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Old 09-19-2020, 09:09 AM
 
Location: Northern Maine
10,428 posts, read 18,608,043 times
Reputation: 11562

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There is a campground on Cupsuptic Lake with 40 campsites. They are fully booked until foliage season. They have alternate sites in leased fields with a picnic table and a porta potty. They are full at $30 a night. I have never seen so many rented campers going east on the Trans-Maine Trail. I find them on logging roads with families living in them. They don't have permission to be there and have no idea who owns the road.

These good people just don't understand that the land they are campiing on is private propety. They are not bad people. They are displaced Americans who had to flee the grave danger that existed where they grew up. ( I know better than to comment on the cause on this forum. ) When I encounter these people, they are happy to have visitors and ask questions. I gently break the news to them that we have real winters and they are uprepared for winter.

I have not seen one rented camper going west.
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Old 09-19-2020, 10:00 AM
 
Location: Apple Valley, CA
87 posts, read 78,306 times
Reputation: 143
You make me worried about still being able to find a good price on a house when we get there...
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Old 09-20-2020, 12:32 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,301 posts, read 61,111,691 times
Reputation: 30227
This should be a fun winter
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Old 09-22-2020, 02:15 PM
 
Location: Apple Valley, CA
87 posts, read 78,306 times
Reputation: 143
In researching the possibility of trying to weather in our trailer when we get there- as you have all said, a bad idea, so our hope is a short term rental or find a house to buy ASAP- I found a few trailer parks with hookups that are open over winter, in Southern Maine. Is there perhaps a list or website of such sites that could be printed out and given to these people when you encounter them?
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Old 09-22-2020, 02:46 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,301 posts, read 61,111,691 times
Reputation: 30227
Quote:
Originally Posted by phoenix02 View Post
... so our hope is a short term rental or find a house to buy ASAP
I recommend that you rent your first year. You need a place to live and to be your headquarters from which you can then explore Maine. While exploring the regions of Maine, then you will be able to decide in which region you want to settle.

If you buy first, then in five or ten years, you will realize that another region would suit you better.

Rent first, for a year. Then think about buying.
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Old 09-23-2020, 05:00 AM
 
Location: Downeast
846 posts, read 1,014,171 times
Reputation: 974
In the Calais Advertiser which comes out on Thursday there are always homes for rent. They offer free subscriptions to veterans, L.EO.’s., first responders.I am a vet but I pay for mine, I’m not owed anything by anyone.
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Old 09-23-2020, 05:33 PM
 
Location: Apple Valley, CA
87 posts, read 78,306 times
Reputation: 143
Submariner, it's not really a good option for us to rent for a year. The big issue is that I am a self employed woodworker. I need to get into a shop again asap to set up and get back to work; I can't afford the expense of finding a place with a garage/ barn to work in as a rental, then absorb the cost of running dust collection, upgrading the power panel, building out workbenches and cabinets just to tear it all out in a year and have most of it not fit or be right for the space we buy. I do some online selling and will be marketing local as well- I do everything from custom pistol grips to lutherie (guitars primarily), furniture, cabinetry... whatever anyone needs. I also restore vintage audio equipment and rebuild speakers, but I'm guessing the market won't be as big/ stock as available in rural Maine so i will be focusing primarily on the woodwork. I am also a drone pilot and considering getting my part 107 commercial license to offer drone video/photo/surveying if that is a viable business option back there.

We've been researching and planning this for almost six years, and spent a week in Houlton a couple years ago. We will be focusing on the area north of Bangor, up into the County. I know that's a big area, but the primary concern is property expense- wherever we find the house that God has for us, we'll settle there and make it work. There's always somewhere else that could be "better," but what is available is what we love. The house we have now we bought at the bottom of the market in 2009, with little money to work with. It wasn't what we wanted, but we've made it our home for 11 years. Wherever we land in Maine, we'll make it our home, too.

Thank you very much for the advice though! It is much appreciated, this particular piece thereof just wouldn't work quite as well for us, I'm afraid.
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Old 09-24-2020, 07:50 AM
 
Location: Downeast
846 posts, read 1,014,171 times
Reputation: 974
If you can survey a 5 acre property for less than 5K you will make all kinds of money. Consider Washington County. There are many properties a guy with his hands can get into cheap with lots of shop/barn space and land.
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Old 09-24-2020, 07:53 AM
 
Location: Downeast
846 posts, read 1,014,171 times
Reputation: 974
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...gton-County_ME
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Old 09-25-2020, 09:24 AM
 
Location: Apple Valley, CA
87 posts, read 78,306 times
Reputation: 143
Thank you, I'll look around there some more. We were hoping to be north of Bangor primarily for soil reasons- one purpose of this move is to be a bit more self sufficient. We live in the desert now, where nothing grows without raised beds and trucked in soil.
My wife and I have been reviewing soil maps and spoke with someone at the Maine.edu extension office. It seems north of Bangor is the best option for inexpensive land with acceptable soil quality- Washington County appears to have primarily a mix of slow draining shallow top soil over bedrock or quick draining sand as you get closer to the coast. Neither are the best for crop propagation, as we have read, but we are not well versed in agriculture. If we're wrong here, please feel free to correct us.

We have a very strict set of criteria for a home to start with, and then will be flexible to change those criteria as we don't find what we're looking for. As of now, according to Trulia there's about 40 homes throughout Maine that fit the criteria. That is why we aren't too dogmatic of WHERE to move to, rather looking for a house that fits.
-3+ bedroom
-5+ acres
-shop, barn or good size garage space, possibly a finished or finishable walk out basement.
-tillable land for gardening that may need some minor amending or clearing, but no raised beds, etc.
-good internet access available, preferably terrestrial but can use satellite if we have to. At the very least, acceptable wireless or a town with internet close by I can drive to every couple days for upload/download of product listings/sales.
-Less than $130k, preferably less than $100k.
-Low/ reasonable property taxes, so out of town.

That's pretty much shooting for the moon with the price spec, but I know we'll find something. We have to have 3+ bedrooms, I have to have a shop space, we will only have the equity in our current home to spend, as I don't want another mortgage. We have 3 daughters we homeschool, so that isn't a big concern.

Anyway, that's where we are. Really hoping for a lot, I know, but that house is there, we just need to find it. We are fine with a fixer, just need a good roof, good foundation and habitable as I restore. Good plumbing and electrical a plus, good condition well and septic system a must. I can replumb, rewire and rebuild a house, just don't want the major expenses of a replacement septic, redrilling a well, repairing a foundation or fixing major water damage/ replacing a whole roof.

Thanks again!
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