Looking to invest in area that has a good rental msrmwr

[Britney Lewin]

Good rental market* ( BP won’t allow me to edit my post title. )

Hello,

I'm looking to invest in a property for house hacking or to live in for 1-2 years before converting to a rental. I work remotely and prefer a location within 2-3 hours of West Palm Beach, where my family lives. Currently, I rent in downtown Fort Lauderdale and want to move to invest in property. Any suggestions for areas to relocate? I greatly appreciate all advice!

[Jonathan Greene]

I like the Lakeland area a lot. Strong potential growth, lowering prices, good proximity to the rest of Florida, but central. Your insurance costs are high in Florida so you would want to hedge toward the middle of the state as opposed to coastal. Crystal River has been on the upswing, but you are at a good time to be looking in Florida because a lot of areas are on the pricing downswing which could help find a two-family.

[Jon Puente]

Hey Britney, 

I have a friend who lives in The Villages (north of Orlando) and you can get a great deal on a home there.  Home prices and insurance are very inexpensive compared to most areas. 

[Kyle Camerlinck]

Hi Britney,

I am a local investor in west palm beach and a real estate broker if you need help finding your next investment in the area! The advice would depend on your main goals with your investment. South Florida is amazing for appreciation but I know in most areas especially Palm Beach, you will see little to no cash flow. If you understand that and are hoping to just offset some of your expenses in owning a home then I see no greater place for appreciation and wealth building other than South Florida.

[Shawn McCormick]

@Britney Lewin Welcome and congrats on getting started. I would think anywhere inland will be much more affordable. But consider your lifestyle and what you want to have access to while you are living there and also where the tenant pool is strong and demand is high.

Much of the state, although still #1 for RE investing is softening. So look for very high growth areas or reliable/stable areas that won't get as affected if any type of downturn actually happens. I am in Orlando and we have a strong economy and its not all theme parks. I believe strongly we have great opportunities for all types of investors. I'm happy to talk through some options and what this area has to offer. 

Best of luck to you!

[Chris Grenzig]

@Britney Lewin figure out what you want to achieve and where you want to live.

You can probably get more bang for your buck in more tertiary areas in Florida versus primary or secondary areas like Orlando, Jacksonville, Daytona, Tampa, St Pete, etc.

One area to consider might be the space coast. Still near the beach, not to far from west palm, and probably not priced as high as some other areas. 

There are probably even some smaller towns between Space Coast and Orlando that you might be able to do even better on.Or maybe some smaller towns around Okeechobee. I don't actually know anything about the towns south of Orlando and not on the coast, I'm just giving another alternative to the other ones suggested. 

However, they might not give you as much appreciation potential as more major areas like Orlando, West Palm, etc.

[Britney Lewin]

[Britney Lewin]

Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

I like the Lakeland area a lot. Strong potential growth, lowering prices, good proximity to the rest of Florida, but central. Your insurance costs are high in Florida so you would want to hedge toward the middle of the state as opposed to coastal. Crystal River has been on the upswing, but you are at a good time to be looking in Florida because a lot of areas are on the pricing downswing which could help find a two-family.

Hi Jonathan,

I hadn't considered Lakeland, but it does sound like an area I may potentially be interested in. I have considered the greater Orlando area (Davenport, Kissimmee and Clermont). I'll explore it further. It's reassuring to know that I'm looking at a good time when prices are on a downswing in many areas.

I'll start researching both Lakeland and Crystal River. Thanks again!

[Britney Lewin]

Quote from @Jon Puente:

Hey Britney, 

I have a friend who lives in The Villages (north of Orlando) and you can get a great deal on a home there.  Home prices and insurance are very inexpensive compared to most areas. 

Hi Jon,

Thank you for the recommendation. I have heard of The Villages, but I also heard it is more of a retirement community. If this is true, I'm not sure it will align with my lifestyle since I plan to live in the property for a year or two. I am curious, has your friend mentioned anything about the quality of life or benefits from an investment standpoint outside of affordability?

[Britney Lewin]

Quote from @Kyle Camerlinck:

Hi Britney,

I am a local investor in west palm beach and a real estate broker if you need help finding your next investment in the area! The advice would depend on your main goals with your investment. South Florida is amazing for appreciation but I know in most areas especially Palm Beach, you will see little to no cash flow. If you understand that and are hoping to just offset some of your expenses in owning a home then I see no greater place for appreciation and wealth building other than South Florida.

Hi Kyle,

Thanks for your response. My primary goal is to find a property that I can live in for 1-2 years and convert to a rental property (LTR or STR), depending on location. Then, I plan to purchase an SMF property that cash flows and repeat that process a few times over until I am able to generate enough income to reinvest to replace my main source of income today.

Any specific neighborhoods in the WPB you think will have the best appreciation in the next 10-15 years?

[Britney Lewin]

Quote from @Shawn McCormick:

@Britney Lewin Welcome and congrats on getting started. I would think anywhere inland will be much more affordable. But consider your lifestyle and what you want to have access to while you are living there and also where the tenant pool is strong and demand is high.

Much of the state, although still #1 for RE investing is softening. So look for very high growth areas or reliable/stable areas that won't get as affected if any type of downturn actually happens. I am in Orlando and we have a strong economy and its not all theme parks. I believe strongly we have great opportunities for all types of investors. I'm happy to talk through some options and what this area has to offer. 

