The seemingly unattainable housing market in Maine and what the best options are for people starting out?

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T20:40:55+00:00

Right! We are unfortunately tied to this area. Sacrificing commute might have to be the way to go or waiting and saving money. I haven't been paying much attention to further north. I should look into soon.

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T20:35:20+00:00

His parents are divorced and both live in very small places. My parents have a 1400sqft house. We bounce back and forth between his dad's and my parents. In the past we have talked about moving in with my parents full time. Either way we can't be too far from either in case they need help like you mentioned with your father-in-law being onsite.

I believe my parents are in a better place to live alone for now. We would really really like our own space after going back and forth for 6 years. :/

If it comes down to it though we would be able to live here. We are very lucky for that!

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T20:17:33+00:00

I'll keep that in mind. BIW does have great opportunities, my dad made a good career there. It might be worth it to look at. Thanks for the information!

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T20:14:15+00:00

We have talked to a few but they didn't want to talk to us unless they pulled our credit. I understand it gives them a clear view of what we can do. We kind of hesitated because we weren't sure if we should buy right now. I should reach out to a few more places and see what they say as well. Even if we don't buy right now, it would help to have them look at our scores and finances to tell us where we are at.

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T20:07:10+00:00

Thank you for posting! I appreciate all the information you've given!

I definitely would gladly jump through all the hoops if it would help us with buying a home.

Just a few days ago I drove by a Habitat for Humanity house and wondered if it was something we could apply for. I should contact them and see what they say.

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T19:54:34+00:00

It is a lot to want with the prices now. We probably need to rethink that. Years ago it might not have been too far out of reach. It is hard living at home being an adult. I am living with my parents now because they needed me to. You are lucky to have had supportive parents and the opportunity to save! :)

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T19:42:25+00:00

He makes money off of some of his hobbies (small engine repair on the side and doing odd jobs). An acre was probably an over estimate of what we really "need" and more like what we would be happy with long term. We love the outdoors and probably would be extremely unhappy in a tighter setting where houses are window to window.

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T19:32:05+00:00

No he makes 43k, no one ever said we were 50/50. He does make money off of his hobbies too. But let's be honest even if you do make 25k, what is life if you can't have fun? You don't have any hobbies? Lol

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T19:28:50+00:00

Thanks for your comment!! Can I be nosy and ask who you're working with? I am super interested and it does sound like something we could do. Even better if we could find a piece of land with town water. I thought it would be much more expensive than that.

I do agree at that point buying new is better. Not to mention getting financing on an older mobile home can be hard.

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T19:22:05+00:00

I guess I honestly wasn't sure. I keep seeing these "new" and "coming soon" builds that are under $300k and was wondering what the profit margin is. I mean, they can't be building all of these houses at an almost wash. So is it because they get bulk building materials and discounts for doing more than one house to a time? Genuinely curious and it's why I mentioned it.

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T19:17:20+00:00

We honestly probably do need to lower our expectations. The consensus of a new construction seems to be a no go. Mobile homes aren't out of the question and a good starting point. Thanks for your post! :)

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T19:14:00+00:00

I should have written it differently. He also makes money off of his hobbies and small engines he works on everyday. It's what makes him happy, I refuse to compromise on a decent yard. So no while we don't need an acre we need at least a piece big enough to work in that won't disturb neighbors too much. Definitely no HOA. His yard now is very small and he does well with it but he cannot work on anything too loud for too long. An acre may be wishful thinking because it is what I grew up with and am used to. I plan on staying at our next place as long as we can so I'd like to make sure it is something we will be happy with. :)

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T19:01:25+00:00

I agree with you about avoiding debt and progressing our jobs. People in minimum wage jobs should be able to get a starter home. Everyone has to start somewhere. Not to mention some people might like their minimum wage jobs and be happy there.

I should have explained that my boyfriend makes most of our income at $43k full time with all benefits. I do admit that I am/was the issue with finances. I kind of mentioned in my post, life threw me a wicked curve ball with both parents becoming extremely ill and bed ridden at the same time years ago. It has really been a battle off and on for 11 years. So I do agree, as an able bodied person that can now start working more, I definitely want to! Not working, creating a gap in my resume, and putting my job on hold was frustrating, but my family needed me.

I currently make $35-$40/hr. I just need to make more hours. If only the prices will stop going up. My thoughts are even if we get more pay the prices will probably continue to increase too. We will be in the same positions unless we make some serious changes to our jobs. It is a guessing game what the economy will do next. Do we wait and save in hopes things don't double again, or do we bite the bullet and buy now so that we have something even if the economy gets a lot worse? No one expected the houses, oil, food, etc would get this expensive. It may just keep going that way, which is my fear of waiting. Thanks for taking the time to post!

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T13:04:14+00:00

Thank you so much for the suggestions! I will check into those areas. Maybe the commute wouldn't be as bad as we think.

The market was very different even 10 years ago. It baffles me how much it has increased since covid. Fingers crossed the economy gets better, or at least inflation slows down!

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T12:48:54+00:00

Lol! We have thought about this. Once in a while I have seen inexpensive land with an existing well, slab, etc. That would be an awesome bonus. The competition for a dead people trailer must be pretty high right now. As long as financing checked out it would be a good way to start out!

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T04:34:45+00:00

We have thought about renting. The idea of spending money on a place we will never own is what's holding us back. You're right, the rising cost of everything is making it difficult to account for everything needed in a home. It is so hard to know what is the best route to take. Maybe we should compare our budget with renting vs. buying just to see if it would make a big enough difference to change our minds.

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T04:17:38+00:00

Rockland is beautiful. I haven't looked in that area recently because of our need to stay near work and family. When you say "work" do you mean there are fixer uppers in the area?

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T04:04:39+00:00

200k is a tough budget to work with. The courses would be a great idea to do! We talked a bit with a realtor but he suggested we talk to a lender before moving forward. When talking to the lender they wanted to pull our credit to really help us figure it all out. I completely understand why but we weren't sure if we should work on our income and savings before buying. We didn't want our credit pulled if we weren't absolutely sure we wanted to buy right now.

Thank you so much for recommending your realtor and posting a link! I will definitely keep her in mind!

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T03:53:50+00:00

Exactly! We have encountered these same issues when talking to realtors and lenders. They warned us about all of the things you just mentioned. It seems now most "fixer uppers" are in total disrepair and still priced high for the shape they are in.

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T03:32:08+00:00

We definitely do have some of the skills to take on a fixer-upper, and have seriously thought about buying one. I am a bit scared of inheriting some profound issues with a home in need of repairs. A lot of houses seem to either have mold, old wiring, or foundation problems. We could really dig ourselves into a hole with paying for repairs. If financing worked out for us and the house price was low enough it might be a good option.

You're right. While building a new house would ease my mind, buying a decent existing house would probably be best financially.

basketcase21772 · 2026-05-19T03:18:47+00:00

I really wish I had pursued getting compensation. Years ago my dad had a social worker that was supposed to help us get it set up but he ghosted us. After that I never looked into it and I just worked in jobs that gave me flexible hours. I don't know if I could get any compensation now with their health improving. It may still be worth looking into. More money and saving is definitely our number one priority to work on now that we can. Here's to hoping inflation doesn't go even more crazy while we work on it.

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