All Forum Posts by: Michael S.

Hi Michael, if this is 42 Market in N Berwick this is a great project. I looked at this and made an offer with a client/friend of mine. Great property, great location, lots of potential! Good luck with it. Let me know if I can be any help. -Michael

Hi Dylan,

I live and invest in Portland full time. I have two flip projects going right now (one finished and one just getting started). Let me know if you want to check those out. I have my RE license too and I am always looking at single family and multi family fixers. Let me know if I can help in any way. 

Michael

Hi Caroline. I live in Portland and have one flip down and am under contract for 2 more (to buy). There is a lot of this type of activity in the area. It is certainly fun. Let me know if there is any way I can help you get going.

Hi Malcolm,

I live, own and invest in Portland, ME and have my real estate license here in Maine. I also know others who invest/own in the area.

Here is a brief break down of the multifamily markets you specified for the last 6 months:

Portland - Average Sale Price: $437,887 ; DOM: 38.4 ; List/Sold Price Ratio: 98.5% ; 76 Sales in the last 6 months

Westbrook - Average Sale Price: $208,540 ; DOM: 47.7 ; List/Sold Price: 93.3% ; 21 Sales in the last 6 months

Scarborough - 0 multi families sold in Scarborough in the last 6 months, I'm not aware of any that exist, this is really a higher end suburb of Portland 

South Portland - Average Sale Price: $321,258 ; DOM: 21.1 ; List/Sold Price: 97.3% ; 12 Sales in the last 6 months

Saco - Average Sale Price: $211,680 ; DOM: 80.7 ; List/Sold Price: 93% ; 18 Sales in the last 6 months

I'm not sure if the above data helps much other than telling us that Portland is the "Hottest" market. It also gives an idea of price point for each area. Although Portland may be the hottest market I'm not sure thats the best place to invest in multi-families right now (certainly not in town "on the peninsula"). It seems like everyone is trying to buy a multifamily here and because of the increase in demand properties are selling above market value. Personally I am looking for a Multi in Portland but out of town (Deering Center, East Deering, Riverton, Rosemont, Oakdale) that needs some renovation work done to get rents up to market value. If you are looking to buy something occupied or move in ready in Portland you are going to pay above market value in todays market.

Other markets might give you a better return on your investment. You are more likely to find a "deal" in places like Westbrook and even Biddeford (not listed) or even a place in Portland that is not in town (like I discussed above). The rents in these areas are still very good but the tenant class drops (especially in Biddeford) to B, C and D. 

Malcolm: I'll message you directly to see if I can help you with some more specific information.

Michael

Welcome Malcolm. I agree BP has a lot of valuable information. I live in Portland and have my RE license here. If you ever want to chat about the portland market just let know.

@Russell Brazil I was not referring to the Fair Housing Act (I am not trying to buy or rent a house from him). I was just pointing out the age discrimination in @Jay Hinrichs statement although it seems he misspoke or I misunderstood. I'm sure he is great at what he does and there is no doubt both of you are more experienced in real estate than I am. I am a Mechanical Engineer and am involved in real estate for fun. 

Age discrimination laws for hiring or doing business are pretty loose right now at the federal and state level but are bound to tighten up over the next few years. Being on the loosing end of this discrimination I am quick to get defensive, as you can see, and I apologize. For a similar reason, honest and ethical agents/brokers are quick to defend their tattered reputation caused by non-law abiding or rule bending realtors. 

In my specific case I have dealt with many agents/brokers who lied, broke the law or were unethical in some way. Specifically (for those who asked):

-An agent stated a property could get conventional financing when he knew it had previously fallen out of contract because the buyer was denied conventional financing because the property was inhabitable.

-I was told the above confidential information about the agents client

-An agent refused to present an offer the the seller because it was "too low" and the seller owed a mortgage above my offer (I think this is also confidential info that shouldn't be disclosed)

-An agent refused to present an offer to a seller because there were already multiple offers that were higher than mine and it was a waste of both of our time

-An agent gave me the code to a lock box for a property and said I could show it to my self (this was actually to my benefit but I'm not sure the legality of this)

-An agent did not disclose to me that there was a dispute about the property line on the title and withheld the property disclosure form, which clearly had this information displayed.

The above are unfortunate situations that I have been involved in. Some of these may be legal but this is what I have to base my personal opinion of realtors on. Through all of this I know that there are honest, ethical and legal agents/brokers out there and I hope I can work with them in the future. 

For all the good brokers/agents out there, I will be more careful to not stereotype.

@Jay Hinrichs a better term for my "type" might be "inexperienced" as the term "young" is actually age discrimination and is illegal. This discrimination is certainly illegal when you "won't do business with one of those types" (your words not mine). Young/old people are just as much a protected class as anyone of race, sexual preference etc. Real estate agents/brokers etc are not protected so until I meet a decent one I can make generalizations about my experiences with people who hold that title.

Thank you for proving my point that every realtor i have dealt with (so far) is unethical, has done something illegal or lied in some way. 

@Adam Bartomeo I also have yet to experience a good, honest realtor. Even some that seem great for a while end up sneaking in a lie or two eventually. This has lead me to get a license myself. I am going through the process now. Hopefully, I can be that honest real estate agent that people are looking for.

I actually have had a good transaction with a used car salesman so at lease those guys do exist.

P.S. It is funny, while going through the real estate agent course, one of the requirements to becoming a real estate agent is that one must, "Have a good reputation for honesty, trust, fair dealing and competency."

There are so many "flippers" currently in real estate that: 

1. offer way too much on a deal (an therefore get the property) because they get caught up in the heat of the moment at an auction or multiple offer situation,

2. proceed to paint the entire place themselves while simultaneously learning how to paint,

3. buy the cheapest possible kitchen cabinets/bath vanity from home depot or worse dump a couple gallons of paint on the 40 year old existing cabinets and attempt to straighten out some drawers

4. rip up the carpet and sand the hardwood (or softwood!) floors,

5. sell it for a marginal profit or loss

6. are never to be seen again.

First of all, what happened to a passion for doing a quality job, a nice design, something you can be proud of and something you won't be embarrassed to sell to a home owner?

There are a lot of these bad flips on the market. Buyers are getting weary about purchasing these properties because of the low quality and tacky design ( I don't blame them). Therefore, there are more of these that have been sitting on the market for a bit in my market.

I was thinking about maybe flipping someone else's bad flip. After analyzing some of these, I can go in and actually do a quality job and renovate so an owner will actually want to buy this property and still have room to make some profit on the deal.

Has anyone ever flipped a "bad flip?"