Rental Property Investor · Bangor, ME · Member since 2018 · 25 posts · 10 votes
Hey everyone, Jon here, from Bangor. I've been investing and selling real estate up here for a while, and I also run a small property management company.
I'm curious how folks with 5+ unit buildings around here are handling things. For me winter's always the real test. The no-heat call at 2 a.m., snow piling up, trying to get a plumber out before Friday. And anyone near Orono knows May and August turnover is a whole season of its own.
Are you managing it yourself, using a company, or some mix of both? And what's been the biggest headache with a bigger building in this area?
I'm always up for comparing notes with other local owners, so feel free to message me.
I'm in Portland rather than Bangor, but the questions you're raising are the ones that decide how a 5+ unit building in Maine performs, so a few thoughts from the ownership side.
On winter, the costly problems are usually the ones that could have been scheduled. A fall service on the boilers or furnaces, a snow and sanding contract signed before the first storm, and a plumber or heating tech with an after-hours number lined up in advance all cost less than an emergency call at 2 a.m. A check of any pipes along exterior walls belongs on the same list.
On the Orono turnover, it tends to go smoother when May and August are treated as planned projects: lease end dates set well ahead, cleaning and paint crews booked weeks out, and a written move-out checklist so units turn quickly.
On self-managing versus a company, the line often comes down to unit count and distance. Once an owner can't get to the building quickly in a storm, the case for local management gets much stronger.