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Travel restrictions are an issue. We currently live In CA. Our local agent here that we used when we bought our current house referred us to a local agent that works for the same company there in Maine. We had several homes saved on Zillow that we liked. One of them saw a large price drop (something I am seeing regularly now on other properties we had saved) so we made plans to do a FaceTime virtual tour with the agent from the other side of the country. Unfortunately the cell service at the house wasn’t strong enough and the agent was unable to get the WiFi password at the time. So instead she took a VERY detailed 30 minute walk thru video of the entire house and much of the outside property. She pointed out all the features of the house as well as any issues she spotted.
After viewing the video walk thru we fell in love with the house even more. We called her and spoke to her, asked a few more questions about the house and her thoughts on it, and decided to pull the trigger. Made an offer on it. She sent us the stuff virtually to DocuSign and sent it to the seller agent. Buyer accepted without even countering. Our agent has been our eyes and ears on the ground there. She was present on sight for the home inspection (the first day anyway), she lined up two companies to give us estimates for the whole house water filter system we need as a result of the well water test and the radon mitigation system. We are moving right along and are on track to close escrow on April 30th on a home we have never personally set foot in and won’t see in person until we arrive on June 30th after a 3,700 mile cross country move.
As for selling our current house, we are in a hot market here and our current house has doubled in value in the 7 years we have owned it. All the comps in our area have gone under contract within a week for over asking prices. People are definitely still buying. And the low housing inventory being experienced everywhere right now really does make it a sellers market. We should net almost enough from the sale of our house here to'pirchase the new property in Maine for cash.
Bottom line, find yourself a good agent in Maine that will be your eyes and ears on the ground there. Ours has been absolutely fantastic thru this process so far. It’s a different world right now and the agents know it. They will do what it takes to help you find what you want.
She definitely earned her commission. What a rockstar! Good luck on your move!
She definitely earned her commission. What a rockstar! Good luck on your move!
Absolutely! And she has been fantastic thru the whole process so far. I think many agents recognize the challengers buyers are facing right now and are really going the distance to help their clients thru any way they can right now.
It is a bit scary buying a home sight unseen from the other side of the country for sure. But she has done such an excellent job with the video walk thrus, pointing out all the details, talking to us at length about the property and the surrounding area, finding the most thorough home inspector I have ever seen who spent 2 full days going thru the entire house with a fine tooth comb (inspection report was something like 149 pages long), really helped put our minds at ease on the whole thing.
Absolutely! And she has been fantastic thru the whole process so far. I think many agents recognize the challengers buyers are facing right now and are really going the distance to help their clients thru any way they can right now.
It is a bit scary buying a home sight unseen from the other side of the country for sure. But she has done such an excellent job with the video walk thrus, pointing out all the details, talking to us at length about the property and the surrounding area, finding the most thorough home inspector I have ever seen who spent 2 full days going thru the entire house with a fine tooth comb (inspection report was something like 149 pages long), really helped put our minds at ease on the whole thing.
149 page inspection report? My that's mind-boggling.
149 page inspection report? My that's mind-boggling.
Well apart from being incredibly thorough, it was also done on a 6 bed, 5 bath, 5500 square foot home with a huge attached garage and workshop above it. There was a lot to inspect.
Health reasons (senior citizen). "Maybe" that will change when I'm vaccinated.
I actually can travel to Maine without restrictions. I'm several hours from the area I want to live in. But I would NOT go to Maine to see houses during the pandemic. I'm not vaccinated yet (will be soon) and it will be some time before I trust the effectiveness of the vaccine. This is sort of a moot point because even before the pandemic I searched for a year and didn't find the type of house I'm looking for (small, in good condition). That just got much worse during 2020.
A possible strategy, I suppose, would be to sell my house soon, bank the extra cash, and rent something while waiting for the market to fall. But letting go of secure housing during a pandemic and stressed market seems like a very high risk. Many people have lost their secure housing. At least I have a roof over my head. Being able to live in your own home rather than an apartment is protection against the virus.
FWIW... I have been traveling regularly by car for 6 months now at age 67. My son and I work in cellular communications... deemed essential. What I have observed is that
- Those traveling are being pretty careful; there is not much interaction at a motel
- The motels are doing a decent job of extra cleaning
- Overall travel numbers are low so the number of exposures is lower
- Those traveling are generally not in the high-risk-for-infection groups
- We do eat out some but also do carryout on some evenings to lower the exposure risks. Lunches are all carry out and we carry our won breakfasts.
- We carry hand sanitizer at all times and use it frequently, plus masks.
- We traveled during the most recent surge late last year to states with fairly high case rates.. no problems. Realize that the numbers of those out there infected are actually very low so your real risk is not as high as you may think.
- Only you can evaluate your personal health situation as to modify risk of exposure with severity of the probably outcome. But if you are healthy, your odds are good to recover wiht all that is now known.
As for the vaccine effectiveness: Waiting is not going to change that. The test results show that there are very effective. It is nonsense to not accept that matter, IMHO. As this disease will most likely stay around like various flu strains, you will always have a little risk, and you don't have tons of time to wait for it to 'maybe' go away if you want to make your dream happen. Plus, now that the initial surprise is over for the medical community, the actual infection mortality rate is dropping and dropping and has gotten down to within 'shouting distance' of the infection mortality rate of the typical flu. (Infection mortality rate is what we really care about and is a lot lower than the 'case mortality rate'.)
