Pensacola Beach, FL vacation rental condo

[Paxton Corwin]

Investment Info:

Condo buy & hold investment in Pensacola Beach.

Purchase price: $610,000
Cash invested: $170,000

Short term vacation rental property located on Pensacola Beach. We purchased this property in October 2020 after owning/managing another PB property for 5 years.

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

Previously owned/managed another unit in the area and decided to 1031 Exchange for this unit.

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

Happened to meet broker at an open house and it turned into the sale of previous unit, becoming an active agent with her brokerage, and purchasing this unit. We did not negotiate much, unfortunately.

How did you finance this deal?

We conducted a 1031 Exchange for equity and financed the rest with a conventional loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

We brought vacation rental experience to the deal as well as the equity from a previous property via the 1031 Exchange.

What was the outcome?

So far, so good! However, it does not really cash flow. We are only potentially realizing the appreciation only, despite relatively significant annual gross revenue.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

It might make more sense to sell this investment and do our homework before the next purchase. We've relied on mostly on not being afraid to take a risk and do something and of course, luck.

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

I'd recommend my wife, a great Realtor so far!