Hows maine (Bangor, Washington, Willimantic: sale, attorney, homes)

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by nm9stheham

... I am not so familiar with ATV rules in Maine (as I am with snowmobiles), but it looks like a lot of, or maybe most of, roads and streets are off limits to ATV's. What IDK is if there are some of the unincorporated areas where riding on the edges of the roads (in the right of way) is allowed. That may be one thing you want to look at. At least there are several thousand miles of ATV trails in Maine.... just like they have copious snowmobile trails.

I have read that sled trails in Maine exceed 16,000 miles and ATV trails are approaching 15,000 miles.

The town of Howland allows ATVs on the paved roads, and I think Corinth does too.

At the Corinth city park last summer my Dw and I saw a billboard the city setup that explains 'right of ways' in Corinth. They broke it down to include folks on horseback, cross-country skiing, ATVs, dog sleds, motorized snowmobiles, and people hiking on foot. So everyone there knows exactly who has the right-of-way, in all of those circumstances.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by dubthang

... You can get some relief from that by moving to an unorganized township, but these areas still have state regs to comply with. They also can have rules setup by the town folk to help keep things copacetic.

Pardon me.

All planning and zoning for the UTs of Maine is done by LUPC [it used to be called LURC].

Nobody living in any UT, and no group of people living in UTs setup any rules for the UTs.

All planning and zoning for the UTs is done by LUPC. The board members of LUPC are governor appointees.

I get it that folks who live 4 or 5 hours away, down in some city, may have some idea of how they think it should be. Lets not confuse that with reality.

[DavidnTracy]

Wow , what a great informative explanation....thank you very much. After looking at realy sites my wife said she would like to consider property.....weve done this in past ,its beneficial at a point but also exaustive lol ....guys thank you very much for the input. I thank everyone very much.

[nm9stheham]

Originally Posted by Submariner

I have read that sled trails in Maine exceed 16,000 miles and ATV trails are approaching 15,000 miles.

The town of Howland allows ATVs on the paved roads, and I think Corinth does too.

At the Corinth city park last summer my Dw and I saw a billboard the city setup that explains 'right of ways' in Corinth. They broke it down to include folks on horseback, cross-country skiing, ATVs, dog sleds, motorized snowmobiles, and people hiking on foot. So everyone there knows exactly who has the right-of-way, in all of those circumstances.

I have seen 6500 miles of trails for ATV's... but either way it is a good number. Again, IDK what some of the more rural areas will allow.... the big point is that it is something for the OP to inquire into for each area of strong interest.



It is not like WV, where, statewide, if there is no painted center line on a road, then it is wide open to drive ATV's on it. That covers a LOT of the mileage in WV, And WY has some pretty open ATV laws. But IDK how important the whole ATV question is to the OP, so this is just general input.

[nm9stheham]

Originally Posted by Submariner

In my perspective, that goes hand-in-hand with tax mil-rates.


When a municipality gets too big for their britches, they raise taxes, and with the increased tax revenue they hire a bunch of new enforcement folks [building inspectors, electrical inspectors, sewage inspectors, housing inspectors, code enforcement enforcers, animal control folks, etc] and off they go, forming committees to think of new ways to regulate each other.

It all starts with taxes.

If you do not let them raise taxes enough to hire anyone, then nobody can write any new regulations and nobody is on the payroll to enforce any new regulations. Problem solved.

A lot of truth to that, though I would say that the proposals to raise taxes follow the decisions to have a more 'formal' gov't organization. The raising taxes part is the last step.


Related and for the OP: I wanted to build a place in Rangeley, but I decided to abandon that.... the regulations now in place there for building a home on the shore have become so restrictive that you will not put up a new home on that lake front lot that has a view of the lake. WTH... no thanks. So if the OP is going to build and want to be pond or lake front, be sure to understand what you can and cannot do for new builds in the particular location. Maine has laws in place for controlling lakeshore builds, for the effect of controlling run-off into the lakes, and how much and the details of what can be done varies.

Originally Posted by Submariner

There must be a huge herd of realtors in Maine, logically there must be one or two in that herd that will agree to be honest for just a minute. But how do you lasso which one it is out of that entire herd. I have no idea.

