NON heated homes in Maine? (Portland, Bangor: sales, apartment, crime)

[Maineah]

You're not locked out of the thermostat but they only go between 50 and 75 or so. The landlord has to keep a minimum as well to keep people from taking off for a week in January and having the pipes freeze too. Seldom is AC needed in Maine. I haven't put our window units in in the past two years. If you live close to the water you will never need AC except to take the humidity out of the air. Neither Portland nor Bangor are real cities. They are large towns. Portland (the largest of the two) only has 60,000 people in it. Boston dwarfs these places. Bangor IS cheaper but the two "cities" could not be further apart in their differences.

[dmyankee]

Originally Posted by cmist

I was reading through some rental ads in various places and it seems that I see *Hot/Water* and *Heating* listed as a plus in many homes... as if there are homes that dont have those basic necessities?? These are normal homes in cities and not rustic hunting cabins in the wilderness.

I have also read that some homes have to have 2 sources of heating, such as using a wood stove for one area, but then some other type of heating for another room or the rest of the home?

This is something I never even gave a thought to.

I live in Phx, AZ and never see homes listed with AC or Hot Water in the actual positive feature list. These things are expected.

What things might a person think is common place in a home that may not be? Dishwashers? Garbage Disposals? Kitchen Sinks(lol)? Laundry Rooms / hookups ?

Indoor plumbing!

[cmist]

Originally Posted by Maineah

Bangor IS cheaper but the two "cities" could not be further apart in their differences.

That statement sounds like a loaded gun... do I need to start up another thread about this?

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by cmist

That statement sounds like a loaded gun... do I need to start up another thread about this?

Yes in the Portland sub forum.
Bangor is the hub for Northern Maine and Portland is the hub for the South. The South has alot more people in it than the North so things in Portland (except for truck, tractor, farm implement, and skidder sales)tend to be more abundant than in Bangor. If I needed a skidder and lived in Portland I'd go to Bangor. If I wanted to eat in the best restaurant in Maine I'd pick Portland. There are certainly more cultural things in Portland than Bangor, more sports arenas, more museums, a larger working waterfront and more restaurants and higher end stores.
Bangor has alot going for it in that, though not as large as Portland, had good hospitals, many of the same types of ammenities as Portland and to many folks who don't particularly like cities, is less intimidating than Portland though none of us who live near Portland find it the least bit intimidating. My relatives who hailed from Vanceboro and thought Bangor was big got completey lost in Portland! It's all relative as they say( no pun intended). Both cities have their value and fill a niche in their respective areas of the State. One isn't "better" than the other... just different. If you like a rural based "city" go for Bangor if your tastes are more urban pick Portland, if you want metropolitan stay out of Maine altogether.

[cmist]

Originally Posted by Maineah

Yes in the Portland sub forum.
Bangor is the hub for Northern Maine and Portland is the hub for the South. The South has alot more people in it than the North so things in Portland (except for truck, tractor, farm implement, and skidder sales)tend to be more abundant than in Bangor. If I needed a skidder and lived in Portland I'd go to Bangor. If I wanted to eat in the best restaurant in Maine I'd pick Portland. There are certainly more cultural things in Portland than Bangor, more sports arenas, more museums, a larger working waterfront and more restaurants and higher end stores.
Bangor has alot going for it in that, though not as large as Portland, had good hospitals, many of the same types of ammenities as Portland and to many folks who don't particularly like cities, is less intimidating than Portland though none of us who live near Portland find it the least bit intimidating. My relatives who hailed from Vanceboro and thought Bangor was big got completey lost in Portland! It's all relative as they say( no pun intended). Both cities have their value and fill a niche in their respective areas of the State. One isn't "better" than the other... just different. If you like a rural based "city" go for Bangor if your tastes are more urban pick Portland, if you want metropolitan stay out of Maine altogether.

Thanks, thats good info.

By your description I might prefer Portland, and by the same description, I do belong in Maine. I am not interested in metropolitan at all and thats all part of the appeal.

CHEERS!!!

