New to Landlording in Tampa Bay, FL

New Member Introductions
11yFollow

New to Landlording in Tampa Bay, FL

Joy Y.
Software/Higher Education · Tampa Bay Area, FL · Member since 2015 · 14 posts · 3 votes

Hello BP land! I am new to the site and have spent hours reading for the past 2 weeks. Still haven't made it to the podcasts yet. Today! 

I am in the Tampa Bay area, Riverview/Gibsonton area. I have a 5 acre home and horse farm property that I am looking to rent. I have been crunching numbers and feel like it may be a better investment to hold the property rather than sell it. I would really like to network with folks in the local area to help me analyze things and also get started being a landlord. I believe the income produced from this property will cover its costs plus cover a large portion of the mortgage for my new primary residence, which is exciting. Added benefit, it would be a nice income stream for my retirement. 

I'd also be interested in talking with folks who may have had experience with the county to do rezoning or planned developments. Just to know what my investment options might be for this property down the road. It's right in the corner of a new subdivision, where there is a lot of expansion going on. 

Finally,  I would like some perspective on rent comps for the property as it is a niche--and I believe it can command a higher rent because of the house and the barn/pastures. Anybody out there with experience in this as well? I also am just getting started in defining the terms of the rental agreement with regards to barn/farm and all the maintenance requirements there. 

I am also very interested in networking events in the Tampa Bay area. Anything happening soon?

0Reply
19 views

Most Popular Reply

Aaron T.Pro Member
Developer · Aguada, PR · Member since 2014 · 927 posts · 279 votes
11y

I would look to rent the property. as well as lease out individual stalls in the barn for additional income. depending on size, zoning, etc, you could also have people park their horse trailers out there for a fee.

sometimes a larger property does not mean better rents. there seems to be a point of demising returns.  

If you can get 1% of your purchase price in monthly rents, you would be in good shape. all that area is still growing and will see a lot of continued change as it has over the past 11 years.

1Reply
See this reply in the discussion

8 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Aaron T.Pro Member
    Developer · Aguada, PR · Member since 2014 · 927 posts · 279 votes
    11y

    I would look to rent the property. as well as lease out individual stalls in the barn for additional income. depending on size, zoning, etc, you could also have people park their horse trailers out there for a fee.

    sometimes a larger property does not mean better rents. there seems to be a point of demising returns.  

    If you can get 1% of your purchase price in monthly rents, you would be in good shape. all that area is still growing and will see a lot of continued change as it has over the past 11 years.

    1Reply
  • Adrian Smude
    Rental Property Investor · Plant City, FL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 379 votes
    11y

    Welcome to BP!

    I use Craigslist as my main source for rent info.  Some people like rentometer.com and some people say zillow is consistently $50-$100 high on their rent estimate.  I check these to only to see if they support what I've found on Craigslist.  You could always reach out to property management companies to get an idea what they think it can rent for.  This will start your relationship with them in case land lording isn't for you which the property management company can take over.

    When running your numbers have you used the bigger pockets rent calculator?  

    There are many local REIA meet ups that can provide you with more education and networking, but most I've seen don't cater to the landlord.

    0Reply
  • Joy Y.
    OP
    Software/Higher Education · Tampa Bay Area, FL · Member since 2015 · 14 posts · 3 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Aaron T.:

    I would look to rent the property. as well as lease out individual stalls in the barn for additional income. depending on size, zoning, etc, you could also have people park their horse trailers out there for a fee.

    sometimes a larger property does not mean better rents. there seems to be a point of demising returns.  

    If you can get 1% of your purchase price in monthly rents, you would be in good shape. all that area is still growing and will see a lot of continued change as it has over the past 11 years.

    Hello, Aaron.

    I've been considering renting individual stalls and the house separately. It means a lot more work, and a lot more insurance required to rent the individual stalls. Im waiting on quotes from two insurance companies. If I rent the entire property to an individual with their personal horses, there isn't a need to carry commercial insurance. Again, there is probably a point of diminishing returns on how much board I could get for the stalls vs how much it costs me for the insurance and maintenance on the barn, pastures, etc. 

    What would you consider the 1% of purchase price? I have owned this property for over 20 years and have a low balance on the mortgage. Would you consider that the purchase price? Or, would you use the anticipated proceeds I would have if I were to sell it today?  

    Finally, yes, this area is exploding. I'd love to hear what people think of investing in this area in particular. Is the growth and increases in property values likely to continue? I think so as they are building houses so quickly and buying the vacant properties at around $30K per acre or more from what I've seen. 

