Every so often a Maine real estate call comes in that stikes me Maine Blessed With Lots Of Water, Clean Drinking Water.funny, odd.
But then you realize it is not like in Maine everywhere else. The question today of a Maine property that has a septic system, home framed up, power but no well yet. The Maine real estate buyer suspicious about how come no water, why did the builder stop the process of construction?
The contractor who owns the Ludlow Maine home and land built it to get it to the point where the hammer could be handed off to a new buyer.
The find the Maine land, do the site work, pour concrete after the cellar forms installed, framing, getting it weather tight and power in to the place over the new driveway all takes prep work some would like to avoid.
Outside Maine real estate buyers or local “do it yourselvers” like taking the ball and running at this point.
They can stay at the property on vacation with a structure all up and no motel or campgrounds with facilities. This property does have a stream and springs the local beavers are having fun damming up, to create a pond. But the lack of a well is not because water is a hit or miss affair when considering the all important Maine water supply.
This Maine real estate buyer asked if there was someone she could pay, hire to determine if she would have water or not for a well after the sale.
I told her save her money, call a local well driller directly and pump him with water questions.
Our water table in Maine is high, many folks have dug not drilled wells. 14 feet deep, concrete 3 foot tiles on top of each other and clean gravel put on the bottom of the well dug out by a back hoe machine.
In some areas of the country water is pretty rare, special, hard to come by. Maine is not one of those areas. Where do you want the well drilled? Observing 100′ from the Maine septic system guidelines but putting it where it won’t be hit by a snow plow or backed in to by guests. Leaving the steel casing stem that goes down to ledge, bedrock visible so you can add cholrox once a year to shock it, like the habit of changing smoke detector batteries.
The wells over the last 31 years we see drilled are 60, 125, 175 deep deep. Not 800 or more like some places. I have a brother in Boxford MA that has one of those to “China wells” and the quality, quantity of it are poor. That does not happen in Maine. And the mineral rights, 99.999% of the time go with the land, are not retained. Once in a rare occassion does an old timer tittering on the edge of going senile say he whole heartedly believes there is gold, silver, copper in that land is is toying with selling. And the family guiding him asks if that will hurt the Maine real estate sale. Yes it will and no there isn’t the simple, short and sweet reply.
Houlton Maine Is On The New Brunswick Canada US Border.
When a person considering relocation, retirement, investment in a Maine small town, which most of the state’s are size wise, many factors make the short list of what to consider.
Oh sure many already know about the four season Maine recreation from hunting, fishing, camping vacation trips. They have the what to do for fun part all figured out.They like the low cost Maine real estate factor. But had a Connecticut real estate buyer’s first question be “tell me about your local library”.
The woman is a ferocious reader. Figures the size, quality, local support of that Maine town library reflects on the people who live in the community. Luckily, Houlton Maine’s Cary Library is pretty incredible, offering one of the highest circulation rates for the state of Maine. Summer reading programs for kids, Chistmas stories read in front of the open fireplace, a heck of a geneology department, and size. The origial structure an Andrew Carneigie Library prototype with a large addition to blend in with the stone structure.
For others, tell me about your hospital in Maine. Is it small, a band aid station or does it offer a variety of services, and is not so deep in the red spending wise that the doors are about to be bolted, locked, chained shut. Luckily, Houlton Maine again shines with the health care element. Besides OB-GYN, cardiac, and a slew of clinics, in and out patient services focused on preventative health care rather than reactive use of resources, it is well run, in the black.
Georgraphically Houlton ME Regional Hospital is well located unlike some areas of Maine where just too many hospitals serving the same smaller population area.
Areas where none of the hospitals are doing so hot. So decent library, a hospital served by Life Flight helicopters, local ground ambulances, that’s two criteria some use checked off the list in a postive way.
And don’t forget everyone is impressed with the low crime, four season scenery of Maine. All those clean lakes, streams, and rolling fields, massive wooded tracts of land. But people, less people and friendlier people is what Maine is really known for. So question number three on the short list Maine real estate buyers ask is tell me how many traffic lights you have. Less people, less traffic, less lights. In Houlton Maine we have a whopping total of five traffic lights. You don’t need more and the thought, debate of maybe we need another one heading in to the hosptial off US Rt 1 causes resistance. It has not happen. Interstate 95, the gateway from US RT 1, RT 2, RT 2A and the Trans Canada highway into the Atlantic Provinces and the Walmart entrance account for two of those five traffic lights.
For years there was only one traffic light in the center of the town of Houlton Maine near the Post office, across from the Court House and at the time, a big brick hotel, the Northland.
And two doctors, a husband and wife team considering where to move to to open up their practices stopped at a Maine red traffic light.
Our sole Houlton Maine traffic light for many years. And while whipping out a map, studying it, they got a little engrossed. Forgetting they were at a red light that ended up changing twice. And the cars behind them did not honk. That was the sign for them that this is the place to start a family, medical practice, to live with life.
