Investing in Biddeford/Saco Maine?

[Robert LaRoche]

First post ever... go easy on me! 

I live in southern maine and Im just about ready to break the ice with a first purchase. The over all strategy/goal is buy and hold multi families. My wife and I want to ease into investing so weve decided to do that by buying a multi, living in one unit and rent out the others.  Ive been looking around at different markets in my area Ive been practicing analyzing deals so as to better educate myself in general while also trying to better understand my surrounding market. 

Heres my question... for those folks who know Maine and Southern Maine, is the Biddeford/Saco area worth seriously considering especially for the first go around? It does have a bit of a tough reputation but my wife and I are no strangers to things being rough around the edges so I dont necessarily mind a certain amount of that. As far as Southern Maine goes I feel like its in a solid location in terms of proximity to Portland and Portsmouth while also having UNE close by and the entry prices are pretty good considering what it takes to be closer to the portland area.  Am I crazy for considering and should just move on or is there something to it?

Anyone whos had experience in this area I would love to hear about it! 

Best

Robert -