Cary, Monticello, or Houlton Maine

[njmama]

Hello!

We are looking for a place in these three areas. For the locals up there, are they all nice friendly places to live? Thanks so much!

[pyrnad]

Houlton, Maine has a very long winter. Not much for jobs either. Friendly folks though.

[njmama]

Thanks pyrnad!

I have heard jobs are scarce up in Aroostook. I can handle cold better than heat. Nice to know friendly folks up that way.

[Chas in Me]

Cary is what we call a woods town. It is 8-10 miles south of Houlton. The bulk of the land in that town is forest. Some farmland but mostly woods.
Monticello is a farm town. Most of the land is farmland. The major crop is potatoes. Grain and hay are also grown. It is 8-10 miles north of Houlton.
Houlton is called a service center town. It is the service, employment, and recreation center of the southern part of Aroostook County. Jobs here are in handgun manufacturing, oriented strand board manufacturing, health care with a hospital, care for the mentally disabled and nursing homes. We also make cedar log homes, raise farm crops, are the retail center of the region and have a strong federal law enforcement contingent due to the fact we are a commercial border crossing with Canada.
Google Houlton, Maine for more real estate info, and get out of New Jersey. Life is good up here. We do have winter, but we also have all the other seasons. The air is so clean you can see a moose climbing Mt. Katahdin, which is more than 50 miles away.
Trout in the rivers, deer on the lawn and moose on the porch.
C'mon up!
Oh yeah, I live here.

[njmama]

Thanks Chas,
We have checked out the area via the internet. It is sooo beautiful. I called Andy Mooers office today & they emailed some more info. It looks like dh will be making a trip up soon. I am going to call tomorrow about getting him an appointment.

Thanks for the welcome!!

[MaineFarmMom]

I'm east of Houlton. Nice community, nice people, beautiful and never a lack of things to do if you like the outdoors.

[Freeholder]

If you are going to do business with Mooers Realty, make sure he shows you the property YOU want to see! We were looking up there a few years ago, and he was trying to tell us we didn't want forty acres, we only needed an acre or two -- you can't let the realtor decide for you what you need! Other than that he seemed like a nice enough person.

Kathleen

[Beltane]

Beautiful, Wonderful areas.

Best of luck to you in your move! And a big welcome to New England!

[njmama]

Originally Posted by BlueJuniperFarm

If you are going to do business with Mooers Realty, make sure he shows you the property YOU want to see! We were looking up there a few years ago, and he was trying to tell us we didn't want forty acres, we only needed an acre or two -- you can't let the realtor decide for you what you need! Other than that he seemed like a nice enough person.

Kathleen

Thanks for the tip!

We are a little surprised at the prices he has listed for land. We didn't realize it had gotten that expensive up there!

[njmama]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

[sullen]

Land prices in Maine are going down down down, any offer you make, make it LOW and tell them you know better than to pay what they want. 40 years of Democratic control is destroying Maine, hopefully this year that will change and there will be more jobs, more opportunities.
I am in Midcoast Maine, there is more stuff out here, but it is still easy to have animals.
I have posted many times on how the people of Maine can "rub you the wrong way". But thats life. They don't mean it.
If you want land, ask them what kind of trees are out there. Hardwood means it is nice and wasn't cut recently, usually, and yellow pine means it was and all the good trees were taken out. 10 + acres of trees qualifies you for a tax break on a tree farm.
On the up side you can pay less for yellow pine land.
Good luck!

[njmama]

Thanks for the tips sullen!

For those of you who live there what is it like practically speaking with a "strong federal law enforcement contingent due to the fact we are a commercial border crossing with Canada."?

[ginsengsally]

Umm, yellow pine is a southern thing, not a new england thing. Red pine platations, yes. White pine regen, yes. Yellow pine, no.

[MaineFarmMom]

My husband's been a forester here for a long time. He said he's never seen yellow pine in Maine.

I have posted many times on how the people of Maine can "rub you the wrong way". But thats life. They don't mean it.

shhhhhh, don't tell her we're nice people!....yes we do mean it. We're mean. (I'm teasing. Just don't tell us how much better the place you just left is than here. We'll invite you to go back.)

Crossing the border is simple. For now, all you need is a photo id. You'll be asked a few questions and waved through.

[ET1 SS]

I am South of Houlton down in Argyle by Old Town. Around here forest land goes for $300 - $900/acre if you deal with locals, or $1000 - $3000/acre if you deal with a realtor.

