Lakeland, FL Buy and Hold Properties

[Richard Ellis]

I live Winter Park, FL but I'm looking in Lakeland, FL for buy and hold deals and I wanted to get the opinion of other investors before looking any further. Upon initial analysis, it seems that there are a TON of good deals in Lakeland. For instance, 1,000-1,200 sq ft homes in decent areas built in the 1970-1980 range selling for 40-70k with maybe $10,000 in rehab necessary for make it rentable for 800-1,100/month. Anyone working in the Lakeland area have any insight here? I lived there for 4 years so I am familiar with the area. I really like the idea of multi-family properties, but these SFRs seem to be really good deals as well for their discounted price.