    0Reply
  • Joy Y.
    OP
    Software/Higher Education · Tampa Bay Area, FL · Member since 2015 · 14 posts · 3 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Adrian Smude:

    Welcome to BP!

    I use Craigslist as my main source for rent info.  Some people like rentometer.com and some people say zillow is consistently $50-$100 high on their rent estimate.  I check these to only to see if they support what I've found on Craigslist.  You could always reach out to property management companies to get an idea what they think it can rent for.  This will start your relationship with them in case land lording isn't for you which the property management company can take over.

    When running your numbers have you used the bigger pockets rent calculator?  

    There are many local REIA meet ups that can provide you with more education and networking, but most I've seen don't cater to the landlord.

     Hello, @Adrian Smude

    I've been using Craigslist as well, looking for horse properties with houses or mobile homes. I'd love to find a property management company who is experienced handling horse properties, but I don't even know where to start. My realtor, not experienced in these matters, tries to pull comps from the subdivisions--and it's just not the same motivation for payment. Most people pay anywhere from $150-300 a month per horse for what is known as self-care or partial barn (this is not full service board which includes the horses food, bedding and the 2x daily labor which can be $450-600). Being able to live with their horses and provide care themselves saves the tenant money, but also provides me with a more profitable investment.  (at least, that's what I think/hope will be the case)

    I did use the calculator using my outstanding mortgage balance as the purchase price of the property and I included forecasted tax and insurance expenses as well as including lawn/property maintenance costs AND I calculated it using 10% property management. I'm not sure if I should calculate it using the outstanding mortgage or the net proceeds of what I think I might be able to sell it for as the "purchase price". Any thoughts on that? 

    0Reply
  • Adrian Smude
    Rental Property Investor · Plant City, FL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 379 votes
    11y

    @Joy Y. I have a hard time deciding which number to use for my rental property I purchased way before I found BP.  I decided on using the purchase price and looking forward on the graph of the year I'm in.  I'd love to hear what other people think about this situation...

    0Reply
  • Devon Garbus
    Real Estate Agent · Tampa, FL · Member since 2015 · 467 posts · 57 votes
    11y

    Hi Joy!

    If you shoot me a PM I can run comps for you both on value and rent.

    If interested in selling for land value I have builders who would snatch it up pending rezoning/permitting.

    0Reply
  • Aaron T.Pro Member
    Developer · Aguada, PR · Member since 2014 · 927 posts · 279 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Joy Y.:
    Originally posted by @Aaron T.:

    I would look to rent the property. as well as lease out individual stalls in the barn for additional income. depending on size, zoning, etc, you could also have people park their horse trailers out there for a fee.

    sometimes a larger property does not mean better rents. there seems to be a point of demising returns.  

    If you can get 1% of your purchase price in monthly rents, you would be in good shape. all that area is still growing and will see a lot of continued change as it has over the past 11 years.

    Hello, Aaron.

    I've been considering renting individual stalls and the house separately. It means a lot more work, and a lot more insurance required to rent the individual stalls. Im waiting on quotes from two insurance companies. If I rent the entire property to an individual with their personal horses, there isn't a need to carry commercial insurance. Again, there is probably a point of diminishing returns on how much board I could get for the stalls vs how much it costs me for the insurance and maintenance on the barn, pastures, etc. 

    What would you consider the 1% of purchase price? I have owned this property for over 20 years and have a low balance on the mortgage. Would you consider that the purchase price? Or, would you use the anticipated proceeds I would have if I were to sell it today?  

    Finally, yes, this area is exploding. I'd love to hear what people think of investing in this area in particular. Is the growth and increases in property values likely to continue? I think so as they are building houses so quickly and buying the vacant properties at around $30K per acre or more from what I've seen. 

    Joy,

    yes, you will have to consider maintenance and insurance in your boarding fees. I know people who rent the house and its fenced off from additional parts of the property. Then the barns/stalls have their own gate so they can enter and exit external to the house.

    My thoughts are someone that can afford to rent 5 acres with horses will be in a position to buy the same type of set up. Maybe someone that has a couple horses and wants to live in the house will be in a position to rent.

    The boarding of horses and storage of trailers will be able to help offset your costs.

    Rents will be dependent on others with the same sized properties in the area. a neighborhood home will not be a good comp.

    My house off Big bend rd does well as a rental.  

    0Reply
  • Mark Nolan
    Professional · Carlsbad, CA · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    @Joy Y.

    Welcome to Bigger Pockets community. Be sure to check out “Learn” for all kinds of useful resources and free how to guides.

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free