Rental Property Investor · 34209 · Member since 2015 · 48 posts · 22 votes
Hello,
I am thinking about cashing out from my house in Los Angeles and take the proceeds to invest in condos/Houses in SE Florida (West Palm Beach to Miami area). I will have about 500K.
Interested in hearing from other investors/locals:
Rental Property Investor · Boca Raton, FL · Member since 2017 · 329 posts · 237 votes
9y
Hello @Ricky B. . FLorida is great. The further north you go from WPB the better your deals will be. The market here in the Palm Beaches, Boca, Lauderdale and Miami is pretty high priced right now.
Orlando and JAX offer better investment opportunities IMO. If you want to be further south Vero, Stuart, Palm City aren't bad.
I am actually looking in JAX, Cleveland and the Carolinas to get cash flowing deals.
Flips might be easier to find if you get hooked up with a good agent to find you some deals.
Regarding what to look out for:
1. Some areas are in flood zones and will require flood insurance.
2. In the Miami area you would prefer block construction with impact windows. But many homes have shutters and it's not a deal killer.
3. Location can be tricky. Here in FL you can have trailer parks right over the wall from million dollar homes.
4. If you are looking at a flip where the electricity has been off for a while check for mold. We have a high humidity environment here and it doesn't take long to start in a vacant home.
Off the top of my head that is what I can think of.
Depending on which zone the property is in (it's likelihood to be inundated during a given event of projected reoccurrence - 100 yr event has the odds of happening once every hundred years) it determines whether your mortgage company will require you to carry flood insurance on the property.
The good news is that usually the seller, agent or title company will tell you/catch it. But if you are near a body of water, it is always a possibility.
Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2015 · 75 posts · 32 votes
9y
@Bob Razler I am actually going to miss the next meeting because I'm in Chicago for the next 3-4 weeks. I will be there for the September meeting though. Thanks for the info and the link provided: I will start looking into it when I have more free time.
Rental Property Investor · Boca Raton, FL · Member since 2017 · 329 posts · 237 votes
9y
Hello @Ricky B.. Yes.....there is a monthly Saturday afternoon coffee meeting in Delray. @Jon Huber organizes it. There is a monthly post about here in the forums.
It's a great meeting. Lots of great people with plenty of knowledge and me.
Rental Property Investor · 34209 · Member since 2015 · 48 posts · 22 votes
9y
Hi @Andrew Ashby thanks for the reports. Since I want to live close to the ocean, Orlando metro area will probably not be perfect for my personal home but can be an option for rentals/flips. I was curious how is the market like in the closest beach areas like Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral area? Are there still some decent deals to be had there?
Investor · Bushnell, FL · Member since 2016 · 456 posts · 224 votes
9y
Hello,
I just wanted to give my opinion .. I have lived in Fl for 28 yrs now .. and lived in south Fl for around 15 of those years .. thats when i had my first experiance renting seasonal .
While living in Port Charlotte ( on the Gulf Side of Fl ) in 1998, I had bought a 700 sqft condo on a land contract , Got Married , bought a apparel business, and then bought a house all within 6 months .. so i found myself with a condo that i needed to make the bills on .. I decided to rent it for the season seeing how it was the end of Oct and our season started around right after Thanksgiving ( end of Nov ) and goes till right around easter ( Or mid April ) , plus I had a lead on a couple from Canada looking to rent a place for the season.
My total payments and insurance and condo association fees on my 10 yr land contract was around $290 a month .. ( purchased for $24.5k w/ 8% interest but put a down payment down also ) ..
I ended up renting it fully furnished with all ulitlities ( around $50-70 a month for electric, all other fees were covered in condo fees ) So, I rented it for $900 a month for 5 months that year .. plus they paid me up front for the whole season. $4500.00 .. I had the rest of the year or summer to rent it to travaling nurses ( walking distance to hospital ) which i got $500+ electric a month for 6 months ( with the understanding they had to be out by Nov ) because fir the following 5 years that same nice Canadian couple rented it for the season ...
The only reason it stopped for me at least was because of my divorce and the fact that my ex got the condo in the settlement .. as far as i know she ended up selling it .. but it was great while it lasted and I may have gotten lucky but the people i had as renters were very trouble free ..
I only wish i had bought more and copied what i was doing .. who knows had there been a resource like BiggerPockets back then ..
But, I got way off track by telling you my story .. I did so though so you would know that I have a little experiance with sesonal rentals at least and might take my opinion a bit serious ..
So, to my opinion .. right now I see ( and i have been keeping a decent eye on the market ) that Daytona and some of the other smaller city's on that coast have had what looks to be pretty good investments recently .
Just last week I seen a 1 bedroom condo on the Pacific Ocean with no rental restrictions selling for $49k , in Daytona ..
There are so many things that go on in that area all year but come winter its a no brainer .. you should be able to rent seasonal and pay for your whole year .. As for Airbnb I have no experiance in that besides renting a place myself in the keys to get away ..
You do have to be careful though .. especially around Orlando where there are a lot of rentals .. some Homeowners Associations and condo Assoc. restrict short term and even long term rentals .. some have it in their bylaws that you have to have a year of ownership before having it as a rental .. So please do your due Dil .. which Im sure you will ..
Thank you for allowing me to go down memory lane .. I wish you the very best ..
Rental Property Investor · 34209 · Member since 2015 · 48 posts · 22 votes
9y
Thanks @Account Closed for sharing your experience.
Due to potential issues with HOA and condo neighbors, I may focus first on finding an SFR or a duplex, so I can live on one side and rent out the other short term. Also, I would ideally like this property to be a mild fixer-upper so I can add some sweat equity to it.
Regarding rental, as I am searching for properties, I am trying to figure out if I should pay a little extra to be right on the beach or a few blocks inland is ok..
