Looking for a Rental Property to later become my beach home

[Carly Lopez]

Hey all! I am new to BiggerPockets and recently made the decision with my husband to pursue investing in Real estate in the South Florida area. We are currently living in Los Angeles but went to college in West Palm Beach. Ideally, we are looking for a single-family home with a detached garage apartment to rent out these units to college students who attend our alma mater. 

Is it too high of an expectation to hope to buy a single-family home (with detached second unit) that I rent out now for reasonable cash flow that ALSO fits a lot of my own personal criteria for it to be my future beach home? 

Does anyone have lots of experience in West Palm Beach SF rentals?

Thanks in advance!! 

[Kyle Funnell]

Hey @Carly Lopez

Welcome back to South Florida. I am an investor/realtor in West Palm Beach. Really depends on your personal criteria. There are some properties that have a detached unit that you could cash flow or even great for short term rentals (but with the unknown circumstances of COVID, short term rentals may not be the best bet).

Also those houses that do have a detached unit, may have rent too high for college students to reasonably live in.

When conducting your search, keep in mind that West Palm Beach has many HOA's. These are a big cost as well and even add restrictions to rentals. I recently performed a search for a couple looking for a home similar to yours and there are a few that do have detached units that are not in HOA but are west of 95 and not on Palm Beach island.