One of the many reasons why I'm heading to Maine. (Eastport: appointed, affordable apartment)

[NJ2ME]

Originally Posted by OutDoorNut

But isn't what you're saying about property taxes and real estate value more true inland where you live, than on or near the coasts?

I saw asking prices for property on or near the coast of Maine come close to doubling over a ten-year period from about 1997 to 2007.

It's come down some since, but asking prices are still high, especially for ocean view and oceanfront properties. And their property tax is many thousands.

And when real estate recovers in a few years, prices for property on or near the ocean will resume its rise, and property taxes will rise along with the price.

I expect a waterfront home being taxed at $6K/yr today, will by the end of this decade be taxed at least 12K/yr (and even higher, if we have high inflation this decade as many predict).

And taxes will keep going up from there.

Of course any ocean front property is going to have higher cost houses and higher property taxes. You really can never compare ocean view properties to inland in any state. However you can compare "apples to apples and oranges to oranges" by going to search for house prices in some other states with an ocean view and check out those property taxes to make even comparisons to COL in different coastal states.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by OutDoorNut

But isn't what you're saying about property taxes and real estate value more true inland where you live, than on or near the coasts?

Part of the beauty of 'mil-rates' is that it tracks assessed value.

If you pay more for a property, or if you pay less for a property; what you pay in taxes will track the same. $1 in taxes per $10,000 in assessed value; or whatever the mil-rate is.

There are localized regions of Maine that may have higher priced homes. Homes in those regions can cost higher, with the same mil-rate as low priced homes.

Of course high cost properties will pay higher taxes. A million dollar estate will have higher taxes than an inexpensive home.

... I saw asking prices for property on or near the coast of Maine come close to doubling over a ten-year period from about 1997 to 2007.

It's come down some since, but asking prices are still high, especially for ocean view and oceanfront properties. And their property tax is many thousands.

And when real estate recovers in a few years, prices for property on or near the ocean will resume its rise, and property taxes will rise along with the price.

So long as there are folks who wish to pay $100Million for a home, there will be homes they can buy.

... I expect a waterfront home being taxed at $6K/yr today, will by the end of this decade be taxed at least 12K/yr (and even higher, if we have high inflation this decade as many predict).

And taxes will keep going up from there.

Property taxes only go up if mil-rates go up.

If your mil-rate has you paying $1 for every $10k in assessed value; then the $Million on one side of the street will pay more than the nextdoor neighbor whose home is assessed at only $30k.



If a $100k home is equivalent to another $100k home; one in a low tax area where they pay $100 in taxes, and the other is paying $5k in taxes.

The value of the homes did not change. It is entirely the mil-rates that cause their respective taxes to be so different.

[retiredtinbender]

I can take the towns overall valuation and increase it so as to drop the mil rate signifigantly. I can drop that mil rate by almost half; take it from say, $30 down to $18 per thousand. That doesn't mean your taxes are going down. Ask a taxpayer in Calais. Just because the rate goes up or down dosen't mean taxes will follow. Mil rates are similar to the magicians smoke and mirrors. If you only look at that then you are going to be awfully upset when things don't go as you planned. Kinda like an info-mercial; basically correct info, but not all brought out.

Also in the above scenario, the value of the home didn't change; it appears the value of the land did, drastically.

[arctichomesteader]

The taxes will be what's needed to pay for expenses by the local government. If you have property in a town that spends a lot, has all kinds of "services," etc., you can expect rising taxes year after year to some degree. The mil rate may go up, or, they may re-assess property higher, if more revenue is needed. If less revenue is needed they may go down. This holds true anywhere you go.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by kellym_40

Fortunately I have my business out of my house and my husband works in the IT industry which *seems* to have available jobs up there.

Don't count on it. For every IT job that opens there are a hundred people trying to get it. There are many of us IT people working in other fields- I work in a warehouse sorting mail and loading trucks, there is at least one other IT guy there doing the same. We had an $8/hr data entry position open- 37 guys with *Master's* degrees in CS applied for it, plus a whole bunch more with lesser degrees.

He'd better have a 'plan B'...and a 'plan C'. Even if he manages to beat out all of the competition and actually land an IT job, it probably won't be for anywhere near the money he's used to getting.

He'd better know how to do something else, and be willing to do something else.

[kellym_40]

No IT jobs in the entire state of Maine or just in certain areas?

I am thankful I have a position where I work from home. I have never had an employer in my home state. My accounts are all over the country.

We are hoping to be in the area of Portland. We won't go up unless he has a job. We are also considering NH as well as our PLAN B

[RiverBird]

Originally Posted by brava4

Well, this is good to hear considering I plan to retire to Maine from Northern Va. Hopefully, by then, my $ will do more for me than in Va.

Curious to know where in N. VA you are and your reasons for moving to Maine? Are you retired or still working?

[RiverBird]

Originally Posted by kellym_40

No IT jobs in the entire state of Maine or just in certain areas?

I am thankful I have a position where I work from home. I have never had an employer in my home state. My accounts are all over the country.

We are hoping to be in the area of Portland. We won't go up unless he has a job. We are also considering NH as well as our PLAN B

Property taxes in NH are quite high (much higher than Maine), probably b/c they have no sales tax.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by kellym_40

No IT jobs in the entire state of Maine or just in certain areas?

I am thankful I have a position where I work from home. I have never had an employer in my home state. My accounts are all over the country.

We are hoping to be in the area of Portland. We won't go up unless he has a job. We are also considering NH as well as our PLAN B

I didn't say that there are no IT jobs, there are some that come open every now and then...but there are a boatload of people trying to get them- there are lots of IT people working other jobs and wishing they weren't. Even if you land one, the pay will likely be lower.

I was in the computer business for 15 years, I'm good at troubleshooting and solving problems. I thought I would be a big fish in a small pond here. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. There are more tech people than there are jobs for them.

If he has some special skills/qualifications that are in demand and set him apart from the rest of the field he may have a better chance at snagging one of the few jobs. Otherwise, he'd better plan on working in a warehouse, or flagging for road construction crews or something. I'm into my third year in the warehouse. I started as a temp worker, busted my butt and managed to get hired directly by the company. I got a high percentage raise and accepted some extra responsibilities so I make more than the rest of the monkeys (who complain that they aren't making enough but weren't willing to do what I did to make more) but it is still a pittance compared to what I used to make working IT in the Boston area.

You may be better off in Portland than here in the Bangor area. I'm not trying to scare you off, just giving you a 'head's up' that the employment situation might be different from what you were expecting. It was for me.

[kellym_40]

IT is a very vast field with many specialties. Currently he's a Director of Information Technology. "Knows a lot about a lot of things without one specific specialty", was his statement.

Like I said, NH is also in the running. Oh and I don't think the IT field "lack of jobs" is specific to Maine. There are professionals here working entry level jobs, warehouse jobs, managers at Target etc....it's bad everywhere. I have a relative who is a chemist and has been in the field for 10 years. He's working an ENTRY LEVEL chemist position for peanuts JUST to have a job.

One thing I know FOR SURE is we are NOT going anywhere unless a job is secured on his end. We have a large family to support and aren't taking any chances.