Having said all that, waiting on the market for a bit of time is the right thing for you IMHO at this particular moment. But the market will change. Keep the ball rolling in your thinking and planning and looking online. Your move will never be zero risk and 100% comfort.... you'll have to talk yourself into it! Rental demands are high in some areas like where you probably want to be so that is another problem.
As for the vaccine effectiveness: Waiting is not going to change that. The test results show that there are very effective. It is nonsense to not accept that matter, IMHO.
Thank you for sharing your travel experiences. I meant to say that once I'm vaccinated (two doses), experts are saying that doesn't mean life goes back to normal. We will still need to be wearing masks and taking precautions, apparently. I meant that we don't have enough scientific information yet to know when we can return to pre-pandemic behaviors once sufficient numbers of people are vaccinated, so I will feel wary until we reach that point. Right now I wouldn't feel comfortable going in and out of people's houses.
Keep the ball rolling in your thinking and planning and looking online. Your move will never be zero risk and 100% comfort.... you'll have to talk yourself into it!
Good advice, thank you! I think this applies to many situations in life.
(1) Very high home prices in Maine
(2) Very few homes for sale that suit one's specific needs
(3) Difficulties of traveling from another state to view homes in Maine
(4) Near impossibility of selling my current house in time to buy a new one in Maine. There would be a period of time when I would be "between houses," which feels risky and unsettling.
(5) Can't have workers in the house to spiff it up for sale
. . . What is the best strategy for a move to Maine?
Granted, my current home has also gone up in value, but that doesn't really help me in the Maine housing market, as the Maine market may be rising faster than my local market.
I'm seeing my dream of moving to Maine dissolve. My fault entirely for not acting sooner (years ago). I see no alternative now except to wait for the market to change. But what hope do we have that prices will fall and there will be more houses on the market? And how many years will that take? I'm feeling quite discouraged.
You don't have to wait for the market to change, just wait for the pandemic to be under control in the US. Then you shop for a home in the fall right when no one wants to go to Maine because blizzard season is fast approaching. Then you scoop a home on the cheap.
Thank you for sharing your travel experiences. I meant to say that once I'm vaccinated (two doses), experts are saying that doesn't mean life goes back to normal. We will still need to be wearing masks and taking precautions, apparently. I meant that we don't have enough scientific information yet to know when we can return to pre-pandemic behaviors once sufficient numbers of people are vaccinated, so I will feel wary until we reach that point. Right now I wouldn't feel comfortable going in and out of people's houses.
And the good thing is that I think you have some time to wait for developments in pricing etc. I respect your decision, but I'd just hate to see you holed up, and lose the chance at achieving your dream based on an overly cautious risk assessment, based on poor info. Such dreams can be such great positive drivers in our lives!
It's ultimately a policy decision and IMHO is best based on good info, not worst case 'what if's'. Just be careful reading the 'experts' ..... some were saying that a vaccine might 'never be found' or ' might never work'. While it's technically correct that there a 1 in 1,000 chance of no vaccine ever, taking just that single point is not the way to assess risk. 'Experts' have also said that the current vaccines might not prevent infection spread, but that is already being proved to be wrong in initial studies. Scientists are not good at risk assessment, and journalists are going to sadly gravitate towards the worst case.... 'if it smells, it sells' LOL.
BTW, IIRC, Maine never prohibited real estate viewing, and Maine has had some of the strictest travel policies of any state. So it seems like the Maine CDC assessment of the risk of real estate viewing was that it was a low risk activity.
We have traveled a little during the pandemic. mostly local to where we live. We avoid crowds and always wear a mask plus carry bottles of hand sanitizer. Right before I started chemo last March we drove to the coast and stayed one night. It was fun and relaxing. My body wasn't immune compromised yet. Later in the summer we took a trip which was probably a stupid idea on my part. But I was going crazy. Maybe that's why it took so long to finish chemo, the powers that be cursed me for wanting to take a trip. We were driving.
I was really noticing the low levels of houses in Maine. I don't about people saying it is too expensive. I am in Portland, OR and we cannot come close to buying a house here. Plus there are certain things that are absolute deal breakers no matter where I live. I must have a garage because I do woodworking. I will NEVER live anyplace where I can open the window and touch my neighbors house. I will NEVER live anyplace that has an HOA. I prefer to not have some cookie cutter looks like every other house. That is one big draw to Maine is the uniqueness of the houses. Now that hubby works from home forever I just need to convince him that back east is better. Specifically Maine. I some how doubt you have homeless crap like we have. I am in no way blaming them. it's the government etc. who refuse to do anything. It has gotten steadily worse over the past few years. So cannot blame it on Covid. I know for sure even in peak summer the traffic is not as bad as it is here everyday. Part of the problem is my spouse has some dumb pre conceived notion that because Portland ME is some what close to Boston it is part of the greater metropolis. I may be wrong but I don't think that is so. It has been quite a long time since I was in either Boston or Maine. (30 +years). I do know Portland is the largest city/town in Maine and the population is less than the suburb where I currently live. He works from home so he really can't complain about snow in the winter. I read through these threads fairly often because I want to know what's going on and to read success stories of those who packed up and moved to Maine. Thanks for all this information. It is all good to know. I hope those moving soon will have much success in their new home
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