Best beach towns to live in maine year round (Bangor: real estate, motels)

[ladychicago]

Hi there! I am a Chicago native and am seriously considering relocating to Maine. I would like to live close to the ocean and was wondering what the best beach towns for living in Maine year-round are.
Chicago is great, but as I am getting older, I would really like to leave the crowding and hustle and bustle behind to enjoy a smaller area, build realtionship with a nice community and buy a house with a small bit of land by the beach.
It is my understanding that some areas primarily shut down after tourist season ends and would like some information clarifying what exactly that means- I am sure some shops, restaurants and stores remain open, right?
I have looke at York (seems charming) and Rockland- but would really appreciate some personal feedback on those previously mentioned, as well as areas along the coast I may have overlooked.
My house budget is in the high 200's to mid 300's and I think that seems realistic for what my expectations and needs are. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[dmyankee]

You really have to come up and explore. Many people's idea of beach life is a far cry from what you may expect in the rest of New England. You have to outline your expectations in more detail for good feed back. There are many here who can tell you about coastal life.

[Zarathu]

Originally Posted by ladychicago

Hi there! I am a Chicago native and am seriously considering relocating to Maine. I would like to live close to the ocean and was wondering what the best beach towns for living in Maine year-round are.
Chicago is great, but as I am getting older, I would really like to leave the crowding and hustle and bustle behind to enjoy a smaller area, build realtionship with a nice community and buy a house with a small bit of land by the beach.
It is my understanding that some areas primarily shut down after tourist season ends and would like some information clarifying what exactly that means- I am sure some shops, restaurants and stores remain open, right?
I have looke at York (seems charming) and Rockland- but would really appreciate some personal feedback on those previously mentioned, as well as areas along the coast I may have overlooked.
My house budget is in the high 200's to mid 300's and I think that seems realistic for what my expectations and needs are. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Well.... first of all, land by the beach is expensive, and taxes are even more so. But if you are selling something expensive in Chicago, you may find the prices even in the priciest parts of Maine to be OK.

But Maine's beach towns exist on tourism, and when the tourists leave in late September, much closes. However, those who stay are generally a very close knit group.

We decided to move to Bar Harbor. The reason we did not chose to move the western PA where we built a 24 x 20 two floor cabin 12 years ago was:

too far from a hospital, too isolated from people, not many friends that we'd made in the area, very few retired people from far away, political views on the other side of the spectrum, a deteriorating religious faith group, nothing to do in retirement, few people with more than a high school diploma(not a bad thing but both of us are excessively educated), too far from shopping and theaters, and not near the ocean.

Bar Harbor, even in winter, covers the anti-thesis of all the items above.
We got a place only 1.5 miles from the ocean, 5 miles from Sand Beach, across the street from National Park Kayaking, and 1 mile from a lake front National Park Beech. While expensive for Maine, it was average for South central PA.

Depends on what you need, and what you need for retirement is often very different from what you need when you have a work life, since you have to make all new friends when you move to a new place. So the new place must have a lot of retired people who are like you, and who have moved in from other places to retire there. You have that in Mount Desert Island.

Zarathu

[Zarathu]

Originally Posted by ladychicago

My house budget is in the high 200's to mid 300's and I think that seems realistic for what my expectations and needs are. Any thoughts? Thanks.

You can buy many properties on Mount Desert island for that. We bought a 5 bedroom house with a 800 sq ft garage, on 1.5 acres of land for the very low end of your money position. If you chose the mainland, rather than an Island, you could buy property in Coastal areas of hancock county for way less than what you have in your pocket.

Email me privately if you want to talk more. Have you checked the MLS in the areas you are interested? I can only give realtor names on MDI or around Ellsworth via private email since putting them up here is not permitted by City Data Rules.

Z

[mainebrokerman]

old orchard beach, wells and york beach-then there's reid state park, and pemaquid beach

[ladychicago]

Thank you all that have taken the time to reply. I have been doing more research and have decided that a town on or near the coast is more ideal. Being single and in my 30's, I would like to reside in a town that had some conveniences of coastal/beach access, yet still enjoy the town year round. If anyone can provide me with information about Old Orchard Beach, Rockland(and nearby towns, ie. Owl's Head) and York and Wells, that would be great. Thanks again.

