All Forum Posts by: Calvin Pringles

As a house hacker, and agent myself, I usually advise my clients to invest in 'no flood zone' areas. That will eliminate not only your risk of being hit by a storm, also the cost of flood insurance which could be anywhere from 100-2000 per month. A couple of areas I would focus on in house hacking, if you desire your own separate living space would be st. pete, seminole heights and some areas of south tampa.

I recommend these areas because not only are the relevant, and high appreciating, they commonly have an ADU or detached living structure where you could house a traveling professional, snowbird, or nurse to live with you at a premium of cost to offset your mortgage.

I personally reside in st. pete and purchased a SFH w/ ADU which pays for my mortgage and half of my utilities.

Additionally, I prefer a SFH/ADU over a small multifamily because the small multi families in this market are in neighborhoods specifically zoned for small MF. This means while you are living there, there will be a lot of turnover on tenants and your neighbors will consistently change. With this you will sacrifice pride of home ownership and they are usually more dilapidated neighborhoods.

If you have not found all the direction you need in this post, and the replies, feel free to reach out and I'd be happy to hop on a call with you to give you a lay of the lands. I was also born and raised in St. Pete, so I know the area fairly well.

It should be about 10k depending on the finishes you choose.

There's also different ways to do it, such as doing it with a licensed contractor and pulling permits, or to just finish it out without doing these things. If it is common in your area to convert the space and there are many homes that have sold, like it, with the converted garage space as addl sqft, I would pull the permit and let a GC do it. This could potentially give you a ROI for the work that you decide to do because it adds sqft to the tax records.

I'd add Manatee County, FL to the list. 

citizens is the only company writing for older homes in fl. there are other companies such as state, but it is not even comparable price wise, and is significantly higher. 

Hey Carly, try furnishedfinders.com

Just be aware that their comps and rehab budgets are usually way off. I think the comps are automated, similar to zillow.

Hey Kate, welcome to bright and sunny Florida. You've got an impressive portfolio, so far and I wish you luck in acquiring your next FL property.

 Both electrical and water meters will need to be assessed by the city via city permitting. A lot of investors are doing it the round about way, and having a general contractor install these meters for dividing the bills. For me personally, I just take on the expense and charge a premium for rent given that I do the MTR options.

Common areas can include, but are not limited to anything outside of the personal residence. There can be shared laundry onsite, shared parking, shared (yet separated) yard space etc

As for the math portion, I run my rental comps on rentometer and compare it to other ADU's or 1/1 units and their rent amount. You can also find MTR rental amounts on furnished finder. From there it's your regular ol' cash on cash return calculations!

Curious - what drawbacks do you consider as it pertains to investing in ADU's vs small MF in St. Petersburg, FL?

Hey Chris, I'm really bull-ish on this approach for St. Pete specifically because, depending on size, an ADU build out could be 30k and generate $1500 a month. A great way to househack and plan to refi once interest rates do drop. As for specifics on the build, you can find all the information you need on the city website City of St. Pete ADU

Additionally, DM me if you want to call and talk about it. I specialize in this type of purchase for my clients here in the area.