Buying land in Maine (Augusta: brokers, home, transfer)

[dmyankee]

One word of caution on buying land in Maine.

Do not buy after inspecting in the winter! Very deceiving!

At the very least, check it out in the Spring. You'd be surprised how wet things can be.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by WhoFanMe

I cant speak for others, forest. I can tell you that I cannot turn in a new listing without at least 6 (preferably 8) photos of the property.

I have not stepped into a realtor's office for over two years.

I have never seen a MLS sheet with that many photos.

Ever.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by WhoFanMe

Apology accepted. We use a sign company that digs very deep holes and erects the white "T" type sign. Those others that stick in the ground become target practice for snow plows.

Things must be different in your part of Maine, forest. Whenever I have a client who wants to walk land, not only am I there, but the listing agent usually insists on being there to to show us the boundaries, the abutting property, any water, wetlands, ledge, etc.

Yes, I see, I shopped for a home in every county of Maine.

I did not focus on any one area of the state at all.

During my shopping, I did meet one realtor who was willing to go out to a property with me, his office is in Howland. He even drove me to a property. However during my many shopping trips, that experience was a rarity. That realtor is a very 'good' man indeed.

Saying that "a listing agent usually insists on being there" runs completely at odds with my experience while shopping in Maine.

As I have explained I did come to Maine shopping repeatedly, and I did drive myself out to many many properties. and commonly I called the listing agents on my cellphone, while standing on the front porch of their listing.

It appeared that I was getting the BEST effort from those many many Maine realtors.

[ClownShoes]

Originally Posted by dmyankee

One word of caution on buying land in Maine.

Do not buy after inspecting in the winter! Very deceiving!

At the very least, check it out in the Spring. You'd be surprised how wet things can be.

Now that's something worth knowing~!

Thank you!

[WhoFanMe]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

I have not stepped into a realtor's office for over two years.

I have never seen a MLS sheet with that many photos.

Ever.

When I print out of MLS, there are dozens of different reports I can print. One is the 8 Photo option, which prints one large photo and 7 smaller ones. It appears that the REALTORS you spoke with printed out the 1 Photo option. When I have appointments with clients, I send them the homes we are seeing by e mail and there is a clickable link on the "lead" photo which allows the other photos to be viewed. These are the same photos that you see on the public real estate web sites.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by WhoFanMe

When I print out of MLS, there are dozens of different reports I can print. One is the 8 Photo option, which prints one large photo and 7 smaller ones. It appears that the REALTORS you spoke with printed out the 1 Photo option. When I have appointments with clients, I send them the homes we are seeing by e mail and there is a clickable link on the "lead" photo which allows the other photos to be viewed. These are the same photos that you see on the public real estate web sites.

I see, I only dealt with the MLS printouts that the realtor would hand me.

During my first shopping trip to Maine, I did try to look at the websites and have MLS numbers written down before hand, but it seemed what listings I was seeing at home did not match what he had on his office PC. So I stopped looking at the websites at home and just let the realtor print out listings that fit my budget.

[spaige]

www.realtor.com is a great start for a search. sometimes seasonal means it's a three season place and sometimes you just need to go to the town to have the occupancy permit changed to year round. there might be issues with septic, heat system, etc. which might make it impossible to change over, though. Good luck in your search. You will find it. And yes the black flies will be around for two weeks in the mid to late Spring. It's all a part of Maine living

[mainewannabe]

Originally Posted by spaige

www.realtor.com is a great start for a search. sometimes seasonal means it's a three season place and sometimes you just need to go to the town to have the occupancy permit changed to year round. there might be issues with septic, heat system, etc. which might make it impossible to change over, though. Good luck in your search. You will find it. And yes the black flies will be around for two weeks in the mid to late Spring. It's all a part of Maine living

What sort of issues if that is not too time-consuming for you to explain?

I was under the impression that seasonal implied that you could not access your property as well in the winter months because the roads were not plowed?? Is this not the case or is seasonal a multi-prong term?

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by mainewannabe

What sort of issues if that is not too time-consuming for you to explain?

I was under the impression that seasonal implied that you could not access your property as well in the winter months because the roads were not plowed?? Is this not the case or is seasonal a multi-prong term?

I take it to mean most often that there is little or no insulation and no central heating system, not suitable for occupancy during the winter without a substantial upgrade to the structure.

[spaige]

zymer you got it, basically.
As for access to the property. if it is a private road, many now have associations and the association dues covers maintenance of the road along with the plowing.