Moving to Maine? How many homes do you have saved? (Eastport: real estate, rental homes)

[mrs1885]

I was just playing on realtor dot com and realized I've got tons of pages of saved homes in the Eastport area, which we've decided to focus on. I've seen tons of pictures, read about the area, read the threads here. I was up that way a very long time ago and thought it was just the most gorgeous place ever. We're hoping that come the spring thaw we can get up there for a week or so to actually look together!!

I just wondered though if anyone else has set up an account on a realtor web site and saved tons of homes. I find myself looking at the photos of the house inside and outside and deciding what I can do. Looking at the land and outbuildings and deciding what I can do there. I'm already moved in my brain!

I can't be the only one this desperate....... right??

[SexyAngel]

Be very careful, I had a house I was interested in and the people did not get back to me. I kept emailing and they told me it was in the works and I could take a ride up if I wanted to but they were fixing it up and they would send pictures(that I never received). So not to seem to anxious I backed off. After not hearing for almost a month I emailed. The email I received back told me they had someone that was very interested. So to me they were not being honest.

[Submariner]

When I was shopping, I did search through many realtor websites.

A few of them began emailing me listings that they thought might interest me.

I made multiple trips to Maine, met with realtors, and looked at properties.

So yes I sort of did follow that path for about 3 years.

[BacktoNE]

I did that realtor.com thing when we were getting ready to move out here. Didn't buy any of those houses.

Now I'm looking at modular home sites (not mobile homes) because we are both DONE with fixing up the junkers. It's fun but I have too many physical limitations now and I am more than ready for brand spanking new.

[ILUVMAINE]

Originally Posted by BacktoNE

I did that realtor.com thing when we were getting ready to move out here. Didn't buy any of those houses.

Now I'm looking at modular home sites (not mobile homes) because we are both DONE with fixing up the junkers. It's fun but I have too many physical limitations now and I am more than ready for brand spanking new.

We have also had/have so many email from realtors. Visited several, took many out to eat - nothing in our budget tho! LOL We have decided on purchasing land somewhere and putting a modular home on it too. We visited a beautiful modular home company in Nova Scotia (close to Bridgeport) and they are really very nice. We have also past the years where we enjoyed the idea of fixing up, but we'ren like you now Back we want it already done for us! If you find any extra land that will allow modular homes, please shoot me a DM. Thanks.

[dramamama6685]

Though I don't have pages of homes saved, there are several real estate sites in my favorites. I keep crossing my fingers that the one at 245 water stays available until we are able to move up(unrealistic, yes- but, a girl can dream, no?).

[corgis]

Yes, we spent about 2 years looking on Realtor.com before picking 5 houses to look at in Eastport. We got ahold of the local realtor lady and she sent us a bunch of information on the houses and Eastport in general. We made our trip to Eastport to look at these houses in the winter and she was wonderful, taking us not only to each house but on a tour of the island, made our motel reservation, helped mensaguy by letting him use her ladder and flashlight to check attics and basements. We bought one of those houses 5 years ago and we feel very good about the way we were treated.

[mrs1885]

When we were in FL and looking in TN I did this too. I found one house in particular that I was in love with. A 2 story brick 5 bedroom, 2 bath, 2552 sq ft under air, garage, attic and basement, 7.25 acres listed for $99k..... I would have bought that house sight unseen. It did say it was liveable but needed updating. I couldn't get a single realtor anywhere in the area to get back in touch with me.

We finally gave up and drove to TN for a week to look around. I headed to the area that house was in first and walked into a real estate agents office and just announced that I planned on buying a home that week and asked if they had any real estate agents that would like to make some commission and could leave to look at homes with me right then. Had no problem getting attention that way!!

I told her what we were looking for in a home and our price range. She took us to look at a small little cabin. The original portion had been built in the late 1800s and kept in fairy decent shape and they added on. 20 acres. Blah blah blah. Nice enough. But it was more than twice what we'd told her we wanted to spend.

So I got mad and pulled out my little binder I'd put together. I am seriously way too over-organized. I'd printed about 50 homes I liked and then pulled the CD page on each town they were in and organized them based on the town data as to how much I liked them over all. I pulled out that one that I'd found that I liked so much and told her I wanted to see it first.

We wound up looking at it 3 times and bought it the day we left to head home. Still love my house!! Just hoping we get that lucky in Maine. And really I hope I get lucky enough to find something small and inexpensive in Eastport.

We're still in love with fixing things up. We love old homes and you just can't build history. For now, it's the way we'll go. But once we get the house in ME we do want to build something in TN or KY for our primary residence.

[Sunday1]

I'm organized and love researching real estate so I tend to do the things Mrs. 1885 mentioned. We've moved all over the country many times and I think the more you know the better the relocation process. I do, however, believe the old cliche' about renting first in a new area is one I wish I'd followed. No matter how much research you do, nothing replaces the value of actually living in an area. I think we'll rent this time when we move to Maine this spring. It might be harder to do than buying - (if we're going to find something nice that's available year round) but it will give us the freedom to explore the entire midcoast area rather than make a choice from a few visits. In three of our moves, we have found other neighborhoods/areas that we would have preferred if we'd known the town/city better when we felt hurried to buy. I love the realtor sites, though and will have a hard time not wanting to collect and save that list you refer to. Maybe I can find one that specializes in rental homes! (I have a notebook standing by...hee, hee)

[Elcarim]

We're definitely renting. Somewhat because we're afraid to get stuck by a house again anytime soon, but mostly because we know that visiting a place and living there are two entirely different things. We want to be VERY certain that we're ready to settle whole-heartedly on an area before sinking up into a home purchase again in this economy. For us, we hope to strike a good balance between being close to friends and being close to sustainable income before making a long-term decision about a particular town.