u/basketcase21772

As we all know well by now, the housing market is crazy and for anyone starting out it seems almost unattainable! I am sure most people looking for housing are in the same boat as us. The answers are limited because that's just how the economy is right now. I felt the need to come on here and ask some questions anyway for my own piece of mind.

My boyfriend (M35) and I (F30) do not make a lot of money (53k a year combined) and we keep bouncing options around on what to do. We have lived in Maine our whole lives and our family is here. Plus our parents are disabled and need us, so moving too far away from all 4 of them is not an option. I have just slowly started working again after years of taking care of both of my parents who became very sick at the same time. I have been watching the market get worse for years, and I now know that waiting for a better market probably won't happen. After being together for 6 years we desperately need a place of our own before we go crazy from only seeing each other on weekends. It seems we just need to bite the bullet and accept how things are currently.

We are looking for something between our work and each of our parents, which is in the triangle of Bath, Auburn and Windham. We really prefer not being more than 1.5 hours from Bath if we can help it. We have looked into everything from building fresh on a piece of land to buying a fixer upper. We would rather not rent because we feel like we are throwing money at something we will never own. We also need close to 1 acre of land for my boyfriend to have space outside for his work and hobbies. We don't have kids currently so it is just us and the house doesn't have to be big, it just needs to be livable. It seems like something that should be simple to obtain but is proving to be depressing to even think about. We have talked to a few lenders and have talked to a realtor but haven't locked anything in yet. We really aren't sure what to do.

So I am wondering what other people are doing for housing in Maine? What are the best affordable options right now, buying an existing house with land, putting a small stick-built, modular, or mobile/manufactured on land? Is a $200k budget even worth looking into anything new? What are some areas with affordable markets? Does anyone have an insight for the future of housing in Maine? I would like to hear from anyone who has/had our budget range or professionals who have worked with people in a similar situation.

Thanks for reading my rambles and thanks in advance for any information or comments you have!

As we all know well by now, the housing market is crazy and for anyone starting out it seems almost unattainable! I am sure most people looking for housing are in the same boat as us. The answers are limited because that's just how the economy is right now. I felt the need to come on here and ask some questions anyway for my own piece of mind.

My boyfriend (M35) and I (F30) do not make a lot of money (53k a year combined) and we keep bouncing options around on what to do. We have lived in Maine our whole lives and our family is here. Plus our parents are disabled and need us, so moving too far away from all 4 of them is not an option. I have just slowly started working again after years of taking care of both of my parents who became very sick at the same time. I have been watching the market get worse for years, and I now know that waiting for a better market probably won't happen. After being together for 6 years we desperately need a place of our own before we go crazy from only seeing each other on weekends. It seems we just need to bite the bullet and accept how things are currently.

We are looking for something between our work and each of our parents, which is in the triangle of Bath, Auburn and Windham. We really prefer not being more than 1.5 hours from Bath if we can help it. We have looked into everything from building fresh on a piece of land to buying a fixer upper. We would rather not rent because we feel like we are throwing money at something we will never own. We also need close to 1 acre of land for my boyfriend to have space outside for his work and hobbies. We don't have kids currently so it is just us and the house doesn't have to be big, it just needs to be livable. It seems like something that should be simple to obtain but is proving to be depressing to even think about. We have talked to a few lenders and have talked to a realtor but haven't locked anything in yet. We really aren't sure what to do.

So I am wondering what other people are doing for housing in Maine? What are the best affordable options right now, buying an existing house with land, putting a small stick-built, modular, or mobile/manufactured on land? Is a $200k budget even worth looking into anything new? What are some areas with affordable markets? Does anyone have an insight for the future of housing in Maine? I would like to hear from anyone who has/had our budget range or professionals who have worked with people in a similar situation.

Thanks for reading my rambles and thanks in advance for any information or comments you have!