"Modular" or "Mortar & Stick" built and Saco v Dayton--Your thoughts? (Portland: for sale)

[NewToNE]

Hello all....Looking to move to Saco or Dayton within the next few months and have been looking at homes and land, etc., and came across a "Modular" building company in Hollis and checked out a couple of model homes they have built on site there and they APPEAR to be as normal looking as "regular" "Mortar and Stick" (built from the ground up) homes.
I know these sort of homes are becoming a tad more accepted, due to the lower costs, the advantage of primarily being built inside a warehouse, (as opposed to the "traditional/regular" built homes' material being exposed to the elements, more precision of being partially factory built, etc.) and the public in general to begin to understand the difference between a "modular" home and a "mobile" home...But I'm still somewhat hesitate, this is an ~ $300k house (including cost of the lot), I'm thinking of putting up and I'm just not sure...
Also, any thoughts about Saco v. Dayton or any comments/thoughts about these two areas in general would be highly appreciated.
Thanks to all in advance !

[elston]

I don't know anything about Dayton. I have a great fondness for Saco.....I have two grown children who live there and they both like it very much. It is convenient to Portland and Freeport, to Sabego Lakes, and to Southern Maine....along the coast. it has a really charming down town, and a vibrant art and cultural community. If I were moving back to Maine.....I would probably move to Saco.

[TerryDactyls]

Elston - Can you please tell where in Saco to look? I drove through Saco the last time I was in the area looking at a place for retirement but could not find any interesting neighborhoods. It was a dreary/rainy day and I got lost a couple times so that may have had something to do with it. I'll be back again in early August to scout around some more and I would like to check out Saco (as many people have had very nice things to say about it). Thanks.

[elston]

It depends on what you have in mind.....I never lived in Saco.....I lived in Gorham....another really nice town.

I like the older neighborhoods that cluster around the down town section, in back of the library and out along the Saco River past the cemetery.....those side streets. If you go a bit further past the cemetery....and the nursery .... there are new homes being built in back of Elmwood Street or Avenue They look a bit expensive.. And some nice areas on the way to Ferry Beach. In Scarborough just beyond Saco there is a new developmt of row houses, and condos and single and duplex houses called Dunstan Crossings. There are also some condo's in the old mill buildings that straddle Saco/Biddeford. We have friends who recently retired and down sized to an artsy industrial loft....nicely redesigned....very functionaly and perhaps funky. (Park Street Condo)

I really don't have much specific info......I just like Saco.

[bearshimi]

I grew up in Saco. Best community I've ever lived. Plenty of homes for sale right now in quiet areas with some traffic (Hillview/Jenkins Rd). Anything west of Spring St. would prove quieter (more so after 5pm), and east of Old Orchard Rd going towards the beach. Just stay away from anywhere you can shop. I'd move to Dayton based on my evident interest in quiet areas. So, it's really dependent on how close you want to be with your neighbors. In Saco, you'll be close. Unless you've made your way to North Saco, which we might as well call Scarborough without the outrageous taxes. In Dayton, you might have to walk a little further for a cup of sugar, but you'll get a cup of sugar and a ride home.

But... if modular was your plan all along, there's a park off Rt.1 just across from Frank Galos Chevy. Another just over the town line in Old Orchard Beach, and a fair amount scattered about Dayton. Good luck.