Investing in Florida

[Paul Gill]

What does the BP community think of investing into Florida in single family detached houses. which are best places to invest or avoid?  What are the typical rents ? New construction or Resale ? 

I live in Toronto Canada but I am thinking of investing into the US market. 

[Josh P.]

As a born & raised Florida Native, with thousands of transactions under my belt.... There seems to be a lot of bad (read: weak, vague, ambiguous) info in this post.

You need *way more* specifics to get proper data and information on your investment option(s).

Sinkholes are *not* an issue for investors looking to rent their homes out.  In fact, they're not even an issue for me on my flips.  

There is *no area* in Florida that "is not a sinkhole area" and there are also no areas that *are* sinkhole areas.  It's just FLORIDA.

A *real* sinkhole is very rare in my experience.  A "insurance job sinkhole" is *much more commonplace* unfortunately.  Most of these "sinkholes" are simply = "WECLOME TO FLORIDA!"  We're a beach, we're just above the water table.  This is NOT the Midwest, we are NOT built atop Granite or Mountain basin(s).  

Sinkholes are insurable (even in unrepaired condition) for Investors like us.  If you're not familiar - look into AFFINITY. We've got all our properties insured (repaired & unrepaired alike) through them. 

Sinkholes are insurable & finance-able for an end user when remediation appropriately completed.  I have insurance companies and lenders who can facilitate both.

If you are afraid of them (Sinkhole Homes), please, feel free to send them my way and I'll gladly pay a bird dog fee :-)  I love them, and have flipped 16 of them this year. 

As for Flood Insurance - you can be on the same street as another house and one require the coverage and another not.  It's a case-by-case basis, based upon the elevation above the flood plain.  My parents' home does not require Flood, however, 4 houses down does (lower elevation; my parents are on a hill).  I've got clients who were not in a "required" zone, who we got them a very small policy ($400 annually) when they purchased their home from us, and they got flood damage within 3 years of owning that home from a "once in a 100+ years" flooding!  

Flood / Sinkholes / Rehabs - these are all simply risk vs. reward.  What are you willing to risk, at what cost, at what opportunity?  

Yet these broad-scope assumptions and posts / responses are not going to help you assess an individual opportunity.  You'll want to review each individual opportunity entirely w/all these risks factored in.

Tampa Bay / Florida / Spring Hill / Inverness / Jax / Ocala - are all great areas and opportunities to invest in.  You'll want to determine if the individual *DEAL* is a good value, and if it fits your risk factors or not.

Just my 2 cents anyways.