All Forum Posts by: Jorge Rodriguez

Thanks everyone for the explanations, they've all been very helpful and informative. 

@Share Ross Wow, that was great. Thanks for breaking it down like that for me - as a first timer, I feel a lot better about what I can expect now. What I'm doing is just cross checking the information on the MLS versus the County to see what matches and what doesn't and just take it from there.

@Kristin Kiddy I thought at the beginning that it could've been clerical errors or the County just hasn't updated their records but I've seen so many with the same discrepancy so at this point I just figured that the additions have been done without the proper permits. 

With that said, I am seeing these properties go under contract so I'm not sure if people are just not doing their due diligence or nobody actually cares about this stuff...but I'm afraid that I buy and then have to deal with unpermitted work for whatever reason.

Hey guys,

I'm a noobie investor looking to get started here in South Florida with house hacking and after looking at numerous SFH properties in areas that I want to buy, I am noticing that there are discrepancies between the MLS listing and the information I find on the County records. These discrepancies that I'm seeing is in regards to the number of beds/baths. For example, the MLS will show the SFH with 3/2 or a 4/3 and the County will have it listed as a 2/1 and 3/2, respectively. I've noticed this consistently on a lot of properties that I've seen.

Now, being my first purchase, this has me a bit worried because I'm unsure of what can/could happen if I buy, let's say, a 3/2 but the County has it recorded as a 2/1. It's safe to assume that these properties have additions to them but if it's unpermitted work then I could be in a surprise I'm assuming? Or maybe I'm just overthinking this and looking too much into it....

Any thoughts?

@Bernice Monroe

Congrats on your purchase and much luck!! I just started looking for my first rental as well. Did you buy in the Lehigh Acres area? 

I'm down in Miami myself and with the prices I see down here, I'm going to keep renting and socking away money to buy a rental elsewhere. 

Another possibility that I'm thinking is buying a Duplex and house hacking so maybe that's something that you can look into? 

Kandice, I'm actually in the same boat as you. I just starting diving into REI and I figured getting the license was a good idea even though I'm not planning on selling properties myself. I completed the pre-license course and it provided me with a lot of good general information, however, the more I educate myself the more I realize it's not necessary for investing purposes, especially when you consider the costs/fees.

I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in and provide better info.