moving to Calais Maine

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by karenr3609

Sorry to keep asking questions. Was wondering if anyone knows of a good mortgage broker in or near Calais Maine. We are thinking of getting a piece of property and then putting either a mobile or manufactured home on the property. Looking at getting between 20 and 40 acres and get a 3 to 4 bedroom home placed on the property so that the home would be one level. I was told that was cheaper than purchasing a home with land included. Also looking to see if can do both together in one loan instead of 2 different loans(one for land and one for home). Any thoughts would be helpful as looking to try to have a place before relocating so as not have to stay in a motel. Thank you again for everyone's advice and answers to questions.

I agree with PAhippo. Real estate prices are very high right now and lumber prices have gone up 300% in the pandemic. A friend planned to run power to her land this year but the cost went up more than 25% at EMEC. She's probably going to buy the house she's living in now and sit tight on the lot. New neighbors ordered their manufactured home almost a year ago but it wasn't delivered until about six weeks ago. When I ordered from Mallett's Mill in Lee I was told "If you have a place to lay your head at night stay there." She went on to say it will be two or three years before the lumber industry fully straightens out.

[karenr3609]

Thank you PAhippo and Maine Writer. The property that we are looking at, is to have septic and elec already to the property but that is it. Did not know that a mobile or manufactured home had a wait time that long will have to do some more thinking thank you again.

[nm9stheham]

Lumber is still flowing and is out there, just not enough to fill all the present orders. So things are not dead in the water, just slower than usual on average. My next-door neighbor is the star lumber salesman in our area and just set a record for sales last month... so there IS material out there.

karenr, I'd recommend strongly that you call and speak with modular home manufacturers selling in Maine and see what they say directly about current delivery times, rather than just go on one story from a forum; no matter how accurate that story no doubt is, it is just one story. You can easily find several modular home manufacturers on the internet, like Prestige Homes from Canada and KBS from Maine.

Also, learn to distinguish the manufacturers of these homes versus the builders who use these homes in projects. I do not know if you plan to be your own builder or to hire a builder for the project. If you plan to hire/use a builder for this, then they would likely know better, but their avialability is another possible bottleneck.

And finally, as you start into this, distinguish between 'modular' homes and 'manufactured' homes. '
- Modular' homes are wood framed, and are very similar to site built homes but are built in a factory in sections. They are hauled to a site on flatbed trucks and hoisted into place with a crane.

- 'Manufactured' homes is a specific term for what are essentially multi-sectioned mobile homes, on steel frames and on their own wheels. HUD controls the specs for 'manufactured' homes and they are typically significantly inferior in feel, quality, insulation, and finish vs. a 'modular' home.

NOW is the time to be pushing onward on any such project, so you can get as far along in the process as you can considering the bottlenecks. You just have to have more backup planning, and be more detailed in lining things up, than you might normally need. I am in Wyoming right now pushing forward on a house build. If I take my foot off the pedal right now, then with the severe winters here, doing anything could easily slip into next spring!

Having said all of that, the forecasts 'generally/kinda/as much as they can' are predicting a rational check on lumber prices this coming fall.

[karenr3609]

Originally Posted by nm9stheham

Lumber is still flowing and is out there, just not enough to fill all the present orders. So things are not dead in the water, just slower than usual on average. My next-door neighbor is the star lumber salesman in our area and just set a record for sales last month... so there IS material out there.

karenr, I'd recommend strongly that you call and speak with modular home manufacturers selling in Maine and see what they say directly about current delivery times, rather than just go on one story from a forum; no matter how accurate that story no doubt is, it is just one story. You can easily find several modular home manufacturers on the internet, like Prestige Homes from Canada and KBS from Maine.

Also, learn to distinguish the manufacturers of these homes versus the builders who use these homes in projects. I do not know if you plan to be your own builder or to hire a builder for the project. If you plan to hire/use a builder for this, then they would likely know better, but their availability is another possible bottleneck.

And finally, as you start into this, distinguish between 'modular' homes and 'manufactured' homes. '
- Modular' homes are wood-framed, and are very similar to site-built homes but are built in a factory in sections. They are hauled to a site on flatbed trucks and hoisted into place with a crane.

- 'Manufactured' homes is a specific term for what are essentially multi-sectioned mobile homes, on steel frames and on their own wheels. HUD controls the specs for 'manufactured' homes and they are typically significantly inferior in feel, quality, insulation, and finish vs. a 'modular' home.

NOW is the time to be pushing onward on any such project, so you can get as far along in the process as you can considering the bottlenecks. You just have to have more backup planning and be more detailed in lining things up, than you might normally need. I am in Wyoming right now pushing forward on a house build. If I take my foot off the pedal right now, then with the severe winters here, doing anything could easily slip into next spring!

Having said all of that, the forecasts 'generally/kinda/as much as they can' are predicting a rational check on lumber prices this coming fall.

Thank you so much I am a planner and do not want to have all the money going to motel living and eating out all the time and then no money to purchase anything for the long term. Also would really love something all one level and was thinking this was the way to make sure. I would have to have someone on-site to be the builder as I am not that handy. Thank you for all your advice and will check out the sites to see what they say thank you again

[PAhippo]

You might want to check out an Airbnb if there's any local and/or any summer rentals might be available for relatively long term rent, meaning more than the typical 1 or 2 weeks usual over the summer. Both would have kitchens and may also have cooking stuff, bed linens, etc.

[mainegrl2011]

Calais to Eastport 27.3 miles via US Route 1.

[karenr3609]

Originally Posted by mainegrl2011

Calais to Eastport 27.3 miles via US Route 1.

That is not far at all. there is a piece of property in Calais that states it already has septic and elec to site and a gravel pad for a 4 bedroom home. The owners are from another state and have stopped and done nothing else for a couple of years so it is overgrown again. We were thinking of getting this property and then going from there but not sure. Thank you again for all the advice and info means a lot.

[PAhippo]

27 miles in Maine is a lot farther than 27 miles in Texas. twisting roads. snow/ice at least part of the year.
Rte 1 is a tourist magnet. Slow gawking tourists (of which I've been one)




Different strokes for different folks as they say but I sure wouldn't want to drive that far twice a day.

[karenr3609]

Originally Posted by PAhippo

27 miles in Maine is a lot farther than 27 miles in Texas. twisting roads. snow/ice at least part of the year.
Rte 1 is a tourist magnet. Slow gawking tourists (of which I've been one)




Different strokes for different folks as they say but I sure wouldn't want to drive that far twice a day.

Thank you did forget about the different weather during the fall and winter. Texas does not have snow and or ice to think about during the wintertime thank you for reminding me hhmm a lot to think about.