Maine: Incredible Opportunity - 22 Acres, Detached 2-Car Garage + More

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A modern house on 22 wooded acres in Solon, Maine, is available for nearly $140K, but the owners are motivated to sell quickly due to personal circumstances, potentially allowing for negotiation on the price. The property includes a heated detached garage-workshop and outbuildings, with a well-maintained garden area. The discussion highlights the challenges faced by potential buyers, including the need for additional property to manage timber extraction due to the layout of the land. The area is described as community-oriented, with neighbors encouraging outdoor activities and maintaining a healthy environment for wildlife. Concerns about chemical use in gardening practices are raised, emphasizing a preference for organic methods to protect local groundwater. The conversation also touches on the broader housing market dynamics and the appeal of rural living in Maine, with participants sharing personal anecdotes and experiences related to home ownership and community life.
  • #31
DanP said:
Specialization is for insects :devil:

Yes, indeedy! :approve:
 
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  • #32
turbo-1 said:
If you could walk the property, and see what resources were available for that price, you'd be shocked at how low the total price is.
I was looking for a new place, but the prices are €430k ($530k) for a 3-room apt in the city. I'm not going to pay that, so I'll stay put where I am. Your description sounds a lot better, but I don't think moving to the country side in Main is an option for me :smile: I hope your neighbor finds a buyer soon!
 
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  • #33
Here is the realtors' preview of the property. If you offer them a fast closing, there could be a compact New Holland diesel tractor with loader folded into the deal. They really want to move ASAP.

http://whittemoresrealestate.com/inventory-popup.asp?item=24149&pic=87052
 
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  • #34
mynameinc said:
So, the resources are worth more than the land?
The timber makes the property worth far more than most acreage, because many of the trees are very large. Large stuff can go to sawmills, smaller stuff can go to pulp mills, and branches, etc can be chipped and blown into chip trailers to be sold for boiler fuel at said pulp mills.

Many properties around here are wooded, but have been extensively logged off a couple of decades ago, so there are few mature trees to sell off for lumber. For most folks, it's not economical to harvest their trees only to ship them off to pulp mills. Those so-inclined can hire the services of a licensed forester, and selectively cut off the woodland to encourage the growth of the more valuable timber. That qualifies you for a "tree-growth" tax exemption from the state. If you have a large piece of property, that can be a valuable exemption.
 
  • #35
brewnog said:
I bloody paid £130k for a little house with a little garage and a little garden in the suburbs! Hmph I need to emigrate.

C'mon over! We've got lots of space here.
 
  • #36
BTW, you might notice a lot of decent wood-work in the interior shots. The owner was a finish-carpenter/cabinet-maker for a very large MA hospital before he retired. If I wanted to buy the place, I'd add a standing-seam galvalum or enameled steel roof, to fend off the Maine winters for a life-time. The owner has done a lot of very costly landscaping over the years, including the railroad-tie retaining wall, crushed stone, related site drainage, etc, though he'll have to just walk away from that expense. No way to recoup that.

The addition (seen in shot #2) is a sun-room added just 2 years ago. A nice touch for spring/fall when you want to enjoy the sunlight, but the outside temps are a bit low. A good place to start seedlings for the vegetable garden, too. Edit: the idiot realtors didn't include a shot of the very nice garden spot. That should be a selling point (more than images of a couple of random trees). I tilled that with my PTO tiller and tractor, and if any decent buyer shows up, I'll till it every spring for them for free. It's only about 10-15 minutes of work when you have the right equipment.
 
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  • #37
turbo-1 said:
Here is the realtors' preview of the property. If you offer them a fast closing, there could be a compact New Holland diesel tractor with loader folded into the deal. They really want to move ASAP.

http://whittemoresrealestate.com/inventory-popup.asp?item=24149&pic=87052
Thanks for the picture link. Any idea how much the annual property taxes might be?
 
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  • #38
Probably around $1000-1200. This town levies higher taxes on built-up lots with well, septic, buildings, etc, and generally flat-rates the undeveloped acreage.
 
  • #39
turbo-1 said:
Here is the realtors' preview of the property. If you offer them a fast closing, there could be a compact New Holland diesel tractor with loader folded into the deal. They really want to move ASAP.

http://whittemoresrealestate.com/inventory-popup.asp?item=24149&pic=87052
Awww, that's a cute little cottage.
 
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  • #40
Really nice place. But as it is it is a little bit too far and I am afraid it can be difficult to transport to Poland, so even if we think about buying something, we are not interested.
 
  • #41
lisab said:
C'mon over! We've got lots of space here.
Sure, just contact the Wyoming Space Agency. They've got tons of space.
 
  • #42
What a cute place! Maine would be perfect for me if the summers were a bit warmer.
 
  • #43
Kerrie said:
What a cute place! Maine would be perfect for me if the summers were a bit warmer.

Huh? Summers? You do still live in Oregon, right? :biggrin:
 
  • #44
In Oregon we have two seasons: Rain, and Road Construction.
 
  • #45
Kerrie said:
What a cute place! Maine would be perfect for me if the summers were a bit warmer.
How does almost a week of 95+ temps with oppressive humidities sound? Summer is here!
 
  • #46
There are no poisonous snakes in Maine. Is this true?
I read it http://www.hightechscience.org/funfacts.htm" .
 
