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My wife and I have decided to move to coastal maine. Somewhere north of Penobscot Bay. We anticipate doing the move in the next 24 months. We can’t afford to build on the water but would like a view of the water. What we are trying to decide is whether we should buy an existing house or have one built. We have no kids and a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with a kitchen/greatroom combo is fine. We will need a separate shop for my woodworking and my wife’s metalworking tools.
My question to the forum is what can you folks tell us about building costs in Maine and what type of houses are recommended in that type of climate, recommended heating system etc. What areas or properties should we stay away from. We currently live outside of Philly but I grew up in Michigan and my wife has lived in vermont so we are no strangers to snow. We would greatly appreciate your recommendations.
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Ken,
I can offer you no help. My wife and I just drove up the coast of Maine in August on the way to CaperFest. I certainly understand the appeal. Best of luck.
Rich Beckman
*Try this to see what is available. Good Luck.http://www.realtor.com/FindHome/PropType.asp?frm=bymap&mls=xmls&lnksrc=REALR1LF2C0002&st=me&ct=Penobscot+&x=7&y=6&poe=realtor
*KP, Maine has got to be one of the prettiest places on earth. The farther north you go the the nicer and cheaper it gets.Last summer my wife and I drove up to Eastport and we couldn't get over how many interesting places there were for sale all along the way. You shouldn't have a problem finding something nice to suit you. Good Luck.cc
*If you live north of Penobscot Bay and have a view of the water, you'll be looking right smack down on my island!Properties with water view are going to cost plenty unless it's a real rundown unit. Then again, it might not seem like so much to someone from Philly.Oil hydronic (hot water baseboard heat from an oil fired boiler) is the prefered choice for heating, backed up by wood stove, of course. Power still goes out at least once a week during the winter. Battery alarm clocks are a must.There are getting to be a lot of post and beam with overlaid insulated panels in addition to the traditional Capes and frame houses.Until the recent dip in the economy, it was getting very hard to find skilled subs available so wages were headed up. No telling what costs will be to build in the next couple years on the Midcoast. MBNA just put in a facility in Belfast which has generally been good for the locals but highly paid staff can run the cost of real estate up. Everybody else wants a view of the water too you know.BTW Maine is the first or second most highly taxed state in the union and Many of your neighbors are among the lowest paid. A few of them won't be especially warm towards outsiders. I'm lucky, having married in. Some communities have a local culture; old hippies, granolas, yuppies, woodsmen, fishermen, etc.
*Ditto piffin's comments ......... waterfront (ocean, lake, or pond) property is expensive! Many if not most of the local realtors have online listings ....it might help getting a feel for costs. The local weekly papers are another good source of listings. There is still reasonbly priced property available but it is inland.
*Property taxes are considerably less inland too!The formula has a set price/ft for rural, then add for waterfront footage, add for chimneys, add for road frontage, add for....Another thing to watch for is that propertry you buy is soils tested for a waste water treatment system. high water tables and clay soils can make this a finicky proposition. There is property behind me that could be bought for under $20,000 but then you'd have to spend another 40 K for soil work to build on it.
*.... if it walks, crawls, or is stationary, alive or deceased, new or worn out, there will be some tax or fee on it.
*I am from Philly too, my father and I built a house in York, Maine(south of Penobscot Bay), 3/4 mile from the shore on a dirt road in the woods. York gets a lot of vacationers in the summer so building a place on the water was too expensive-- it may be different farther north where there are less tourists (I assume.) The house has an oil burner and radiant water baseboard heat, which is really comfortable! My wife and I stayed in Isleboro (off the coast of Maine near Camden) for a weekend last year. It was really beautiful but I'm sure the property is super-expensive. I wonder if thats true of all the islands up there?Dave
*How expensive are you guys talking about? If I wanted to get beach front property where I live it costs a million+ easy and we are talking super small lots. If there is a nice new house built on it then the skys the limit. My old boss bought a lot, well it did have a house on it but it was very old/small and they call these lots "knock downs" and he is across the street from the houses on the water. He has an ocean/panoramic view but only from his partial third story. I think the lot alone was 600,000 and he was talking like it was a great deal (probably would be a steal now). Down the street from him on the water are the two houses that are owned by the gillette (shaving stuff) brothers. Just wondering cause my wife's friend was telling us how much water front property costs in some state I don't remember and I couldn't believe how cheap it was.
*Well, I designed and built this one on Islesboro. It is rumoured that it could be had for 3/4 million or thereabouts. Two acres and shore frontage, though bisected by a public thorough fare. No spamming, it's not mine and no fees to me.
*Looks great piffin!
*If you want cold weather, great scenery, and coastal property, Alaska has 33,000 miles of coast line (more than the lower 49 combined). And more salmon. 13 acres, 700 feet of sandy beach, views of three 10,000-foot volcanoes = $110,000.One of my criteria in selecting a property was natural gas and electrical service. The natural gas saves a lot in heating costs (Piffin: how far north is it available in Maine?) and the electric service can cost a lot to bring in any distance.As others have implied, make any offer contingent on a perc test. Your waste water has to go somewhere and it can be a deal-breaker in some settings. -David
*Beautiful work piffin ....... the home looks like it "belongs" there .......... bet there's a nice view from the porch. Like the entryway/ steps ...... no snow sliding on your head as you go in.
*We've chosen the Maine coast as the place we want to retire (Even though I'm still decades away from retirement!). I've lived in Camden briefly (too touristy and getting worse), backpacked inland, and kayaked on the coast. Everything about the state intriges me. I hope you post back here with the results of your search to live there. I'd be interested in what you find.
*Sounds tempting David, my uncle use to live in Alaska. Great place, of course I only visited, never stayed for more than a couple weeks at a time.
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My wife and I have decided to move to coastal maine. Somewhere north of Penobscot Bay. We anticipate doing the move in the next 24 months. We can't afford to build on the water but would like a view of the water. What we are trying to decide is whether we should buy an existing house or have one built. We have no kids and a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with a kitchen/greatroom combo is fine. We will need a separate shop for my woodworking and my wife's metalworking tools.
My question to the forum is what can you folks tell us about building costs in Maine and what type of houses are recommended in that type of climate, recommended heating system etc. What areas or properties should we stay away from. We currently live outside of Philly but I grew up in Michigan and my wife has lived in vermont so we are no strangers to snow. We would greatly appreciate your recommendations.