This story is part of the BDN’s Home Buying series that shares stories of Mainers who became homeowners despite the state’s volatile real estate market. Want to share your experience buying a home in Maine Email kobrien@bangordailynews.com.
Shawn Good had lived in Bangor for less than two months with his wife, Sara, when he woke up to find human excrement on the front porch of their new home in Little City.
The unwelcome surprise came one Saturday morning in late April, shortly after the couple moved from Austin, Texas, to Bangor in March. They found someone had slept on cushions that belonged on outdoor furniture the couple hadn’t yet unpacked and defecated in several areas on their porch.
While the couple was immediately horrified and didn’t enjoy cleaning up the mess, they said the experience hasn’t changed their love of Bangor and excitement over moving to the Queen City.
“When looking at global news, I’m so lucky that the big event I experienced recently was someone sleeping on my porch,” Sara said.
Shawn and Sara had lived in Austin since 2006 and 2011, respectively. After more than a decade in Texas, the couple decided it was time to leave and move somewhere entirely new.
“We had a lot of reasons to move away from Austin, but the one that hit us the hardest was the weather,” Shawn said. “We were facing our fourth catastrophic event in five years and nobody was doing anything to address it.”
The couple are one example in a growing trend of climate migrants, people who forcibly or voluntarily leave their home due to extreme weather events or climate change, such as wildfires, sea level rise or hurricanes. From 2008 to 2024, more than 22 million people in the U.S. were displaced by environmental disasters, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre found.
Maine has attracted more new residents from other states in the last decade who reported climate was a factor in their choice to move, according to the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services. That number could grow in the coming years, as Maine is considered to be more resilient to climate change than other states, but housing availability and affordability to accommodate the new residents remains a challenge.
In addition to extreme heat, Shawn and Sara dodged tornadoes and survived deadly snow and ice storms, among other weather events, while living in Texas.
The family also wanted to live in a smaller, more affordable city and be surrounded by people who more closely aligned with their political and social beliefs.
“We see it more as fleeing Texas rather than leaving,” Sara said. “We haven’t been here for very long, but we’re really happy with it.”
The family chose Bangor because it seemed safe and provided the balance of city amenities and rural areas that the couple craved. It’s also a relatively short drive to Canada where Shawn’s family lives, and housing is significantly more affordable than Austin.
“Prices here are really exciting compared to the Austin area,” Sara said. “We could not live in a house like this in Austin.”
The average home in Austin costs more than $508,000 whereas the median value of a home in Bangor sat at roughly $281,500 as of late March, according to Zillow.
The couple began house hunting in July 2025 and didn’t expect to move to Maine until the following summer.
They toured more than 30 homes via Zoom and walked through seven in-person when they visited Bangor last December. Shawn kept them organized with a spreadsheet that they shared with family and friends, who evaluated each property using a series of metrics and chose their favorites.
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom house in Little City that they bought was the second to last home they toured during their visit and immediately fell in love.
“Every house that I’ve lived in was builders grade, slapped together quickly for fast profits so you can move on to the next one,” Sara said. “It feels so special to live in something with so much history.”
The couple were drawn to the 126-year-old home for its balance of craftsmanship and updated features, but they were convinced to buy it after speaking with a kind, welcoming neighbor who answered their questions about the area.
While the house was turnkey, Shawn and Sara said they’re already preparing for next winter and learning how to keep their home warm. This includes evaluating whether to keep their oil heat — a heating method they’re unfamiliar with — and considering replacing the house’s older, drafty windows.
“Nowhere will be perfect, but we feel like Bangor checked a lot of boxes and we feel very grateful that this was in the cards,” Sara said. “We got to go somewhere where we felt safer and now we’re living in this lovely neighborhood that we’re so happy to be in.
“How lucky are we?”