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Moving back to Maine to die in peace, Florida resident, nearing retirement, armchair builders, southwest corner of Virginia, Blueridge Mountains, economic disasters
First some background. I'm a transplanted Maine/N.H. resident living in northwest Florida for the last 25 years. I attended U.N.H. and enlisted in the Coast Guard in those "formative years". Since the early 1970's I've mostly been self employed in residential construction, commercial fishing and logging. I can elaborate on these endevors if anyone wants more info.
I moved here to L.A. (lower Alabama), to get in on the deep water longline fishery in the early eighties. The panhandle is (or was) nothing like the rest of Florida. Alot of the natives here were small town types not unlike those on the Maine coast or New Hampshire rural areas. I enjoyed the challenges of life, as most people I associated with were good common sense Americans with a strong sense of community.
Near the end of that decade our area experienced tremendous growth. Tourism, along with a big increase of the military and its related technology based contractors provided a strong economy. The downside is that with all of this economic growth came more pressure on resources. Between the Feds and the State of Florida, commercial fisherman were squeezed out and the whole coastline from Pensacola to Panama City has become "yuppified". I knew fishermen in Destin that lived in simple homes that were valued at less than 50K. Today there are multi million dollar high rises on the same piece of land and you can't even see the beach in many places.
I got back into the building business in 1991. We've always lived on the other side of Choctawhatchee Bay, not wanting anything to do with tourism, and my small building business provides a living that lets me pay the bills with not much left over. When I got my state contractor's license, I did so with the intention of playing by the rules and doing jobs the way I was taught from my early upbringing. I had no desire to become rich, but to be a small businessman working with the tools every day. I developed a small client base which to this day keeps me busy.
In light of the recent economic disasters that have come to a head, let me tell you that I saw it coming a long time ago. As far as the homebuilding industry goes I felt very troubled years ago. Most of the other builders I know are alot younger than I am. They came here from Atlanta or Birmingham seeing opportunity, but it wasn't pretty. Most never grew up in the trades and only understand the bottom line. I call them "armchair builders". They mostly drive around in their brand new $ 50,000 pickups and talk on the cellphone all day shopping for the lowest bid. Most have zero employees thanks to the most restrictive worker's comp rates in the nation, and illegals are the standard for most. I've gone on other jobsites and found ten workers who could not understand a simple English sentence.
What finally drove me off the edge was trying to keep current with all the state and county regulations. The paperwork and dealing with arrogant, stupid bureaucrats made me want to go postal. I finally let my state license lapse an am now doing only work that does not require permitting, or flying under the radar. The greed and incompetence on all levels just makes me want to crawl into a hole somewhere.
About two years ago my wife and I knew we had to get out of here. Although we get more "seasons" here than the rest of the state, June through October are pretty brutal for me. At 61, the heat and humidity are literally taking the life out of me. We do love our little area and couldn't ask for better neighbors, BUT--------you know how they talk about a woman's biological clock? I've got a similar clock that's been ticking since 1963!!!
That's the year that I left Maine. Even when I lived in New Hampshire for 20 years, there was something that entered my soul and left whenever I crossed the bridge at Kittery or the mountain road at Fryeburg. An old mentor of mine who had the same feeling used to say that Maine is more than just a state. It's a state of mind. Don't get me wrong. I am under no illusions. I never thought it was "easy" in Maine and several times in my life I just couldn't see moving back because the economy was so bad. I was saddened when on a trip there in 1998 my old hometown in Washington county looked so impoverished.
I'm nearing retirement now, but know that I can't forsee ever retiring. The sad thing is that due to this real estate debacle, I'm pretty much stuck here in Walton county ,Fl with a home that has lost 40% of it's value in 2 years. Even if I wanted to take the loss and get out, real estate is so locked up it ain't gonna happen. Thank you corrupt polititians, wall st. execs and greedy, stupid people whom should have known better. I've been saying for years that we are no different than the ancient Greeks and Romans. There is no free lunch people.
Someday........back to Maine where I can live and die in peace.
Incidentally, the only other place I would consider moving to is the extreme southwest corner of Virginia in the Blueridge mountains. However y'all on the Maine forum are so active I really enjoy your posts and can easily relate to most all of you as like minded friends. It seems that I have so much in common with a few that it certainly makes my day easier reading about your experiances. Thanks for listening,
Bill
First some background. I'm a transplanted Maine/N.H. resident living in northwest Florida for the last 25 years. I attended U.N.H. and enlisted in the Coast Guard in those "formative years". Since the early 1970's I've mostly been self employed in residential construction, commercial fishing and logging. I can elaborate on these endevors if anyone wants more info.
I moved here to L.A. (lower Alabama), to get in on the deep water longline fishery in the early eighties. The panhandle is (or was) nothing like the rest of Florida. Alot of the natives here were small town types not unlike those on the Maine coast or New Hampshire rural areas. I enjoyed the challenges of life, as most people I associated with were good common sense Americans with a strong sense of community.
Near the end of that decade our area experienced tremendous growth. Tourism, along with a big increase of the military and its related technology based contractors provided a strong economy. The downside is that with all of this economic growth came more pressure on resources. Between the Feds and the State of Florida, commercial fisherman were squeezed out and the whole coastline from Pensacola to Panama City has become "yuppified". I knew fishermen in Destin that lived in simple homes that were valued at less than 50K. Today there are multi million dollar high rises on the same piece of land and you can't even see the beach in many places.