I wish I knew.

I see this them on other state forums and dealing with realtors effectively starts with understanding what their business is, how their business works, and what issues they face. The biggest problem is the unrealistic expectations of potential clients; never expect anyone to behave exactly as you would... because most clients are never in sales, especially in real estate, and just don't have the needed perspective to see what it is about. If you have never been in business and done sales work, it will be hard to see it.


To find a good one, you just have to sort through some and find one who is as close as possible to 'good' per your personal definition of good.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by nm9stheham

I have seen 6500 miles of trails for ATV's... but either way it is a good number. Again, IDK what some of the more rural areas will allow.... the big point is that it is something for the OP to inquire into for each area of strong interest.

It is not like WV, where, statewide, if there is no painted center line on a road, then it is wide open to drive ATV's on it. That covers a LOT of the mileage in WV, And WY has some pretty open ATV laws. But IDK how important the whole ATV question is to the OP, so this is just general input.

Thank you.
I was going from memory.
But now I checked just to make sure.

https://www.mesnow.com/Map.html

Says that the 'interconnected' map has 10,000 miles and then later it says the regional [non-interconnected] map has an additional 10,000 miles.

I am sure that a year ago it said 16,000.
But today it says 20,000 total miles

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by nm9stheham

A lot of truth to that, though I would say that the proposals to raise taxes follow the decisions to have a more 'formal' gov't organization. The raising taxes part is the last step.

In the process of going from un-organized to incorporated. The first step is to hire someone. A town clerk, a town manager, a tax assessor, a dog catcher. To hire any of these folks requires tax revenue.

Then those town employees will need a building, and healthcare, a pension plan.

Among the posters on this forum we have had many people who have held these various positions.

... To find a good one, you just have to sort through some and find one who is as close as possible to 'good' per your personal definition of good.

When I bought the property where I live today, I paid a flat fee of $200. That got a title search and title insurance, a new deed written and recorded.

Who here has used a realtor and been able to buy property for any less than $8,000 above the purchase price?

When the buyer and seller agree to a price, adding a realtor into the mixture will add a significant amount of cash onto the price.

Does anyone disagree with that statement?

[mainebrokerman]

Download the Realtor.com app

You can set up many different searches
You will quickly see the further north you go from Portland and away from the coast the more your dollar is worth
Also take note of town taxes..,, every town or city have different
Property tax rates .., and they can vary significantly

You will also see that their are still good deals to be had even
In this market …

I love my little slice of heaven in Maine - been here for almost 30 years
I can walk across the street go hiking or hunting or ride snowmobiles
And in front of my house I live on the water … fishing swimming watching the eagles and listening to loons

I’m only 15 miles away from state capital .. but in a great town of low taxes … 30 yrs ago my taxes were 800 now they are 1200
I have owned property in Auburn and taxes were close to 6K per year
I learned quickly the larger towns have the highest taxes and tax rates

Maine is the most forested state … 94% tree cover


I’ve had better paying job offers out of state … but refused them ..
Love it here in Maine !!

[Maine Writer]

Maine law says you can not shoot a firearm within 100 yards of any domicile.

Inhabited building. If the building isn't inhabited you can shoot. You can also shoot closer than 100 yards if you have landowner permission. We have an agreement with our neighbors. As long as we're not shooting in the direction of the others' property we can shoot. They probably didn't blink when I stood at the edge of my garden to shoot the deer. It was one shot, nothing compared to when they target practice.

Not all organized towns are full of laws. We follow the state's laws as required and nothing else. I didn't need permission to build anything including the building for my business. Being organized doesn't always mean more laws. That's not a given.

[DavidnTracy]

This is all very informative and my wife and I apreciate it all thank you , as far as shooting ,im not a hunter. We do enjoy target shooting im a fly fisherman, It may end up we buy land and go that route im just dreading the whole build process did it here and it was brutal from having electric service dug and layed ,well drilling and cutting road and brush hogging , but in reality the pay off was worth it , we now sit on our porch or deck and have a cold beer and enjoy the wildlife ...just dont want to be in new york state anymore its getting worse each month ,honestly not where we are but i always look ahead ...... thanks guys the more info and people that post on this the more help.