Relocating back to Maine and living in Presque Isle (Bangor: sale, real estate)

[mainebrokerman]

id check out realtor.com and do a search in fort fairfield, presque-isle, caribou.
i go up once a month for a couple overnights, i love it up there, i always grab, the local real esate brochures,,,and there are some very attractive properties (with land) VERY reasonable..

you can call a realtor in the area and tell them what you are looking for,,they will send (email) you whats on the market,,and its free!!

[Mainer61]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

id check out realtor.com and do a search in fort fairfield, presque-isle, caribou.
i go up once a month for a couple overnights, i love it up there, i always grab, the local real esate brochures,,,and there are some very attractive properties (with land) VERY reasonable..

you can call a realtor in the area and tell them what you are looking for,,they will send (email) you whats on the market,,and its free!!

I haven't seen anything that was VERY reasonable and I've been checking out the real estate websites daily. I was offered a job in PI so I was really seriously looking. Some of the houses have been for sale for months and months and no drop in asking price. Maybe there are some good deals.....I hope I can find one....but today I saw a modular for over $500K with 10 acres. They must be dreaming.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Mainer61

I haven't seen anything that was VERY reasonable and I've been checking out the real estate websites daily. I was offered a job in PI so I was really seriously looking. Some of the houses have been for sale for months and months and no drop in asking price. Maybe there are some good deals.....I hope I can find one....but today I saw a modular for over $500K with 10 acres. They must be dreaming.

WOW that's a lot! for anywhere!

[gracewalker]

It sounds like you've been up there visiting? What is it like? Are the people friendly or to themselves. Does it look like the town cares about itself or is it falling apart? It was good to hear the rent prices. We hopefully would be trying to buy something. Where we are now, a SFH is 400K on the cheap side and that's a small house with probably no garage.

[gracewalker]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

id check out realtor.com and do a search in fort fairfield, presque-isle, caribou.
i go up once a month for a couple overnights, i love it up there, i always grab, the local real esate brochures,,,and there are some very attractive properties (with land) VERY reasonable..

you can call a realtor in the area and tell them what you are looking for,,they will send (email) you whats on the market,,and its free!!

When you say "very reasonable" what do you mean in terms of cost? I saw a home for 70K and it said it was "move in condition". Is that what you're talking about?

[Valley Living]

I'm 45 minutes North of Presque Isle and out of all people, I know am one of the largest advocates to get great people to move to the area. I have to be honest here. If shopping from store to store is your thing and you have an appreciation for large "big box" stores than Northern Maine will not, let me repeat will not be a good area for you to relocate to. On the other hand if you appreciate small mom and pop stores with individual and hand made items as well as antiques with character this may be your area to relocate to. I always try to warn people that there is much more involved to living in Northern Maine than simply relocating. The winters are extremely harsh and survival is always in the back of our minds. Over and over I have witnessed folks move here for one winter and then leave due to the harsh winters. The key is to be prepared and always have a backup plan. This goes for everything from heating your home, to electricity supply, to private wells, septics, gardening, etc... If you do your research prior to your move and have accepted the fact that we have a lot to offer in Northern Maine other than discount stores and big box china marts it is quite possible you will never regret your move! People always ask me what we do for fun in Northern Maine. I've always compared a trip to Baxter or the North Maine Woods to an omnimax theater. In my perpective the live expierence is worth it's weight in gold compared to a pre-recorded, pre-planned movie. Does anybody remember the movie "Milo and Otis"? Well, instead of watching it, live it!!! Go for a ride, get lost, pull out your GPS and Maine topo map and find your way back. It is amazing what you will find in our area.

On the topic of housing market, the St.John River valley has many, many homes for sale under $100.000. It just depends on what you want. A turn key home in Northern Maine is a home with decent insulation, running water, intact windows, and multiple heating systems. A garage, private well, private septic, and land are all extras! LOL!!!

[Mainer61]

Yes, I have been up there visiting. The towns are nice, clean, picturesque. I've just been shocked by the prices. I looked at a house for $70K...one bedroom, no garage, and next to a convenience store--not exactly what I wanted. There was a very cute place in FF for $149K, but it was on a tiny lot...very cramped.