Insurance Agent · Lake Oswego, OR · Member since 2015 · 50 posts · 20 votes
9y
Ricky Bansal,
I'm pro space coast. We just bought a small apartment building, and getting to know and like the area more and more. NASA is going to Mars, Port Canaveral is a major port for cruise lines, Disney/ Orlando is less than 1hr away. There is also a private rail development underway that when completed will run from Miami to Orlando. I spoke with my banker, and they are working to get a stop near Port Canaveral for all of the Cruise business.
Like Ryan Fitzhugh mentioned, beware of flood insurance, get a 4point inspection and a wind mitigation inspection to save your a bunch on insurance.
Let me know if you want to talk or I can provide any more info.
Rental Property Investor · 34209 · Member since 2015 · 48 posts · 22 votes
9y
Hello @Darrin Gross thanks for your input. Yes I am definitely intrigued by the space coast prospects from your post. I would like to get in touch with you when I make my due diligence trip to FL in the next few months.
Investor · Bushnell, FL · Member since 2016 · 456 posts · 224 votes
9y
@Ricky B. you can certainly find what your looking for in Daytona area .. there are many Duplexes that need a bit of rehab .. one concern would be though , do you see yourself doing the work or do you plan on hiring it out .. I know from experinace that it's not impossible but it can be difficult to facilitate a rehab from a distance in a city that you know nobody .. my advice would be to find a boots on the ground type of person .. one who can look out for your best interest .. one who you pay but not on a commission basis to look at potential properties for you before you fly all the way here .. He/She should be able to take pics and video maybe even FaceTime with you when you send them to look at potential properties .. tell you how the neighborhood looks like also .. maybe even know the value and the arv .. one who can give you a somewhat accurate rehab estimate before you call your in a contractor for their Est. .. I actually do all those things for a select few of out of state investors but on this coast , nearer me (Tampa side ) some even partner with me on flips .. where they provide the financing and I manage the rehab's then we split profits ..I'm sure you can find someone like that on that coast .. it's a little bit far for me 1 1/2 hrs .. not that you were offering .. I just wanted to make clear that people who read this don't think I was self promoting .. ( I have been accused of that a time or two ) I don't mean to .. I just wanted to let you know there are people out there that are honest and can help .. you don't have to try to do it all yourself .
Please reach out if you have any questions about how I went about setting it up ..i.e. contract , Non compete, .. etc ..
Rental Property Investor · 34209 · Member since 2015 · 48 posts · 22 votes
9y
Thanks @Account Closed.
Everything is dependent on me deciding to move to FL from CA. The plan then is to sell my house in LA and move to Florida to invest/rehab/rental. I just don't know yet where in FL I will end up first. I am keeping the three major areas of Tampa/St Pete, Space Coast and WPB/Ft. Laud area. I am too much of a control freak to not be close to my investments :) Although I will be hiring a contractor to do the work and will be depending on referrals from local BP family.
Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2017 · 20 posts · 13 votes
9y
Hi All,
I'm a complete newbie to BiggerPockets and decided to follow this thread too. So many of you have provided very informative advice and it's been very helpful to me.
I too am looking for STR opportunities and wanting to move to the coast - West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale where the market seems good for vacation rentals. (Cold winters and grey days in Canada are prompting us to move to Florida next year). In the meantime we'll be doing visits to Florida every few months to get a lay of the land and look for investment opportunities and also a separate place for my family and I to live in.
I'm glad to be able to learn from this discussion. Thanks!
Rental Property Investor · 34209 · Member since 2015 · 48 posts · 22 votes
9y
@Katrina Poole Welcome to BP and to this thread. I was also a complete noob when I started this thread not expecting such a tremendous response from the BP community out here!
Now I spend hours soaking in the wealth of knowledge here.
Developer · Miami, FL · Member since 2016 · 47 posts · 15 votes
9y
Thanks @Ricky B. for airdna and roomscore. My friend @E Villanueva turned a fledging vacation condo off International Drive into a solid airbnb rental. Prices are low and I'm headed up there this week to show an investor a couple units.
Titusville (Space coast Brevard county) looks like its rebounding, it may be worth taking a look at.
The suburbs just outside of the Miami city center aren't as expensive and provide a better ROI than the oversaturated high rises.
If you're looking for the beach the north part of Miami Dade through Broward and maybe Palm beach is expected to have the better appreciation than the coastal part of Miami. Either way a good deal is the important part of the equation.
Seminole, FL · Member since 2017 · 86 posts · 39 votes
9y
Wow! Reading this thread and I'm thinking "I wonder if there's a map for Air B&B friendly..." and then @Marty True posts one! @Ryan Fitzhugh, I don't suppose you have one for the Tampa/St. Pete area (or Ft. Myers area)? I know that some areas like Redington are really kicking about that.
@Katrina Poole Welcome to BP and to this thread. I was also a complete noob when I started this thread not expecting such a tremendous response from the BP community out here!
Now I spend hours soaking in the wealth of knowledge here.
@Katrina Poole Welcome to BP and to this thread. I was also a complete noob when I started this thread not expecting such a tremendous response from the BP community out here!
Now I spend hours soaking in the wealth of knowledge here.
Rental Property Investor · Boca Raton, FL · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 713 votes
9y
@Ricky B. I did the exact move for you. I hosted the Coffee Meetup in LA, and have since moved it to South FL. You are more than welcome to attend our next meeting on Aug 26th. I loved y time in LA, but I moved back east as well.
Question... why sell your place in LA?? I decided to keep my property out there, and I couldn't be happier with the appreciation. If it is for a financial reason, you can always leverage the equity as opposed to cashing out by selling.
If you want to discuss how I worked my strategy off line, I'd be more than happy to link up.