The Near Future (Portland, Bangor, Saco: real estate, apartments, foreclosure)

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Boy..how do I start this?

Without going in to a lot of detail, I will say that I think I'm about to lose my job. Some reasons are that the slow season is upon us and it's s-l-o-w. Meaning, it will be, based on how our so called "busy" season was this year.

The Glades, they are dry. One park down the road has closed for the time being because it's too dry to run. Another has about a week. We are hanging on by a thread.

The boss has been hiring all kinds of new people...all of the manager's friends and has been threatening others with their jobs, left and right.

Put all three together...I can see the writing on the wall...it's not good.

If this happens, I not only lose the job, I lose where I live. (It's a perk.) Which means I have to get a new job and new place to live.

I've been looking around in Maine for months on end, I know the area I want to live. Anywhere within a 50 mile radius to Bangor, really. This leaves a lot.

I'm having a terrible time finding places, reasonably priced, that allow dogs. I'm not terribly picky, I just want it under a certain price and allow my dogs.

I'm also of course looking for work but what I'm finding is, seems I have to be there to get the work. But I can't be there if I have no place to live. And how can I get a place to live without a job?

Catch-22.

"Stay in FL". Really, no. If I have to up and move, find another job, it's time to move, altogether.

I have some money saved up but not as much as I was working towards in a 5 year goal that is, I'm pretty confident, not going to happen because things are changing around here.

Miami's job market is horrendous. The housing prices are even worse than some of the crazy prices I've been seeing for some rentals in Maine. Some of them are asking as much as they would here in Miami. A lot of them are reasonable but again, "cat's ok, no dogs!" Or "no pets" or "dogs under 15 pounds"....sigh.

Everyone says, "get a job lined up first" and that is of course good advice...so how does one do that when they can't get the time off to interview?

As for housing, really, if it's under a certain price, I can have the pets, I'll take it and worry about finding something better, later.

I kinda need some help here...

I need some connections. I need people who have information about where to look.

I've done the Bangor Daily News, I've done rentvine, realrentals dot com, etc. I've looked until my eyes bled but surely there are other ways to find out what's out there? Someone who knows someone who is looking for a renter or an employee? I'm trying to network here, get a bit of help, prepare myself or, if it turns out I can find what I want, I'll just go ahead and get on up there.

I don't know if this is how Mainers do it...I don't know if I'm being too upfront or if I'm offending by asking...I just know that something is coming down the line and I want to be prepared, have something set up or, following the instinct, go ahead and make the change now before it's all come to fruition.

[RHB]

DM me your price range, and needs (other than dogs) and some info on the dogs, how many, what breed/size, and I'll check around for you.

[Maineah]

Good luck. There is nothing in Maine to do either. People poo pooed the fact that $4.00 plus gas was coming this summer and it may hit $5.00 before summer is out. Now they are VERY worried. That gas price will absolutely KILL the Maine tourist industry....I mean DEAD. Without the tourist industry all businesses in Maine will suffer greatly. In 2008 Maine nearly folded when gas hit just over $4.00 and this year looks to be worse. Gas at marinas on the coast is already at $4.85 per gallon. Imagine paying nearly $1000 to fill your 200 gallon tank that is good for a couple of weekends before refilling, add the handling, the storage, the insurance, payments and a slip and you're up over $12,000 for a summer's worth of minimal boating...forget it!. Boats are going to stay high and dry this summer and maybe forever.
Tourists won't spring for the extra $1000 in gas to drive around Maine for a week or two. Haul a trailer or drive an RV....double or triple that cost. People park them when it's that expensive. We've been through the dog thing before...dogs wreck apartments and houses . Landlords don't want their properties wrecked and rightly so. Your saving grace with the dogs might be the desparation of the landlord to get the place rented no matter what.
I'd look around in Florida before I tried to move up here.

[kevin5098]

We have been looking for dog friendly rentals in the Saco/Portland area and have found lots on Craig's list. Could be desperate landlords as Mainah says. We aren't quite ready to pull the trigger on the move, but chances are our house/apartment will be found on Craig's list. A word of caution on house rentals - Be sure the place is not going into foreclosure and the owner trying to squeeze the last few dollars out of it.

