Does anyone have any experience with Dignam Corporation? I received their complimentary property list today, and frankly, I am pleasantly surprised at the cost of some of the properties. Granted, the ones I could afford are VERY remote, not even a road, just a path. But....after seeing what has happened with MO land prices the past 10 years, I'm wondering if this is worth looking into. Any comments?? Good or bad, I want to hear it. (example--40 acres,blah, blah, blah, road is one mile away, $8,880.00, $980.00 down, $158.00 for 50 months. That's Canadian money, right now $1 US equals $1.35 Canadian.) Thank You in advance. Cathy in NY

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), September 30, 2000

Answers

Cathy, if you look at Northern Maine realtors, you will find land of the same size and prices, and some of it is on a road!! And has power and phone lines running right by the property, if you want to be on the grid. There are some larger parcels available, too, that would be good for splitting between several families. I've seen the Dignam property lists, too, and I think it sounds like they are a reputable company, but there are some headaches involved in trying to move from the USA to Canada. The only thing we aren't sure about yet with the Maine properties is whether they will do owner financing until we can sell our house here in NH -- Greg is going up there in the next couple of weeks to do some checking. A lot of the land there is cut over woodlots, but some parcels are part of an old farm, and the realtor we've been in touch with said wells run less than $2,000 -- I think the water table is fairly high in some of the land, so you'd have to watch out for wetlands. Anyway, good luck wherever you end up!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), October 02, 2000.

Dignam is fine, if you want undeveloped land. You have to remember that "undeveloped" in Canada can mean something VERY different than "undeveloped" in the US. Another problem is they seem to only have listings for BC, ONT and the east coast (generally NB). The reason the land is cheap is generally because it's mostly Canadian Shield granite (in Ontario) or halfway up a cliff (BC) and I'm assuming pretty bleak and rocky (NB) -- with a little dirt mixed on top -- or its EXTREMELY remote -- as in having to work out agreements with other property owners for access rights.

Then, of course, when you develop it ("develop", up here, seems to mean anything more than leaving it alone) -- the property taxes are crazy.

The US dollar is definitely more powerful up here -- and there is some BEAUTIFUL country, but keep in mind that remote means REMOTE.

-- Tracy (trimmer@westzone.com), October 02, 2000.

Check out an article by Jackie Clay in the current (Sep/Oct) issue of "Backwoods Home Magazine". She talks about their new homestead in Montana and the bad experiences encountered in their ATTEMPTED move to Canada. Not a lot of info, but enough to make you ask alot of questions. The main problem was the Canadian Gov't people.

-- (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), October 06, 2000.

TRIMMERS POST THREW ME....THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO ROCK AROUND MUCTON AREA.YOU WOULD HAVE TO IMPORT ROCK TO MAKE A STONE PATIO.SO DON`T GET THE IDEA THAT NB IS ALL ROCK.I`M STILL NOT SURE OF WHAT AREAS (S)HE IS TALKING ABOUT.BUT REST ASSURE THAT IT`S NOT ALL ROCK. CORDially YOURS CORDWOODGUY

-- cordwoodguy (cordwoodguy@n2teaching.com), May 01, 2001.