So You Have A New Maine Job!

You are ready to pop right up and begin the house search, Right? Slooooow down. We made mistakes. You should know about them. Maine is a great place to live. The people are helpful and respectful, crime is practically non-existent, you can get what you need and prices are not outrageous. Sure, winters are long and social options can be few, but you knew that, right? Below I have assembled a list of things to be mindful of.

I’m assuming you know where you will be working. If not, I hope you have a nice bankroll or a free place to stay until you figure that out. If you have not yet settled on a location, start out here. The counties of Maine are rated for their health rankings. Here in Hancock County where Acadia National Park is located, we’re #2 in the state. Next door is Washington County, #15. Go figure. This site is rich with information and rates things like high school graduation, smoking, obesity, vehicular death and so on.

Schools are an obvious concern. Even if you don’t have kids, buying into a community with a poor school means your home may not sell easily. Around here, Mount Desert has the best school, and the home prices reflect it. Bar Harbor is #2. I’m stopping there lest I get into trouble. Mount Desert Island (not to be confused with the town of Mount Desert, which is on Mount Desert Island) is the most expensive place overall to live in the county. Here in Lamoine, we always say our house would be twice the worth if we moved it onto the island, a mile away. So talk to parents with kids in school, that’s the best way to get the lowdown on school quality. Be ready for lots of details, like whether kids have to go to one high school or if they have a choice. Finally, don’t think that small is better. Having a one-class class (all 6th graders in one room) means that your child will never escape the difficult characters in her elementary school.  Diversity is good. Sometimes so are bigger schools.

Rumford paper mill

Don’t buy a house downwind from a paper mill, incinerator or toxic waste dump until you inform yourself about the risks. There are mills in Old Town and Bucksport, and there is an incinerator in Orrington. A list of contaminated sites in Hancock County can be seen here. Overall, Maine is not bad in this regard, although some complain bitterly about aerial spraying of blueberry fields. Perhaps the worst polluter is us, in the form of ozone and smog from cars which blow up the east coast in the summertime.

Take a local map and put pins in everyplace you are likely to go. Grocery stores, work, doctor’s office, lumber yard, school, favorite restaurant, etc. Keep this map in mind as you start to consider places to live. When you find a property, find out how long it’s been on the market. Houses in Maine are hard to sell in certain areas. When we first settled in Belfast, we noticed that putting out a for sale sign was an annual event staged for tourists. People were asking prices unjustified by the jobs likely to be found there. Things are better now, but there are places where you may be tempted by a big sprawling house and barn; just a little too far from all the pins in your map.

I had a boss once who told me (after I bought a sprawling house and barn in the wrong area) that you should not buy a house in Maine unless it was either 1) waterfront or 2) view. He was right. Of course, there are other factors which may substitute for waterfront or view, but if you’re not careful you will end up with a house you can’t sell for more than you bought it for, as happened to us and our Belfast house. Those first few years in Maine were instructive. We saw more houses burned down (for practice by the fire department) than built. Houses were crumbling into the ground. That would not happen on MDI or Lamoine for the most part, but make sure you remember my boss’s warning.

Culturally, Maine life varies widely. Near the coast, big cities and universities there are theater, music, reading groups, good libraries and educated neighbors. In other places snowmobiles, ATVs and hunting prevail.  You may want to read The Beans of Egypt, Maine by Carolyn Chute. This is recommended for anyone moving to Maine. There are really two Maines. The book is an extreme version of the “other” Maine, but there is a real dichotomy. You may want to figure out where you fit in this continuum before committing to a particular area. The best places are where people embrace both cultures, like Lamoine.

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