Greater Androscoggin Landlords & Real Estate Investors Conference and Trade Show, May 9-10.

We recently had great fun in the WLOB radio studio in Portland being interviewed for the Mind Your Own Business show with Debi Davis.  The focus was on our upcoming Greater Androscoggin Landlord & Real Estate Investors Conference and Trade Show.

John Snyder, President of On the Spot Rentals, and Linda Snyder, President of What a Great Event, have an easy and bantering but professional style that came across well in the interview (we were very happy about it!).  Check it out at Mind Your Own Business Radio dot com, or click on the link here.

For more information on the show, check out our Events section.

Rentals Needed!

For the past 17 months, much of our attention has been focused on a 32-unit boarding facility that required far more of our attention than we’d realized it would when we first accepted the contract.

Because of a property dispute between two parties that had been going on for several years, the court system had become involved.  Both parties were asked to submit the names and credentials of several property management companies, and On the Spot Rentals was chosen to manage the properties until the dispute was resolved… which initially we were told would take about 3 months.  The judge also set the reimbursement fee, which was somewhat lower than our standard for such a comprehensive contract.

As the legalities of it all dragged on and on, we found this was a much bigger and more complicated job than we’d thought it would be.  It was time-consuming and emotionally draining – and certainly didn’t reimburse us for nearly as much time as we had to put into the contract, since there was a need to be responsive to the disputing parties, their legal teams and the courts, in addition to the transient tenant population that a boarding facility typically has.

While that contract was in force, we were able to work with a few other owners in getting their properties rented and maintained, but we really didn’t get out there to market ourselves.  As a result, our inventory is very low, for which we apologize to the many potential tenants who contact us every week.

So… referrals are needed!  Give John a call at 207 713 0674, and work with a property manager with an engineer’s mindset and a compulsive attention to detail!

Maine Real Estate Listings – Percent Under Contract & Sold as of 02 12 2013

Have you heard that the real estate market is beginning to pick up finally? It’s true!

One problem we’ve had in the past few years is a glut of properties on the market and too few qualified buyers. I’m not sure I remember the figures correctly, but I think that at the height of the recession, Maine had something like 30,000 properties on the market, or about 12,000 more than is good for a healthy economy.

According to MaineListings.com, we now have only about 24,000 active listings, or nearly a 20% drop. This is GOOD for the market!

I’ve created a chart using the Maine Listings data, adding two categories: percentages of Active Listings Under Contract, and Active Listings Sold in 2013.

As expected, Cumberland County (our next door neighbor) is the hottest real estate market in Maine. Somewhat surprisingly – but exciting for us – Androscoggin County is holding its own in 2nd place, tied with York County, in terms of percentages. (In terms of total numbers, York County has a population of about 187,000 while Androscoggin is about 104,000.)

Maine Listings – Percent Under Contract & Sold 02 12 2013