All Forum Posts by: Carl Hebert

@Henry Grayson I have done a lot of remodeling in Lewiston and Auburn and have not had any of them say I needed to replace non conforming windows. All of my buildings have also been recently inspected by the local fire departments and they also did not mention replacing windows. I replaced lots of windows also and was told as long as I did not change the frame or window size they did not have to be upgraded to the newer code. aka grandfathered.

A friend of mine did have Lewiston Housing Authority say if he wanted a section 8 tenant to move into one of his places he would have to replace a window that was not in compliance with the egress code. 

Other then that I have never heard of them making you replace a window, think of all the old buildings that would apply to!

Portland may have something different going on, I would call or better yet go into the building code department and ask them about it. 

@Elliot B. I would go down the road @Ryan Murdock has mentioned, if they are on a month to month lease be civil and hand them a 30 day notice. You do not need a reason for them to leave in Maine when they are month to month just 30 day notice. 

Get a lawyer to write one up for you if you know they have talked to Pine Tree Legal. 

One thing on the 30 day notice, if it hasn't been mentioned yet, is it starts at the end of the month they have paid for. July rent paid, they have till the end of August to leave. 

When I have a new lease that I want signed I do not leave the lease with the tenant unsigned, I go over it and have them sign it while I am there, if they can't sign then I ask when I can come back. I start this process 2 months out from end of current lease. 

And I agree with @Amy A. that is a healthy rent increase and I am a big fan of raising rent lol. 

@Andy H. I own and manage 6 properties (18 units) in the Lewiston/Auburn area. Can definitely give you advice once you start looking. I know both towns very well and can tell you about any neighborhood you start looking at. 

Good luck!

I agree with

@Ed Emmons and @Michael Webster that clause is not enforceable in Maine. Them trying to put the burden of finding a replacement tenant is laughable. Why would any landlord want that? I want to be the one who picks my new tenant not someone that I forced to be picked by a former tenant. 

I wouldn’t sign that unless they removed that section. 

@John West sounds good! Good luck on the quad, where did you end up buying? 

@Bill B. and @Marco G. thanks for the examples, now that I am back from vacation I plan on having a sit down with my Allstate agent. 

@Jordan Kim Welcome! North of Portland and South of Augusta is where I have my properties. If you start looking in the Lewiston/Auburn area let me know, I try to keep my eye on the pulse here and let you know my opinion on a property that you are looking at, neighborhood info etc.

Good luck!

Carl

@Jonathan Morning yes almost any financial institution will have access to all the FHA loans. Especially if you have never bought property before you would have the most luck going down that road.

Oh how I miss my first FHA loan... so long ago...

@Jessica G. - I was in a similar situation a couple years ago. I had my first property financed with a FHA loan and the rate was 3.2%. It also had their insurance of about $110 a month (gone now, $110 more profit). Most banks wanted me to refi, which of course was silly and one said they could do HELOC. Ended up with a line of $55k that has been used to buy 4 more properties.

Each time there was a way to pay the line off quickly. Once through just flipping, once with a deal with the owners of two buildings in which we got paid a nice sum back at closing and one just by paying it off with rental income (bought a sfh for $30k). 

It is also nice to have the HELOC as an emergency cushion in case something big gives out in one of our properties. Peace of mind is a good thing.

Carl

Hi and welcome! Did you run background and credit checks on your tenants? We have been doing that for the last couple of years and it has helped a ton. Biggest benefit is it eliminated a lot of the people right at the start. They read we do checks and they don't bother coming. 

Is your building in Augusta? I have been tempted to try something up there, but keep getting good deals here in Lewiston/Auburn. 

If you are planning on buying another one or two why are you doubling on mortgage payments? Seems it would make more sense to take that extra payment and set it aside for the next building. Just wondering. 

Good luck and again welcome!