Investor in FL thinking about next steps. Appreciate any ideas!

[Peter Amico]

Hi BP experts- I have been listening to the podcast for a few months now and am learning lots. I am a current investor and working on trying to figure out my next steps. We moved to Orlando, FL a year ago from Boston and I had been slowly acquiring 3/2 single families in Vero Beach (where I grew up) which is about 1.5 hours from Orlando. I self-manage these. I work (w-2) 4 days a week doing economic research at a well paid gig. I like the 3/2s with families and I have had very low turnover which makes them easy to manage.

Here is a bit of background on my portfolio. 

Market: Vero Beach, FL

1) Own free and clear 3 - 3/2 SFRs with approximate value of 120k each. I am currently selling on of these for 121k

2) Financed- 30yr ~5% 2- 3/2 SFRs with values of 85k and 130k; both have about 20% down. 

Market: Orlando, FL

1) Purchased a 3/1 SFR at auction with a business partner and will flip this house in next 3 months. Total cash in 103k + expected 15k return.

Market: Dallas, TX

1) Just joined a syndication for a 244 unit apartment complex as a limited partner- 50k. Money is tied up for 5 years with expected IRR of 18%.

My question: I am struggling to understand what my next steps are. I have a lot of equity in my current homes (~400k in Vero and 120k in the Orlando flip). I am expecting to get 100k out of the house I am selling in the next few moths after fees and to get the 120k out of the Orlando flip. My focus has been 3/2 SFRs in Vero Beach, but I want to buy properties in Orlando now in my market. The 3/2s are now much more expensive than previously and hard to find 1% deals. I am also interested in duplexes, and larger, but I also think it is important to stay focused and I really understand the 3/2 market well. I would also like to leverage my funds to do some bigger deals (potential 220k available soon puts me around 1 million property and could cash out refinance the others for even more). 

My goals are to scale up to about 100k post tax profit from the properties. Right now, I am probably at about 35k after tax. I want this to be semi-passive, but not just dumping it all in a syndication or REITS. 

In one scenario, I would buy 5 more 3/2 SFRs in Orlando market in next year and continue to slowly build my portfolio. I am ok with making this a larger portion of my time, if necessary. However, my question is what are my options? What am I not considering? Any ideas for how to scale quickly? Is it a bad idea to move to different properties (non SFR) where I am less of an expert? How can I best leverage all my equity/cash?

Appreciate any thoughts. 

[Andrew Ashby]

@Peter Amico, you're right about the prices in the actual city of Orlando making cash flow difficult. However, better cash flow is still easily had in the outlying towns like Clermont, Apopka, Davenport, Kissimmee, Altamonte Springs, and so forth. You're still in the Orlando Metro Area, but prices are far more reasonable. As it concerns switching investment types, I think it's hard to argue against the cash flow and scalability of multi-family apartment complexes. If you can come up with $100-$300k in cash as a down payment, you could find a smaller apartment complex.