Land! Gardening! Peace & Quiet... (Bangor, Presque Isle: transplants, rent, how much)

[whistlingbird]

Here goes...we have spent most of our lives in Colorado and are looking for a huge change. Tired of dealing with the ongoing drought and constant struggle to garden here. Too many people have moved here. We are looking to sell our home and 35 acres and move to Maine. SO...we are looking for an area where land and homes are still available at a somewhat reasonable price. We are old hands at living in a remote area, do it yourselfers, but, as we are getting older we want to have access to electricity and SOME amenities. Any suggestions? My elderly mother lives with us so we have that challenge as well. Good honest realtors? Suggestions from you MAINERS would be most appreciated!

Best Regards from the great "dry" southwest.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by whistlingbird

Here goes...we have spent most of our lives in Colorado and are looking for a huge change. Tired of dealing with the ongoing drought and constant struggle to garden here. Too many people have moved here.

I don't blame you. I spent a lot of time in northern Colorado as a kid. Loved it. But I went through there about 4 years ago and couldn't believe how much it has changed. It's pretty much solid city from Colorado Springs to Ft. Collins now. Traffic was terrible. Everywhere was crowded. Too bad. 30 years ago Colorado was a lovely state.

Originally Posted by whistlingbird

We are looking to sell our home and 35 acres and move to Maine. SO...we are looking for an area where land and homes are still available at a somewhat reasonable price. We are old hands at living in a remote area, do it yourselfers, but, as we are getting older we want to have access to electricity and SOME amenities. Any suggestions?

Well, I don't live in Maine (yet), but we have been researching it for over a year, and we just got back from an exploratory trip. If you're wanting lower real-estate prices and a good chunk of land, you ought to check up in Aroostook County. If you want to stay around some of the basic town amenities, check around Presque Isle.

[whistlingbird]

When we moved to Colorado in the early 1970's - right out of college - it was amazing. You could hike all day and never see another soul. Wildlife everywhere and hardly any traffic. We have absolutely had enough and I appreciate your suggestions. Will check out those areas when we make our trip this summer. Good luck to you!

[90077]

If you haven't been to Maine, you should visit various areas to get a feel for where you might want to focus your search. There are plenty of remote areas, but I believe winters are somewhat harsher in the western and northern areas. However, homes and land are still affordable there, particularly compared to the south coast.

You might like the Rangeley Lakes region in the western part of the state; but if you want to avoid the summer tourists, check with a local realtor for areas that are off the beaten track. Been years since I've been to the Moosehead Lake region, but it's very remote. And if that's not remote enough for you, there's always Allagash, population approx 300, in far northern Aroostook county; closest larger town is Fort Kent, pop approx 4500.

If proximity to a large health care facility is important, the northern-most large medical center is Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor with over 400 acute beds.

Hopefully forestbeekeeper and others will chime in with helpful advice.

[lowelltoco]

I also live in Colorado(sw corner) and will be moving back to New England in a few years. I grew up in MA and lived in S.NH before leaving in 86.
Maine is #1 on my list and NH #2.

A few things to consider.

The winter can be snowny/cold in Colorado especially above 7500 feet but we have sun on most days. The winters back east are darker and colder.

The property taxes are high compared to CO but I think the property is less expensive. I have been researching from about Belfast up the coast to Machias. Saw some nice properties on Realtor.com but the move is still to far off to get serious. If you are a fan of Scott & Helen Nearing I believe their place was around Blue Hill.

Forest Beekeeper is a frequent poster who is building a nice homestead on property about your current size. It north of Bangor and sounds real nice.
Check out some of his posts.

Good Luck

[whistlingbird]

Thanks to you both for more great pointers. We have former neighbors that live in Bangor and have been urging us to come out. You're right about the weather - the sun in Colorado is a wonderful advantage and I've been enjoying it for most of my life. My childhood was spent in the East - upstate New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and until I moved here I had no idea what an intense blue the sky could be and I will miss that, but weighing out pros and cons we feel we can handle the weather.

We moved from the foothills of Denver 10 years ago due to overcrowding to the Southern part of Colorado (we border New Mexico). Now we are dealing with methane gas drilling and it's a nightmare for us. They are ripping this whole area to shreds and you have virtually no say in what they are going to do to your property. Thank goodness we have a new governor, Bill Ritter, that is trying to curb some of their activity - BUT the drilling will go on - profit will triumph.

Have you been to the Nearing "center"? I see they offer many programs and classes and I am most intrigued.

Thank you again!

[Submariner]

We found all that we were looking for just North of Bangor.

One thing that I would truly recommend to all folks moving to Maine, is that if you are looking for rural wooded land; stick to land that is 'treegrowth'.

A lot of land in Maine is 'treegrowth', and it is cheap. Much of it is accessible by way of well maintained paved roads. [These guys are really good about snow plowing and keeping all roads in use, all year around].

We found 'treegrowth' land with paved road, power / phone-lines / DSL all on a riverfrontage.