But seeing that I am South, it is likely a different culture. I did visit a realtor up there, when I was looking. Nice fellow, crooked as a snake, but real freindly. If you fly in for a few days to look at land he would even lend you a cadilac to drive.

Limestone is doing a lot of business, I see their Hum-Vees on the freeway msot every week. Last week I passed a trailer carrying a tracked-artillery-gun up to Limestone for repairs. So there must be someone doing a good business up there. I think that I saw in the papers, a couple months ago, where Limestone was being contracted to send 80 or 90 of their Hum-Vee repairmen overseas. So in their absence they just might have some more openings.

Never can tell with our 'depressed economy' and all, plus those 'high' taxes.

I pay almost $1.05/acre. They say we have the highest taxes in the Nation too.

You enjoy yourself, and have fun. Make sure you get to the MOFGA fair too, in Unity.

[njmama]

Originally Posted by MaineFarmMom

My husband's been a forester here for a long time. He said he's never seen yellow pine in Maine.



shhhhhh, don't tell her we're nice people!....yes we do mean it. We're mean. (I'm teasing. Just don't tell us how much better the place you just left is than here. We'll invite you to go back.)

Crossing the border is simple. For now, all you need is a photo id. You'll be asked a few questions and waved through.

Ha ha! I understand that totally! I was raised in a rural town and that is so true! I can hear my dad now. "Cities think they know everything why don't they go back to the city"

[njmama]

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

I am South of Houlton down in Argyle by Old Town. Around here forest land goes for $300 - $900/acre if you deal with locals, or $1000 - $3000/acre if you deal with a realtor.

But seeing that I am South, it is likely a different culture. I did visit a realtor up there, when I was looking. Nice fellow, crooked as a snake, but real freindly. If you fly in for a few days to look at land he would even lend you a cadilac to drive.

Limestone is doing a lot of business, I see their Hum-Vees on the freeway msot every week. Last week I passed a trailer carrying a tracked-artillery-gun up to Limestone for repairs. So there must be someone doing a good business up there. I think that I saw in the papers, a couple months ago, where Limestone was being contracted to send 80 or 90 of their Hum-Vee repairmen overseas. So in their absence they just might have some more openings.

Never can tell with our 'depressed economy' and all, plus those 'high' taxes.

I pay almost $1.05/acre. They say we have the highest taxes in the Nation too.
You enjoy yourself, and have fun. Make sure you get to the MOFGA fair too, in Unity.

WHOA, higher taxes than NJ! I better look into that! YIKES!!

1000-3000 an acre is what we are seeing on this realtor site. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised!

[njmama]

Are school taxes seperate from property taxes in Maine? They combine them here.

Thanks again for all your help!

[MaineFarmMom]

Originally Posted by njmama

Are school taxes seperate from property taxes in Maine? They combine them here.

Thanks again for all your help!

Combined. The town is taxed by the county and that's included in our town taxes too.

We have to be the highest taxed state in the country to support being the most generous welfare state in the nation. When I spoke with Kevin Raye, my senator, part of our discussion was about this problem.

It's worth the taxes. Not everyone is cut out to live here but for those who are, there's no place like Maine.

A little over an hour from Houlton: http://www.thymeforewe.com/baxter_state_park1.html

[MorrisonCorner]

Not to hijack the thread but I'd remind everyone looking to relocate to northern New England (ME, NH, VT) that land prices soared after 9/11 as people bought "second homes" or simply relocated out of major metropolitan areas on the east coast. Don't know about ME and NH but northern VT had (thanks to Senator Leahy) made major advancements in securing 'net access in almost every "larger" community... making it possible to telecommute for some, or simply relocate a business for others. So there was a big wave, post 9/11, of in-migration.

That is now sugaring off. Years ago, when I was in college, someone did a study which showed that of the people relocating to VT 50% would leave within 2 years. Of the remaining 50% of those would leave within 5 years.. and of the remaining 50% of them would be gone in 8. If you made it to 10 years chances are you were staying.

I'd say, judging from the housing market right now, that not much has changed. People rolled up here with unrealistic expectations, or without considering how much they'd miss certain city things... and after a couple of years of traipsing back and forth we may be seeing the beginning of a wave of out-migration. We're certainly seeing a decline in housing prices. Not to where I'd call it "affordable," because northern New England is notoriously expensive in all sorts of ways... from fuel to hidden taxes... but the housing prices are definitely coming down.

Just not in the papers, and not when you ask the agent for the price. They are priced high. They are closing for less. Offer less. Substantially less.