Reinvesting in St. Petersburg, single, multi or commercial?

[Nick Gravina]

Aloha everyone! I Due to the needs of my aging father, I decided to help out and return to the mainland in the next couple of months. I sold all my rental properties here in Honolulu and my home is in escrow, and I plan on moving the proceeds of the rentals to St. Petersburg Florida. My 1031 account is already set up, and the rental properties are scheduled to close on July 14th.

My past experience with real estate has always been either condo rentals or single-family home rentals, and I'm undecided on what to use the 1031 funds for in St. Pete. I need to reinvest about $1,120,000, and have looked at everything from single-family homes, multi-family homes, apartment buildings and commercial properties with either office, medical or retail.

Friends think I'm crazy to buy single-family homes since I'd need a number of them to satisfy the 1031 exchange requirements due to the low cost of properties in St. Pete. I'm most comfortable with this avenue, but the work load seems like it would be higher than just purchasing a single apartment building or commercial space. I'm torn because I don't have any experience with multi-family or commercial properties.

I'm purchasing a home in the Historic Old Northeast neighborhood, and would like to invest on the east side of St. Pete if possible close to downtown (Old Northeast, Crescent Lake, Uptown, Woodlawn, etc.). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!