Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 45 votes
Looking to get feedback from the BP community on investing in Central Maine - from a quick search on MLS you can find small multis for $50,000 a unit with rents going for $800 a month. Back of the envelope, there's plenty of margin for cashflow.
Most of my experience has been investing in B and C-class multis in Providence, RI where units are closer to $80,000 a unit in decent condition, renting for $900 a month. The economic occupancy with B and C-class in Providence is pretty challenging and it's not uncommon to be running a 5% delinquency rate.
Would love to learn a local investor's perspective on Central Maine (Lewiston, Auburn, Bangor, etc) over the last couple of years.
Rental Property Investor · Auburn, ME · Member since 2015 · 36 posts · 23 votes
5y
The big surprise will likely be deferred maintenance and heating related expenses. I have two triplexes in L/A and I'm spending around 3-4k annually in heating oil for each. Occupancy has been great and collections can be interesting. Avoid downtown Lewiston, here is a story about a downtown shootout that happened earlier this week: https://www.sunjournal.com/202....
Specialist · Milford, ME · Member since 2016 · 630 posts · 378 votes
6y
Sounds like you are looking in the retail market like the vast majority. The wholesale market will give you much better ratios. It takes a little more work but pays well.
Property Manager · Bangor, ME · Member since 2017 · 12 posts · 18 votes
6y
Hi Fan - we manage properties in Bangor and have great occupancy and collection rates. You just need to understand your energy and maintenance costs. Housing stock is old and winters are rough.
Bangor ME & Richmond, VA · Member since 2018 · 166 posts · 106 votes
6y
@Fan Bi
“Back of the envelope” numbers don’t play well in Central Maine in my experience. Three reasons:
1. Houses are very old. Need to increase both maintenance and CapEx budgets to be accurate
2. Utilities are often covered by the landlord other than electric. This is a significant expense if the property is not separately metered, which is rare for heat costs which is the biggest expense
3. Taxes are high relative to other areas especially south and west if you are used to analyzing deals in those areas of the US
These factors, especially the utilities set up really mean you have to dig into every property to see how it’s set up.
I’d be happy to share some example numbers if you are interested, reach out!
Investor · Member since 2020 · 31 posts · 18 votes
5y
I started to look at Lewiston as well. Numbers do look good especially on multi. Anyone with experience in downtown Lewiston? Have heard it’s rough but would be interested to heard how thats translates into vacancy & maintenance. Thanks!
Rental Property Investor · Auburn, ME · Member since 2015 · 36 posts · 23 votes
5y
The big surprise will likely be deferred maintenance and heating related expenses. I have two triplexes in L/A and I'm spending around 3-4k annually in heating oil for each. Occupancy has been great and collections can be interesting. Avoid downtown Lewiston, here is a story about a downtown shootout that happened earlier this week: https://www.sunjournal.com/202....
The big surprise will likely be deferred maintenance and heating related expenses. I have two triplexes in L/A and I'm spending around 3-4k annually in heating oil for each. Occupancy has been great and collections can be interesting. Avoid downtown Lewiston, here is a story about a downtown shootout that happened earlier this week: https://www.sunjournal.com/202....
Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2016 · 91 posts · 45 votes
5y
@Eric Pierpont Super helpful feedback. Most of our portfolio is in C-D class neighborhoods in Providence, RI and Syracuse, NY and we almost exclusively work with subsidized housing to avoid collections issues. We're underwriting a 21 unit package in the highlighted red area in L/A aiming to apply the same approach. Would that be a bad take?