Housing
This section of the BDN aims to help readers understand Maine’s housing crisis, the volatile real estate market and the public policy behind them. Read more Housing coverage here.
This lakefront camp tucked away on 10 wooded acres has been on the market for nearly three years.
Built in 2004, this 640-square-foot log cabin is located on 10 acres off Lower Lake Road in Danforth, a town with fewer than 700 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Washington County community near Maine’s border with New Brunswick is a less than two-hour drive from Bangor.
The structure on the property is “a shell” that lacks amenities such as a kitchen and bathroom, said Andrew Mooers of Houlton-based Mooers Realty, the listing agent for the property. However, the space has a screened-in porch and two loft areas above the main living space that can act as bedrooms.
Friday marked the camp’s 1,000th day on Zillow, an online property listing service, which surpasses the 50 to 60 days Maine homes typically spend on the market, according to data from Redfin.
Though it may seem mundane, this rural camp sitting for sale for years is a sign that Maine’s real estate market is correcting itself after the pandemic brought high demand and low inventory, sending home buyers into a frenzy. For years, only wealthy families could afford a lakefront camp in Maine, which was once a commodity the average family could attain.
The property hit the market in December 2023 with an asking price of nearly $200,000, Zillow records show. The cost was cut to $189,500 in May 2025, then dropped again to $174,500 in July 2026, where it has remained since then.
The cabin has electricity and lake-drawn water, but a buyer would likely want to dig a well, Mooers said. A future buyer would also need to install a septic system of some kind, as the rustic camp doesn’t appear to have indoor plumbing or an outhouse.
Some prospective buyers may be deterred by the camp’s unfinished, rustic interior, but others may see it as an opportunity to create exactly what they want, Moores said. Additionally, the acres of undeveloped land offer the ability for a family to build more outbuildings and guest cabins where people have space to spread out and enjoy the land.
“It’s a good deal depending on what your idea of ‘upta camp’ is,” Mooers said. “It all depends on what you’re looking for.”
The seasonal home has 300 feet of frontage on Lower Hot Brook Lake, which covers about 713 acres and has a maximum depth of 13 feet, according to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Waterfront properties in Maine remain highly attractive, but demand has slowed considerably after the pandemic when “people were buying things sight-unseen and clamoring to buy something in Maine,” said Judy Oberg, Maine Association of Realtors president and associate broker at Oberg Insurance and Real Estate.
Demand for property in Maine surged during the pandemic as more people could work remotely and sought space from others. Maine’s real estate was also more affordable compared with other states and offered a beautiful landscape for a new or second home.
Furthermore, the body of water a property has access to can matter as much as the property itself, Oberg said. For example, buyers often seek out deep, clean lakes that they can use a motorized boat, swim and fish on easily.
This means that properties on shallow, reedy and muddy bodies of water tend to stay on the market longer, regardless of the size, condition and quality of the land and home, Oberg said.
Moores said he encounters many out-of-state buyers looking for a camp to visit during the summer, but cabins in rural, northern Maine may not be attractive due to their location.
“Nothing’s wrong with [the property] except it’s not an hour from Boston,” he said.
In some cases, families may like what the property has to offer, but want to be closer to resources like a hospital, airport or more restaurants. Others have been interested in the property but simply don’t have the funds to buy it, a family isn’t in agreement on the choice or other personal complications arise that stall or prevent a sale, Moores said.
“There’s no problem finding someone who wants to buy it, but it’s all about timing,” he said.
“In real estate you’re dealing with people; it’s not just empty buildings being exchanged.”