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  • #47
As an Albertan, Turbo, I scoff at your winters. It was snowing here until 3 weeks ago, interspersed with dryness and rain. My furnace was running overtime yesterday, and today it was over °30 outside. I consider myself a thermal wimp because my solid comfort zone centres around °40, but I have no trouble strolling out for a smoke in jeans and a T-shirt when it's -°20.
If you can figure out some way to circumvent the fact that I'm not allowed into the US, I'll snap the place up.
 
  • #48
xunxine said:
There are no poisonous snakes in Maine. Is this true?
I read it http://www.hightechscience.org/funfacts.htm" .
In the very southwestern tip of the state, there may be some Eastern diamondbacks, but nothing else.
 
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  • #49
turbo-1 said:
there may be some Eastern diamondbacks

Hmmm... lunch on a stick. :-p

(As a side-note... I did find, through bitter experience, that the stick is most easily inserted at the toothy end.)
 
  • #50
I have been helping my neighbor saw boards and framing lumber on his sawmill when the humidity and my respiratory problems permit. Today he and his 20-something daughter (a strong lady that likes to build stuff!) showed up with some tools to help along a project that has been stalled throughout the heat wave - the building of a stone-bordered raised flower bed for my wife. I had quite a few stones already stockpiled, and he had a large pile of soil and ledge heaped up on his property after the removal of a couple-hundred year-old maple. I moved the larger foundation stones with my tractor and he tweaked them into place in a foundation trench that we dug with my loader, and by hand in tight places. Once the larger stones were mostly used from my pile, I was on a constant shuttle with my tractor back to his place to get more big 'uns with the loader, and then more and more trips to get bucket-loads of flat stones for the 2nd and 3rd tiers, plus smaller stones for chinking and shimming. After 6 hours of hard work with necessary breaks for hydration, shade, and food, here's what we have. I'll get some loam and manure hauled in by a friend in the business, fill in the garden and stand back while my wife plans and executes her planting, mulching, etc.

They brought the two little grand-daughters to visit, too, and Max the wonder-dog (Duke's best friend) and we had a great time. This is a WONDERFUL place to live if you are thoughtful and willing to pitch in for one another. As the weather cools (soon, hopefully), I'll help him tear off the side deck in preparation to framing and closing in the new addition on his house.

I have built an entire house-shell out of field-stone and mortar with a friend years back. He had lots of old field-stone walls on the property, access to mortar cement cheap, and no money to hire carpenters to build the place. He and I had both built with stone before (SMALL projects) and his father was a disabled master mason who could advise us, so we jumped in and built his house evenings and weekends in one summer. Still, I have never mastered the art of building dry-laid stone walls that could withstand soil pressure, water pressure, blowout from freezing, so I was happy to have my neighbor's expertise. He has raised-bed stone gardens and taller retaining walls on his property that have been rock-solid for 20+ years.

rockgarden.jpg
 
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  • #51
I made an offer on my neighbors' property today, intending to buy the whole parcel, and carve off about an acre and sell the house and buildings. No dice! I have known the realtor for 40+ years, so he'll keep me on speed-dial in case things change. The owners say that they want to move ASAP and I offered them a fair price, and a FAST closing. No bank, no mortgage, no appraisal process. Just my lawyer updating the title search and a fast closing with a check and we're done. She can update the title in a day or two if I ask her. I can sit on the property (house, buildings, garden-spot) for a few years until the real-estate market turns around, if needed.

Edit: I may have to reduce my offer to bring reality home.
 
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  • #52
Math Is Hard said:
I don't believe Evo's moose story.

Turbo, I just need a husband who can:

"change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly."

You forgot question orders, resist authority, reason independently, and ice skate (lots of cold months in ME).
 
  • #53
I can build a wall and pitch manure. Proof below. Nice rotted manure loaded in with the tractor and raked out by hand.

rockgarden-1.jpg
 
  • #54
You overdid with manure. Poles usually don't grow that fast.
 
  • #55
Borek said:
You overdid with manure. Poles usually don't grow that fast.
If that pole grows, I'm going to order another couple of truckloads of manure!
 
  • #56
I don't want to move to Maine [more likely, Hawaii], but you will always be my maine man, Turbo! :biggrin:
 
  • #57
Ivan Seeking said:
I don't want to move to Maine [more likely, Hawaii], but you will always be my maine man, Turbo! :biggrin:
I have a friend (younger sister of school-mates) that moved to Maui many years ago and built her own house there. She's my Maine girl. Tough and independent. Youngest kid in a French-Canadian family of 16 (would have been 18 if two had not died prematurely) and certainly NOT spoiled.
 
  • #58
brainstorm said:
You forgot question orders, resist authority, reason independently, and ice skate (lots of cold months in ME).

Hey, it's my husband we're talking about. I reserve the right to edit the list. :biggrin:

I also need to add:
make a grilled cheese, finish a crossword, open a stuck jar, and rub an achy shoulder.

OK, maybe the ice-skating, too. You make a good point.
 
  • #59
Math Is Hard said:
Hey, it's my husband we're talking about. I reserve the right to edit the list. :biggrin:

I also need to add:
make a grilled cheese, finish a crossword, open a stuck jar, and rub an achy shoulder.

OK, maybe the ice-skating, too. You make a good point.
Attention men: I have much lower standards than MIH!

The only requirement is that you can go to the toilet on your own and can clean any mess you make. Nothing else required!
 
  • #60
Evo said:
Attention men: I have much lower standards than MIH!

The only requirement is that you can go to the toilet on your own and can clean any mess you make. Nothing else required!

:smile: