All Forum Posts by: Steve Kenney

The next Lewiston Auburn Maine real estate investor meetup will be held at Burnt Ends Barbecue in Auburn on April 2nd. We'll be having Reid Laliberte from Spectrum Property Management joining us to do a Q and A on PM related topics. If you haven't worked with a Property Management company before but have questions about how they work, what they charge, what their costs cover, this will be a great one to attend. Hope to see you there!

The next Lewiston/Auburn investor meetup will be Wednesday February 26th at Burnt Ends Barbecue in Auburn. Whether you are just starting out or are a seasoned investor, all are welcome. 

I hope to see you there!

Hi @Akeeve Foreman, welcome to the group! 

As Andrew said, starting with a house-hack is a great way to get started. Find a 2-4 unit multi and live in one of the units. You can get some very favorable funding and you'll need to occupy one of the units for just one year. Some people will do this with one building, then after a year go out and repeat the process with another property. There is a 30 year conventional loan product that only requires 5% down, which is great to use with this strategy.

Are you focusing on investing in Bangor specifically? I currently have 25 units in the Lewiston area and plan to get many more. I just had a few offmarket multis in Waterville sent my way that are pretty nice. If you're interested in them let me know.

Thanks for the mention @Andrew Freed!

Hey @Reid Laliberte,

That's a heck of a deal and I'm sure you have a good amount of equity in it now. I've seen small multi-families (2-4 units) appreciate very nicely in the Lewiston/Auburn area. There are a lot of people that are wanting to owner occupy, which has driven greater demand for these properties. 

I am helping other investors as a realtor now, so if you are ever interested in listing it or just want some comps, let me know. 

Hope to see you at the meetup Wednesday!

Hey all, I wanted to post that we are having a meetup for the Lewiston and Auburn Maine market on January 29th. These are informal meetups, free to attend, and a great chance to meet other investors in the area. Hope to see you there!

I appreciate that @David Lecko! It's been a great tool so far. I did some cold calling with it last year and got some solid leads. I'm planning to send some mailers this year using the Ballpoint Marketing integration, so really glad to see you guys have added that!

I think there can be some great deals out there in the winter months. If the deal makes sense I think the pros will outweigh the cons. The property may not have any vacancies, but if it does, just make sure you have enough reserves to cover that. 

I like to post on Facebook marketplace and include a link to my Zillow application where they can apply there. You get lots of questions from Marketplace, but you can just copy/paste a response like "Thanks for reaching out. To apply please visit this link on Zillow." You can also share your post to local pages on Facebook. I've had good luck with getting extra applicants that way. But like others have said, it's a tough time of year to fill vacancies. One thing I'd like to do going forward is optimize my leasing so they don't expire between the months of November-March.

Hey BP,

I know this question has been asked often, but I've been struggling trying to find an investor-friendly insurance company. I am located in Maine and have 2 six unit buildings, 2 four units, and a 5 unit. 

What are some companies that others are using to insure multi-families of this size?

Thanks in advance,
Steve

My suggestion would be to watch/listen to as much of the free content out there on real estate investing (there is a ton of it). I also encourage new investors to attend local meetups. You may meet someone there that is looking for a helper, there are often old timers there too that are willing to share their knowledge. 

While becoming a real estate agent isn't required to invest in real estate, I do think it can beneficial. Are you willing to put in the extra time to get your license? If so, I think that can be a great gateway into real estate for you.