All Forum Posts by: Amy A.

I'm not in that business, but am curious about it.  How did it go?

@Joel Owens what do you look for in a national tenant?  I've noticed a lot of properties with Dollar Tree stores for sale.  Their Moody's rating is Baa2.  They are the anchor tenants in these properties.  Should I relax or run for the hills?  I'm not sure if I see so many for sale because they're ubiquitous or failing to pay rent.  For the mom & pop tenants, I ask to run their personal credit reports using the same process as I do for residential.  Some people seemed to lose interest at that.  Am I wrong? 

That's really strange.  Maybe one of the tenants was hoping to buy the property and he decided not to sell it to him.  Figure out if you can work around that.  Maybe he'd allow it if the tenants thought it was for an appraisal or some sort of inspection. If he won't give you a good reason, I don't see why you can't go to the tenants yourself, unless you signed an NDA that specifically says you can't.  Estoppel certificates come from the tenants, not the seller.  Another reason is that maybe he doesn't want them to know he's selling because he's afraid they'll all freak out and leave, so approach them with the attitude that you will want them to stay on as tenants. Also, my lender required them or I couldn't close.  We were chasing tenants for them until the day before closing.  The worst one for getting paperwork signed and back to me was a mortgage brokerage tenant, which I found surprising.  Good luck!

Yes, you definitely need estoppel certificates, and not just those the bank may provide, but make up your own as well.  Use plain language asking them what they pay for rent, for CAM fees, what utilities are included, what deposit the owner is holding, what appliances or fixtures the tenants own and plan to take with them, what services they expect to be included, and any agreements they've made with the seller (such as seller promises to fix things, etc).  I recently purchased a property with pretty bad leases.  I asked all the tenants these things and one of them told me the seller had promised her a new window, another had been promised lights.  I got the seller to pay for all these things.  A year later, a tenant came to me and said that the seller had promised her $3,000 of improvements at her last lease renewal.  It was in the lease, but had been renewed so long ago that I assumed the seller had already done it.  I was able to tell her that because she had not mentioned it in the estoppel, even though I had clearly asked about landlord obligations, that the issue is now between her and the previous owner.   You know, I always  assumed that big commercial properties would be on a higher level than other investments, but they can be just as messed up as any other real estate investment!  Good luck!

Opportunity zones are quickly falling out of political favor.  They are controversial.  I'm not stupid enough to get into it here because someone is sure to blast the messenger, but you can look up the reason why.

See if the Finance Authority of Maine would help you out. Good luck!

Keep in mind that a HELOC has an adjustable rate, so is fine if you plan to use it short term for a flip or just want it available for opportunities. However, if you plan to hold the property long term, you should do a cash out refinance at a fixed rate. Also, make sure you understand how to subdivide land. It's not always as simple as you'd think, with zoning and wetland issues often making it expensive.

There are several landlord associations across Maine. Greater Bangor, Central Maine (Waterville), Augusta, Southern Maine, and Lewiston Auburn are the ones I've been involved with. Lewiston Auburn is looking for a part time executive director to guide us into the 21st century. Yes, we are a bit late! The pay is minimal and it involves doing paperwork, but what a great opportunity to network for an ambitious agent or investor! 

Hi, Please add me to the list. You can message me for my email address when the time comes. I have experience in flipping and commercial and residential rentals.  I'm looking to move into properties that have enough units to support on-site maintenance and management, either in Maine or in a sun belt state.

My husband stopped working for a paycheck 7 years ago.  Everybody thought we were crazy. 

We had 32 units cash flowing enough to cover the family's basic living expenses, a year's worth of living expenses in the bank, and a line of credit on a property so we could keep flipping houses without hard money. For insurance, we joined a sort of Christian co-op that doesn't pay for preventative care, but did pay for emergencies, like when my son broke his hand. 

It has worked out well for us.