All Forum Posts by: Benjamin Pekarek

@Nat C.,

I worked for the All County franchise office here in Sarasota, and had the "pleasure" of meeting Sandy Ferrera (head of the corporation) back in 2012...STAY AS FAR AWAY FROM ALL COUNTY AS YOU CAN!!!! Sandy doesn't care how qualified, or how ethical the individual is...just that they have $50,000 to plunk down for the franchise rights of the area. There are quite literally a TON of other property management companies around (myself included) that do everything ACPM franchises do, do it right, and don't give you the run around. Sorry to hear you're having problems, but I have to say that you're no where NEAR the only one...I doubled my business just by picking up properties, from Miami to Jacksonville and Tallahassee, that ACPM totally screwed up. 

The way the ACPM scam works is this: Sandy puts unlicensed people in All County offices, that they've PAID her to open, and she gives them a song and dance about how easy property management is, they're going to make their fortunes off of the owners, etc. etc. etc. Once the doors are open, the All County people are never to be found. So long as she gets her $50,000 franchise fee, and 7 cents on every dollar made, she could care less what you do! To top it all off, there's a clause in their agreement that states that they are in NO way liable for the actions of anyone utilizing the All County name. Said all that to say this, whoever operated in Miami (David something or other was down in West Palm, wouldn't surprise me in the least if he lost his license!) is his own entity. If you can't find him, you have no recourse. 

Good luck!

Just have to chime in here and add my $.02

I agree 100% with @David Dey, Jacksonville is almost a market you have to live in for a year to find the "safe" places to invest - one side of the street is okay, but on the other side of the pavement - look out! That being said, I picked up a 4 plex for $15K per unit ($60K) last year, 100% occupied at $500 per unit. You just have to complete a risk assessment and see what market you like the best.

For the immediate moment, I personally like the Sarasota/Manatee markets for appreciation, Hillsborough/Pinellas/Polk markets for cash flow, and Osceola/Brevard/Orange county markets for a mix of the both. 

I am a Broker, REALTOR, and property manager, and am happy to sit down for coffee and go over the mixed markets of Florida. We (our agents) either personally own, or manage properties in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Tampa/St. Pete, Sarasota/Bradenton, Ft. Myers, and Orlando, and would be more than happy to assist you in setting up shop here in Florida. 

Raman, 

Welcome to BiggerPockets! 

The first step in real estate investing is to find your niche. Are you wanting to wholesale? Maybe be a landlord? Or perhaps you want the income of rentals, but don't want the headaches - buy turnkey, or find a good property manager. As you're in Bradenton, and I'm in Sarasota, I'd be happy to sit down with you and go over some of the basics. Enjoy your beginning stages, you're in for a fun ride! 

-Ben

 Renea,

Even though I'm hijacking the original post, when you run out the numbers, your net operating income, or NOI, is the most important. When you factor the higher management costs, the higher vacancy rates, and the greater damage vacation tennats do to your property (I have war stories, believe me!), annual puts more in your pocket at the end of the year.

That would be long term, annual tenants. Vacation rentals depends entirely on how you furnish the property, and how many people you can sleep per night. Rule of thumb is $2.00 PSF minimum. 

 Larry,

I'm currently working with Charlie to refi out Bridgewell! I have never, EVER been screwed as hard as Bridgewell has. They not only charged me 4 points for the acquisition, but, according to the HUD, I was billed for the "Repair Credit Line" that they tout out as what sets them apart from their competitors. My advice: stay as FAR!!!!!!! away from Bridgewell Capital as you can get. If you're looking for private/hard money in Florida, go to Dwell Financial, Civic (Charlie), RCN Capital, ANYBODY but Bridgewell!

 Congratulations on the Palm Aire property. When you get ready to rent that one, you'll realize how much of a goldmine you landed on! We've seen rents go from $1.00 to almost $1.50 per square foot, per month in just this last year alone. 

I'm a broker based in Sarasota that offers the sale, and property management of that purchase all in one package. For any property over 50 units, we charge 2.5% of what we collect. PM me if you'd like to speak with me further.

I'm currently paying a 50% referral fee on closing for any leads sent my way. If you have anything that pops up in Central Florida, (greater Tampa Bay area), I'll be more than happy to service the client. 

Cody, 

I agree with those recommending house hacking. I'm not sure what part of Tampa you're in, but if you can handle Ybor, there are a lot of quads that rent for $700+ per month, per unit in the very low $100k range. If you're living in an apartment now, your best way to increase your net worth is house hacking. Once you've figured out that you like how real estate works, start going after your second third, fifth, thirtieth, etc. deal - but just get into a househack and see if you like how investment properties work!