In my township about half of the lots are owned as seasonable 'camps'. So the entire acreage remains in 'treegrowth' [with it's lower taxes], a gravel driveway and a small cabin are in place.

Some of these 'camps' are year-around. They have power / phone / sewage and heat. So long as you do not clear a large area you can keep the entire property in 'treegrowth'.

You just have to maintain a 'management plan' in writing of how you plan to manage that property in producing some form of tree products. Maybe in 80 years it will be harvested for lumber. Maybe you are shifting the forest over to maple to produce syrup in another 40 years. Maybe you are maintaining a forest canopy, so that you can grow ginseng on the forest floor [which is what I am doing], and free-run chickens.

I made the mistake of thinking that I 'had to' remove some land from 'treegrowth'. I did remove one acre from 'treegrowth', for our house, driveway, and barn; and our taxes went up a good deal.

Our taxes went up by 19.5 times. [Our previous property taxes multiplied by 19.5 produces our current property taxes]

Just a thought for new comers.

[whistlingbird]

Forest Beekeeper I thank you for your input. Most helpful. I was wondering where you moved from - I'm curious to see if I can get any feedback from westerners that may have moved to the Maine area.

I have wanted to keep chickens for years but gave that idea up when my neighbors guinea hens were picked off by coyote and bear. What's the wildlife like in your area? I have dealt with a huge rattlesnake problem for years and would be more than happy to give that up. We love the bear and all the rest of the original inhabitants - but it does tend to put a damper on some activities.

Thank you to all!

Also, lowelltoco, was wondering why you are leaving the great state of Colorado.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by whistlingbird

Forest Beekeeper I thank you for your input. Most helpful. I was wondering where you moved from - I'm curious to see if I can get any feedback from westerners that may have moved to the Maine area.

I am career military.

Grew up in California, during a break in my active duty career we did milk goats up in Lake County in Northern California, we attended college in Ukiah and down South in Fresno.

We have owned homes in California, Scotland, Connecticut and Washington state.

In 2001, we returned stateside from living in Italy, we lived in our home in Norwich Connecticut, while I was shopping for land in Maine.

We moved to Maine in 2005.

... I have wanted to keep chickens for years but gave that idea up when my neighbors guinea hens were picked off by coyote and bear. What's the wildlife like in your area? I have dealt with a huge rattlesnake problem for years and would be more than happy to give that up. We love the bear and all the rest of the original inhabitants - but it does tend to put a damper on some activities.

A few deer, lots of beaver and otter, lots of moose and LOTS of turkey.

I have seen black bear, but they do not present any problems.

This is Thursday, last Friday night I was driving home and had to slow down to chase two cow moose out of the road.

I have had to stop to chase away beaver dragging trees across the road twice.

We have one beaver lodge on my land, and another across the road on the SIL's land.

We routinely have turkey crossing the roads in flocks of six to ten hens. Once it was a bit foggy, the fog was just beginning to raise up off the ground, and while going by one local field, underneath that layer of ground fog, I saw over a dozen flocks of turkey grazing.

I have not heard of any rattlers in Maine.

Neighbors tell of a few years ago, that the state stopped deer-tags. The following year, the deer were thick, and the following year the neighbors all heard coyote pups yelping. A group of four neighbors went in together, following the yelps and found forty pups in two dens. Then the state loosened up on deer-tags, and everything got back to normal.

One state game website says that my township harvests over 50 deer per ten square miles. I figure that if I drew on a map going out 5 miles in each direction, that is roughly 10 square miles, and basically covers our town-lines.

Our township does not have 50 families, and I do not think that many folks here even bother with a deer-tag anymore. So it seems to me that most families around here average more than one deer each season.

[lowelltoco]

Why am I leaving Colorado? It probably has more to do with family more than geography. The final decision will not be made until my youngest is finished with HS in three more years.
I grew up in a large family in MA. Everybody still lives in the area.
I get back every summer for a few weeks but its always too short. This year it will be three weeks.

I live in Durango so its a pretty nice place with alot of people moving/retiring here. We even have a few Maine transplants.
The weather is great, the people are friendly the taxes are low,there are not many bugs. The housing prices have risen alot and there is no real job market but if you already have a house and job it's pretty good. My taxes are $568 on a house worth about $400k.

But I miss the smell of the ocean and the pines, the green grass and hills, the seafood, the new england accent and personality, the red sox, patriots etc...
After buying a few tickets $$$$ for a sox game this summer I probably will be watching from my local pub when I move back.
The bottom line is I just feel more comfortable back east.
I couldn't move back to MA because it too crowded to me now that I have lived away. I never lived in Maine but have spent many weeks camping fishing and at the beach.
I will probably rent a place for a year and explore.

I have not been to the Nearing center and probably will not get there this summer. My kids still remind me about the trip I made then take to the Earthships outside of Taos so maybe next year. Elliot Coleman also has his farm in Blue Hill.

Good luck