An Idealized Vision of Maine...But I still want to move (Hancock: rental car, rental)

[retiredtinbender]

You paint a pretty bleak picture there. Sorry to hear. I thought you had said at one point you were moving to MDI for retireement? Not much chance of a hermitage there.

[Ken E]

Haven't people been moving to isolated parts of the northeast and living happily ever after for quite some time now?

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by FentonForche

... I tend to think of all of you as L.L. Bean catalog models, incessantly frolicking in the snow with your airbrushed golden retrievers and your neatly draped holiday scarves.

Yeah, thats it.

We are all models for clothing catalogs.

I frolick a great deal in the snow, I am not sure it is incessant though.

No gold retrievers either, husky-wolf mix and muts mostly.

I do wear scarves, but I do not drape them anywhere, they are tucked in, before I put on my jacket [or outer shell].

... a lot that appeals to me about it--comparatively cheap land values, a plethora of small cities within a day's drive of major metro areas, a cool climate, a rocky coast, ample hiking opportunities, relatively low crime rates, a good place to raise children, etc.

Yes.

Being from California, each of those things appealed to me too.

... And I know there's some bad with the good--higher taxes, short summers, a historically fragile economy.

Not everyone in Maine sees higher taxes.

Depending on where you live and your lifestyle, taxes in Maine can be significantly lower than in most states.

... I've lived mostly in Denver, but have resided in Seattle, Sacramento, and Napa as well.

Cool!

I have lived in: Modesto, Merced, Fresno, Ukiah all in California; and Bremerton Washington; as well as East Coast and overseas.

... now that you've suffered through this rambling message, sell me on throwing caution to the wind and moving to Maine.

Come look at my profile, I have some photos of my Maine property there.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by mschris32

... I have the "Retire in Maine" books, too!

I retired to Maine.

It has been well worth it for us.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by OutDoorNut

... Not what I want--I can't get far enough away from a Starbucks or a theatre or a concert hall.

My aim is toward the more rural coastal areas. (I like forests, fields, and the ocean--and want to live on the edge of both.) ...

Most of Maine has no Starbucks.

Most of Maine is rural and forested.

Maine also has 3,000+ miles of coastline.

As you go away from the urban densities, and away from the coast, home prices drop a great deal too.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Ken E

Haven't people been moving to isolated parts of the northeast and living happily ever after for quite some time now?

I thought so.

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by corgis

I live half the year in Eastport and will continue to do so until 2011, when hubby retires. We've owned our old 4 square in Eastport for 6 years now. We close it down in the winter, close it down completely and come back up in the Spring. Most people in town know our house is empty in the winter but we've never had a break in or damage to our property.

I think you're worrying about something that may happen too much.

Thank you. I probably am worrying too much. But, then, it's probably better to be too worried about moving to a new place than be too blissfully unaware of any possible downsides to such a move.

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Most of Maine has no Starbucks.

Most of Maine is rural and forested.

Maine also has 3,000+ miles of coastline.

As you go away from the urban densities, and away from the coast, home prices drop a great deal too.

Perfect--except for home prices on the coast. They are high for such remote areas.

Generally from what I've seen online over the past five years of research (I know: possibly the better homes go by word-of-mouth), most Maine homes with saltwater frontage and with some distance between houses, seem to be in the $500K category and up.

With 3000 miles of coastline, you'd think there would be such a supply of saltwater property that there wouldn't be enough people in America in a salary bracket high enough who also want to live in a highly rural and snowy area to justify such prices!

I think homes on the ocean were bubblized and still haven't come down in price.

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

As you go away from the urban densities, and away from the coast, home prices drop a great deal too.

That reminds me.

One thing that puzzles me greatly when viewing real estate for sale in the net, is that often it seems the coastal homes for sale in the more densely populated counties seem much better buys than those located in Hancock and Washington counties.

And the homes seem to be in much better repair in those more densely populated counties .

Strange. Must be a lot of starry-eyed dreamers from outside the state with money to burn being suckered.

Over the last five or so years, I've seen many of those properties dissapear from real estate listings, to reappear a couple years later, in many cases the photos show different furniture and some upgrading to the house.

Gives me the impression that people bought those houses with little idea of what it would be like to live there and to keep up a house exposed to the element, especially an old house.

Still, the price disparity and apparent disparity in home quality between the more densely poplated areas and least populated areas is a bit of a mystery.

I suppose it's speculation: someone has a waterfront hom with a few acres on a bay in Washington or Hancok county, and can afford to sit on it, posting it for an outrageous price figuring that sooner or later they'd catch a sucker, too.

[Zarathu]

RetiredTinBender,

I am moving to MDI, in the summer of 2010. And we are moving there because it has all we want and it also has a retired population which all come "from away". Almost none of the retirees are "old timers".

We decided it was too dismal in retirement to move to an isolated place. While our new place is only 1.6 acres, there is essentially about 1000 acres across the street that is Park Service, and we are both close to other people and also in the wilderness of Acadia National Park.

zarathu