Getting Familiar with Florida

[David Huynh]

Hello,

I live in Virginia and interested in purchasing real estate in Florida. From my research, the property in Florida seems to cost less than in Northern Va. I've been told that Sanford, Winter Park and Lake Mary Florida a good area to purchase and rent? Is anyone familiar with these areas? Is there an available pool of renters? This there a better area in Florida that we should consider? Thanks in advance.

[Andrew Ashby]

@David Huynh, the Orlando Metro Area is one of the fastest growing in the entire U.S. The metro has added over 400,000 new residents in the last five years alone. The metro has seen 9% appreciation in the last twelve months alone. I have analyzed every zip code in the entire Orlando Metro Area and many are already sitting at 0.60%-1.1% average rent-to-purchase price ratios without even adding distress. Rentals that are in desirable areas (areas I have identified quantitatively as those that command rent premiums against the metro average) usually don't sit more than a week or two on the market. While the actual city of Orlando is very small at about 270,000 residents, the Orlando Metro Area is a staggering 2.4 million. You can't confine your Central Florida rental search to just the small borders of Orlando city proper. You need to look beyond at Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Apopka, Lake Mary, Winter Garden, Ocoee, Clermont, Minneola, Davenport, Kissimmee, Windermere, and more.