Out of the blue, Maine finds itself listed: ‘For Sale’

For Sale: The state of Maine.

Everywhere you look, from Kittery to Calais, there are more real estate signs in front yards than lawn ornaments. For Sale: Affordable Cape; For Sale: Camp Lot; For Sale: Commercial Opportunity; For Sale: Waterfront Condominiums.

Not too many years ago, Mainers were accustomed to a few “For Sale” signs sprouting up in the spring like perennials. Nowadays, though, it seems that every other house is for sale – and for staggering amounts of money.

Homes that have been in the same family for generations are up for sale, newly built mansions are for sale, log cabins and camps are for sale. It doesn’t matter how grand or modest, real property is being offered with such glowing terms prospective buyers can’t help but drool.

“Island getaway with water and lighthouse views – $249,000.” “Sweet farmhouse-style home – $154,900.”

“Classic summer cottage – $2,100,000.” “Private oceanfront retreat – $1,575,000.” “Spacious hilltop home with a view that goes on forever – $1,650,000.” “Dramatic estate poised on a scenic bluff overlooking Eggemoggin Reach – $2,950,000.”

Shore property, wooded lots, lake frontage, harbor views. Coastal estates, land and islands. Victorian homes, ranch homes, double-wides, custom-built post-and-beam houses. Any style, any location, any price range for property shoppers who want their own piece of scenic Maine.

The time was when buyers could have picked up a farmhouse or cottage or even a beach lot without six or seven figures on the price tag. Long gone are those days when $13,000 or $18,000, $50,000 or $75,000 could have purchased rambling, shingle-style homes with wrap-around porches. Long gone are the times when waterfront acreage could have been acquired.

But the state of Maine has been discovered, and the real estate that is for sale resembles the tracts on a Monopoly board game, moving from the cheaper purple parcels to the pricey blue properties.

“Price reduced to just $152,000,” reads an ad regarding a “well maintained turn-of-the-century in-town New Englander.” Another advertises two adjoining half-acre lots for only $100,000.

There’s a lakeside log cabin “just too cute for words” priced at $725,000 and a “sunsplashed home in a postcard setting” for $945,000.

How about an “inviting camp at the pond’s edge” for $595,000 or a “sailor’s delight” estate on the Benjamin River for $2,500,000?

Want a place in the heart of the village, what about a three-bedroom home with adjacent shop for $495,000? Or if you need eight bedrooms and a “classic air of casual elegance,” you can find the perfect cottage for $2,450,000.

Great for vacationers is a shorefront cape with “swimming beach, pond and possible anchorage” for $795,000. And, there’s the “ideal vacation home” for $745,000 that “exudes a sweetness and charm few can compare.”

As for all the sellers of these prized properties, you might remember what John Gould said about folks who bought their luck. According to him, almost every seaport had an “auntie” with supposedly magic charms. Buying some trinket from her before a voyage was a good thing to do, and this was “buying your luck.”

Good luck at the Monopoly board.