I got back into the building business in 1991. We've always lived on the other side of Choctawhatchee Bay, not wanting anything to do with tourism, and my small building business provides a living that lets me pay the bills with not much left over. When I got my state contractor's license, I did so with the intention of playing by the rules and doing jobs the way I was taught from my early upbringing. I had no desire to become rich, but to be a small businessman working with the tools every day. I developed a small client base which to this day keeps me busy.
In light of the recent economic disasters that have come to a head, let me tell you that I saw it coming a long time ago. As far as the homebuilding industry goes I felt very troubled years ago. Most of the other builders I know are alot younger than I am. They came here from Atlanta or Birmingham seeing opportunity, but it wasn't pretty. Most never grew up in the trades and only understand the bottom line. I call them "armchair builders". They mostly drive around in their brand new $ 50,000 pickups and talk on the cellphone all day shopping for the lowest bid. Most have zero employees thanks to the most restrictive worker's comp rates in the nation, and illegals are the standard for most. I've gone on other jobsites and found ten workers who could not understand a simple English sentence.
What finally drove me off the edge was trying to keep current with all the state and county regulations. The paperwork and dealing with arrogant, stupid bureaucrats made me want to go postal. I finally let my state license lapse an am now doing only work that does not require permitting, or flying under the radar. The greed and incompetence on all levels just makes me want to crawl into a hole somewhere.
About two years ago my wife and I knew we had to get out of here. Although we get more "seasons" here than the rest of the state, June through October are pretty brutal for me. At 61, the heat and humidity are literally taking the life out of me. We do love our little area and couldn't ask for better neighbors, BUT--------you know how they talk about a woman's biological clock? I've got a similar clock that's been ticking since 1963!!!
That's the year that I left Maine. Even when I lived in New Hampshire for 20 years, there was something that entered my soul and left whenever I crossed the bridge at Kittery or the mountain road at Fryeburg. An old mentor of mine who had the same feeling used to say that Maine is more than just a state. It's a state of mind. Don't get me wrong. I am under no illusions. I never thought it was "easy" in Maine and several times in my life I just couldn't see moving back because the economy was so bad. I was saddened when on a trip there in 1998 my old hometown in Washington county looked so impoverished.
I'm nearing retirement now, but know that I can't forsee ever retiring. The sad thing is that due to this real estate debacle, I'm pretty much stuck here in Walton county ,Fl with a home that has lost 40% of it's value in 2 years. Even if I wanted to take the loss and get out, real estate is so locked up it ain't gonna happen. Thank you corrupt polititians, wall st. execs and greedy, stupid people whom should have known better. I've been saying for years that we are no different than the ancient Greeks and Romans. There is no free lunch people.
Someday........back to Maine where I can live and die in peace.
Incidentally, the only other place I would consider moving to is the extreme southwest corner of Virginia in the Blueridge mountains. However y'all on the Maine forum are so active I really enjoy your posts and can easily relate to most all of you as like minded friends. It seems that I have so much in common with a few that it certainly makes my day easier reading about your experiances. Thanks for listening,
Bill
Your post was very moving, Bill....I hope you will be able to get back to Maine very soon....
My DH and I are also hoping to move to Maine, however, because of the housing clustermess we're in now, we're worried that our house here in PA will not sell for quite some time....
Best of luck to you, Bill, and I hope things work out for all of us to get to the land we love!
i do have a suggestion for ya, being a home builder, if i had your experience, id be shifting to "green" building" yes i know, more and more are already there, however, if i saw an ad in maine "green transformations" that someone would come give me a free cost/benefit assessment of off the grid alternatives and print me up three different options/recommedations based on price,,,, id call you right up and make an appointment
i visited my brother yesterday, and he is building his own windmill, with a pallett of batteries, and a huge inverter, he is also heating his hot water with solar energy,
I was so afraid to be trapped in Texas and never get to go to Maine. So, when I got a job in Maine (even though husband had not gotten one yet and our home in Austin Tx was no where near to selling) I jumped and took the job and by the grace of God qualified for a Mortgage on a home in Maine and moved. It was bumpy-very bumpy- and we held two mortgages (and spent months apart) for 8 months and finally DH got a job here. I knew I was ready to walk away from everything in Texas (except DH) to find my dream here. We never regret jumping and taking the leap of faith to live where our hearts lie. Sometimes you have to act on what your heart and soul tell you to do.
Thanks for sharing. I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. I moved down from N.H. and am now moving back. We bought a log cabin up there about a year ago and will be moving "HOME" as soon as we can sell down here. Good Luck to you.
Thank you so much for speaking from the heart. Your post is very well written.....it makes me think and that's always a good thing.
I suggest you hang around the maine forum for a while....I believe you will make many a friends here on the forum who might even be able to help expidite your goal of coming to Maine.
Welcome, Bill. Can I ask where in Washington County your heart lies? If you've been lurking around for a while, you know there several of us that feel there's no place like home in Eastport.
Thanks for all the replies. The green building, alt. energy thing always interested me even before it became fashionable. Definitely not an Al Gore fan, but the awareness of our getting away from imported oil is a good thing.
Machias is where I lived as a teen. I remember Eastport quite well. It was one of my dad's "Sunday afternoon drive" destinations.
Well, we travelled back to Washington County, Maine in July. We had moved DOWN SOUTH...thought we would enjoy the nice weather. Bought a beautiful home.. but we just were not happy here. The people were great. So we are moving back.. We are closing on a little house in Baileyville on the 27th. Hope to Gosh this house here sells fast!!. I know we are taking a big risk.. but our hearts are in Maine and we are not getting any younger..Keep us in your prayers.. Oh forgot anyone one know of a handyman or fence person in or near Baileyville to do a kind of a big fence project?????? I have to make sure my little dogs are safe and happy!
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Understand
and that's always a good thing. 
