Maine Thrive Insights — Companion Insight | Maine Thrive Voices Podcast | Guest: Tony LaPrino, North Star Property Solutions

There's a moment in Tony LaPrino's story that explains everything about the business he runs today. He was standing in a half-finished new build a few streets from his home, picking up a check from the builder who had constructed his house. The crew was in the middle of drywall prep. Tony looked around the room and, as he tells it, opened his big mouth.

“I'd love to learn how to do this.”

Everybody stopped. Three people in the room, and all of them turned to look at him. The builder asked if he was serious. Tony said he was. The answer came back: “Okay, well, I'll teach you and I'll pay you.”

That was the beginning of North Star Property Solutions — though Tony didn't know it yet.

From a Fresh Coat of Paint to a Full Calendar

Tony's path into property work wasn't a straight line. He'd painted houses in Southern Maine as a college summer job and loved it — the outdoors, the good properties, the quiet satisfaction of watching a transformation happen brush stroke by brush stroke. Then life moved on. A career, a marriage, a divorce, a year in an apartment, and finally a search for a new home — ideally something with rental income attached.

The realtor showed him a new construction single-family home instead. Tony told him it didn't make sense for a single guy. The realtor told him to hang on. The plan that emerged included an accessory dwelling unit in the backyard — a rental alongside his primary residence — and a builder willing to let Tony be part of the process.

But first, Tony painted his new house himself. And that old feeling came back. Calming. Peaceful. Nostalgic. He sat with it for about three months, and it didn't go away. Then came the day he picked up that check, said yes, and spent the next year learning new construction from the inside — drywall, flooring, trim, finish work, all of it — including on the ADU going up in his own backyard.

Then friends started asking. Can you do this for me? Can you do that? Tony wasn't always confident, but he kept saying yes. A year later, he can't keep up. His schedule is booked out.

“I'm forever grateful for saying yes,” he says.

The Word That Stopped Fitting

For a while, the phone rang because people searched for a handyman. But Tony noticed a mismatch. The projects coming his way weren't odd jobs — they were small remodels, bathroom renovations, new decks and stairs, full interior and exterior repaints, top-grade finish work. Customers wanted that level of craftsmanship, but they expected handyman pricing to go with it.

“I don't fit that model,” Tony says.

So he thought hard about what he actually does — and, more importantly, why people hire him. His answer reframes the whole trade: “People don't wake up wanting drywall repair. They don't wake up thinking about repainting my bedroom. What they want is a home ready to sell, a home ready to rent, a home ready to enjoy, a home ready for guests, a home ready for the next chapters.”

That's property preparation. Tony now calls himself a Property Preparation Specialist — not quite a full contractor, and definitely not the retired-guy-with-a-toolbox stereotype, but something the market genuinely needed: a skilled professional who takes on the projects contractors won't call you back about, shows up within weeks instead of months, and delivers finish work a homeowner can be proud of.

Integrity as a Business Model

Ask Tony what a good day feels like, and he'll tell you about a recent one: a homeowner left high and dry by another contractor, floors that needed to go down, and the look on the man's face afterward. “It's like a new kitchen,” the customer told him.

Tony takes that personally — sometimes to a fault. He admits he'll get hung up on details so small nobody else would notice. But that's the point. A home is usually the biggest asset and the biggest transaction in a person's life. When Tony works on one, there are people and lives attached to it.

The word customers keep circling back to, without quite saying it, is integrity. You showed up. You picked up the phone. You did what you said you were going to do. You exceeded expectations.

“That's integrity. That's me,” Tony says. “I'm the one that has to face myself in the mirror every single day.”

One year in, booked solid, and building a business on a foundation most companies spend decades trying to earn — it all started with three words in a room full of drywall dust: I'd love to learn.

Hear the full conversation with Tony LaPrino on Maine Thrive Voices.

Listen on Spotify: Spotify Episode link
Visit North Star Property Solutions: northstarpropertysolutionsinc.com
Tony's Penobscot Valley Thrive profile: [PVT PROFILE LINK]