The Rural Recession Hits Home (Calais, Washington: sales, foreclosures, insurance)

[BoundtofindME]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

I know that subdivision. Most homes there have no lake in sight. The ones on the water cost considerably more. There remain many lots that are either unsold or undeveloped. Lake Arrowhead is a very shallow lake held back by a dam on the headwaters of the Little Ossipee River. There is a reported milfoil problem in the lake.

Homeowners set to fight Lake Arrowhead's milfoil (http://outdoors.mainetoday.com/fishing/021111milfoil.shtml - broken link)

"The 2007 tax revaluation in the town of Limerick, Maine, took account of Lake Arrowhead’s variable leaf milfoil infestation by lowering Arrowhead’s lakefront property values 10%, and added a provision for an additional 10% devaluation for those properties with especially heavy plant growth offshore."

Maine Congress of Lake Associations - Maine Milfoil Initiative (http://www.mainecola.org/maine_milfoil_initiative_short.htm - broken link)

Aside form the milfoil situation, it is a very weedy lake. The weeds hide stumps that are still there from when the land was cleared to make the lake. Weeds, tough boating and poor swimming reduce property values.

I just knew there had to be a catch (as they say, if it sounds too good to be true . . .-- thanks for clearing that up NMLM!

[BrokenTap]

The recession hit here a little before everything else because it does cost a fare bit more to just live here. I saw the end last year when the Bangor Daily News posted a story about 46% of Bangor Hydro Customers getting disconnect notices.

There will always be people that live hand to mouth, BUT when 46% of the population is in danger of losing its electricity...a necessity of life today...it says the cost of living has outpaced income on a very large scale over a very large geographical area. It was the same way back in the 1920's here...the roaring 20's were not so roaring for Mainer's I'll have you know. The 1929 stock market crash just made it worse, but I digress.

I think the real question in 2009 is where we go from here. Maine traditionally is known as hard workers. We have had it easy the last 20 years or so, but I hope we can shed some laziness and get back to work. That means raising gardens, livestock and putting some effort into improving our state's infrastructure. The tourists aren't here so we got to help ourselves. If we can do that, we will pull through just fine, but if the majority of the population waits for the Government to bail us all out...we are done for.

It's time to get back to our roots. Hard work and earning a living are recession proof!

[BrokenTap]

One clarification: I put myself in the lazy category too. I have taken the easy way out over the last few years in many, many ways. I am not pointing the fingers at others,I have my faults and spells of laziness too. I just hope I can convince others to follow me in doing a bit more for myself.

[tcrackly]

I think we can all make improvements, Broken Tap. Well, put.

[boonelsewhere]

I think I need a lot more improvements, from this forum i noted people go on with thire life, cold or bad weather does not seem to stop from doing things.

[shadowfax1997]

There was a story on the area last summer about a couple who was going through foreclosure. They made roughly $8/hour and were given a $200K loan. That is less than $20K per person income. Not nearly enough to pay back that kind of loan. Banks are at fault, as are the people who agreed to the loan without understanding their responsibilities. While I feel bad, I won't be losing sleep over it. As I tell the students in my classroom - poor planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on my part. Take some responsibility.


WHile the american dream might be to own a house, not everyone is capable of such responsibility.

[tcrackly]

I agree. When husband an I first applied for a mortgage in 1990 we already had in mind how much we could afford, based partly on what we considered a comfortable rent. The lender told us we were approved for about 30% more than we anticipated and he quickly suggested we "start a family" for the tax breaks. It's a good thing we were cynical and always planed fro the worst case scenario.

[tcrackly]

Originally Posted by shadowfax1997

There was a story on the area last summer about a couple who was going through foreclosure. They made roughly $8/hour and were given a $200K loan. That is less than $20K per person income. Not nearly enough to pay back that kind of loan. Banks are at fault, as are the people who agreed to the loan without understanding their responsibilities. While I feel bad, I won't be losing sleep over it. As I tell the students in my classroom - poor planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on my part. Take some responsibility.


WHile the american dream might be to own a house, not everyone is capable of such responsibility.

By the same token, large scale developers were getting loans right and left in the early nineties. We wanted to build but the bank said we weren't a good enough risk with our combined 35k income(despite the fact that hubby is a contractor, too). Meanwhile, probably 25% of those subdivision developments failed. We WERE the better risk.

[cebdark]

Originally Posted by tcrackly

I agree. When husband an I first applied for a mortgage in 1990 we already had in mind how much we could afford, based partly on what we considered a comfortable rent. The lender told us we were approved for about 30% more than we anticipated and he quickly suggested we "start a family" for the tax breaks. It's a good thing we were cynical and always planed fro the worst case scenario.

I've always said "A little healthy cynicism never hurt anyone" .

Of course, too much of anything isn't good, but a "stop and think" moment can save a lot of misery down the road.

[cebdark]

Originally Posted by BrokenTap

I think the real question in 2009 is where we go from here. Maine traditionally is known as hard workers. We have had it easy the last 20 years or so, but I hope we can shed some laziness and get back to work. That means raising gardens, livestock and putting some effort into improving our state's infrastructure. The tourists aren't here so we got to help ourselves. If we can do that, we will pull through just fine, but if the majority of the population waits for the Government to bail us all out...we are done for.

It's time to get back to our roots. Hard work and earning a living are recession proof!

Well said. I was having a discussion with a friend just the other night about how some people wouldn't know how to survive if everything went "belly-up." She was saying that she knows many younger people who wouldn't know how to prepare a live chicken if their lives depended on it.. To them, chicken has always come in that bright yellow package with cellophane wrapped around it. We have a garden religiously every year (I just enjoyed some green beans from it today). It may be somewhat of a pain to weed, but it's saved us a lot of $$$, and is far healthier