Best of luck to you!

Hi Shawn,

Thank you for the warm welcome, Shawn. I'd love to hear more about the specific opportunities in the Orlando area. My primary goal with this initial investment property is to reduce my expenses by moving to a more affordable area where my PITI is less than my current rent. This approach will help me build equity while saving for my next investment property.

Currently, I live in downtown Fort Lauderdale, so relocating outside of South Florida will likely impact my lifestyle. I'm very active—I ride my bike, walk to the beach about 3-4 days a week, and can walk to most of my workout classes. Additionally, being close to an international airport is ideal for me as I also run a small Turo business. However, I am flexible in making temporary lifestyle changes to help better position myself within real estate.

[Britney Lewin]

@Chris Grenzig Thanks so much for the recommendations. I am able to work from anywhere, but I prefer to stay within arm’s reach of West Palm Beach, which has led to some analysis paralysis in identifying the ideal area for my initial investment property. I've been researching the Orlando area and north of WPB, so it's reassuring to see others mention Orlando as well.

 I also want to take full advantage of the opportunities available to me now, while I am not obligated or bound to a specific location.

[Alice Horn]

 I'm very active—I ride my bike, walk to the beach about 3-4 days a week, and can walk to most of my workout classes. Additionally, being close to an international airport is ideal for me as I also run a small Turo business. However, I am flexible in making temporary lifestyle changes to help better position myself within real estate.

@Britney Lewin speaking as someone who also relocated from South Florida about five years ago we have been exploring surrounding areas. Lakeland has a big small town feel, vibrant downtown, great farmers market and not far from Tampa. You might also check Sanford which is riverfront, also a cute downtown with galleries and breweries and has an airport.  Or stick to downtown Orlando areas, you can always hop on the Brightline and easily visit Fort Lauderdale!

[Kyle Camerlinck]

Hi Britney,

I am biased because I live in Jupiter, but I would say just about any neighborhood in Jupiter. We have saw some of the least amount of impact relative to the rest of the country in 2020 and 2008 just because the demand is so high here. The best opinion I can give is to try and find the best house in the best neighborhood. It depends on if you want to go the str or ltr route because if you did str you probably want no hoa. In that case I would recommend looking near Tequesta.

[Chris Grenzig]

Quote from @Britney Lewin:

@Chris Grenzig Thanks so much for the recommendations. I am able to work from anywhere, but I prefer to stay within arm’s reach of West Palm Beach, which has led to some analysis paralysis in identifying the ideal area for my initial investment property. I've been researching the Orlando area and north of WPB, so it's reassuring to see others mention Orlando as well.

 I also want to take full advantage of the opportunities available to me now, while I am not obligated or bound to a specific location.

 @Britney Lewin I think it's great you have the chance to go in many areas, but finding a property while searching a very wide area can be tough. When we look for properties we set a pretty defined criteria so that it enables us to only spend time on the properties that fit for us. 

10-90 units, C+ or better areas in Jacksonville and Orlando, has a value-add component.

I would suggest trying to work backwards, especially since this is somewhere you want to live. Do you want it to be in a major metro A++ area where it's very nice to live but your other rent may not cover all of your mortgage, or in a small town C area where the other rent might actually make you a little money every month? Do you want to personally live in a small town vs a major metro? Somewhere in between. 

I would recommend finding maybe 2 areas that you look in, then start looking for neighborhoods you would want to live in within those areas. Once you know that, then you can narrow your search and spend time on the properties that definitely make sense versus trying to spend time looking at properties everywhere. 

[Jonathan Greene]

Quote from @Britney Lewin:

Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

I like the Lakeland area a lot. Strong potential growth, lowering prices, good proximity to the rest of Florida, but central. Your insurance costs are high in Florida so you would want to hedge toward the middle of the state as opposed to coastal. Crystal River has been on the upswing, but you are at a good time to be looking in Florida because a lot of areas are on the pricing downswing which could help find a two-family.

Hi Jonathan,

I hadn't considered Lakeland, but it does sound like an area I may potentially be interested in. I have considered the greater Orlando area (Davenport, Kissimmee and Clermont). I'll explore it further. It's reassuring to know that I'm looking at a good time when prices are on a downswing in many areas.

I'll start researching both Lakeland and Crystal River. Thanks again!

Those areas near Orlando are pretty saturated with investors in my opinion because people want to be close to Orlando, but pay less. Areas that are on their own have some scale for the future as all areas of Florida are always touristy. So if you say got a 2-family in one of these towns, you could live in one side and then short- or mid-term rent the other side and max your income out there to pay down your mortgage.

[Robert Ellis]

Quote from @Britney Lewin:

Good rental market* ( BP won’t allow me to edit my post title. )

Hello,

I'm looking to invest in a property for house hacking or to live in for 1-2 years before converting to a rental. I work remotely and prefer a location within 2-3 hours of West Palm Beach, where my family lives. Currently, I rent in downtown Fort Lauderdale and want to move to invest in property. Any suggestions for areas to relocate? I greatly appreciate all advice!

 build a new 3 family in miami dade county 

[Daniela Merida Taborda]

Hi, 

I just bought in Pompano beach the area is having a great growth and the city is putting a lot of money in the beach area. There is a lot of new construction going on. You may want to check it out.