Anyone around Bangor running bigger buildings?

Question

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.

Mark Updegraff · Answer

@Jon Hyatt , once a building gets beyond a few units, I’ve found the winter plan has to be property-specific, not just a good vendor list. The person answering after hours should be able to see where the water shutoffs and electrical panels are, how to access the mechanical room, which systems serve which units, and who the primary and backup vendor is for each failure. I’d also rank buildings by consequence: an older boiler serving multiple apartments gets a different preventive and escalation plan than an isolated unit issue. The real test is whether someone who has never been inside the building can make the right first call at 2 a.m.

Matthew Morrow · Answer

@Jon Hyatt not Maine, but our winters in PA and upstate NY are close enough that the 2 a.m. no-heat call sounds familiar. I own a couple of 5-unit buildings, and the thing that's helped most is having the heating guy and the plumber lined up before it gets cold, with a fall service done, so you're not trying to find someone on a Friday night. Turnover near a campus is its own thing too. We have a building near Penn State, and planning around the lease cycle matters a lot more there. Always good comparing notes with other owners.

Levi Rawlings · Answer

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.

Anyone around Bangor running bigger buildings?

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