PCSing to Pensacola - What's a good area?

[Tyler Hall]

I am active duty military and I will be PCSing to NAS Pensacola, hopefully, within the next 6-12 mos. I will be attending training there that lasts roughly 12 months. My wife and I are looking at buying a property that we can live in and fix up (cosmetically) and then either rent it out as a standard SFH or as a short term rental.

I am interested in see what other professionals have seen as good areas to invest in, what the average rents you are currently seeing for 3/2 roughly 1500sqft homes. What is the AirBNB market looking like? Are there any restrictions, etc.

Looking for some general feedback on the area!

Thanks!

-Tyler

[Matt Jones]

Hey @Tyler Hall!

Pensacola is a great town, I'm sure that you'll enjoy your time here.  Will you be stationed at NAS Pensacola the entire time or also somewhere else like Whiting Field for some of your time here? I ask because I regularly see service members who will be stationed at both buy somewhere in between(like the Pensacola areas off of Davis Hwy / Scenic Hwy / Near UWF or in Milton near Avalon Blvd).  If you'll be at NAS Pensacola the entire time and you prefer to be close to base then focusing your search outside the front or back gate may make more sense.  With the way Pensacola is laid out you can look in almost the entire area if you don't mind commuting up to 30 minutes.  There are good areas for rentals in pockets all over town so don't think of this like a big city where you might have to narrow down your area to one suburb or specific area of town. You can just look for houses you like and run the numbers rather than focusing on small areas.

As far as AirBnB, our market is fairly saturated so you really have to operate at a high level to stand out and/or have a really excellent location.  Downtown str's have done well and it's convenient to the front gate of NAS Pensacola but you could also consider near the beaches of Perdido Key since that is convenient to the back gate and it's a more traditional tourist destination.  Either way, you want to be close to something that is drawing visitors to the area or you'll likely face too much competition to be profitable in my opinion.  

Feel free to reach out if I can help you with your search!