All Forum Posts by: Zachary Tracy

Hey Joshua, I own a property management company in Maine. I would be happy to have a brief call and see if I can help in any way. I have some other questions for you to build context if so. I would say message me on here, but your probably more likely to get my attention by filling out our website contact form. Ascend Property Management.

Also, be weary of reading advice from others that are not familiar with Maine's multi-step eviction process. 

What type of advantage are you looking for? If you own the property in your name or a single-member LLC, you may perform the eviction yourself. Before you start your eviction, you should be absolutely sure you know what you are doing. An eviction by an attorney is probably not as expensive as you have heard when you consider only legal and attorney fees. If you include lost rent, damages, etc., then yes, it is very expensive. If you want a referral to an attorney, message me. I also recommend reading PTA's guide for tenants: https://ptla.org/eviction

I apologize for the slow reply. Our team uses Buildium. Their basic subscription is pretty affordable, even if you only have a handful of units. It will have more features than you need at your size. Free platforms can work for you with smaller unit counts. If @Eddie Gonnella recommends something, then it is worth researching. 

Hey @Sarah Moore

There really is a void of reliable (and trustworthy) property managers in the area. There was some earlier advice to self-manage when under 10 units, and financially that makes sense if you want to run lean and do it yourself. Here are some tips for hiring a PM:

1. Do not select the first Property Management (PM) company you talk to. You should talk to at least 5 of the highest rated, even if it is brief. If they treat you poorly in the sales process, they will treat you poorly when your locked in a 1 year contract. I recommend looking at reviews on their Google Business Profiles to get some selections.  

2. Evaluate their pricing. If a PM doesn't have pricing on their website, that is a red flag. In most cases, you won't know their complete pricing until you see a draft agreement. It is common for PMs to stick fees into paragraphs throughout the agreement, this is another red flag. This PM will be trusted with the accounting, collection, and transfer, of tens of thousands of your dollars, or more. They need to be trustworthy with money. 

3. Evaluate their term. Many PMs have long term agreements, 1 year or more, with cancellation fees and the works. In Central and Eastern Maine, there is only one I know of with a 30-day contract: Ascend Property Management. 

4. Evaluate their capabilities. What does their tech stack look like? Do they even know what "tech stack" means? Most companies in the area are 10-15 years behind on PM technology. Do they have in-house maintenance (this can save you thousands a year)? What is the turnover of their team? Do they have preferred vendors that always answer the phone because it is that PM calling? Does the PM answer the call or return a missed call within an hour? If they can't answer the phone for a possible new client, will they answer if you are already locked-in?

Happy to answer any questions that come up. 

Best, 

Zach

Hey Aaron, Time is money and your time will become increasingly valuable. I wanted to give you a few things to consider to save your time:

1. Requiring a completed application prior to showing. This requires the applicant to put forth some effort prior to completing a showing. This will eliminate some leads who are not serious about renting the unit. 

2. Use an online application that preferably syncs with your management software. This eliminates data input, streamlines screening, aggregates applicants. This is a must for 2023 and beyond. 

3. Screen applicants prior to showings. This one is optional, and is a time expense vs cash expense consideration. For my team, it costs more for us to send one of our highly-paid property managers to a property than it does to complete criminal and credit screening (we get discounts based on volume). IF (and I mean if) we do an in-person showing, you better believe that applicant is already approved to sign the lease. 

4. Automated Showings - If you are ready to get real serious about conserving your time and labor expenses for your team, you need this. Tenant Turner is highly endorsed by BP, and that is what we use. This essentially gets you applications in the door with people who have seen and confirmed they want the unit without ever interacting wiht them. Win-Win-Win! Then you screen, and they sign!

5. E-Lease and Templates - Create your lease into a template that preferably syncs with your management software. When you approve an application, the data automatically fills the lease. You hit send, and they can sign it on their phone in less than 30 seconds. If you can't get that fancy, at least use DocuSign or similar to get digital signatures, and if you are in Maine, don't forget all the compliance docs: Radon, EFF, Lead, Bangor Tenant Rights (I see you live there). 

That should get you started. Learn prior to making mistakes. Don't learn how to screen after placing a tenant! If it is already too late, I can tell you how to efficiently conduct an eviction process in Maine.

Good luck!

@David Lichten may have some insight here. 

Hey Mary, Bangor is considering passing an ordinance limiting the amount of active short-term rentals in the city limits. For long-term, I'm a little partial to the Bangor area, but Waterville has seen a lot of new commercial development and investment in the last couple years. My personal experience with John Walker, of FirstChoice Real Estate in Hermon has always been very positive.