Pol county buy and hold

[Eric Furst]

I'm a fairly inexperienced investor looking to break into the Florida market after starting with a few properties in other areas. From what I've gathered it seems like Polk county, and specifically Lakeland, would fit within my price range (125-175 for a 3 bdrm). I'm looking foe help from some "boots on the ground" with narrowing down the areas I should look.

I gathered some data on the Lake Somerset, Lake Bentley, and Lakeland highlands areas, but I would like to narrow down my search a little more to find good communities within those areas. Or if anyone has any suggestions about other places to look in the area, that would be great too.