Housing Matters Podcast

34. Bath Iron Works Hired 690 People From Out of State. Almost None of Them Could Find Housing

In 2021, Bath Iron Works hired nearly 2,000 employees. 690 of them came from out of state. And almost every single one of them left. Not because they did not want the job. Not because BIW was not a great place to work. They left because they could not find anywhere to live. That story is where this conversation starts, and it is one I have been wanting to have for a while. I sat down with Julie Rabinowitz, Director of Communications at Bath Iron Works, and Dave Hench, BIW's communications and media relations veteran and former Portland Press Herald reporter of 25 years, to talk honestly about what Maine's housing crisis looks like from inside one of the state's most important employers. Bath Iron Works is the largest manufacturer in Maine. They build Arleigh Burke class destroyers, among the most complex machines made anywhere in America. They have been on the Kennebec River since 1884. They employ people from all 16 counties in Maine. More than half of their workforce commutes at least 35 miles each way to get to the shipyard. And since COVID, the housing crisis has made all of that dramatically harder. Wages in Maine have gone up about 38% since 2019. Home prices have gone up 79%. That gap is not just a statistic. For BIW, it showed up as tents. It showed up as employees living out of their cars. It showed up as a young woman in new hire orientation who had a job offer in hand and still could not pass a credit check to get an apartment because she had never had one before. So BIW decided to do something about it. They are now investing in an 84-unit attainable housing complex in downtown Bath, a 20-minute walk from the shipyard. The $22 million project is a partnership between General Dynamics, the Navy, Bath Housing, and Developers Collaborative. It will include studios, one-bedrooms, and a handful of two-bedrooms, prioritized for BIW employees and Navy personnel, with occupancy expected in summer 2027. There are already 87 people on the interest list. We get into all of it in this episode. Why BIW uses the term "attainable housing" instead of "affordable housing" and what that distinction really means. How the Rumford mill town model from the 1800s still holds lessons for what employers can do today. What L.L. Bean is doing in Freeport with a similar workforce housing model. What other employers, developers, and housing authorities anywhere in the country can take away from what is happening in Bath right now. And why, if we want to talk seriously about reindustrializing America, we have to talk about where the workers are going to live first. Dave also brings a perspective you do not hear often. He spent 25 years covering public safety and planning boards at the Press Herald, and he watched the conversation around housing development shift from something that was almost politically toxic to something communities are now desperate for. That context matters. This episode is for employers who are wondering whether workforce housing is their problem to solve. It is for developers who have not thought about knocking on the door of a large local employer. It is for anyone trying to understand why Maine's housing market is the way it is and what it is actually going to take to change it. BIW has been building ships for the United States Navy for over 140 years. Now they are helping build something just as critical: a real path forward for the workers who make it all possible. Learn more about Bath Iron Works at gd-bw.com. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this one with someone in your community who needs to hear it.

33. The $70,000 Mistake: Manufactured Housing, Mobile Home Park Investing, and the Stigma Costing Americans Real Wealth | Andrew Cramer

The average person hears "manufactured home" and thinks trailer park. That reaction is costing them somewhere between $50,000 and $70,000 over five years. Today I'm sitting down with someone who has spent the last 14 years proving why that stigma is not just wrong, it is financially damaging to the people who can least afford it. Andrew Cramer is a partner at Bridge View Asset Management in the Pacific Northwest, where he has led the acquisition, stabilization, and management of more than 3,000 mobile home units totaling over $300 million in market value. His path to manufactured housing ran through biochemistry at Cornell and UC Berkeley, a stint as a financial analyst at Redwood Trust, a co-founded urgent care center in Pennsylvania, and a clean technology division at Alexandria Real Estate Equities. He is one of the most clear-eyed, data-driven voices in this space, and this conversation is long overdue. We get into all of it. The history of the HUD code and what actually changed in 1976. Why the modular versus manufactured debate is largely a stigma problem wearing a regulatory costume. The real math on renting an apartment versus buying a manufactured home in a park over five years. What Title One FHA financing could unlock for millions of residents who currently have no path to building equity. And why the missing middle housing problem in America keeps manufactured communities stuck in a kind of policy no-man's land where they are too affordable to attract private capital at scale and too complex to benefit cleanly from subsidy programs. On the investment side, Andrew walks through what Bridge View actually looks for in an acquisition, how they get distressed parks to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac standards, what an infill strategy looks like when you can recover old spaces without a full land use approval package, and why the operator requirements in manufactured housing are significantly higher than anything you will find in traditional multifamily. We also dig into rent control, tenant ownership models, the real costs buried inside homeownership that most people never account for, and a phase two initiative Andrew is building toward 2028 that he could not fully disclose yet. You are going to want to follow along for that one. If you are serious about housing affordability, real estate investing, or understanding one of the most underestimated asset classes in the country, this episode is essential listening. Connect with Andrew: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-cramer-43b5b513a/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-cramer-43b5b513a/] Bridge View Asset Management: https://www.bridgeviewassetmanagement.com [https://www.bridgeviewassetmanagement.com] Housing Matters is hosted by Matt Pouliot, CEO and Broker at Pouliot Real Estate in Maine. Learn more at https://pouliotrealestate.com [https://pouliotrealestate.com]

