All Forum Posts by: Brett Jones

I'm going to make it to this one.

I built a subdivision in 2007, and still own one undeveloped lot in it (I own two others as well. One with a duplex and one with a small medical office). Three other lots that we sold initially have yet to be built upon (though two I think are for future retirement homes). In my town we have a surplus inventory of subdivision lots that date from the mid to late 2000-10 years. If I were in your position, I would look at hard data on lot sale prices and frequency of lot sales in your area. Find out how many other lots are on the market. I would also look at the subdivision plan and make sure the original developer has followed the plan, and completed any additional requirements added by the local planning board. 

How old is the development?

Have the well water tested by the state ($20 if i recall). High iron is common in Maine. The septic system sizing is not really a tank measurement size issue, but rather a leach bed size issue. It is generally tied to occupancy (the number of bedrooms). If the current system was built in the modern era (say 1990 to present), the town/city should have a copy of the septic system design on file (HHE-200 form). This will inform you of the type and capacity of the current system. Also of it's dimensions and location on the lot. 

If it's necessary, I would guess rebuilding or substantially increasing the leach bed would run you $10k - $15k. New system installs for a 3-6 bedroom house with good soils has been running me $20k.

I cant speak to your market, but in the Ellsworth Me market (and surrounding area) I've been seeing rents rise. There are also a bit of a building boom in small multi unit buildings going up in town. Nice 2/1 places are renting for $1000.

Make sure you run all the renovation numbers (treat it like a new purchase), get a solid idea of what the place will appraise for, and what your rental market is. I have to assume you would do well on the place even if you put $40k-$50k into it (the banks money). Also, make sure you have a contract or agreement with your mother in law. Just so everyone is on the same page....

I've installed one of these as part of the heating system in a large single family I own. A 36k btu Rinnai at one end of the place, and a 40k btu gas stove on the other. The Rinnai is a fantastic heating unit, so I wouldn't worry about that part of the equation. One unexpected thing that did come up was an insurance issue. I'm in Maine and my insurance people gave me a hard time about not having a means of specifically heating the bathroom (no baseboards, vent or dedicated elec heater). The issue on their end was the worry of frozen pipes. In the end I was able to stay with the setup I had installed, but for a while it looked like there were going to force me to heat the bathroom.

Also. Regarding researching property ownership. All the tax records in the town office are public documents. There should be a set of maps that show map/lot numbers, then a couple of directories that will give you owner names/addresses based off map/lot or actual address of the house/property. Some municipalities are better than others (Ellsworth has a nice GIS system with everything online), but all should have something.

Hey there Norman. We are almost literally neighbors (I'm in Lamoine). If you're considering holding the property and renting it out, the market in our area is tremendously strong. Assuming it's a 3 bedroom home, you should easily be able to rent the place for $1000. I do first, last and a security equal to a months rent. If you have some cash tied up in the deal, sit on it for a year, then go to a bank and refi the place. Machias Savings is my recommendation (They are truly great).

I've only built new from raw land, or renovated existing structures. I would assume that a full tear down (structure, foundation, etc) would add at least $5000 to the cost of a project. Many municipalities require demo permits that include a sizable fee. I had a friend whos machine shop burned. It was a large building (70x120) and the city wanted thousands for the demo permit.

On my new construction project, I started with a set of plans bought online, made changes to the layout and materials used, then had a local building materials supplier price out the materials side of the project.

Regarding your partial demo idea: Contact your local code enforcement department. I've know many people who started projects running on these kind of assumptions, and it always costs a ton of cash. 

For those worried about Zeona's use of leased units to do short short term rentals (likely in violation of her lease.), it's important to keep in mind the era that this was done. Airbnb was a new thing all the way back in 2008. Zeona was getting into this in 2011, effectively the wild west era of this market. It's a different world now. I have to assume all landlords understand the concept of these kind of short term rentals and have provisions in their leases to cover it.

I never took any of the discussion of how she got into this market as an endorsement of subletting in violation of a lease.

Those who stopped the episode short should give it another listen. There is a lot of useful info in the podcast.