All Forum Posts by: Griffin Pratt

@Matt Sora, beware of STR regulations in St. Pete/Pinellas County. There are ways around it but technically, you cannot rent to short term tenants/guests of less than a month more than 4x a year. Because of these regulations, an STR may make more sense in the other locations mentioned, Tampa (Hillsborough County) being my recommendation for STR. Pinellas can, however, be a good option for mid to long-term investments. Just be sure to take the time to learn the submarkets and know what/where to buy.

Kaylan,

As a wholesaler, identifying which parcels have value and what developers/investors are willing to pay for them is going to require a deep dive into your market. Afterall, the value in a wholesaler is their expertise in identifying good deals and determining how much they're worth to an end buyer.

That said, some useful advice would be to identify a sub-market within the Tampa market that you can see developers are targeting. I'd do this either by calling known developers in the area or research recently sold vacant land in a particular area and see what LLC/Corps are consistently buying parcels, then try contacting them (might need an agent to help you get access to sale data). Once you identify an area with reliable development (and now have a potential buyers list of developers) you can start digging deeper and looking at what parcels are selling for more and why (zoning, water access, lot size, etc). It may also be worth calling some of the developers you've found and seeing what parcels they're looking for and whether they work with wholesalers, as some do not.

Hope this helps and feel free to reach out with questions!

Hey @Josh Gregory, I'm an agent living in downtown St. Petersburg (Pinellas county). St. Pete has some of the best beaches in Florida and really captures the "beach town" vibe well. It has a ton of areas that fall in the price-range you mentioned both close (walking/biking distance to beach - Treasure Island, Madeira, Indian Rocks, Gulfport, Pasadena) and further from the beach (10-20min drive to beach - Downtown St. Pete, Old Northeast, the Historic districts, Seminole). Not to mention just as Tampa has and continues to experience large scale appreciation, St. Pete has been heavily associated with that rise as well with LOTS of development coming to the downtown area in the next 3-10yr. As a resident and active agent in the area I'm a huge fan of the lifestyle here with the downtown scene on the Bay side and beach scene on the Gulf side. That said, one warning I'll give you is that STR's are prohibited in Pinellas county and although there are loopholes, it is difficult to get around that restriction. If you are thinking of renting out the property you buy as a LTR, I cannot recommend a city more highly!

DS Murphy does residential and commercial appraisals in the area

@Matt Sora, a 'subject to' purchase agreement is when you exchange the deed/ownership of a property "subject to" the previous owners existing mortgage. If you're familiar with buying a property by 'assuming the mortgage' this process is similar except that the note (or mortgage) stays in the original owners name. This means that while the deed to the property is in your name and you are making the payments on the loan, the lien against the home remains in the original owners name. As an investor, its a good tool to get a foot in the door with less capital and risk, since you don't have to originate a loan and the loan is in someone else's name. (However, the bank holding the mortgage can potentially call the remaining balance due, so I'd look into the specifics if you're thinking about buying subject to.)  @Wendy Patton covered the reasons an owner may accept a 'subject to' contract well, but typically it is someone that has come on hard times, and can't or doesn't want to pay the mortgage.

Hey Allen, just sent you a private message. Lets see where we can bring value to one another!

Connor, do you have an idea of where specifically in Tampa you're looking and what your price range is? Turnkey vs. small vs. full rehab? Hard money vs. traditional financing? Answers to these questions will be really helpful in finding the lender best fit for your investing strategy. I just sent you a private message, let me know if there's anything I can do to help!

not to create an echo chamber but I agree with @Tchaka Owen that you should avoid massaging the numbers/expenses and if anything, over-estimate expenses to give yourself more room for error. I do wonder how many units this MF prop is if you're bringing in $7000/mo. But assuming you've done your research on rents in the area and that number is accurate, it looks like a solid deal for new construction. Tampa is a great market for appreciation so any cashflow will be an extra bonus!

@Alex Wermuth I've come across some great opportunities recently in St. Pete, lets connect!

Hey Joe,

A friend and fellow investor @Drew C Grossman has been working on some interesting small Multi-Fam development opportunities out in Ocala. I'd recommend reaching out to him and seeing if your goals are aligned!