Depends greatly on where you want to live. In the Portland freeport area it is as expensive as any urbanized coastal community. Not that houses are out of reach, just pricey. Farther north in the Ellsworth area prices are much better and you still have civilizations creature comforts. The area is near Bar Harbor ( a resort area, if you are not familiar ) so it has good shopping and jobs are available, yet it is still more then rural. Outside of Bangor land can be had for good prices. There are still unorganized areas within an hour of Bangor with really good prices. Bucksport which is between Bangor and Bar Harbor and located along the Penobscot river is a nice little town. You can find affordable houses in that area. Even farther north to Machias, really pretty, no jobs except lumbering and fishing and small, small towns, did I say the towns were small?? Keep going and you get to Presque Isle and Caribou. If you can take the winter, this is a growing area. Great potential for campround, or cottage vacation site. You can really do that in the greater Ellsworth to Bucksport area aswell. There are a lot already but are all over-priced( the B&B's ) If someone would build an inexpensive weekly or nightly rentable cottage resort with all the needed charm and such it would do well. Organic farming is a growing industry all over the country. Because of remoteness of many areas one should grow a shipable, marketable crop. What can't you say nice about people in Maine??? Being from New Jersey everyone else all over the country seems nicer, so I guess I'm biased. They are very friendly up there but in their own way. Not to cause anyone offense but Yankees don't crowd you like southerners sometimes do. Have known neighbors to our cabin that will give you their first born if need be, but you would never know they were there otherwise. Never had the "small town" everyone knows and is in your business there, that I have had in the south. These are just my experiences and others may vary. People in Maine have always been polite and willing aslong as you are respectful and polite yourself. Weather, well that depends on your tastes Maine gets cold and stay cold all winter at www.wunderground.com you can find seasonal weather averages for all areas of Maine. Click on the state, pick a city then you'll see a link on that page for seasonal averages, sometimes you have to look hard to find it. In summer it is really nice, never geeting too hot.
Hi,boxwoods why do you say central New York is better?Unregistered where in New Jersey did you live?I,like daileyjoy am interested in what everyone has to say about Maine(also VT,NH and upstate NY).Thanks,BASIC.
I'm in northern/central Vermont, in the heart of "ski country" which is the Lamoille County area: think Stowe and Smuggler's Notch. For perspective, we just drove an hour "south-ish" and looked at property in the Vershire region... Vermont pretty much has it all: prime ag lands up by the Canadian border (and the farm infrastructure to support them), hills, mountains, valley farm land in the Champlain Valley basin... and a state committed to keeping as much of its ag land open as possible. So, fresh from my foray into the less developed part of the state let me compare and contrast: It is hellishly (sorry if I'm not allowed to use that word but it is) expensive to purchase property of any size in a resort community. However... resort communities have a steady job base. They tend to be located near things like community hospitals, require the services of professionals like bookkeepers, computer programmers, and graphic designers, marketing professionals. It may not pay as well as what you're used to in the "outside" world, but hey... it is a job. And resorts abound in part-time, albiet low wage, flexible employment. Many people will purchase property outside of the resort (1/2 hour to an hour away) and commute. Harsh, but necessary sometimes. Resort communities also have a plethora of nice things like restaurants, art galleries, and good shopping. Which... fresh from my foray south... the tiny towns of the north central hill country utterly lack. In fact, I never did see a grocery store. Couple of small, very pricey, country stores... but narry a single chain store. People on this forum write of shopping at wal mart. Not happening from these towns. A minimum of a 3 hour drive, one way, to find a Wal Mart. Land is considerably less expensive, but there are NO jobs. For work you can expect to commute an hour and half or more over poorly maintained roads... in the dead of a VT winter, where like as not it will be snowing and blowing. IF (big if) my husband and I were closer to retirement age we would purchase property in one of these small towns in a heartbeat. But anyone looking at these small Vermont towns would do well to take a good look at the property taxes.. and where they're expected to go, and their own abilities to manage when you're so far out there that just fetching groceries becomes a day long chore. TheFarmAtMorrisonCorner http://www.WoolandFeathers.com
We just relocated to maine in November and live just outside of Caribou, ME. The weather this winter was VERY cold and this summer has had alot of rain but its been cool. Housing is very reasonable and land is cheap, as long as you aren't looking in Caribou and Presque Isle themselves. We found land 15-20 miles away from Caribou at @$400.00 an acre. Taxes aren't bad either, less than half we were paying in NH. I do find produce and meat expensive, but we are working on raisng our own, so that wont matter long. The people are very friendly and helpful and there are a good amount of home schoolers in the area. HTH!
Not true everywhere southish..heh. There is a Wal Mart here in Rutland, there is a Wal Mart Supercenter one hour away in Claremont, NH. Glens Falls NY is an hour away, plenty of shopping there. An hour south and you have Bennington and Brattleboro, again plenty of shopping there. Im in central Vermont, and there is plenty of things within an hour drive of here. Rutland is about 1 - 2 hours away from most every place in Vermont, except for the northeast kingdom. Actually, the roads here are GREAT compared to Massachusetts. Within an hour of the snow starting, the trucks are out keeping the roads in good condition. I was really impressed. Property taxes, yep. They are awful here. So is land and housing. There is an A-frame chalet here on half an acre, going for 105k, the house is tiny. Most places here go for 150 - 200k without anything more than a lot. On an unrelated note, Ive been drooling over your farm and website for some months now , you are the reason Ive decided to go with Icelandic sheep when I have things ready for them..and your advice to people just starting out, and the encouragement to try, has been VERY helpful to me. Thanks
