Boaters living in Maine?

[superbenk]

My wife & I like to dream about where we'd like to end up from time to time. I asked a question last year about southern locations & Tennessee was the winner there. Still not out of the question, but we both like the quaintness of the northeast & New England. Maine seems to have really inexpensive property - lots of bang for the buck - and it looks like beautiful countryside.

I'm sure we have a few Maine members here so I thought I'd ask & see what you all thought of the state? Where's the best place to live if you're a boater (I know there's tons of lakes & coast line). What do you do in the winter months to stay sane? Is being a boater in Maine a stupid idea?

 

[Mischief Managed]

I live in Southern NH, but own property in the Maine Lakes Region (100 miles from my house), plan to retire there, and visit there often. The lake boating is excellent. There are numerous beautiful lakes and the two biggest in the area (Long Lake and Sebago Lake) are connected by an easily navigable and well-marked river with a lock (the Songo River). I have not done any coastal boating yet, but plan to extensively once I have radar installed on my boat (it gets really foggy and can stay that way for a long time).

Winters can be brutal, I recommend that you take up an outdoor Winter activity like skiing or snowmobiling to make you eager for the snow to come. It makes Winter much more tolerable when you look forward to snow...

Maine has poor funding and a large network of state roads. The road conditions are often terrible, especially in Winter. The salt use on the roads (not just a Maine issue...) destroys cars quickly too. We learned (the hard way) to buy used cars with "high" miles from rust-free states in order to get the body to last as long as the mechanicals. Saves us a fortune.

There is a lot of poverty in Maine. The real estate in the quaint and lovely villages is often ridiculously expensive while nearby neighborhoods in the same township are really cheap. There's often a clear distinction between the haves and have nots that's more apparent in Maine than it is elsewhere. For instance, the town where I have land gets 85% of its real estate tax revenue from non-residents. Think about the fact that 85% of the real estate (by value, not area) is a second home for someone while the remaining 15% likely represents all the sole homes for everyone that lives in town. That's shocking to me.

 

[superbenk]

There is a lot of poverty in Maine. The real estate in the quaint and lovely villages is often ridiculously expensive while nearby neighborhoods in the same township are really cheap. There's often a clear distinction between the haves and have nots that's more apparent in Maine than it is elsewhere. For instance, the town where I have land gets 85% of its real estate tax revenue from non-residents. Think about the fact that 85% of the real estate (by value, not area) is a second home for someone while the remaining 15% likely represents all the sole homes for everyone that lives in town. That's shocking to me.

Interesting point & one I'm familiar with. I grew up on Canandaigua Lake in the Finger Lakes which suffers from much the same problem. Lake property is ridiculously expensive while land just outside of lake-view is ridiculously cheap & poor. Taxes for properties on the water or in view of the water are exorbitant & demand is incredibly high. I heard Canandaigua property ranks up there next to Lake Tahoe as some of the most desirable.

Thanks for the other perspectives. I definitely need a winter hobby. Snowmobiling was a fun hobby when I was growing up. Our litigious society is making that harder and harder to enjoy, though, as more & more properties are being posted. We'd probably look for a large rural plot near water but not necessarily on water (though having both would be ideal).

NH seems like a nice place too. Why are you opting to retire from NH to Maine instead of staying in NH?

 

[Mischief Managed]

Snowmobiling is king during Winter in Maine, there's tons of excellent trails and towns/businesses go out of their way to attract sledders. I think the trail count is increasing, so no worries there...

We started going to Maine in the 80s when a married couple that we are really good friends with (was my mentor at work) bought some lake front property to retire on. We camped there on Summer weekends for a few years while we helped them improve the land and build the house. They've lived there full time for the last 15 years or so, and we visit them often.

My wife and I had our first child in 1994 and bought a 3 acre building lot (deeded lake access and a boat slip, not lake front land) in the same neighborhood that our friends live in, in 1995, as an investment to pay for college. My oldest is now a junior in college and she has been really smart about keeping tuition low. My youngest is a college freshman this year and she has followed in her sister's footsteps regarding cheap tuition, so we never needed to sell the land. We still love the area and are presently trying to put together a list of must-haves for the retirement home.

Our lot is quite near a 1400 acre lake (the one we have deeded access to), is a few miles from Long Lake (of which we'll have a view from the house), is adjacent to a maintained snowmobile trail that directly connects to ITS trail 80, is near the White Mountains (we can see the Presidential Range from the road that leads to our land), and is also in some great ski country. I love boating, hiking, skiing, snowmobiling and living in the country, so it is an easy place for me to live. My wife shares some of my interests, and loves it there too. The challenges of living there include the need to be self-reliant. I am practically the poster child for self-reliance.