[cebdark]

Originally Posted by cmist

I get apt complexes that pay utilities, especially water, but it was the house rentals that pay them is what confused me. And then to only see a $50 increase to include heat confused me even more, figured I must be missing something because who in their right mind would choose to pay their own utilities if they can have them paid by a landlord at a fixed price no matter how warm they make it.

What do you mean they set it at a min & max level? Are you locked out of the thermostat?

How about summer, do you need AC as well and then heat in winter too? Or do you have some months where neither AC or heat is needed?

I would guess our summer cooling=maine heating... but then trying to figure out which place has more time of using neither.

I am not sure why, but something is pulling me to the Bangor area because it seems much less expensive than Portland, but still sizeable enough to be convenient. Is this the 2nd largest city there after Portland? Any other cities in this arena to consider?

Thanks for your help!

Yes, it is confusing isn't it? Many landlords who rent houses provide the heat because it is sometimes less risky to do so then to let the tenant run out of oil and have the pipes freeze and split and/or do some damage to the heating system.

Others offer a discount to incent someone to rent if the house has been listed for a long time, and they don't want it to remain empty for long. It's rather like a crap shoot - if they offer the house at a higher rent, then it's feasible to think that if tenants can afford the rent, then they can afford to keep the oil tank full. Other landlords require automatic delivery...many times, it really comes down to what the landlord has experienced in the past IMHO.

AC? Not so much of a problem. It's a short season.

As far as Bangor vs. Portland, I think that you really need to come up and check out both areas as opinion is very subjective. I think that Bangor has grown vastly in the last 20 years - a lot of the mall area development has come along as more and more people up north find their resources dwindling. It's right off the interstate, so it is convenient for those who are north of Old Town.

We also have a great deal of commuters working in the Bangor area, and the population typically swells during the work week. I don't have any hard numbers, but simply judging by where many of my co-workers live, I'd say it's a pretty high number.

[fxtrader]

My parents live in Bangor and have their own septic system, but are on public water. The public water supply comes from Floods Pond about 15 miles from Bangor. Most people I know still drink the water. It actually taste good and doesn't have a chlorine smell to it.

[Newdaawn]

I live in Bangor and can say our water is great. It doesn't have that clorine smell and taste that I always get in South Portland. I can even taste the clorine there when I have ordered a fountain soda. I can't imagine moving without visiting each place to see where you would like to live. There is also the Lewiston/Auburn area which is a larger population base than Bangor but to me has fewer of the things I like. For a city of 30thousand we have an incredible choice of restaurants. The all seem to do business as this is the retail center of the area and many of the small towns around may not even have one restaurant. Do you have school age kids? There is a choice of 3 high schools, the Y, and many youth sports programs in addition to the school ones.

[lawmom]

I miss Bangor water -- the water here smells bad and tastes bad, and spots the dishes and shower door.

[cmist]

Originally Posted by Newdaawn

I live in Bangor and can say our water is great. It doesn't have that clorine smell and taste that I always get in South Portland. I can even taste the clorine there when I have ordered a fountain soda. I can't imagine moving without visiting each place to see where you would like to live. There is also the Lewiston/Auburn area which is a larger population base than Bangor but to me has fewer of the things I like. For a city of 30thousand we have an incredible choice of restaurants. The all seem to do business as this is the retail center of the area and many of the small towns around may not even have one restaurant. Do you have school age kids? There is a choice of 3 high schools, the Y, and many youth sports programs in addition to the school ones.

Hi, yes I have 2 kids... twin boys 12 years old in 6th grade. How are the schools out there? Over here they go from K-8 and 9-12, but when I was younger it was more common for schools to be k-6 then 7-8 and then 9-12. Did you put any children through high school there where you could tell me what you thought of it?

I recently read something that said Maine has the lowest percentage of people under the age of 18 and it got me a little leery of planting my kids there if they dont stand to make many friends. They have alot of friends here, there are alot of families and kids and I dont want to uproot them and have them hate me... so maybe I need to save Maine for retirement like so many others?

I do need to visit and see, but still a visit can only reveal so much, thought I could get some insight from those that live there so I can plan the visit accordingly.

Thanks for the info and the new area to look into.