building a house in Aroostook County (Caribou, Hope: house prices, buying, places to live)

[chattyprincess]

Wow Craigster! Thank your for the great info! I just got off the phone with Dh grandma and she was saying she thinks the cost of building on the outskirts of caribou is way higher than what you guys are saying. she thinks for a home that is roughly 4bdrms and 3000sq ft it will be in the neighbor hood of 300,000. ? does that seem right or is she becoming dellusional...?
Dh and I are looking for our land right now, are there any fantastic parcels you guys know of in the outskirts of caribou area (as in more acerage)
thanks again guys!

[Submariner]

I thought that I had said this. Perhaps I did not, though I meant to have said this at the beginning.

I am a retiree. I have been building my house. I am not entirely completed, though I am near enough that I 'see' the end.

I bought bare land in treegrowth tax status.

I contracted a guy to build my driveway and open the hole where my house today sits.

I contracted another guy to drill my well.

I contracted a third guy to install my power pole to give me electricity.

I contracted yet another guy to build my house's foundation.

Then I built my house. A pre-engineered steel building that far exceeds all local codes. I poured the concrete in the basement floor. I did the wiring. I did the plumbing. I did the floors. I insulated the walls and roof. I hung the interior walls and ceiling.

It is my fault oh Lord.

The portions that I could not do myself, I have hired done.

The portions that I could do myself, I have done.

When I spoke of the expenses of our home, I meant all of it. The parts that I contracted out and the materials that I bought and used myself. Our house in it's entirety.

Had I bought a modular home in a sub-division built entirely by contractors, it would have cost much more because each of those construction workers needs to support his family.

A custom built home that is built by contractors would likewise be more expensive.

[Craigster]

Your Grandma is neither right nor wrong. The housing market is all over the place here. That all depends on how much you can really do yourselves. Take forest beekeeper for example, if I remember correctly he built his own for around $25 per square foot. That is remarkable considering as a contractor I would have to get around $35 per sq. ft. just to build a garage.

As far as land is concerned there are certainly some good deals to be had if you don't rush into it. Though this is not Florida beware of swamp land, literally. Have you checked out some of the local Realtors web sites like Key Realty or Aroostook Realty?

Do you have a particular budget in mind? Perhaps you could budget your dream-house house for around $85 per sq. ft. and whatever you believe you are capable of doing your self can be deducted from that amount. The price of building your dream-house is so dependent on what it is you desire that you can pay anywhere from $65 per sq.ft. to $165 or more per sq.ft. Radiant floor heat, solid oak interior doors, walk-out finished basements, crown molding throughout, and so on. It is very subjective.

I strongly recommend you first begin with a design on paper until you are satisfied enough to have a set of plans made up for you. If you are a novice builder a set of plans will end up saving you thousands of dollars latter on.

Bee Keeper- McMansion, I like that.

[maineguy8888]

Hi Princess,
Land here is CHEAP. MUCH cheaper than elsewhere. Figure on it being a fraction of your total costs. (If you are willing to build 5-10 miles outside the city itself, you can get an unbelievable deal). You're talking $8,000 to $15,000 an acre, depending on the area, view, etc.
Hook up with a good contractor. That's the key. That means ASK AROUND--a lot. People here do not consider that being that "nosy". In fact, it is EXPECTED that they will help you out and tell you what you need to know about their experiences, etc. Contractors here generally know they can't afford to ruin their reputation (everyone seems to know everyone else), so they have to do good work. No "fly by night" outfits, in general. Plus, they really need the work here.
As for heating costs, the basic rule is that heat rises! Insulate the hell out of your attic and you'll do fine.
Hope this helps!

[Bydand]

Oh, but there are fly-by-night contractors in Caribou/Presque Isle area, as well as just poor workmanship Contractors. I can name a few who have been around for MANY years some even decades, how they stay in business I really don't know, but they are there. Plus you can find land a LOT cheaper than 8-15k an acre in that area. Just have to look around a bit.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by maineguy8888

Hi Princess,
Land here is CHEAP. MUCH cheaper than elsewhere. Figure on it being a fraction of your total costs. (If you are willing to build 5-10 miles outside the city itself, you can get an unbelievable deal). You're talking $8,000 to $15,000 an acre, depending on the area, view, etc. ...

Wow

Did you place the decimal point in the right place?

What I have seen has been $300 to $900 an acre.

$3,000 to $9,000 an acre would be ten times higher than what I paid.

$8,000 to $15,000 is even higher.

[Alt Dach]

I phoned a friend recently who moved a bit north of Houlton,built a log cabin pretty much herself(with DH), and she said if she knew how much spraying goes into spuds not only in the field
but in storage,, she wouldn't have moved to the County. Any thoughts on this?

[Bydand]

I have never seen spraying of chemicals going on INSIDE a potato storage. They do have humidifiers which spray out a fine mist of water into the ventilation tunnels to keep the potatoes from drying out. I have hooked up dozens and dozens of these systems over the years in Aroostook County potato growers storage facilities, as well as all over the state. The spraying of the potatoes before harvest is to kill the tops off so they can get them out of the ground with less problems. If you don't the green tops will clog the links and bring everything to a very messy and time consuming halt on the harvester. Ever try to untangle a mass of potato tops from the innards of a harvester? No thanks, pass the spray and make sure you get enough on the tops please!

[maineguy8888]

The figure I gave was for a prepared house lot in a good location.......like in a new development or something. The poster is right: there are even cheaper ways to go. All depends on what you want.
I've been around farms my whole life and the ONLY things you need to really worry about are your well if you're right next to a field (you can get that tested, usually it's okay), and staying the heck indoors if you have any spray planes going overhead (usually that's about 15 minutes).

[7th generation]

Originally Posted by Alt Dach

.... she said if she knew how much spraying goes into spuds not only in the field
but in storage,, she wouldn't have moved to the County. Any thoughts on this?

Potatoes that are stored and sent in October and November are sprayed in the field with the chemical MH. This kills the tops and keeps them from sprouting. If one plant has 10 spuds under it and a couple are smaller then a golf ball, it will thwart the growth of the small ones and increase the size of the rest.
Kinda' like a pumpkin vine with a few small ones. You pick them and the larger ones get bigger.
Potatoes that are housed for delivery after November are treated again with MH in the barn and gassed with another chemical that depletes oxygen to the spuds.
Not sure of the second chemical that is dispersed as a gas, but will ask the farmers.
DDT has been banned for a long time now and the eagles and other habitat have made a remarkable come back-nothing to fear!!