The house at 80 Crescent St. in Rockland is being listed for sale at $1. Stephen Betts/Courier-Gazette
ROCKLAND — The owner of a property overlooking the city’s South End waterfront will give away a house if someone is willing to remove it from the lot.
Janet Heimlich has advertised the house at 80 Crescent St. in Rockland on Craigslist for $1 with the stipulation that the buyer remove the house. The link to the Craigslist post is https://maine.craigslist.org/zip/d/rockland-two-story-1887-house/7485112146.html
If there are no takers, the recent arrival to the community said the house will have to be demolished.
The situation highlights the trend of properties being sold for dramatically more than their assessed values with some being torn down to be replaced by new houses.
Heimlich paid $405,000 for the property — which is slightly less than one-tenth acre — with her initial plan being to restore the 1,400-square-foot house that was built in 1877. But when she had architects come through to look at the house, she said they “turned white.” Of particular concern was the foundation with one side completely caved in. Heimlich said she had restored a home in Texas that she had purchased.
The city has the Rockland property assessed at $191,100.
Heimlich, who had lived in Austin, Texas, said she has wanted to move to Maine for years. Long ago, her family had summered each year at a resort at Sebago Lake. She grew up on the Long Island Sound and wanted to be near the ocean. She came up here last year and looked at communities in the region including Belfast but that Rockland got her attention.
“It got me,” she said. “I love everything about Rockland — its downtown, the waterfront,” she said.
And the property at Crescent Street allows her to have a view of the water.
Heimlich said loves the character of the South End and that the new home she plans to build will enhance and fit into that character.
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