Florida Investor looking for suggestions on overall strategy.

[Peter Amico]

Cross-posting this from general forum. 

Hi BP experts- I have been listening to the podcast for a few months now and am learning lots. I am a current investor and working on trying to figure out my next steps. We moved to Orlando, FL a year ago from Boston and I had been slowly acquiring 3/2 single families in Vero Beach (where I grew up) which is about 1.5 hours from Orlando. I self-manage these. I work (w-2) 4 days a week doing economic research at a well paid gig. I like the 3/2s with families and I have had very low turnover which makes them easy to manage.

Here is a bit of background on my portfolio.

Market: Vero Beach, FL

1) Own free and clear 3 - 3/2 SFRs with approximate value of 120k each. I am currently selling on of these for 121k

2) Financed- 30yr ~5% 2- 3/2 SFRs with values of 85k and 130k; both have about 20% down.

Market: Orlando, FL

1) Purchased a 3/1 SFR at auction with a business partner and will flip this house in next 3 months. Total cash in 103k + expected 15k return.

Market: Dallas, TX

1) Just joined a syndication for a 244 unit apartment complex as a limited partner- 50k. Money is tied up for 5 years with expected IRR of 18%.

My question: I am struggling to understand what my next steps are. I have a lot of equity in my current homes (~400k in Vero and 120k in the Orlando flip). I am expecting to get 100k out of the house I am selling in the next few moths after fees and to get the 120k out of the Orlando flip. My focus has been 3/2 SFRs in Vero Beach, but I want to buy properties in Orlando now in my market. The 3/2s are now much more expensive than previously and hard to find 1% deals. I am also interested in duplexes, and larger, but I also think it is important to stay focused and I really understand the 3/2 market well. I would also like to leverage my funds to do some bigger deals (potential 220k available soon puts me around 1 million property and could cash out refinance the others for even more).

My goals are to scale up to about 100k post tax profit from the properties. Right now, I am probably at about 35k after tax. I want this to be semi-passive, but not just dumping it all in a syndication or REITS.

In one scenario, I would buy 5 more 3/2 SFRs in Orlando market in next year and continue to slowly build my portfolio. I am ok with making this a larger portion of my time, if necessary. However, my question is what are my options? What am I not considering? Any ideas for how to scale quickly? Is it a bad idea to move to different properties (non SFR) where I am less of an expert? How can I best leverage all my equity/cash?

From your perspective, how would you proceed? 

Appreciate any thoughts. 

[Don Nardone]

@Peter Amico, Hey, I think the secret is out about the Central Florida area. I looked for about 3 months, at quads and duplexes under $400K, for my first deal. Unless it was in a war zone or needed lots of work, there were no 1% deals around here. I switched to looking at SFR's and am closing on my first one next week. A 4/2 recently rehabbed in Melbourne that rents at 1.4%. I'm hoping my second deal will be as sweet.

I am no expert but if I were in your shoes; I would think about liquidating your SFR's (looks like about $600K plus in profit) and finding a "value add" apartment property and do a 1031 exchange. Of course I would first sit down with my wife, agent, cpa, and lawyer to see what they say (because I'm no expert).

Just my 2 cents.  Best of Luck!