FINALLY moving to Portland (ish) MAINE! Now can you help us decide WHAT city to move to??? (Lewiston: real estate)

[NewToNE]

Well, after more than a YEAR on the market, we FINALLY sold our house ! It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears (and one escrow that didn't go through)...but we did it !
Now we need to narrow down WHAT CITY to move to.
1) We don't want to move to Portland or South Portland (too pricey and we have no desire to live at/near the ocean and don't like a lot of traffic, etc.)

2) We have to be ~15 mins to University of ME in Gorham and the law school in Southern Portland.

3) LOW TAXES ....I can't figure out your property tax system for the life of me.

4) We'd like to back to woods (not neighbors) and be on at least an acre.

5) Affordable, ME is much more expensive than where we're moving from, so we're definitely downsizing!

NOW WE NEED YOUR OPINIONS (And play nice, please don't "trash" anyone else's city...we want to hear the good and bad of YOUR town.)
THANKS ...Here we go...

Here's are our main(e ;-) picks for cities thus far:
Scarborough
Westbrook
Gorham
Saco
SOUTHERN Windham

Your thoughts ?

THANKS !

[WhoFanMe]

Congratulations on your sale.

The USM campuses are about 25-30 minutes apart, depending upon what time of the day you are commuting. I live in Gorham, about 5 minutes from the USM campus and my office is near the law school, about a 22 minute commute. The towns you mention seem right geographically. Traffic will be difficult, the roads leading to both of those locations are narrow and clog at certain hours.

Each community sets a budget and the property owners (commercial and residential) pay a portion based on that community's assessing department assigns to a parcel multiplied by that city's mill rate. Is a lower mill rate better than a higher mill rate? On the surface yes, but if one town evaluates the same house differently, you're comparing apples to oranges. What you can bank on is that as the community's needs increase, so will your property taxes. I have seen them go down, but then they usually go back up again and then some in the future.

Since you are requiring an acre of land, plug in that parameter into your search (or have your agent send you listings on a minimum of 1 acre) that fit within your budget. You will ultimately have to make some compromises on what you and your family need, but inventory has increased to what I'd call a balanced market and prices seem to be stable.

[NewToNE]

Thanks so much for all the great info! I did find a website with the cities' taxes listed on it, but they break down the mil rates and then %/evaluation of that number??? WTH ???...frankly, I get lost trying to figure it out.
I'm not going to use an agent, I'm going to use an attorney instead to check out all the paperwork, so I've done all the research on the homes/lots available in my price range. Now I just need some to hire someone to what out this property tax issue for me.

Aside from your traffic repaort, do you mind if I pick your brain a little more?
What's your opinion of the towns I've listed above?
What are considered the "nice towns" or the "seedy towns/area" ?
I just read on a website somewhere that Windham has a large prison, is that true?
Thanks again and have a great NE day (it must be beautiful there right now )

[WhoFanMe]

Originally Posted by NewToNE

Thanks so much for all the great info! I did find a website with the cities' taxes listed on it, but they break down the mil rates and then %/evaluation of that number??? WTH ???...frankly, I get lost trying to figure it out.
I'm not going to use an agent, I'm going to use an attorney instead to check out all the paperwork, so I've done all the research on the homes/lots available in my price range. Now I just need some to hire someone to what out this property tax issue for me.

Aside from your traffic repaort, do you mind if I pick your brain a little more?
What's your opinion of the towns I've listed above?
What are considered the "nice towns" or the "seedy towns/area" ?
I just read on a website somewhere that Windham has a large prison, is that true?
Thanks again and have a great NE day (it must be beautiful there right now )

There is a prison in Windham, the Maine Correctional Center. As a licensed real estate agent, I can't answer those other questions per the Maine Real Estate Commission's rules on buyer representation, but I'm sure other non-licensees will be along shortly. It was nice in the sun today, but only in the 50s. We're back to 60s and 70s this weekend.

[JoulesMSU]

Originally Posted by NewToNE

Here's are our main(e ;-) picks for cities thus far:
Scarborough
Westbrook
Gorham
Saco
SOUTHERN Windham

Your thoughts ?

THANKS !

The whole area you listed is basically the same, assuming you are looking for a place out in the countryside (which it sounds like you are). If you were looking to actually live right in one of those cities, then Saco would probably have the most to offer, followed by Westbrook and then Gorham. Scarborough doesn't really have a "downtown" at all.

We were looking in a similar area as you, but we were also open to Portland and South Portland - and we ended up deciding South Portland was the best for us.

However, if price is really a big deal, you might want to extend your area to Buxton, Standish, or even Hollis. Those are significantly cheaper but not really that much further away (from Gorham at least). The downside to those locations is that they are kind of far from Portland - and the main reason most people want to live in this area is to be close to Portland, so that is why they are cheaper.

[bumblebee721]

Hi - I can try and answer your questions:

Scarborough: Can be pricey but can definitely find a decent deal. It's very spread out and because of that there isn't too much of a "bad area" issue.

Westbrook: Here is where things get dicey. There used to be a paper mill there that stunk up the whole town, but now this isn't an issue anymore. The downtown area is really dumpy and the people are a bit less ritzy. However, you'd be surprised what kind of great deals you can get in Westbrook. Other than its downtown, it's a nice place.

Gorham: Farmland. That's what comes to mind when I think of Gorham. It's beautiful, no bad areas, lovely downtown, USM campus. All good.

Saco: A lot of Saco is on Route 1, wich can be heavy with traffic on beach days, but again, Saco is a spreadout area without bad pockets.
SOUTHERN Windham
:Great schools! You don't have to worry about the prison, it's out there and doesn't cause concern, it's sort of a away from everthing. Folks with families strive to move to Gorham or Windham - Scarborough too.

[Irish proud]

Lewiston/Auburn is the ideal place to live. Low housing cost with all city conveniences close by. Yes downtown is run down a little but has seen great improvements recently. Centralized and close by ski facilities and recreational facilities. I love it here in L/A!!!

[1woodsgirl]

First congrats on your move to Maine. I left 5 years ago to move to Denver but I am going back to Maine in the spring. My advice would be to rent before making a purchase since the towns you list are so different. I still own a home in Portland and have had the same tenants for 5 years. When I first came here to CO I considered buying however now I am glad that I didn't.

New Gloucester is a great town but a little further than you want to be. No traffic, plenty of wooded lots (I had 16 acres), and some beautiful roads. Saco and Windham get a lot of summer traffic due to the attractions (Saco) and lake access (Windham). Seriously with the taxes in parts of Maine, renting for a year or two while checking out the local towns might help you from doing something you will regret later.