Re: Old Orchard bug

[Dave Faneuf <tklaundry@juno.com>]

Thanks, I spent a couple of days in a unit 3 houses from the beach.  both
the upstairs and downstairs units were rental and the owners had a small
studio in the back.  The units were getting close to 1k a week, so if the
summer season is 12  weeks that would be more than enough to handle the
taxes.  Anyway it's just something I think about every time I go up
there....maybe....who knows.
dave

On Mon, 2 Sep 2002 12:04:56 +0000 (/etc/localtime) Jeremy Mixer
<mixer@zoso.net> writes:
> On Mon, 2 Sep 2002, Dave Faneuf wrote:
> 
> > Okay, so every time I spend a few days at Old Orchard Beach I get 
> to
> > thinkin' about how nice it might be to get a gig in Portland and 
> live at
> > OOB.  So, I put it to you folks who live and work in and around 
> the
> > Portland area.  What are the prosepects of getting a radio gig in
> > Portland that pays well enough to live a middle class life near 
> the water
> > at OOB? (read that to mean what's the pay scale?)
> 
> 
> Hi Dave and others-
> 
> I have never worked in radio in Portland, my only two paying gigs 
> have
> been in Bangor. However, I grew up in Saco about a 5 minute drive 
> from
> downtown Old Orchard Beach and here are some thoughts that may or 
> may not
> help you.
> 
> This is the time of year to cionsider relocation to OOB. After Labor 
> Day,
> the town simply dies down. You can normally get decent priced winter
> rentals through May or June that are located right on the water. Who 
> can
> afford these? I've had friends of mine who were making their living
> working at a video rental store live in these places and be able to 
> afford
> it perfectly fine, even better if they had roomates. If you had a 
> full
> time radio gig this would be affordable without a doubt.
> 
> Many of these rental places are part of a small apartment building 
> owned
> by someone. Most of these owners are faar from being considered 
> upper
> class. The taxes to live on the coast, especially in OOB, are very 
> high.
> That is why most houses that are there have rental unuits, not all, 
> but
> most. I do not know how often these go on the market, but if you 
> want to
> live on the ocean, that is the best bet- and the most affordable 
> route.
> Buy a house with at least one rental unit in it. Granted you won't 
> be
> making a lot in the winter months, when you'll probably be getting
> somewhere between $350 and $500 a month from a tenant. However, once 
> the
> summer comes, I don't know what the going rate is for rentals, but 
> you can
> very easily get at least $250-&500 a week and people will pay 
> it.....
> 
> If you don't want to have a rental unit, then might I suggest 
> getting a
> place on the water either at Pine Point (which still could be 
> reasonably
> pricey) or even Saco..... both are a stones throw from Old Orchard 
> Beach.
> It is still expensive tax wise to live right on the water, there's 
> also
> the Ocean Park are in Old Orchard Beach which is also very nice, and 
> not
> filled with drunks and punks like the downtown area is. And Camp 
> Ellis in
> Saco (near the moputh of the Saco River) is very nice too, while the 
> taxes
> are expensive still, you cn probably find a decent priced place
> there....the disadvantage of living there is that whenever there is 
> an
> ocean storm that is really bad it eats away on the cost.....in my 24
> years, I've seen the ocean swallow a couple or three houses down 
> there.
> Once of them made it onto the national news too, much of the problem 
> lies
> with the rock jetty known as the "Breakwater" which was built to 
> prevent
> erosion of the riverfront properties along the Saco River (suc as 
> the
> University of New England) however, unfortunately, it reflects the 
> wwaves
> back to Camp Elliss and causes beach erosion.....and moves a lot of 
> the
> sand out to Scarborough..
> 
> Anyway, I'd say you're best bet is to get a place with rental units 
> that
> are winterized.....keep the bigger part for yourself and rent  out 
> the
> rest, I'm pretty sure that provided you have a halfway decent 
> financial
> backing and decent credit rating, that this would be affordable, 
> EVEN
> working in radio. Hope this helps.
> 
> Jeremy
>