House cost questions (Bangor, Penobscot, Haynesville: for sale, real estate, apartment) - Maine (ME) - City-Data Forum

slaite1 · 08-20-2007, 08:12 AM

Hi everyone! My boyfriend and I are considering moving to Maine from NJ, and are trying to get a grasp on the housing/cost of living prices. I'm looking in the Bangor area, but don't really know much about it. I've been looking at mainemoves.com at all of Penobscot County, and prices vary A LOT! We are looking for a small started home in a smallish town close to Bangor. There were houses under 100k, and it's hard to tell if it's because it's rural, or just a dump.

I don't really have any specific price criteria yet, as we won't be moving for quite a while. But, cheap is good! Anyway, I expected to find some small places for under 200k, but anything that says four bedrooms for 90k makes me wonder. We're planning a trip there sometime soon, and would like to have an idea where to look around. So, are prices like this normal? Or can anyone give me an idea of the types of prices I can expect on a modest house? I just want to weed out the dumpy ones! Thanks so much for all your help!

Zymer · 08-20-2007, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slaite1

Hi everyone! My boyfriend and I are considering moving to Maine from NJ, and are trying to get a grasp on the housing/cost of living prices. I'm looking in the Bangor area, but don't really know much about it. I've been looking at mainemoves.com at all of Penobscot County, and prices vary A LOT! We are looking for a small started home in a smallish town close to Bangor. There were houses under 100k, and it's hard to tell if it's because it's rural, or just a dump.

I don't really have any specific price criteria yet, as we won't be moving for quite a while. But, cheap is good! Anyway, I expected to find some small places for under 200k, but anything that says four bedrooms for 90k makes me wonder. We're planning a trip there sometime soon, and would like to have an idea where to look around. So, are prices like this normal? Or can anyone give me an idea of the types of prices I can expect on a modest house? I just want to weed out the dumpy ones! Thanks so much for all your help!

You need to go and look at them, and don't trust the pictures...pictures can lie (I tell you this from experience- I've been looking for a while, just working on closing a deal now, and I've been to look at some houses that looked absolutely marvelous in the pictures but turned out to be total dumps when I got there).

Also, pay attention to square footage- if it says 4br but the house only has 1200 sq. ft., you know it's going to be cramped.

Having said that, there are some good deals to be had- older farm houses that need a little (or a lot!) of fixing up, and foreclosures/short sales. (A short sale is where the homeowner is facing imminent foreclosure but the lender may be willing to take less than what is owed by having it sold to a new buyer rather than having to go through the foreclosure process.)

Mainbrokerman can probably give you more/better information.

The number of foreclosures seems to be rising and the housing market is falling- good for buyers, bad for sellers. A lot of otherwise good people whose only mistake was buying more house than they could afford or a high LTV note with an ARM are getting croaked.

If you aren't moving for a while, use the MLS listings to keep an eye on what is for sale. Don't completely eliminate houses that may be above your desired price range, keep checking to see how long they stay on the market, and how much/often the price drops while it goes unsold. You may find that a house which was originally listed for more than you wanted to spend will drop into your price range.

Also, if you need to get a loan, get your lender and pre-approval lined up early, both so that you know how much you can afford AND in case your chosen lender goes belly-up you will have time to find another. (Last week I had a commitment from a lender on Tuesday, I was about to submit the paperwork on Friday but learned that the lender shut their doors Thursday afternoon.)

Two things that can save you a lot of time and trouble- retain a buyer broker for the area in which you are interested, and a mortgage broker to find the money for you (if you need it). Your buyer broker will typically be paid out of the commission due the sellers broker, and the mortgage broker will be paid a fee from the lender so these two things *shouldn't* cost you any money out-of-pocket.

Make sure that you communicate to your buyer broker *exactly* what you are looking for, how much you are willing to spend to get it, and also, what things you absolutely DON'T want. This will make the process easier and save you lots of time/money traveling and looking at stuff that doesn't fit your needs/desires.

shonner · 08-20-2007, 10:49 AM

Wow, Zymer. Your advice is excellent and very helpful. I am stuck in the Midwest and am also hoping to move to Maine in the near future. I'll certainly use the tips you've suggested.

