Need advice about Nottingham

[MaineShark]

Don't forget to ask about flooding. Don't rely on flood plain maps; I have learned.

Or buy a house that has been around for a century or more.  That way you know it has been through floods before and not washed away

Joe

[margomaps]

The innerwebnetthingy is your friend:

http://www.whitepages.com/10001/reverse_address

Enter your target address, and click "find neighbors". You should find folks on your street who are listed. Ring them up; they'll likely be friendly and welcoming.

Kevin

Dang, that's a good suggestion.  It occurred to me that I might be able to find neighbor's phone numbers online, but the idea of calling up complete strangers and interrogating them about their quality of life in the neigborhood sort of creeped me out.   

Still, thanks for the idea.  Now I have a list of phone numbers, and if I start to feel creepy enough, I'll go ahead and call them.

[margomaps]

Okay, someone from Northwood here.  I can't actually comment on the noise, but I can try to drive by when they are running an event.  I'd second the opinion of calling some neighbors.  A few people may find it odd, but they're generally pretty friendly around here.  You might also want to call a real estate office, and talk to someone in the area.  Preferrably not the realtor that is selling the house, if there is one   I'd recommend Carol Lavine from Re/Max in Barrington.  She represented the sellers we bought our house from, was very pleasant to deal with, and I believe she lives in Northwood or Nottingham, so she should be able to check things out for you.

If you want to take more time looking, Denise and I have a couple rooms available to rent in our house here in Northwood, so you could move and start the job, and wait a little longer to find a house (easier to tour houses if you're local).  PM or email me for details, if you're interested.

Joe

Joe,

I think I met Carol Lavine last week.  I believe she showed us a really great house across from Harvey Lake.  Nice lady...she drives a Porsche IIRC.  Anyway, I could probably convince my own real estate agent to go hang out by the house on Friday night and see how loud the track is -- she lives in Northwood as well.  But if you find yourself down Calef Rd near Rt 152 sometime after 2PM next Sunday...please do let me know how obnoxiously loud the track is. 

Thanks for the offer on your rental rooms.  It likely won't come to that, but if it does I may send you a PM.

[cathleeninnh]

Don't hesitate to call the neighbors. I don't know where you are from, but in most of small town america, you are just as likely as not to get hold of some chatty person eager to garner a bit of gossip about the possible buyers of that house.

Cathleen

[margomaps]

Don't forget to ask about flooding. Don't rely on flood plain maps; I have learned. Ask some general neighborhood questions. They will likely speak up if there is a real neighborhood concern like vandalism or something.

Cathleen

Fortunately we visited this house last week right after all the big storms.  The basement was dry, so that's a good sign at least.  Of course, the basement was finished and we couldn't see behind the walls, but if there were any significant leakage going on I think we would have seen/smelled the evidence.