[mainebrokerman]

check out the property management companies on the link, they deal with area rentals and have a good pulse on the area

bangor property management - Bing

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Originally Posted by kevin5098

We have been looking for dog friendly rentals in the Saco/Portland area and have found lots on Craig's list. Could be desperate landlords as Mainah says. We aren't quite ready to pull the trigger on the move, but chances are our house/apartment will be found on Craig's list. A word of caution on house rentals - Be sure the place is not going into foreclosure and the owner trying to squeeze the last few dollars out of it.

Sound advice. That didn't even occur to me to think about...that piece of advice right there could save a lot of headache later.

Thank you! I repped you...don't know how to make a comment when repping so I'm just telling you here, instead.

As for staying in FL, the only difference between finding a place in FL and finding a place in ME, (jobs, too), is a long drive. That's it.

So if I have to move and find a new job, I'm going to look in the area I want to live in. I'm over FL.

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

check out the property management companies on the link, they deal with area rentals and have a good pulse on the area

bangor property management - Bing

That is great! Thank you very much!

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by GatorMama

Sound advice. That didn't even occur to me to think about...that piece of advice right there could save a lot of headache later.

Thank you! I repped you...don't know how to make a comment when repping so I'm just telling you here, instead.

As for staying in FL, the only difference between finding a place in FL and finding a place in ME, (jobs, too), is a long drive. That's it.

So if I have to move and find a new job, I'm going to look in the area I want to live in. I'm over FL.

I wish you well....Maine is tough right now. At least in Florida you're less likely to freeze or starve. Welfare in Maine is going to be tougfher to get. Not saying you Won't work you may just not find anything.

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Originally Posted by Maineah

I wish you well....Maine is tough right now. At least in Florida you're less likely to freeze or starve. Welfare in Maine is going to be tougfher to get. Not saying you Won't work you may just not find anything. You've been warned.

I have enough saved up that if I find the right priced place, I can live for about 6 months without worry. Surely I can find something to do in that 6 months.

I'm not in to welfare if I'm perfectly capable of working...I'll do what it takes before I take welfare. That's not particularly in my vocabulary. Hand outs are not what I'm looking for.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by GatorMama

I have enough saved up that if I find the right priced place, I can live for about 6 months without worry. Surely I can find something to do in that 6 months.

I'm not in to welfare if I'm perfectly capable of working...I'll do what it takes before I take welfare. That's not particularly in my vocabulary. Hand outs are not what I'm looking for.

I'm not accusing you I'm just saying coming here now without a job lined up isn't great timing. My point was that even if you have no intention of ever getting help from the government there are FEW jobs in Maine, fuel costs are bankrupting people, housing is high, all at a time when the new state government is he77 bent on cutting services and support programs. If you happen to fall through the cracks there will be little support. You really couldn't have picked a worse time to come to Maine. Sure the Real Estate types may well paint a different picture . They want to promote their profession and rightfully so. The reality is there are thousands of houses on the market with thousands more to come as people bail out of Maine for a warmer climate. People just don't have an extra $4,000+ to burn up in heating costs . For many working a second or third job to help pay for fuel isn't an option. People are already grabbing any job they can get just to survive and with the prospect of a terrible tourist season on the horizon due to high fuel costs there will be a LOT of traditional seasonal businesses closing their doors. Those seasonal workers are going to go inland to every store, shop, and pizza place still open looking for work. It's already happening. I met a waitress in Freeport that was commuting all the way to Newcastle because she couldn't find a job as a waitress between Freeport and her home. That's a LONG commute and she said it was barely worth doing due to the high cost of gasoline now. She simply can't make enough to pay for gas and have enough to pay her bills too. She's not the only one. Shops down town have had far more applicants for summer jobs than any time in the past. My son couldn't get a job in Freeport for the summer ALREADY! He's staying in New York and working at a summer camp. It happened in 2008 and this season is going to be worse. No matter how lovely it is here to many it's just becoming way too expensive to stay. If you think I'm trying to scare you off you're right. It's far worse than it ever has been around here and it's only going to get worse in the next few years if fuel stays up as high as it is now or goes even higher. There simply HAS to be someplace that is doing better than Maine. I'd find that place.