Staff Writer
“I definitely feel that Caribou is one of the best small towns in America,” stated Gary Dernlan, a Florida real estate investor, who has completed numerous real estate transaction within The County over the past 10 years.
Aroostook Republican photo/Barbara Scott
Gary Dernlan of Palm Beach County, Florida has been investing in Aroostook County with focus on the Caribou and surrounding area for 10 years. “I’ve been all over the United States and sincerely believe Aroostook County is definitely the last frontier of the lower 48 states. I think perhaps people in the County underestimate what they have here.”
Dernlan has been investing in the County with focus in the Caribou and surrounding area for 10 years. “My wife and I enjoy the North Woods. We had been looking in Florida for a vacation home but prices were very high, on a whim we came to northern Maine and fell in love with it.”
During one of his first visits here, Dernlan bought a farm with a two-story house in Van Buren, as an investment property to resell. Within the next four years he purchased mostly land acreage as long-term investments. “This area is a diamond in the rough,” said Dernlan, “I’ve been all over the United States and sincerely believe Aroostook County is definitely the last frontier of the lower 48 states. I think perhaps people in the County underestimate what they have here.”
A 1981 graduate of Perdue University where he earned a bachelor of science and engineering degree, Dernlan went on to receive a master’s degree from Augusta State University in Georgia in 1984.
“Right out of college, my wife Susan and I had no money, but we did have a lot of college loans. I started rebuilding cars at that time, I would buy a car a week, fix it and then sell it. I wasn’t the most popular in our apartment building — I worked on the cars right there where we lived,” he said.
“After a short time, I borrowed money to buy a tract of land to build a house on, we (Susan and I) dug the footers by hand, I did the construction and she did all the wiring. We built three houses that way and initially it was ‘sweat equity’.
The majority of Dernlan’s work years were spent at the Palm Beach County Water and Utilities Department, where for 11 years he served as director. The district served one-half million people, and Dernlan oversaw 430 employees. At the time of his early retirement in 2005, the base of utilities department had more than doubled in size. In retirement Dernlan began focusing solely on real estate investments in Florida and north.
When Dernlan first started investing in Aroostook County, large tracts of land in Palm Beach County, Florida, were selling for $250,000 while in this area an acre of land would be available for purchase from $150 to $400 per acre. “Over the last 10 years or so raw land prices have tripled up here. Despite the recession, prices are good and stable. Land is a great, safe, long-term investment.”
Throughout his countless trips north to The County, Dernlan has purchased, cleaned out, fixed up and re-sold an impressive number of properties, including commercial ventures such as Linda’s Down Home Country Inn, which was renovated and re-sold and most recently the building directly across from the Caribou Post Office formerly International Travel.
“The first floor is completely remodeled at this time,” said Dernlan, “it was quite a project just to get it cleaned out and ready for construction as there was literally about 100 years’ of debris in the building, I think we filled six roll-off dumpsters.”
“My standard is perfection, I accept nothing less,” stated Dernlan, “and I have found that when someone is in the process of remodeling or construction, that in itself becomes the best advertising. I actually had this downtown space leased prior to completing the project. It takes the right people working for you, time and money to bring a property up to today’s standards and codes but my reputation and my word mean everything and that goes a long way.”
“I have purchased buildings and land to turn into sub-divisions in Caribou and again, I have to stress that Caribou is by far the most business friendly city in the area. Steve Buck and Steve Wentworth are excellent to work with — there is no town in Aroostook County that is friendlier than Caribou.”
Dernlan continued, “Steve Wentworth (Caribou code enforcement officer) is firm but very fair, recognizing the value of someone improving property within the city. Successful re-development requires a partnership that involves working with local government with both sides understanding the situation and the path to improvement.”
Dernlan said that his theory of successful real estate investing includes being very conservative, not acquiring a lot of debt within a property(if you can’t pay, don’t buy), and buying at a fair price
“I have to say again that the city officials including Wanda Ouellette and Beth O’Bar at the city office along with Buck and Wentworth and actually anyone I have dealt with are all excellent,” said Dernlan. “Overall the town selectpeople are very forward thinking and I think the Caribou Wellness Center is proof positive of this fact — that was a forward- thinking project for Caribou.”
It’s not all business for the Florida investor. “I enjoy it first and I’m an investor second.” Owning a place of his own in the area, Dernlan commented, “we have all the toys — a boat, motorcycles, dirt bikes and my whole family loves being up here, and the snowmobiling here is second to none in the county. We enjoy the recreation of all four seasons and enjoy skiing at Mars Hill Mountain and in Fort Kent.”
“Since I have been coming up here, I have witnessed record snowfall and record-breaking low temperatures. Last year I arrived in Caribou and it was 40 degrees below zero, allowing for me to have experienced a 100 degrees in temperature swing from when I left Florida that morning. To top things off, we were expecting company the following day and I found myself digging through five feet of snow because my septic pump wasn’t working when we arrived. We managed to get things going and while our friends and their two young children (who had never seen snow) were at our place, it was 25 degrees below zero and I took a cup of boiling water outside and threw it up in the air — it came down as snow.”
“The climate can be challenging in the winter months but that factor is less challenging than other issues in other parts of the country, and you can’t put a dollar value on that.” said Dernlan. “Issues like congestion, crime, the high cost of living and the high demand to find someplace to escape and retire. That stuff starts to weigh on you,” he added.
Most times Dernlan flies from the Sunshine State to The County but one time he drove. “It’s 1,980 miles from my house in Wellington to my camp — I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t love the place and I wouldn’t invest in Aroostook County if I didn’t believe in it, I think the future of Aroostook county is very bright,” he added.
Dernlan and his wife Susan have two children, Kimberly who is studying nursing at Clemson University and Jonathan, a student enrolled in the electrical engineering program at Georgia Tech.
