All Forum Posts by: Jessica Parker

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment.

Purchase price: $315,000
Cash invested: $100,000

single family residence where we built a guest cottage to use as a short term rental. Plans of eventually turning our SFR into a short term rental as well. my husband is a handyman here in the area and we were able to do all of the finish work ourselves!

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Having our home already and being a quick 5 minute drive to the beach in an upcoming vacation market it just made the most financial sense to us.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We didn't really have to negotiate anything since we were already the owners of the main residence...it was just doing the research to get the guest house built.

How did you finance this deal?

cash

How did you add value to the deal?

We added value by doing as much of the work ourselves as we could. My husband is very handy as that's what he does for work. So we were able to save ourselves a lot money by doing it ourselves. We also don't believe it would have been done as nicely if we would have hired it out either.

What was the outcome?

We have a 2 bedroom 1 bath guest house that should bring in at least $3,500 a month in profit off of a $100k investment.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Lots of lessons learned for sure. Next time I hire framers I will be going behind them and checking their work. I will be measuring everything to make sure it is being done correctly. They will not get final payment until it is fixed.
Challenges were getting things to work after framing was not done properly. You definitely learn to pivot. lol

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I'm actually a realtor here locally, it has definitely been helpful having the knowledge.

Hey Arsen!!  I'm a realtor here in Navarre, FL.  I'm currently the buyers agent for a house under contract in Perdido key and just recently closed on a condo in the Perdido area as well.  Always interested in connecting with other fellow investors. :)  Let me know if I can help you out in any way! 

 Sounds good Steve!  I look forward to meeting you, it's always fun meeting other fellow investors. :)  In the state of Florida, the state supplies free forms via FormSimplicity.  

@Savannah NA Hey! I also live in Navarre, FL and have my own STR. A short term rental is definitely a good idea if you are in a good location and you have some way to set yourself apart from the other STRs in the area. How close are you to the beach? I can tell you that unless you are 5-10 minutes away from the beach, having it as a short term rental may not be your best option. The short term rental market is getting much more saturated here. What is your sq. footage of your home? I've been looking at rentals for a few people and you can't really touch anything decent for under $2300. As of a few days ago when I last looked there was only 1 single family home in Navarre that was under $2200. Feel free to reach out to me via DM if you want to chat more about it. :)

 I'm an agent with The American Realty...awesome brokerage!!  We are located here in Navarre, FL.  Come talk to Leigh Pyeatt our managing broker.  We have lots of agents that are signing up.  I started a year ago and there was only a total of 4 or 5 of us, now I think we are up to 17 or 18 agents.  Feel free to DM me.  I'm a member of NABOR and I really enjoy the smaller community feel the board offers.  The American Realty is very low cost at least compared to what I experienced before.  I was with KW in Washington state before moving out here, and while I have nothing against KW, I just really love this brokerage so far!  

Hi @Matthew W. I live in Navarre, FL (Emerald Coast, Panhandle of Florida) It's a great up and coming vacation destination spot. I moved here a year ago and absolutely love it here. I really don't think you can beat the beaches here, I'm happy to share some legit pictures of the beach I have taken as I go quite often, the clarity of the water is unbelievable at times, like a dream. Get in while you can and it's still fairly affordable. I'm sure the prices are only going to go up. Right now there are no STR restrictions unless you are in an HOA. I had a STR all of last year, 5 minutes to the beach, (it did great!!) and now I'm building a 2/1 guest house in my backyard for the upcoming season! Feel free to DM me if you would like to chat, also happy to talk over a call.

I'm sure a spa wouldn't hurt...But it is pretty hot out here during the busy months unless you had some snowbirds during the off season it probably wouldn't get used too much! The short term market out here is getting a bit saturated though.... I had a STR that I had open until the beginning of this month and it was great, pretty much fully booked through summer. The end of August really started slowing down and then my calendar was completely empty with no bookings despite me slashing prices. So just keep in mind if you aren't on the island, you might really slow down in September. I only had it open since February, so I'm not sure how it is September-January is. We had an RV we were using as an STR, but had a neighbor start complaining and were forced to shut it down. :(

 Hey Abbie, 

Yeah, I'm sure it is harder to get insurance being on the gulf front because those properties takes the brunt of the storms that come off the gulf, but it's certainly not impossible.  If you were to get a property not on the island I would highly suggest something with a pool or have one put in, that way you stand out amongst your competition. I would also make sure you have a nice outdoor living space they can enjoy.  

I do have a good handyman I can recommend as well. Sending you a dm. :)

@Abigail Cariaga Hey! Navarre Beach is a great area, and I'd definitely say it's up and coming. There are new things being built constantly around here it seems. Now is a great time to get in. Are you looking for a gulf front property or something just close to the beach? I have noticed, the STR's that aren't right on the beach have a little more vacancy in these off months. I'm pretty involved here in the local community and also a realtor based out of Navarre. Hit me up on here if you want to chat. I'm happy to give you any insight. :)

I'm a Realtor here in Navarre, FL.  Navarre is definitely up and coming.  I also have a short term rental here and I'm happy to help in any way, Plus,  connecting with other fellow investors is always awesome! :)