32. What Does It Actually Cost to Build a House in Maine? | Emily Mottram, Mottram + Maines

If you have ever thought about building a house in Maine and walked away from your research more confused than when you started, this episode is for you. I sat down with Emily Mottram, principal at Mottram + Maines and co-author of The Pretty Good House, for one of the most honest, practical conversations about home building I have had on this show. Emily is a registered architect licensed in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Utah, and she has spent 17 years building her practice around building science, energy efficiency, and making better homes accessible to more people. We get into what Google gets completely wrong about construction costs in Maine, how a HERS rating works and why it can help you finance energy upgrades through your mortgage, what to look for before you buy a piece of land, why home orientation matters more than most people realize, and where homeowners are spending money they really should not be spending. Emily also walks through what working with an architect actually costs, how to keep a new build on budget from design through closing, and what the lifecycle of different parts of your home really looks like, from the foundation and structure down to your kitchen finishes. Whether you are in Maine or anywhere else in the country, if you are thinking about buying land, building new, or just trying to make better decisions about your current home, there is something in this conversation for you. Topics covered in this episode include HERS ratings and energy efficient mortgages, buying land in Maine, site orientation and water management, construction costs and what Google gets wrong, architect fees and what you actually get, how to work with a builder and a lender on a new build, offsite and modular construction in Maine, and where to put your money for long-term comfort in a cold climate. Emily co-hosts the BS + Beer Show, a free weekly building science livestream on YouTube, and hosts the E3: Energy and Efficiency with Emily podcast. She is also a member of the Natural Resources Council of Maine and teaches building science and sustainable design at a local community college. Resources mentioned in this episode: The Pretty Good House: https://prettygoodhouse.org [https://prettygoodhouse.org] BS + Beer Show: Live on YouTube the first Thursday of every month, all past episodes free Green Building Advisor: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com [https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com] Community Concepts (SHOP program): Androscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford Counties, Maine Housing Matters is hosted by Matt Pouliot of Pouliot Real Estate in Maine. New episodes cover everything real estate, from buying your first home to building your investment portfolio. Find us on YouTube at youtube.com/@housingmatterspod.

31. Financial Literacy and the Housing Affordability Challenge with Steve Kautz of FAME

In this episode of Housing Matters, host Matt Pouliot sits down with Steve Kautz, Accredited Financial Counselor and Financial Education Programs Specialist at the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME), for an honest conversation about the psychology of money, the real forces behind Maine's housing affordability crisis, and what individuals can actually do about it. Steve has spent over 20 years working on financial literacy in Maine. He studied economics at Southern Connecticut State University, earned an MBA from the University of Hartford, served in the Peace Corps in the Czech Republic, and has taught personal finance in classrooms from Portland to Spain. At FAME, he creates content for the Money Matters for ME blog and delivers financial education to Mainers of all ages. In this conversation, Matt and Steve cover why financial literacy education is so difficult and why spending psychology matters more than math, the real market forces driving housing costs in Maine including demographic shifts and supply constraints, practical strategies real people are using right now to save for a down payment, the power of compound interest and the danger of compound debt, how the monthly payment mentality quietly drains wealth, why Steve says "Take a part of capitalism, or it'll take a part of you," the Maine Opportunity Tax Credit and student loan strategies most people do not know about, budgeting and emergency fund foundations that actually build long term wealth, and the generational shift happening in classrooms that gives Steve hope for the future. Whether you are a first time homebuyer, a renter weighing your options, or someone looking to reset your financial habits, this episode is packed with real talk and actionable advice. Learn more about FAME and the Money Matters for ME blog at famemaine.com [https://www.famemaine.com/]. Learn more about Housing Matters and Pouliot Real Estate at pouliotrealestate.com [https://www.pouliotrealestate.com/].

30. How Bath, Maine Is Rethinking Housing Options for the Future

What does it really take to create housing that works for a community? In this episode of Housing Matters, Matt Pouliot sits down with Debora Keller [https://www.linkedin.com/in/debora-keller-a10a657/], Executive Director of Bath Housing [https://www.bathhousing.org/], for a thoughtful conversation about the future of housing in Bath and across Midcoast Maine. They discuss the growing mismatch between wages and housing costs, the lack of downsizing options, workforce housing needs tied to major employers like Bath Iron Works [https://www.gdbiw.com/], and why communities need a broader range of housing choices—not just one-size-fits-all solutions. Debora also shares how Bath Housing is approaching the challenge through development, preservation, policy, and direct services, including its nationally recognized Comfortably Home program [https://www.bathhousing.org/comfortably-home/] that helps older adults safely remain in their homes. This episode is a practical look at housing, community development, zoning, homeownership, aging in place, and the real local strategies that can help Maine communities move forward.