All Forum Posts by: Caleb Richardson

@Luke Carl Right you are Sir! We all have to start somewhere though, don't we? I'd like to think I know an acceptable amount about the rental industry here, but not as much as I'd like to. My goal here was not necessarily to play devil's advocate, but to spur a discussion that would help me to see more perspectives than just the ones I have experienced firsthand from the people in the industry. I'd like to hear from the folks actually investing their own money in these properties, not the brokers, property managers, cleaners and maintenance people that I know and have worked with. I have yet to guide a client in buying a STR property here, although I will be listing one soon. I wanted to use this opportunity to learn a bit more from others, and by starting (yet another) discussion about this area myself, I would be more capable of guiding the conversation in the direction I'd prefer.

I fiddled around with the search function and had much better success finding other similar posts just now though, so I apologize for rehashing the same old thing for the more seasoned/active BP posters. I'll be reading through those while I respond. I appreciate your input though Lucas!

@Luke Carl Understandable, 1031 exchanges are popular here because of the reasons you listed. However, I can't imagine there would be so many rental properties here if there wasn't money to be made. 

I'd like to start a discussion regarding rental properties in the Northwest Florida Panhandle, Specifically Destin to Panama City Beach. I'm curious to hear any opinions from investors/owners of Short-term vacation rental Condos vs Homes. 

Feel free to offer any input you see fit...here are a few questions I'd love to hear answers to!

Have you had better experiences with condos, smaller homes, or larger multi-family homes? 

What made you choose one particular area over another?

Is it purely an investment, or do you utilize the property occasionally?

and for the out-of-state investors, what made you choose the emerald coast over other vacation hotspots?

If there is another discussion about this or similar topics, please point me in the right direction or post them here.

Thanks in advance, and I hope you're all having a great 2019 so far.

Cheers! 

Caleb Richardson

Engel & Völkers Destin

After reading through the responses, I'd say Rich Dad Poor Dad is a decent beginner's book, but I didn't really enjoy it. It gets across a good concept, but it's a bit boring and redundant. Dave Ramsey was a good book for me when I was trying to fix my credit at age 20, I read his Complete Guide to Money or whatever it is, they're all kind of the same concept too. Pay close attention to who your author's audience is. Dave Ramsey is geared towards people who are not very good at managing their money, and obviously, those people should absolutely avoid credit cards and whatnot. He's very anti-credit, Cash only purchases sorta thing. As you become more comfortable with the jargon, your own financial prowess, and have some experience with opening your own investment account like a Roth IRA or something simple, you will start to understand the point I'm getting at here. Dave Ramsey and others like him are delightful and great starting points, but you will hopefully slowly graduate to more nuanced literature that teaches you how to employ more complex concepts and financial vehicles. Credit cards can be a great tool for building credit and reaping the rewards, but they require absolute discipline and strict self-imposed guidelines to be genuinely beneficial.

Kinda rambled there for a bit. Obviously not sure where your education level is on some topics. I decided to dive in on Credit cards, Index stock investing, raising my credit score, and creating a retirement account at 20 all simultaneously, and have grown from there. I didn't have much guidance, so I'd love to help point you in the right direction to help speed up the beginning stages of the learning process.

@Account Closed I skimmed through this, so I'm not sure if anyone mentioned it yet, but Khan Academy has some fantastic short videos that really helped me wrap my brain around some of the more simple concepts with visualizations when I was younger. Their comment boards are also great resources for answering a lot of the common questions people have with any particular video. 

Go into the Microfinance section, then look under Housing. He breaks down mortgages, short sale basics, etc. and they are great videos for leading into his breakdowns of the housing crash/great recession. Learning about the crash would be another good lesson to understand well before making any real estate investment. 

When I want to learn about something, I like to start at the beginning. Learning the history behind a concept, and why it was created vs what it has become today always helps me in my learning process.

If there is ever any concept you are having trouble understanding, shoot me a message and I'll direct you towards a good resource for whatever it may be. 

Stay motivated and focused on investing wisely, and you could be a few years into your retirement by the time you're 30.

@Calgary Smith Judd Jackson in Miramar Beach, FL is who I plan on using this year. I’ve heard good things about him and I spoke with him on the phone, he answered all of my questions above and beyond my expectations.

@Jay Hinrichs ain’t that the truth! Jackson, MS potholes have literally caused cars to blowout so badly that they flipped and killed people. It happened last year to some young girl.

@Kate J. Just throwing this in the ring; in the state of Florida, there are 3 levels of representation. The top tier is “Single-Agent” which does indeed incur fiduciary responsibility, but the vast majority of agents and brokers here only represent people as a “transaction broker” which does not have any actual legally binding fiduciary responsibility language in the contract, although it mentions a few things about being honest and acting in good faith, etc.

I’m gonna stick to bullet points here, otherwise I might get a little long winded...

-roughly 1,000 acre parcel for sale

-Land held under an LP/LTD (multiple parcels for sale together)

-owners took out large development loan pre-recession and defaulted once market collapsed

-small banks bought up loans, those banks failed and got bought up by bigger banks.

-banks sued each other for breach of contract over tweaking the mortgages without the others consent.

-land is up for sale, still registered to same LP/LTD

....so my questions are, does the bank own that LP or LTD? Wouldn’t they put it in the banks name before selling it? Trying to determine if the bank owns it or if the original owners are still involved. How does defaulting on a 30+ million loan work?

How would I go about hunting down the decision/settlement between those banks? I found some info about which district the case would be held, but couldn’t find any docs online about the case itself or the final settlement. Could the courts be forcing the owners to sell to pay back the loan?

Thanks in advance, I know I’m probably way off base on some of these questions/statements, so correct me/educate me wherever you see fit, if you can find the time. I appreciate it!

@Christine N. Do great work, stay excessively organized, create a marketing plan and execute it consistently, take care of your people, donate a small portion of your profits to your favorite local charity, stay involved in your community, participate in any local city council/HOA meetings regarding rentals, understand your industry and be able to articulate what you do, how you do it, and why you are better than the other companies in your area.

If you can keep that up, you'll do great! I'm not sure where the best place to start might be, but organic growth takes time and dedication.