Travel nurses ready to invest in Florida

[Jason Hatcher]

Hey everyone. My girlfriend and I are new to BP and have a unique situation. We have been travel nurses the past few years and are looking to start investing in some properties. We are originally from Kentucky, but have no intentions of settling there. We are looking to start investing in the Florida market and have been analyzing the markets of Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and St. Petersburg. We are currently in San Francisco and will continue to work out here for the next few months. We plan on continuing to do travel nursing for another year or two, both for the income and adventure of it. We are trying to learn as much as possible before settling on an area that we want to develop and eventually live in. Looking for some feedback about how everyone feels about the Florida markets. Obviously the best thing we could do is take some time off and spend some time in each area, but that may not happen until we actually buy something. Sounds a little crazy, but we enjoy the adventure. We have always wanted to settle somewhere on the East Coast and California housing prices are a bit steep to just play around with. My girlfriend's mother and step father live near Orlando and would be able to help out until we physically move down there to settle in. He has rental/contractor experience and she is retired. We have considered property management, but first we need to find a market. Ideally, we would like to start off with a nice quad, off street parking that has a good cash flow, even if the cost is higher. We would consider duplex/triplex as well. Prefer to stay away from condos due to HOA fees. I would like to get into single families once we are in the area. Obviously a lot up in the air with the new Trump presidency coming up, but we plan on holding these properties. Any inputs? We will be flying to Orlando/Tampa area this coming week and will have a few days to look around and are interested in finding investor friendly realtors to pair up with. Thanks for the advice and inputs!