Central Florida Investment Advice

[Joshua Easters]

Hi Bigger Pockets Community,

I am looking for any wisdom you all might have for someone starting down the path of real estate investing.

I currently own one rental house that I bought when the Tampa market was extremely low. It is a historic house that I did a full reno on, and now have about $140,000 in equity on that property. It currently rents with a positive cash flow, and I have been channeling all of the profits from the rents into principal pay down on the property.

Additionally, a couple years ago I purchased 2 off-market lots outright by direct mail. I am selling those at just over double what I paid for them, and am set to close this week. They are paying $10k down and I am owner financing the balance over 4 years.

I am looking to reinvest some of those profits, and I would like to add some type of buy/hold rental property this year, either SFR or multi-family. I am currently looking most seriously at the Lakeland market as it seems to be a bit easier to get into that the Tampa/St. Pete markets are at the moment. Additionally, Lakeland seems to be an excellent place to own rentals due to the 2 college campuses that are in town.

I am interested to know if anyone has any input or preference on Central Florida markets right now for buy and hold rents. From a financial perspective, would you recommend that I go ahead and cash out the home equity in my existing rental property, or try for a place that will work with conventional financing? My long term goal is to build a solid portfolio of buy and hold rentals. Any wisdom you all can give as far as what to look out for, or any information specific to the Central Florida markets would be much appreciated.

Thank you all so much!

Josh