All Forum Posts by: John West

As a lot of people on here I pretty much live, breath, and sleep real estate investing. Who is your favorite REI "influencer" to follow on Facebook, instagram, Twitter, etc...?

Great idea @David Marshall. Great minds think alike. I already have a couple appointments with lenders to talk about future refinancing.... but as you already pointed out, who knows what lending practices will look like 12-18 months from now. 🤷‍♂️ 

@Henry Clark The end of your post made me laugh - thanks. We’ll see how I feel about parks a year from now. 
I’m sure we will have some pushback from enforcing park rules, but that’s expected. The park should clean up pretty quickly. Thankfully the underground lines are PVC and were replaced in the last 10 years. Additionally, the park roads were recently paved as well.

Thanks @Rachel H. COVID is a huge concern for all of us right now. Thankfully, I only have one tenant right now not paying rent. For me that’s only 5% non payment. 

My understanding is that technically the moratorium in Maine has expired, but that doesn’t mean you can get a tenant out. The local courthouse still isn’t giving out court dates, so my hands are tied on that one. :-/

Thanks @Paul Moore. That is indeed one of the strategies I plan to implement. 

@Steve Morris thanks for the comment/question. Current owner runs another business and just doesn’t have time to work on the park. Once it comes under our ownership, I’m sure we can turn it around. Right now, no one is enforcing rules and the park could really use some beautification.

Thank you for your insight @Sameer Bhalesha and @Brenden Mitchum. We are financing through a small bank that does portfolio lending. We are currently working to increase our capital stack because I do realize it will take significant funds to bring homes in. Thankfully, we have a few strategies that I believe will get homes in pretty quickly and affordably.

Worst case scenario, if we can’t get a refinance, the plan would be to sell. Locally, parks are going for quite a bit and we should do very well either way.

I haven’t ventured into Biddeford, but from everything I see, it’s a great market. 

I have 3 buildings (10 units) in Augusta and do really well. It’s like every other capital city. Some areas are nice, some are pretty low end, but there’s always demand in both areas. 

I also have some in Lisbon/Lisbon Falls that are in the middle of renovation. This is Quickly turning into my favorite (local) market too. You’ll see some good deals on small multifamily in these towns.

@Ryan Fenton I’m finding some pretty good deals around Maine right now. If you are willing to invest in semi-rural properties, there are always good deals out there.

It’s interesting. I’ve found that most maine properties are owned by mom and pops who aren’t typically “sophisticated” investors. Usually with minimal work, vacancies and expenses can be reduced.

@Terri O'Brien I don’t normally mind inheriting bad tenants. Sometimes it gets you a good deal up front (the whole “cat pee smells like money” thing). Putting the offer contingent on that might be a nearly impossible contingency to execute right now.

If it’s a good enough deal, maybe you could bump the offer up by $1,000 and have the seller use it to get them out (cash for keys).

If the deal is good enough, just know that they might get a few months (6 + in our current situation) free rent. Don’t let it bother or get to you. Make it an objective decision based on the numbers.

I have a small mobile home park under contract that is only half full. I know the area needs housing so I am genuinely looking forward to getting homes in there, providing affordable housing, and doubling the value of the park.

My goal is to fill the park in 12 months (24 at most) and refinance at this time. Is this realistic? Can anyone speak from experience? Will a bank refinance this quickly?