All Forum Posts by: Darren Lenick

I’ve used Pelican insurance for the past 3 years and they are great. Covered properties in West Palm Beach and Orlando for me.

Hi @Account Closed,

Without seeing the property it’s hard to determine costs. Based on it being fire damage and the section of the home is blocked off, you might be better off having a structural engineer or architect take a look at it before a GC to determine if there is structural damage. If you need to replace any framing, you’ll require drawings from an architect or engineer to submit to either Ft. Lauderdale or Broward County if the house is in an unincorporated part of Ft. Lauderdale.

They are more likely to come out for a fee if they know there is a potential job for them for drawings. I’ve paid about $250 in the past for such an inspection and got it credited towards drawings when I went forward.

That being said, I don’t know if taking on such a project is a good idea if you’re so new to the industry. There are many things that can and will be missed prior to starting actual work and those can kill a budget quickly if you don’t have a contingency set aside.

If you want to connect and send me pictures, I don’t mind giving you my opinion.

Darren

Hi @Abigail Kilgore,

The decision is purely based on your comfort level in doing so. If you ask others, you will get a different answer from reach person based on their comfort level with risk.

For me, I left IT after 28 years, sold my house in Toronto and moved to South Florida in 2017 to pursue my passion for Real Estate. Very similar to what you’re thinking about.

Here’s my 2 cents speaking from experience:

- make sure you have enough money to live off while making the transition and include a contingency for mishaps.  I had to have neck surgery in 2018 for 2 herniated disks related to flipping houses and was off work for 6 months. Luckily I had the funds to cover this.

- take time to learn the market. You can do this by working in the industry. Your idea of working for an agency as a receptionist or admin assistant is a great way to do this. I did Project management for my wife’s family who are International investors and spent 8 months in Orlando flipping 6 homes for them in 2016.

- Go slow. Don’t over extend yourself both financially and physically.

- You said your boyfriend lives in South Florida and you’re moving down here to be closer and start your career here. It’s a tough market down here and I invest mostly in Central Florida. Also make sure your boyfriend is onboard with your decision because this is not a 5 day a week 9 to 5 job.

I don’t regret making the change at all and I have the support of my wife and 4 kids. I REALLY love the fact I don’t work nearly as hard as I did in IT. I make more flipping 2 houses per year then I did as a Director if IT working 60-80 hours per week.

Feel free to connect with me if you have additional questions. Always willing to work with others in the industry.

Hi @Daylen Fiallo,

I’ve been using Pelican Insurance for almost 3 years now. They are very reasonable and renew for me quarterly since I flip and don’t want to commit to a year at a time.  They are very responsive and always on top of renewals.

If you want contact information, please DM me as I don’t think I can post that info publicly outside of the Marketplace forum.

A property that's has an ARV of $190k in WPB is likely in a D neighborhood. If you're holding it as a rental, you might make out ok in the long run but probably won't get great tenants.

If you’re planning on flipping it, you’ll hopefully break even.  After closing costs on the purchase AND sale, holding costs, property taxes and possible interest costs of borrowing any amount of money, there isn’t any profit left. This of course is assuming you don’t have any gotcha’s during renovations which NEVER happens.

Hi CJ.  Being in the Orlando area that is flooded with investors, you should be able to find one who needs an apprentice. I’d approach them offering to do things like check up on properties, run for supplies, pull historical property info from cities and counties as well as yard maintenance. It wouldn’t pay much but would give you access to behind the scenes info.

Hi Rachel and welcome!

welcome @Robert Darling!

I encourage you to get moving and buy your first property in 90 days. A lot of people who hesitate to make their first purchase suffer from analysis paralysis.

Best advice I can give is run your numbers, have a seasoned investor verify your numbers and then pull the trigger!

Mistakes will happen. Problems will arise. If you’re prepared knowing this going in, you will have no problem handling the issues by resolving them and moving on.

Good luck!

@Carl Crump Apopka is west of Winter Park and right beside Winter Garden. It’s about a 20 minute drive north of Orlando, so is very commutable.

Hi @Carl Crump,

Are you interested only in Orlando proper or are you willing to also look in nearby areas such as Winter Garden, Winter Springs, Apopka, etc?

I have a great realtor in Apopka that I’m working with on a property I’m finishing there. He’s an all-in guy and goes the extra mile.

Connect with me if you want his information or if you want to discuss area further.

Take care.