Flipping Jacksonville, but where are the Buyers

[Robert Rayford]

In the last 2 years I have seen a incredible increase of new property investors in Jacksonville. Most of them are wholesalers or flippers. This year there has been a rush of turn key providers taking a foot hold in the city. There are almost 1000 homes listed under $100k and another 3200 above that. Then there's what seems to be a endless supply of properties that have yet to hit the market. You can drive down any given street and see homes boarded up and abandon. I have bought a few of these properties, cleaned up the deeds and titles then resold for a nice return. With so many flippers in the market it is only a matter time before the market is flooded with rehabbed homes. What does this do to the price points? History dictates that market will run flat until the inventory shrinks but with so much potential inventory waiting to brought to the market, then how can it, before the next market adjustment. Jacksonville is a little different from other markets with similar history. Like in Las Vegas for the last 5 years with the exception of last year it was standard to have multiple vacant homes on each street now it's a feeding frenzy with low inventory. But Jacksonville ( which is the biggest city in the U.S, per land mass) has a long way to go before this can happen. There is a increase in properties hitting the market but the DOM are getting longer. I have flippers calling me asking for a great deal but it is hard to get someone to follow through with the purchase. Jacksonville will fast become a out of area investor market. The signs of this are already starting to show just the fact that turn key providers has set their sites on this city is a clue. I am running into a lot of tire kickers and no takers. The true winners in the Jacksonville market are the investors that will offer seller financing for a primary buyer. I can go on and on about this but what do you think ?