Rental Property Investor · Dover, NH · Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 1 vote
Hello — I'm a newbie REI looking for more information around Portland, Maine markets. Im looking to househack a multi family property. (hopefully a duplex)
I’m specifically looking into Westbrook as Portland has become too oversaturated and from what I’ve seen it’s harder to find positive cash flow multi family investments. It seems Westbrook is up and coming as Portland markets have begun to sprawl to surrounding towns.
Has anyone has success in Westbrook with multi families or house hacking ? Success in South Portland?
As an investor and a broker, I have found success with house hacking small multi-unit properties in and near Portland. You are right that Portland is a hard place to find cash flowing 2-4 unit properties. The prices are usually too high to make the numbers work without a large down payment. South Portland and Westbrook are great communities and it is worth looking there as well. It really comes down to the individual property and what the market rents are and the current utilities.
Don't count out Biddeford and Saco, too. A little further south but they've seen pretty rapid appreciation and a lot of money flowing in with significant infrastucture /community developments making it a very attractive place to live. Lots of multifamily options in Biddeford especially.
Harrison Smith is the guy you need to know for Biddeford/Saco area. He's pretty active on BP and will likely chime in anyway but if not you should consider looking him up.
Your assessment of the greater Portland area is spot on I think, and I predict continued growth in all of Southern Maine honestly. Especially with covid, people are ready to get out of the big city and live "the way life should be".