New Member in Portland, Maine

[Dylan Estabrooks]

My name is Dylan, I am 25 years old and looking to become involved in real estate investment in Portland, Maine. I have a full time job as a carpenter and am looking to find a multi-family property in Portland that I can live in, renovate and rent out. I recently acknowledged that, between my girlfriend and myself, we will spend nearly $15,000 over the course of the next year in rent, and why not put that money to better use. I possess the necessary skills to do much of the renovation myself, and with dual incomes from myself and my (long-term) girlfriend, I think investing in a fixer-upper, multi-family home is a logical step for us. 

Portland is a town with a surging real estate market, with growing numbers of people moving in and limited amount of space, now is the time to buy. I have come to Bigger Pockets to reach out to a community of knowledgable real estate investors, realtors and enthusiasts in order to become better informed on how to map out my next steps. I also look forward to offering any advice or feedback in areas of home renovation, design and function, where I am knowledgable.

[Andrew Ware]

Welcome to the site Dylan, and sounds like you have the right idea. I'm from Gardiner and that's a dramatically different market. But I'd encourage you to be careful of saying now us the time to buy. Maybe it is or maybe we are on the tail end. I'm just saying find a deal that would be amazing in a great economy and breaks even in a terrible one.

My other piece of advice is for you and your girlfriend to figure out what it looks like if things go bad. Not just your relationship but you are basically starting a small business. Figure out who owns what, who is responsible for what and put it in writing.