Zymer · 08-20-2007, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shonner

Wow, Zymer. Your advice is excellent and very helpful. I am stuck in the Midwest and am also hoping to move to Maine in the near future. I'll certainly use the tips you've suggested.

LOL, I always have to learn the hard way. Those that don't might as well benefit from it.

As Forest Beekeeper noted, there are also deals to be had that aren't in the regular listings. Various newspapers and Uncle Henry's "Swap It" guide ( Uncle Henry's ) will also have some good stuff.

genmomto5 · 08-20-2007, 01:45 PM

Since we just finished house hunting, here are a few things I've learned. I agree that the pictures on the internet don't always equal the truth. One virtual tour we saw looked fantastic but the house smelled moldy and the lay out was bizarre.

Brokers will sometimes be vague about info on a house so that you will need to call them directly and not for any other cagey reasons. But I have found some key things in my search and #1 is if they have a bunch of pictures online of a house but do not show important rooms like the kitchen it means you will not like the kitchen. If they say charming it means small. If they say neat and clean it seems to mean there is nothing else good to say about the house. Creative floor plan can mean weird (though don't rule these out straight away as it may meet your needs). If a house has an In-law apartment or guest apartment you need to know if it is "legal" and can be rented. If it is being rented find out straight away how long the tenants lease is for. One place we were looking at had a tenant with a 3 year lease and we were hoping for use of the whole house as soon as possible.

One other thing that comes to mind. Some of the places we looked didn't have things like garages on their MLS listing but they did actually have them. So if you really like something about a house and it seems to be missing a key feature you need ask the broker. It may have been left off in error.

Zymer · 08-20-2007, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by genmomto5

If they say charming it means small.

Same for 'cute' or 'cottage'.

Oh, and if you look at a Mooers listing and it says 'needs a little work', plan for a major rehab. We looked at one in Haynesville, he said 'You need to have a little Bob Villa in you'...nothing short of TNT and a bulldozer would have done for *that* wreck. There was not a single window in it, one of the doors was missing, the plaster ceilings were caving in (some rooms it was down completely), the interior walls were nearly as bad, and the staircase to the second floor was so rickety we didn't dare have the two of us on it at the same time.

WhoFanMe · 08-20-2007, 04:06 PM

There are some good thoughts here. I can't stress enough the mortgage piece. The players and rules are changing daily and you need somebody you can trust to keep you in the right place. We had a closing last week where the checks were cut and keys delivered only to find out 24 hours later that the funds weren't available!

I also agree strongly the idea of hiring a buyer broker to represent you exclusively in the transaction, you need an advocate in this amazingly complex process.

Submariner · 08-20-2007, 06:07 PM

I spent a lot of time meeting with realtors, and driving from one property [that I could not afford] to another property [that I could not afford].

It took me three [or four, after a while they began to blur] one-week trips to Maine shopping for a home. Before I finally broke down and started talking to local folks.

So many more properties are bought and sold without benefit of a realtor in Maine. They just never do get listed on any MLS.

cvanripe10 · 08-20-2007, 06:48 PM

I am also from Jersey and looking at Maine. NJ just isn't what it used to be. It's very conjested, everyone is out to get each other, and it's becoming uber urban.

Plus the real estate in Jersey is the highest in the country. 700,000 won't even get you a house in a liveable part of Jersey. 700,000 = Condo in Jerz

WhoFanMe · 08-20-2007, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

I spent a lot of time meeting with realtors, and driving from one property [that I could not afford] to another property [that I could not afford].

It took me three [or four, after a while they began to blur] one-week trips to Maine shopping for a home. Before I finally broke down and started talking to local folks.

So many more properties are bought and sold without benefit of a realtor in Maine. They just never do get listed on any MLS.

With all due respect, forest, if you looked at even one house that you couldn't afford than you wasted your time, as did the REALTORS that drove you around. Why would you do such a thing?

It is not my intention to get into a flame war with you, but can you supply any statistics that show that "So many more properties are bought and sold without benefit of a realtor in Maine."

Thanks.