Maine move from west coast (Portland, Lewiston: apartment, home, neighborhoods)

[90077]

Originally Posted by boiselover

thanks guys! So dan why do you want to leave california? Just missing your old home or?

Retiring to a kinder and gentler place.

[boiselover]

I can see that but why not consider idaho like so many californians seem to have done (I say this out of curiosity of course maine at this point seems the better choice to retire)

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by boiselover

I can see that but why not consider idaho like so many californians seem to have done (I say this out of curiosity of course maine at this point seems the better choice to retire)

Californians migrate every where. they are just very happy to get out of that place.

[boiselover]

Yeah but some of us come back seen it with my own family and did it myself so much that makes me want to be here but with the drought the struggling economy in areas and high cost of living in most its hard

[machquilter]

We live in MA and find things in ME much cheaper. The heating oil we see the prices posted for is at least .40cents cheaper per gallon then here, the Gas at the stations is cheaper, the taxes in the town where we have our place are much cheaper. Cost to insure and register a car are cheaper, food prices run about the same as here, there is a tax on clothing we don't have here, and we have less sales tax, but not by much. It's the major things that are just so much cheaper in ME that make us want to retire there over here for sure. Our taxes here are almost triple what they are there. I could see it being so much cheaper then CA, depending on where of course. But I'm sure CA has to be more expensive then MA. Hope you enjoy your venture back to ME. We are hoping so as well as we consider retirement down the road.

[boiselover]

Most places are cheaper than california. I am in one of the most affordable areas and it is still quite expensive.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by boiselover

Most places are cheaper than california. I am in one of the most affordable areas and it is still quite expensive.

I have lived in two regions of California; both were rural farming communities. Given full spectrum that is California they were both on the extreme end of low-cost.

What we found here in Maine, is far lower cost than California was.

I know that there are many other regions of California that are much higher cost; then the place where we were. I know that here in Maine there are regions that are much higher cost; then where we settled.

In Maine you can own a large house, on a very large property, with nice features, and still have a tax bill far less than $1,000.

[boiselover]

A friend bought a house here and pays close to 4000 in property taxes I paid that to in idaho but our home was literally twice the home and in a much nicer town. I live in yuba city not a bad place affordable by california standards

[Submariner]

There are regions of Maine where costs are high and taxes are high. There are also regions where the opposite is true.

Neither example is the rule for all of Maine.

Cherry pick as you wish.

In Maine you can own a large house, on a very large property, with nice features, and still have a tax bill far less than $1,000.

[slyfox2]

But no matter where you go in Maine, expect to pay through the nose for dental care. Where I came from in Mid Atlantic, a root canal was done by my local dentist for 400-700 bucks. In Maine, the local dentists won't do them and they send you to the endo guy. But for all of north of Augusta there is only one endo guy(in Brewer) and he charges about $2200 to $2500 for a root canal, and it takes a good 3 months to get an appointment. His base price is estimated at $1400, but everyone I've talked to says that is just to get you in there, and the real cost is above $2000. And a root canal is not exactly a sure thing. For $2500 you can have an implant which is a sure thing, and might be done in a hospital which might make it qualify for major medical.