[Bydand]

Vally Living hit the nail on the head. I have lived in the Presque Isle area for close to 20 years and the homes you see on the internet are the ones that people think they are going to get somebody from "away" who is used to looking at very high prices will think is resonable and buy with no homework. They forget about things like appraisals which include comparable sales in the area. There are some very reasonable homes in the PI/Fort Fairfield/Caribou/Washburn area, but the prices are still going up for some reason.

Schools are so-so, shopping is adequate, but nothing special. There are still Mom & Pop shops around but nothing of a specialty nature. Presque Isle is losing it's small town feel in it's rush to become the "shopping area" for the County and Canada in that area. It still is small town, but trying hard to feel bigger. Caribou has just an odd feel to it. Washburn is a nice little community that is about 12 miles away from Presque Isle and the road between the two is kept plowed very well (NEVER in 20 years could I not get to Presque Isle, several times I couldn't get to Caribou). It is a nice drive, but rather bumpy in sections. Fort Fairfield is trying hard and has a rather caring school system. They may not rank the highest, but the feeling there is that every kid counts and that in my book accounts for a LOT. Washburn can be the same way, but doesn't actively advocate parental involvement in the school system. Presque Isle schools are ranked the highest for the area, but the whole picture isn't shown by numbers alone. In PI you tend to get a bit more of the who you are related to and what you wear and drive to school attitude than the others in the area.

Overall it can be a nice place to live, but can be VERY difficult to make a living or get ahead a bit due to the costs of utilities and other needed expenses.

Weather can be cold, sometimes down right bitter, but overall I found the winters to be decent but a bit long some years (last winter is a prime example ). Depends on where you are coming from and what you are used to. Summers are great, but the black flies and mosquitoes can be a pain in the Spring into early summer.

Several places to stay out until the wee hours of the morning if that is your habit, or places to get a bite to eat at 5:00 AM as well if that is habit instead. Not as varied as other places I have lived, but in 20 years I was never lacking for a place to have a drink or meal if I wanted to go out.

[gracewalker]

Your info was very helpful, especially about the schools and the different feel for the towns. When you mentioned the cost of utilites and other needed expenses, how much a month are you talking for phone, cable (if you have it), electricity, heating, food (I've heard food is expensive there?)? Here in No. Va. we pay 80/mo for phone/internet (unlimited), don't do cable, electricity is our heat/cooling source and that runs maybe 100/mo. in the summer with 1000ftsq and probably the same in the winter. And when the temp is just right, maybe 60/mo.

And your comment about the housing...are you saying that you think the prices on the internet are inflated and really should be lower given what things are actually selling for? I have a real estate friend that has pretty much said something similar given the are. She described it as a "depressed area."

[Bydand]

Electric can be the real surprise when it comes to utilities. In the Presque Isle area the electric is Maine Public Service with the supply coming from several companies thanks to deregulation. They are all within 1/2 a penny of each other so no real difference per kilowatt. Delivery runs 8.366 cents per kilowatt with supply running 8.5385 cents per kilowatt for a total price of 16.9045 per kilowatt. Look at your average monthly consumption now and it will be close to what you are going to use someplace else. 1000 kW a month use will cost $169.05 without the taxes and fees added.

Heat is going to be the hardship this winter. At $5 a gallon right now for a lock-in price it is going to run $1325 to fill an empty tank. For the house I was in I averaged 725 gallons a year after the new furnace was installed so for the season at $5 a gallon it would run $3625 a winter for heat alone. I know there are other alternative forms of heat out there, but unless it is already installed, it can be costly to have it put in to start with.

Phone and internet really depends on the level of service you chose. DSL at 3 Mb download speed runs $37.50 a month without taxes and fees, phone charges vary so much it is impossible to guess. Best to call Verizon... (Fairpoint now) and talk to one of their representatives.

House prices fluctuate wildly in the area. I know of a place in Washburn that has sold 6 or 7 times in the past 10 years for vastly different numbers. There are plenty under $100k, as well as some over $250k. I have seen homes sold privately for $5000, as well as others that have sold privately for $400,000+. The only real way to really get a handle on the situation is feet to pavement and visit to have a good look at what is offered. I just bought a home long distance and can tell you the ones that I was interested in by their online looks were discounted as soon as we saw them in person, and the one I didn't like at all online was the right one for us and was MUCH nicer than it looked.