Best Florida STR Market

[Matthew Stallings]

I currently have a cabin in Gatlinburg that is cash flowing well. The market there is inflated right now so I'm looking to purchase my next STR property in Florida (possibly Emerald Coast) doing the second home loan with 10% down. I know that Florida's condo's come with high HOA fees that hurt cash flow.

I'm looking for someone experienced in the FL market (Avery Carl is the go to for Smoky Mtn. market) who knows of good neighborhoods and areas where houses are allowed to do STR and will cash flow well through Airbnb/VRBO. House would be in the $350-500k range and I'd like to self manage remotely. Can anyone help me out or steer me in the right direction?

[Matt "Roar" Gardner]

Man, I miss ONE day on Bigger Pockets with such a lively discussion! lol  @Matthew Stallings and @Tim Schroeder 

As far as performance, we purchased one of my larger houses for $565K. It grossed ~$73K in 2019 with only 40% occupancy (cash flowed about $20K). That was our first year in the market. I have a few friends with similar houses in our neighborhood that have hit between $85-95K! We purchased this house with a physician's loan (second home loan with no PMI).

@Charlie Cameron - Thanks for the shout out, brother!

@Luke Carl - I'm pumped  to see your success as you enter this market! I am guessing that you'll have to drop your rates more than expected in the off-season to stay booked.  We charge also ~$1,000/nt peak season as well, but I charge $125/nt in the extreme off season.