All Forum Posts by: Brett Jones

I'm in Maine. We have strong local governments and very weak county governments. So each municipality sets its own mil rate based on the annual budget, and accessed values. Most of Maine is very rural and those rural municipalities don't have a lot of expenses (a vol. fire department and k-8 are the most common), any sizable city will have public water and sewer in the densely populated areas. I have properties in cities and in rural towns. On average taxes are twice as much in the cities. I have a 1000sqft home, In Town on .16 acres with a $1600 tax bill on $116k of value. In a neighboring town I have a duplex with 1100sqft per side on 1.7 acres with a tax bill of $1900 on $225k of value. I had a friend who lived on Long Island for a while. He had a nice little 900sqft home on something like a 40'x40' lot. It was a nice town close to the city and the beaches. It has one of the best school systems in the nation. He paid $12k a year in taxes. I was floored when I learned that. I live on 14 acres of water front , in a 2500sqft house and my taxes are substantially less.

@Nathaniel Seekins  Bummer. I just finish a renovation, and moved a tenant in on the first. I'll blame it on lots of late nights. See you all next month.

Hey there. Did I miss this months meeting (last Wednesday), or is it coming up?

Thanks to all involved for putting together this meetup. It was a pleasure to chat with Brandon, and to meet other local investors. I'm looking forward to next months regular meetup.

@Carl Hebert I also use PTLA as a reference. It's a nice gauge to compare what I want to do as the Landlord, and what an aggressive public advocate is going to consider the minimum standard.

@Ryan Murdock Thanks for the reply. The carrot vs stick idea with rent pricing is interesting. So with a tenant that is persistently late, my only option to light a fire under them seems to be a 7 day notice. How much late rent do you put up with? This person is more often than not late (very "forgetful"..), but has always paid before mid month (usually before the 10th).

Count me in..!

Did you by chance set aside that cool old wall hung drainboard sink?

So as I understand it, in the state of Maine a tenant needs to be 15 days past due on rent for it to be considered "late" before a late fee can be added to the rent. 

https://ptla.org/rights-maine-renters-paying-rent

What I'm unsure of is if this is for a Tenant at Will only, or if the tenant has signed a lease with a different arrangement, does the lease apply?

Any guidance from a Maine property manager would be appreciated. Thanks.

I assume this is still happening tonight?