Moving to Bangor in late January (Portland, Calais: extended stay, apartments, to rent)

[stevenlear]

CelticLion is right.. more of a stall than a fall. However, activity seems to be picking up and sales have been fairly active of late, may have as much to do with the unseasonable warmth than anything but I look for an end to the "stall" by early spring. Now is the time to be buying, money is still cheap.

[Dragondog]

stevenlear,

when I said real estate stalled- that does not mean I think there will be a 'recovery' in the spring. Inventories are very high- throughout New England, and many other places nationally. I lived through the real estate bust here in Connecticut from 1989-1996- and that decline was without the funky mortgages, huge run up in prices and rampant speculation in many areas nationally we have had since 2002. This 'bust' could only be in the second or third inning- we have no idea where we are really going.

Prices rose on nearly zero interest rates- which I believe are not sound fundamentals economically. Home prices throughout New England are still high- and to believe they will go higher may not be sound thinking.

The FED has pumped so much cheap money into this economy- the BIG question is where will we be when the music stops- and the triple asset bubbles of debt, housing and now a stock market implode- might be a mess a year from now- or at the latest 2009-

Just wanted to show that risks remain- and could become worse. The positives are in New England that we did not have the rampant speculation and overbuilding as in other parts of the country- like AZ NV FL CA, - nonetheless job and income growth in this region can barely stand higher housing prices- if interest rates rise for the plethora of economic minefields out there- it could become real nasty . If we do have a recession, New England will not be immune from it- one thing to learn- is that nothing lasts forever. And after the biggest run up in the history of housing- it may be premature to say that after such a short and shallow correction, we will be off to the races in the spring.

[stevenlear]

CelticLion,

I did not mean to imply that you stated there would be a recovery, that portion of my response was my own opinion.

My comments regarding recovery and market activity were based strictly on the Bangor market where there has been no "bust". The Bangor market, in specific, saw slightly slower activity during periods of 2006 when compared to 2005, however, year-to-date figures show an insignificant decline in number of transactions and nominal growth in average sales price, with a slight increase in average "days on market".

The Bangor real estate market is alive and well... and prices are where they should be. Sellers frequently expect to receive too much, buyers expect to pay too little... but typically they meet where they should.

[Dragondog]

Stevelear

I agree that Bangor will not see a significant collapse in Real Estate. Southern Maine, near Portland is now in a correction.

As I alluded to earlier, most of New England is not overbuilt, have many funky mortgages, or rampant overbuilding as many other areas.

That being so, even here in Connecticut the Market has slowed -with inventories at their highest since 1997.

[diablogun]

Looks like I may go in for a older house then; it's looking like there is quite a large premium for a new build in the area.
You guys should see the collapse that is taking place in Real Estate in AZ, house that were being built for 300000 1 year ago are going for 180000 in some places, and I think it will get worse.
If anyone knows someone with a nice place to rent near Bangor let me know. I put an ad in craigslist, but the only reply I had so far is from Lincoln.
Sure wish more apartments had websites I could look at :-)

[stevenlear]

Good morning,

Here are a couple of contacts for Apartments in the area:

B & L Properties: 207-942-8759

Hughes Associates: 207-561-4700

Not much in the way of websites and really, not much in the way of big apartment complexes/high rises. Assume you will either rent in a small "garden" style complex or in a duplex style house.

Hope that helps.

[Sheila Bird]

I just moved away from Orrington, Maine (which is a suburb of Bangor). It is a very nice town with great schools. One nice thing to know is if you live in a town that does not have it's own high school, the town you live in will pay transportation costs to 3-4 different surrounding high schools. So you get to choose which school fits your child the best. I don't know if you have kids or not though so I'm not sure if this is necessary information for you or not.

I found that house prices were extremely low (compared to Oregon where I moved from originally), but like the other respondant said, house prices have stalled. Good news for the buyer, bad news for the seller. The houses are absolutely beautiful if you like old colonials. Many need a lot of work, and you will pay quite a bit more for ones that don't require much repair. I feel they are worth the work.

I love all the history of the east coast. The winters are very cold and harsh, but everybody just bundles up goes snowmobiling! No type of weather will stop a "mainiac" from enjoying life to the fullest!

Be careful of size of your house, roof condition, etc. Fuel oil is what heats the houses there and is EXTREMELY expensive! Electricity "delivery fee" will at times be more than your electric consumption fee. Utilities were NOT one area we researched when decided to move there.....NOT a good decision!

As for the area itself though...I loved it and miss it terribly! Make sure you tell all the military "greeters" at the airport to keep up the good work!

[Coaster]

Bangor itself has some nice neighborhoods, and I have friends who are very happy in their homes in Brewer and Hampden. Hampden has an excellent school system, if that's a consideration, but then Bangor High School and John Bapst High School (private college-prep 9-12 school in Bangor) are both highly rated as well. You can find nice homes in any of the smaller towns — Carmel, Winterport, Eddington, Hermon. I would avoid Orono only because it's a college town with a lot of student apartments. Same with Old Town.

[firequeen79]

We are buying land in burlington Me. 16 acres for 7000.
I am wondering how is the job market for mechanics(my hubby).
Also is it true that we will be the outsiders and everyone will be un friendly?
We have 4 young childern and are from vermont so the winters dont scare us. Also the cost of living here in Vermont is quite high so, any info will be great!

[stevenlear]

Any luck with the apartment search?