Maine horror stories (fit in, for sale, real estate) - (ME) - City-Data Forum

Esta · 06-08-2006, 06:53 PM

Can anybody with more bad experiences in maine please post your story.Especially from aroostook county. And did anyone help you

BobTex · 06-11-2006, 08:44 PM

Just curious, but just what exactly are you looking for? Did you have a bad experience? If so tell us.

I had some bad experiences in Maine, just with the natives when I was there, but I also made one of my best friends there and dearly love the state. Just had the misfortune of being around some of the rudest, stuck-up, people. Guess there is a reason New Englanders are known in other parts of the country as "**** yankees".

history · 07-28-2006, 01:38 PM

Actually, not sure where you all were in Maine, but the majority of Mainers are quite nice and hospitable to "outa stata's". I am a native and used to live in one of the biggest tourist towns in Me(for shopping) and I can honestly say that our rudeness came from being treated rude. Not to say that you are that way..........but to give you some piece of mind.......the smaller the town you are visiting.......avoid those small local store where a town meeting goes on from open to close.......they are rude to everyone! Everyone "is not from here"

But all in all as long as visitors treat us with respect we are more than acomidating! So I hope you all come back!

chasepup · 07-29-2006, 10:31 AM

Hi,

I posted on another thread about moving to Maine from Mississippi in a few years. A 'horror story" I'm concerned about though is the property taxes. I knew they would be higher than Miss., but jeez...some of the figures I'm hearing/reading about...$13/1000, $20/1000, $25/1000. The taxes in coastal areas are just out-of-sight it seems.

Are there areas where the proprty taxes are significantly lower than these I've mentioned?

So fa,r the property tax scenario seems to be the only deterrent we can find.

We love the people, the areas we've visited. Schools, job markets for our needs seem to be good.

Would appreciate your input.

Thanks,

Butch

Acadianlion · 08-23-2006, 06:30 AM

Property taxes are a function of the value of real estate, and the cost of running and the enrollment of the shools. The state of Maine makes requirements that must be met by the local education agency, and then doesn't fund those requirements. Hence the property tax rate increases out of proportion of the ability of the economy to support it. Most small towns are less town than school district, and for the property taxes paid, the residents get few or no services other than the school. This is a simple fact of life in Maine, and there are no real exceptions. Some towns and areas have some industry that helps, but a lot of folks don't want a lot of industry, so the burden of payinig for the schools falls directly on the shoulders of the homeowner and no one else.

Frankly, I doubt that there are a lot of true, "horror" stories about moving to Maine and living here. From reading these posts I can see a lot of people who want to live here instead of "there", because they think Maine will be simpler, cleaner, prettier, safer and so on. However at the end of it all, a lot of those people want everything to be where it is where they are, but just want to be somewhere else. Maine is NOT NEw Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Colorado, California or anywhere else. A lot of people move here from "away" and then find a lot to complain about. Recently a town that I own property in had a selectmen's meeting to discuss a proposed noise ordinance. The ordinance was proposed by two influential couples who are wealthy, and who owned land that abutted an old quarry. The old quarry had recently been bought by some guys who wanted to go into the quarry business. Their equipment was very loud and their neighbors objected to the noise. Bear in mind the noise being objected to was a large granite burning torch that was much like the sound of a jet engine. The overwhelming attitude in the room that night was that granite quarrying was a traditional industry in the town, that the town had been founded as a quarry, and the noise ordinance could well restrict the ability of fishermen to start their boat engines in the early morning. Finally, one resident stood up and suggested that the quarry had been there, and for sale for a long time. If the folks who objected to the new owners' work didn't like it there, they should go back to where they had come from (New Jersey), as they had had their chance to buy the land and had just thought everything would be as they wanted it to be when they wanted to leave where they had come from.

The point here is that the attitude of people coming to Maine from away is often that everything is soooo much better in _________(fill in the blank: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania,etc). And that gets the backs of the locals up real quick.

Don't expect to come to Maine and find everything just as it was whereever you were, only quieter, more rural, peaceful and pretty. If you are a shopper, then you will find it difficult as we don't have endless malls and stores. If you earn $25 per hour working in a factory with overtime and benefits packages that are great, you may not find similar opportunities here. If you are having a hard time making ends meet whereever you are, it may not be easier here...only different.

But if you come here and try to fit in and be a good neighbor to others, other people will respond and welcome you.

SnowVixen · 08-23-2006, 09:52 AM

I live and work in one of the more popular tourist destinations in this state. It's my job to be pleasant to tourists. TRUST ME, it's not always easy. Maine natives are very pleasant, easy going people. More often than not, it's the tourists visiting here that are rude. During the summer months is when the traffic is so bad it'll take half the day to get 5 miles up the road. People on vacation don't care about that!! During the summer months is when our stores and shopping malls are so trashed that the poor underpaid clerks fight an endless battle just keeping the clothes on the rack because people just don't care and leave them on the floor. And I'm quite sure that when you see people allowing their children to try on clothes in the middle of the aisle as opposed to using the changing rooms....those are'nt natives. They're tourists. If that is'nt "rude", I don't know what is!!

Penfield · 08-23-2006, 11:53 AM

Can I get an idea of what these horror property taxes are?

I live in Austin, Texas, in a good section of town, standard city lot, 1300 sq foot home. We pay close to 5K a year in property tax.

lovemaine · 08-23-2006, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penfield

Can I get an idea of what these horror property taxes are?

I live in Austin, Texas, in a good section of town, standard city lot, 1300 sq foot home. We pay close to 5K a year in property tax.

If you go to the realtor website removed you'll find most real estate listings have their property taxes listed also. Personally I don't think Maine is that high. We're originally from WI. Last year we paid $2600 on a 1300 sq. ft. house on a 1/2 acre lot.

Penfield · 08-23-2006, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holt4fam

If you go to the realtor website removed you'll find most real estate listings have their property taxes listed also. Personally I don't think Maine is that high. We're originally from WI. Last year we paid $2600 on a 1300 sq. ft. house on a 1/2 acre lot.

Oooooo, $2600 sounds nice! LOL.

But I guess for more acreage it will run higher. I'll check the website, thank you.

Phish Head · 08-24-2006, 12:43 PM

I have to laugh at the guy from Mississippi who stated that $13/1000 and $25/1000 is a lot of property tax. Don't come to NJ if you think that is high- we pay $33/1000, thats $6,000 per year, on a townhouse with less than 1/8 of an acre. Its legalized robbery. Maine is actually not that bad from the research I have done, but compared to the South, Maine is high.

Our family almost moved to Virginia and the property tax there was $7/1000. It amounted to $1,200 a year assessed on a $225,000 house. This did not include any services- no trash pickup, no water, no sewer. The bottom line is , the northeastern states all have really high taxes.