All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Turner

I am trying to put an offer on a BRRRR property in Florida. It has a very old, original flat roof that we would like to replace asap. None of the local roofing companies have time to look at it and get us an estimate for at least another week or two. Can anyone give me a ballpark idea of what kind of cost we should budget for to replace it? It's a 1,492 sq foot single family house in north central FL. Also would it be possible (affordable) to replace with a pitched roof? We've never dealt with this issue before and want to get an offer in asap.

@Matt Leber haha I’m pretty sure I know your landlord and it’s the same gentleman I referenced above.

I don’t doubt that many investors ignore that law, and maybe they don’t get caught or it might not be strictly enforced. However, in my opinion, integrity is everything in this business and your reputation will always precede you, especially in a small town like Gainesville. I personally would not knowingly do anything to raise red flags with zoning or code enforcement since I need them on my side for the long term. 😉

Chris,

The city of Gainesville zoning dept. only allows a max of 3 unrelated people per dwelling unit, so that's one thing to keep in mind when looking at properties.  I own a couple properties here, but not currently renting to college students. I know a very successful landlord here with 60+ units mostly rented to college kids, and he always does one single lease for all three student tenants at each property. I think he has them start in Aug. and end in July so he has a few weeks to update units before new tenants move in.

Another Gainesville specific thing to keep in mind is that the city has recently implemented a new landlord permit fee that has to be paid every year and they will begin annual inspections of properties next year. Over the next 3 years the city has plans to start requiring energy efficient upgrades to all rental properties, such as low flush toilets, LED lighting, efficient heat and cooling, etc. in order to maintain your landlord permit.

@Matt Berklacy Both @Arthur Harris II and @Jenn Barona are great! Your seller will be in good hands with either of them.

On a side note, I live and invest in 32605 and am looking for another fixer to BRRRR in this area, so I'd love details about the property!

I *almost* did a bridge loan through them, but ended up firing them and using a private money lender again. They were super slow, had literally no idea how to read a basic purchase agreement contract, messed up on most of the paperwork, and ultimately were going to cause us to close 2-3 weeks late, with a lot of extra fees and less LTV than originally promised. I would never use them again unless I was in dire straights. If you have good credit and any experience at all, use someone else!

Hi Mark,

What is your overall goal? Are you looking for rentals or to flip in Gainesville? It seems like the rental market has taken a big hit due to COVID and UF/Santa Fe classes going online, causing a mass exodus of students, so vacancy rates seem to have increased substantially. There is fairly low inventory of homes under $250K so they are snatched up pretty quickly with multiple offers, but if you're a cash buyer and okay with few contingencies, you still have a good shot of snagging one. With so many jobs going remote this year it seems like families are leaving apts/condos/townhomes in favor of detached SFRs with more space, but I'm sure that's a national trend, not just local to Gainesville. 

From what I understand, Alachua County property taxes are the 2nd highest in the state, and will likely always be high, due to the fact that so much of the land around here is owned by the University and hence can't be taxed, so the local government is sustained by taxing the surrounding homeowners. If you are looking into rentals, it is also important to note that there is now a local Landlord Permit Fee required to be paid annually for each unit you own, and the city has a right to inspect your properties to make sure they're being maintained up to code. I no longer have any short-term rentals here, so you'd have to fact check this, but I have also heard rumors of an increase in short-term rental taxes here.

Just signed up for Mojo's skip-tracing service a couple weeks ago and I have to say I am super disappointed with it. Their hit rate is maybe 40% so I still have to manually skip 60% of the leads myself, which is a huge waste of time. Reached out to customer service and they're completely unapologetic. They admit that their hit rate/accuracy is low but offer zero refunds on any of their packages. Skip elsewhere!! 

@Shawn K Hicks I’m down too. If you set one up for tomorrow I can do afternoon or evening, anytime before 7pm.

Hi @Priscilla Z.! Did you ever find one? I am in the process of trying to do one too in Florida. If you have anything you'd be willing to share, I'd really appreciate it!

I actually used Bounds this week when our A/C suddenly stopped working and was not at all pleased with the service tech they sent out.  I'm sure our experience is not representative of the company as a whole, but either way, we were not too happy with their prices so we won't be using them again. Thank you @Jenn Barona for recommending Buckhalter! They have been SO nice to work with so far, were super prompt to respond, and we are now going to be getting a much better deal on a new unit (with investor pricing!). They even offered to bring us temporary window units while we wait for the new one to arrive.