Tampa and Jacksonville FL

[Han Gu]

I am a newbie looking at Orlando. Then in some of my previous threads, lots of people mentioned Tampa and Jacksonville.

So I figured, wth, I'll just take a look. And Wow! Huge, newer houses for super cheap. I couldn't even wrap my head around that. Granted, a lot of the school ratings seem to be abysmal. But some were acceptable.

Obviously, something's causing their markets to get like that. Can some of the pros here shed some light?

What would be a good strategy to invest in these two places? Cash flow or flip?

Honestly, for a newbie that has limited budget ($150k), and wants to make the most bang for the buck, these properties look very tempting. (on paper at least)

[Pancham G.]

@Han Gu

Welcome to BP! Its a great place for real estate investing. You cannot just go buy the price of the property and the school ratings. Granted that 10/10 school ratings on great schools may imply a good area but you have see overall whats driving the growth in that area, how are prospects of the area in general, what kind of population growth has happened in the past year, is it mainly owner occupied area or renters area, the demographics, is the area over developed for its demand, etc. You can read CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) for the area to find out more information about the biggest employers etc.

I see that you are from Long Island... with 150k, you can get decent deals here if you willing to take leverage.