Where is a wonderful place to move to in Maine? (Bath: real estate, apartment)

[xxphoenixx21]

Hello, I've been thinking of moving to Maine for many years. I've always been in love with the rocky shores and beautiful country side. I will probably be moving with me and my family of 5. We have one daughter at the age of 5 and school would also be a factor. But mostly just really interested in beautiful country side, good friendly people and slightly slower life pace. Low crime rate is good also.
I'm wondering what city would be the best to move to as far as work and rental/housing prices.
As of now where we live, we are paying on average:

Rent-900 for a 3 bedroom brick house w/ garage in city subdivision

electric-120
gas-50
water and trash-50
internet-60
phone-120 AT&T cell phone

We will have to find new work when we get there and anything hiring is helpful as well.
We all work in security but I would love to get into anything differnent, but don't have much expereince.

Any insight into living in Maine would be helpful, thank you.

[PenguinMom]

We are moving to Fort Fairfield! We could not be happier with it!!!

I have two children, ages 3 and 5. When we were looking for where to move, my husband created a spread sheet of all the school districts in Maine averaging their combined ELA and Math grade 3 National Exam Scores. My husband then ranked the districts Excellent Very Good Good Fair and We will not live here. Fort Fairfield came in at the top of his Very Good catagory.

I found a job as a High School teacher in Fort Fairfield. Everyone at my interview was kind and very devoted to their careers and their children! I have a child with some special learning needs. The Special Needs co-ordinator was at my job interview, gave me a tour of the elementary school, and talked with me at length about my daughter's needs! WOW

In terms of banks, moving, real estate agents, etc., people have been going out of their way to help us make the move smoothly!

The country side could not be more beautiful! Rolling hills, farms, lots of wildlife, some lakes and rivers to take a canoe out on. Go for a visit, Fort Fairfield is beautiful!

I am afraid I can't offer very many statistics or "real" data, just we LOVE FORT FAIRFIELD.

[Zarathu]

Jobs are not easy to find. You should have the job scenario lined up before you move. Unless you have specific skills in need, don't expect to just jump into something.

In my expereicne, people in Maine are friendly everywhere, but you also need to find a community that is like you. If you move into a conservative community that is very evangelical, and you are a liberal Taoist, while the people may be friendly, you may have touble developing friendships. You need to be like the people that you move to.

I lived for 30+ years in a community that was not like me. While everyone was very friendly they wouldn't develop friendhsips with me because they thought I was too weird in my what I thought and did in my free time.

It took a long time to find a small group that shared enough similiar views to develop some friendships. So look into the community organizatiions and activities that you will be able to participate in.

Z

[Submariner]

Rent is lower here.

I visited a friend in Camden last week, she rents a very nice 3bdrm house for $650 and is less than 100 yards from the ocean.

[xxphoenixx21]

Wow, that is very cheap rent for a 3 bdrm house. And that close to the ocean would be so awesome. Thank you for the info. =)

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by xxphoenixx21

Wow, that is very cheap rent for a 3 bdrm house. And that close to the ocean would be so awesome. Thank you for the info. =)

$ 650 a month on the water is VERY unusual. Especially in Camden. Many places rent for more than that per week this time of year! I would not get your hopes up on finding a rent like that.
Maine jobs do not pay very well. 50k a year is real good money in Maine. It usually takes two jobs in the family to get by. $10-$12 per hour doesn't go all that far in a State where you NEED a car or two to get around, there is little public transportation. Fuel costs are high, heating oil is quite expensive, and electricity rates are some of the highest in the country. It IS pretty here but you pay for it.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Rent is lower here.

I visited a friend in Camden last week, she rents a very nice 3bdrm house for $650 and is less than 100 yards from the ocean.

This is not the norm in Maine and is a very misleading post. Isolated examples of low rent are not proper examples to be giving to potential new comers. Making a blanket statement that rent is lower here is not proper. Rents are certainly not lower in Cumberland County which the last time I looked was part of Maine.

[chaosX5]

Originally Posted by xxphoenixx21

Hello, I've been thinking of moving to Maine for many years. I've always been in love with the rocky shores and beautiful country side. I will probably be moving with me and my family of 5. We have one daughter at the age of 5 and school would also be a factor. But mostly just really interested in beautiful country side, good friendly people and slightly slower life pace. Low crime rate is good also.
I'm wondering what city would be the best to move to as far as work and rental/housing prices.
As of now where we live, we are paying on average:

Rent-900 for a 3 bedroom brick house w/ garage in city subdivision

electric-120
gas-50
water and trash-50
internet-60
phone-120 AT&T cell phone

We will have to find new work when we get there and anything hiring is helpful as well.
We all work in security but I would love to get into anything differnent, but don't have much expereince.

Any insight into living in Maine would be helpful, thank you.

I don't live in Maine yet, but I've checked out some rentals and some are higher than 900 some are lower, just depends where your looking. The thing you'll need to check into is cost of heat. I don't think it will be as cheap as your current AC/heat cost in Texas and I've learned that your not likely to be able to supplement with wood, no wood burning in a rental. Your living cheaper than me in NC Well, except for internet and phone, that's 180.00 a month ???!!!!

Good luck!

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by chaosX5

no wood burning in a rental.

I've seen photos of Maine houses for rent in Bath, and some of them have fireplaces, a few have more than one fireplace.

Does that mean those fireplaces will be made unusable somehow before the renter moves in?

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Maineah

$ 650 a month on the water is VERY unusual. Especially in Camden. Many places rent for more than that per week this time of year! I would not get your hopes up on finding a rent like that.
Maine jobs do not pay very well. 50k a year is real good money in Maine. It usually takes two jobs in the family to get by. $10-$12 per hour doesn't go all that far in a State where you NEED a car or two to get around, there is little public transportation. Fuel costs are high, heating oil is quite expensive, and electricity rates are some of the highest in the country. It IS pretty here but you pay for it.

The example I gave, is not on the water.

Please stop adding stuff into my posts.

This friend is our son's girlfriend, she shares her apartment with three other room-mates, they all have minimum wage jobs.