[Newdaawn]

I don't think there is much going on in Old Orchard in the winter. If it were me I would consider looking into housing in Bath. That is near Popham Beach. I never heard much talk about a beach in Rockland. I think it's more of a harbor.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by ladychicago

Thank you all that have taken the time to reply. I have been doing more research and have decided that a town on or near the coast is more ideal. Being single and in my 30's, I would like to reside in a town that had some conveniences of coastal/beach access, yet still enjoy the town year round. If anyone can provide me with information about Old Orchard Beach, Rockland(and nearby towns, ie. Owl's Head) and York and Wells, that would be great. Thanks again.

Beaches in Maine are not plentiful. That is the reason the area around them is built up, crowded and expensive. Maine is not California when it comes to beach front property. There is no beach to speak of in Owl's Head or Rockland. There are tidal beaches which tend to be just rocky shores not traditional sand beaches. Old Orchard is a large sand beach, filled with tourists in speedos and surrounded by B and C class motels and businesses. It is not a great place to live. It is EXTREMELY crowded in the summer and EXTREMELY vacant in the winter. The town absolutely folds up in late September. York and Wells tend to have more houses in and around their sandy beaches. They are also quite expensive areas to buy real estate. Nothing takes place in these towns from October until May. They are strictly beach towns. Beach towns may as well be ghost towns in the off season. If you want a home near the water and near convinences you're looking at the southern part of Maine. Further north the reale state is less expensive (and very beautiful) on or near the water but you'll have to drive some distance to find any upscale shopping, or dining. A home on the ocean in Southern Maine will start at $500,000 to $600,000 and you won't get much for that price. You can find homes for much less up the coast a bit but again you will be far from civilization.

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by ladychicago

Hi there! I am a Chicago native and am seriously considering relocating to Maine. I would like to live close to the ocean and was wondering what the best beach towns for living in Maine year-round are.
Chicago is great, but as I am getting older, I would really like to leave the crowding and hustle and bustle behind to enjoy a smaller area, build realtionship with a nice community and buy a house with a small bit of land by the beach.
It is my understanding that some areas primarily shut down after tourist season ends and would like some information clarifying what exactly that means- I am sure some shops, restaurants and stores remain open, right?
I have looke at York (seems charming) and Rockland- but would really appreciate some personal feedback on those previously mentioned, as well as areas along the coast I may have overlooked.
My house budget is in the high 200's to mid 300's and I think that seems realistic for what my expectations and needs are. Any thoughts? Thanks.

If you're thinking of swimming, I'd look into coastal water temperatures, which you might find colder than you would expect, even in summer.

[Zarathu]

Originally Posted by Maineah

A home on the ocean in Southern Maine will start at $500,000 to $600,000 and you won't get much for that price. You can find homes for much less up the coast a bit but again you will be far from civilization.

Coastal areas in Hancock County are close to Mt Desert island. And the national park there has a wonderful beach called SAND BEACH, if you really want a beach. Prices for nice properties in south of Ellsworth in Lamoine can run between $100K and $235K. If you needed to live on MDI so you could be within 5 miles of SAND BEACH, you could get many nice properties in a 2bdr house for $175K to $250K.

It does depend on what you consider to be the needs of civilization. MDI had a real live College(College of the Atlantic), two major research labs, an active Senior College, two theaters(one of which is open all yerar), lots of stores, manu restaurants which are open in the winter, one of the best hospitals Downeast, a terrific YMCA, and plenty of comraderie in the winter. And MDI also boasts a retired population of almost 40%, many of which come "from away", and are thus actively interested in meeting new people and doing things together. Ellsworth is only 20 minutes away and Bangor only 45(on a good day). And of course, there is the best national park on the east coast.

OH.... I'm making myself more excited. It actually has more amenities closer to me than I have in Southern Lancaster County, PA., where I have to drive 45 minutes to get many of these things including a theater.

Zarathu