, Washington: foreclosed, condo, house)

[GarlicGuy]

VA in Bangor is an hour away and has pretty good but basic health issues.

Big Pine Gun Club in Willimantic is an active club a few miles away. Web site has pretty nice photos.

[dubthang]

Originally Posted by Submariner

Pardon me.

All planning and zoning for the UTs of Maine is done by LUPC [it used to be called LURC].

Nobody living in any UT, and no group of people living in UTs setup any rules for the UTs.

All planning and zoning for the UTs is done by LUPC. The board members of LUPC are governor appointees.

The UT I was in this summer had setup rules for what roads could and could not have ATV and snow machine traffic on them. I don't believe that is covered by LUPC.

Originally Posted by Submariner

I get it that folks who live 4 or 5 hours away, down in some city, may have some idea of how they think it should be. Lets not confuse that with reality.

You live what, 30 minutes outside of a city? Get off your high horse.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by dubthang

The UT I was in this summer had setup rules for what roads could and could not have ATV and snow machine traffic on them. I don't believe that is covered by LUPC.

I can see that. Last year some of my neighbors started a campaign to get our road posted to allow ATVs, Two years before that it was more horse crossing signs.

They have to get the topic on the County Commissioners meeting, get a half dozen people to show up and say something encouraging if a camera crew show up.

After the county approves the idea, then it goes to the state MDOT. and you have to get it on their agenda.
call the same crew of supporters and try to get each of them to bring a friend.

Then we focus on the state representative's office [usually the backroom or restroom of a local auto mechanics shop], to convince him that it is worth his effort to write a bill to allow 'blah' project.

My wife is currently serving as the chair of our political party for our county. She ran for office the last time our district seat was open.

... You live what, 30 minutes outside of a city? Get off your high horse.

Good call.

I live in a Maine UT [Unorganized township]. Well inside of the Southern half [Geographically] of the state of Maine. I am about 20 miles North of Bangor.

[Maine Writer]

This is a good example of why I'd rather have an organized town without extra laws than be unorganized. We went to town meeting. "Do you want to allow registered ATVs on the road?" We raised our hands to vote yes. Done. We aren't asking people who don't live here to give us permission.

Originally Posted by Submariner

I can see that. Last year some of my neighbors started a campaign to get our road posted to allow ATVs, Two years before that it was more horse crossing signs.

They have to get the topic on the County Commissioners meeting, get a half dozen people to show up and say something encouraging if a camera crew show up.

After the county approves the idea, then it goes to the state MDOT. and you have to get it on their agenda.
call the same crew of supporters and try to get each of them to bring a friend.

Then we focus on the state representative's office [usually the backroom or restroom of a local auto mechanics shop], to convince him that it is worth his effort to write a bill to allow 'blah' project.

[DavidnTracy]

Again guys. Thank you. “ submariner “ your insight is fantastic thank you ....... so update.
Wife and i have been talking and were starting to think just buy property and build , its a task i know , after doing it i said never again , my wife is a trooper and my right hand so now experienced in this well know what we want and should be happy again .......there is some sort of Draw from maine , cant explain but we feel it and hopefully were successful in accomplishing our goals
Guys again thank you very much , its very valuable the insight and knowledge you pass.

David

[svband76]

Washington County guy here. Live and let live. Respect everyone's opinions and definition of what healthy is to them. Just don't force your beliefs on me. Good luck. As time goes on there will be more like you.

[nm9stheham]

Originally Posted by DavidnTracy

This is all very informative and my wife and I apreciate it all thank you , as far as shooting ,im not a hunter. We do enjoy target shooting im a fly fisherman, It may end up we buy land and go that route im just dreading the whole build process did it here and it was brutal from having electric service dug and layed ,well drilling and cutting road and brush hogging , but in reality the pay off was worth it , we now sit on our porch or deck and have a cold beer and enjoy the wildlife ...just dont want to be in new york state anymore its getting worse each month ,honestly not where we are but i always look ahead ...... thanks guys the more info and people that post on this the more help.

Not to be discouraging, but look at some threads asking for help in finding contractors in the rural areas of Maine. Build demands are up all over the country and I am finding it to be quite a challenge to find help in rural WY right now.... and have them actually show up! It seems to get worse the more rural you go.... found this on the Outer Banks too, down on the more rural southerly end on Hatteras Island.
So patience will be needed!

[nm9stheham]

Originally Posted by Submariner

When I bought the property where I live today, I paid a flat fee of $200. That got a title search and title insurance, a new deed written and recorded.

Who here has used a realtor and been able to buy property for any less than $8,000 above the purchase price?

When the buyer and seller agree to a price, adding a realtor into the mixture will add a significant amount of cash onto the price.

Does anyone disagree with that statement?

Depends on the supply and demand... any current price hikes are due to competition right now, and the willingness of buyers to conduct a bidding war. Flip the situation and the seller takes it on the chin, including realtor fees.

What has title search, etc., have to do with realtors and fees? 2 completely separate things. Just showing how cheap it can be of you go direct buyer to seller? That is true.

Realtors offer a service for fee. Not seeing anything wrong in that, or in anyone who decides to use the service, either buyer or seller. And realtors have to deal with a lot of crap, like 'tire kickers' who waste their time, or sellers who conceal problems. The realtors have a big task in sorting out who is serious, etc.; they owe that to their clients (the sellers).

The guy who signed a contract to purchase our property last year could not qualify for financing. I looked into the guy's background and found he was what I would term an 'operator'..... financing things on top of things. He wasted a lot of time for 2 realtors and put our sale effectively on hold for 3 months. I don't hold it against the realtors that this guy misrepresented his situation, but the realtors lost a lot of actual work time. How would you like anyone wasting your time?

So there is a lot to deal with as a realtor. Like people losing their tempers. Not a job I want but a useful service... it has to get paid for. Not seeing a problem there.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by nm9stheham

What has title search, etc., have to do with realtors and fees? 2 completely separate things.

I have bought homes previously using realtors and as the closing date approaches they come out with many pages listing a bunch of fees. When I have asked about those fees, I have always been told those fees are mandatory. The lie goes that some law somewhere requires $8,000 of additional fees to transfer property from one person to another person.

As far as I can tell the only person insisting that all of those additional fees must be paid is the realtor.

Without a realtor those additional fees disappear.

You say that realtors and those additional fees are separate. Maybe they are for you. I have not found the password needed to get a realtor to avoid the fees. To me realtors and ungodly fees go hand-in-hand together, they are not easily separated.

I am not talking about the realtor commissions here, but the additional fees they insist are required.

[DavidnTracy]

Most realtors ive encountered will pack paperwork as much as they can get away with, they are overated paper pushers. Yes they will show properties,like a car salesman shows a car, they may have regional knowledge,however ive also bought property “ by owner “ looked at it with seller , hired a real estate attorney to go over contracts and saved a good amount of money