Tough Real Estate Market Has Many Homeowners Looking For Renters

BANGOR (NEWS CENTER) — Drive through any community in Maine and you’ll see a lot of “For Sale” signs. Many properties are not selling, and as a result, some sellers are considering renting their homes instead.

Jim Harvey has been in the property management business for 25 years. He currently manages about 200 properties and says more and more people are calling him for help renting out their single family homes.

Harvey says in a normal summer he’ll have about two or three calls for home rentals, but this year year he had 30. However, he says most people realize they can’t rent their homes and make enough to cover their mortgages and other expenses.

He says people who do decide to rent need to really know what they’re getting into.

“You have to be able to qualify that person and understand that that person can and will follow through taking care of your property, because otherwise it can be devastating,” said Harvey.

The Maine Association of Realtors says there is some good news for home sellers in Maine. Existing home sales in August of this year were up nearly 7 percent from a year ago.

By WCSH.com