Multi-Unit Sweet Multi-Unit ; 20-Somethings On Lean Incomes Have Found a Way to Stake Out Prime Living Space in Portland's Notoriously Pricey Housing Market. It Just Takes Imagination and Lots of Sweat.

Portland Press Herald › September 08, 2006

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Summary

In 2001 Dave Marshall bought a pre-1866 West End Victorian that, with a price tag of $129,000, looked pretty good on paper, especially to a struggling artist with an income of $21,000. He chanced a move out of his prime, $540-a-month Congress Street studio rental, and into a two-unit with 50 years of neglect.

Nestled between what he knew to be a "crack house" and a fraternity house, his new home had 2,000 square feet and more than a few potential code violations.

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Multi-Unit Sweet Multi-Unit ; 20-Somethings On Lean Incomes Have Found a Way to Stake Out Prime Living Space in Portland's Notoriously Pricey Housing Market. It Just Takes Imagination and Lots of Sweat.

But Marshall, 23, saw something in nothing and made it his own.

Five years and an estimated $42,000 later, his home is appraised at $250,000. In a county where, according to the Maine State Housing Authority, nearly 60 percent of renters can't aff...

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