Looking for cheap, rural land in Maine (Brunswick, Washington: taxes, live)

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Cold Stream has power, phone and a T1 line to most of the lake. It is under 45 minutes to the Bangor Mall.

Elm Pond is really back of beyond. It's a pretty pond surrounded by about 8,000,000 acres of timber company land. It is the only privately owned land in the region. It is an expedition to get to the Bangor Mall.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Nor'Eastah

... Forest beekeeper, if you really know of land available for $300 per acre, why keep it such a big secret? ...

I have been giving my contact's name to anyone who asks.

I have sent you a DM.



My method was that while I was driving around following realtor directions looking at lots that I could not afford, I kept seeing hand written signs nailed to trees with phone numbers. So after a long struggle dealing the realtors, I finally began calling some of those numbers, which was when I found that there are native Mainers who buy and sell land. For much lower than the 'professionals' do.

[Submariner]

My land had been clear cut and about a third of it is wetland. Today it is mostly thick brush and saplings. A lot of stumps and underground logs.

I doubt that any of it will be able to be timbered again in my lifetime. However it hosts a lot of wildlife; provides a lot of firewood, peat and fiddleheads; and can support a bunch of goats and sheep.

My 'views' are trees.

[US Mountain Man]

I agree that the best way to find reasonably priced raw land is to search locally, for parcels being sold by owners...which is why I came here. It's difficult to find those leads when you don't live in the area.

My land had been clear cut and about a third of it is wetland. Today it is mostly thick brush and saplings. A lot of stumps and underground logs.
I doubt that any of it will be able to be timbered again in my lifetime. However it hosts a lot of wildlife; provides a lot of firewood, peat and fiddleheads; and can support a bunch of goats and sheep.
My 'views' are trees.

Sounds awesome.

We have a slight advantage over most folks because we are not limited to areas with power/phone lines etc...as long as there is a road to the property (dirt or otherwise) we're good to go.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone...keep 'em coming I'll explore the avenues you've suggested.

[Nor'Eastah]

Yes...agreed! This DOES put a whole different perspective on it! It is good to see the "low" as well as the "high". Lots of people - realtors, sellers - just assume you want primo lots with all the trimmings. We don't have all the trimmings down here in RI; just a normal house that we've fixed up to look like the rest in the area. As I've posted elsewhere, it was my wife who found it and bought it!

And yes, the idea of living 'off-grid' is appealing to us more and more. We have 2 generators and 2 wood stoves. "Give us a road to the property (dirt or otherwise) and we're good to go". Welcome aboard, US Mountain Man! You have stirred the pot!

[Labamba]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

My land had been clear cut and about a third of it is wetland. Today it is mostly thick brush and saplings. A lot of stumps and underground logs.

I doubt that any of it will be able to be timbered again in my lifetime. However it hosts a lot of wildlife; provides a lot of firewood, peat and fiddleheads; and can support a bunch of goats and sheep.

My 'views' are trees.

Forest, with all due respect to your inexpensive land-purchasing techniques, didn't your property get flooded recently? Could this be a reason why the price and taxes are so low?

[msina]

Originally Posted by Labamba

Forest, with all due respect to your inexpensive land-purchasing techniques, didn't your property get flooded recently? Could this be a reason why the price and taxes are so low?

We had a "Hundred Year Event" with the flooding. whole towns were flooded, bridges and roads closed and one county has been declared a disaster. Forest wasn't the only person to have this most unusual flooding invade his space. After about 15 feet of snow melted we had heavy rains along with some ice still in the major rivers. It was a mess.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Labamba

Forest, with all due respect to your inexpensive land-purchasing techniques, didn't your property get flooded recently? Could this be a reason why the price and taxes are so low?

Could be.

We knew that this was low-land. We knew that by living alongside a river, there exists the possibility that we might be flooded from time to time.

The LURC maps show that we could expect to be major flooded about once a century, with minor flooding about every 20 years.

My Dw and I discussed this when we decided to build here.

It did effect our building design a bit too.

So far from that major flood our damage looks to be about $200 and a third of that has been in fuel costs to pump water.

If a huge 'once a century' type flood is going to do this level of damage to us, well, so be it.

As the water is going down, soon I can go pick fiddleheads again, and market them.

Life goes on, and prosperity abounds.


Labamba - With all due respect, I think that perhaps we have different world views.

You see lemons, I see lemonade.

In my previous career:
I have walked on and sailed beneath arctic ice fields;
I have battled flooding incidents that kill men;
I have worked alongside men who have been killed by electrical fire-balls shooting out from the equipment they were working on;
I have fought raging high-pressure oil and liquid oxygen fires.

Good friends on mine have died from exposure to the materials that we were living among. I survived, and I got my pension.

If this is the most of an obstacle that Maine present. The 'worst' winter, the highest flooding, ... If this is the worst that Maine can muster up, it ain't nothing.

This is near heaven.

[Nor'Eastah]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

You see lemons, I see lemonade.
If this is the worst that Maine can muster up, it ain't nothing.
This is near heaven.

Words of wisdom! We definitely are interested in that "second-class land" that has no views, and a price that's music to my ears! We may settle on something in-between, but why waste money (or worse - go into debt for it!) on land that just invites "keeping up with the Jones's"? We have both had enough of that down here.

We hope our next home will be a place of comfort and security to us as we get older. It's not just for a camp. We are making a deliberate decision to retire rather than to work to age 75 or 80, to support our current lifestyle, which we no longer enjoy. It may not be the Ritz, but I've found that work will improve most situations.

Trouble is, most folks don't want to work to make something inexpensive into a gem. I have found that to be a worthwhile effort.

[jensen beach gal]

I'm really wondering...what is a fiddlehead? I've lived in a number of states and have never heard that before! I can't be the only one that is wondering