Inconsistent rent data in Biddeford

[Dan Keefe]

Hello everyone,

I'm a traveling physical therapist but grew up in Maine and am looking to purchase multi families in Biddeford using an FHA and subsequently to house hack in.

My question to the Southern Maine community is in regards to the rent data in Biddeford and Saco. I know there is a huge shortage of housing and that has driven up price in the past couple years (along with other factors such as the pandemic, population growth, etc) so, I see listings for 2br-1bth for up to 2200 on places like Zillow, Redfin, etc.   and these places are not luxury apartments but more older half of duplexes. But then i look at general rental data from  rentometer or rent cafe and I generally see averages around 1600. 

Was wondering if any PM or investors can shed some light on what they see as realistic rents in the Biddeford/Saco area, and maybe why there is such a gap in the data. 

thank you!

[Tanner Pile]

@Dan Keefe

Did you pull data from BP on rents too?

I typically look at Zillow, centimeter and BP to get a full understanding of what rents are in the area to get the best estimate of what a property would rent for. 

I always check active rentals to see what the competition is currently looking like for if a rental were to go live that month too. This is what active renters look at too which is why I believe it tells a better story of what rents are currently at compared to other sources.