Investment in Panama City Beach, Fl.

[Crystal Ball]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Panama City.

Purchase price: $110,000
Cash invested: $110,000
Sale price: $125,000

Purchased as a long term rental; tried out short term rental. Sold to re-invest in our business expansion.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Purchased for family member. Always wanted my own condo at the beach.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Found through my awesome realtor. Short sale. Purchased at a great value.

How did you finance this deal?

Rolled my 401k funds into a trust fund to pay cash.

How did you add value to the deal?

New A/C, furnished, decorated, maintained well.

What was the outcome?

Made money on the flip. Great educational experience. Led to full-time job with the property management company I hired and now to my own business in real estate!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

With 9k properties up for short term rental in PCB, you'd better have one on the beach if you want to rent year round. Property management companies are generally horrible - it's no wonder the real estate manual calls the need for one a liability. Self managing is the way to go if you can swing it - you'll net $10k more / year at least on average. Rentals are a LOT of work. Staging works. Staging can't be realistically maintained in a rental - less is more.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yolanda Salas is my personal realtor - I like her so much I hung my new RE license with her! Great mentor and knows all about business, lending, and real estate in general.