All Forum Posts by: Josh Green

Quote from @Ashley Hall:

Hello Everyone,

I'd love the opportunity to meet face to face with people who are making RE moves in the Tampa Bay or Central Florida area. 

About me: I'm a remote business professional working in Procurement, born & raised in Tampa Bay and have explored this great state all over. My professional has really prepped me to understand many areas such as contracts, construction, negotiation, project management and the list goes on. I'm constantly told I ask a lot of really great questions, so overall I feel like my professional experience has given me a good foundation going into real estate..but we know there is so much to learn.

Goal: My current goal is to network and meet people in the real estate space.. and find a property I can purchase FHA and house hack by Q1 2024. I feel like I have a great business mindset and if I can do this successfully then I would like to rinse & repeat, but am open to learning about other real estate investing opportunities, strategies, or even partnerships for the future.

Who I'd like to meet: Anyone at any level of real estate investing, of course ideally, anyone who is experienced and willing to discuss or give tips. 

You're in the right track: house hacking is the way to start.  I would immediately also recommend you begin your buy box:
1) start calculating the PITI of different purchase price points and make a chart so you can quickly analyze deals that are going to work for you or not.  
2) this will also help you see if your expectations are realistic or not - ultimately you have to play what the market will give you.  E.g. you can't control interest rates or house prices but you can control where you buy, what you buy, how you create highest and best use, etc.
3) keep listening to the BP podcast! This will help keep your mindset sharp and your understanding with different RE strategies will grow.

Feel free to connect and we can talk more. I've done 3 house hacks personally (all done after my master's degree and before 30) and couldn't recommend it more. And yes, every year since I started my RE journey the herd was screaming "don't do it, housing is so overpriced" LOL.

Quote from @Ashok NA:

Hello everyone,

My name is Kumar, and I am from Florida. I wanted to be financially independent and was looking for options. I finally decided to get into Real Estate and start my journey. I'm a working professional. How would I start? 

Please guide me. 

Thank you

I recommend you start by listening to the podcasts episodes on house hacking.  That is the way to start for 99% of people.  I've done 3 myself and I'm still in my 20s.  Couldn't recommend it enough!

As some have heard today - starting this November conventional loans now allow owner-occupant multi-family purchases with a 5% downpayment!

This is big news - something I wish I had an option of doing on my first 3 house hacks over the last couple years.

This couldn't come at a better time for a buyer with Q4 being a strategically good time to buy here!  

...Now got to figure out if I want to do another house hack this quarter or another investment property 🤔🤔

#tampa #stpete #clearwater #househack #str #strhousehack

Quote from @Bryce Kennebeck:

I got my realestate license with no prior experience and I'm currently 23. I'm looking for a brokerage that will allow me to do only 1-4 personal/family and friends, deals a year. I'm also looking to retain a majority of the commission since I'm not doing this as a career, but I am willing to give up slightly more commission if I can have someone help me out or walk me through my first few deals. If you know of any good brokers in the Tampa Bay area lmk!

 Bryce!  Check out my brokerage: Graystone Investment Group.  We are a 1 stop shop for investors and we have: property management, off-market acquisitions, hard money and conventional lending, and the real estate brokerage of course.  With over 20 years of investor experience in the brokerage here there are so many opportunities to learn and grow and I'd highly recommend it.  Just let me know if you want to learn more!

Quote from @Tucker Bone:

I'm currently looking for my first home in the Tampa area. Based upon my limited knowledge of Tampa's market its tough to say which is the better option, single family house hacking or multi family and renting the other unit(s). Besides more expensive insurance and floods zones, are there any other things to watch out for in Tampa's market specifically? Single family vs Multi family? Specific neighborhoods?

 Great questions and ones I get all the time.  I'm on my third house-hack personally and based on my experience, I'll echo what they say on the BP podcast: "It all depends on YOU and your comfortability to profitability scale".  Tampa Bay is a great market for many reasons - we have a strong outlook on appreciation and although new investors don't put enough weight into that, those of us who understand the long term benefits always shift our focus to that.

We also have a top of opportunity to be creative.  For a small/new investor, your only real advantages are going to be speed & creativity.  Speed is going to 50/50 on you and 50/50 on your agent (getting, analyzing, seeing and offering within a 48 hr period in my opinion is par for me and my clients).  Next, is creativity.  That's going to 80% on you and 20% on your agent as they will help you understand what creative things you can do to push yourself in one direction or another.  

The other strengths of your agent I think should be standard (though they are far from that): communication, experience, good track record, high recent volume, market knowledge, etc.

Lastly, no matter where you stand on the comfortability to profitability index, at the end of the day you have to play the field and take what the defense gives you (David Greene mentions this a lot).  I was very adamant when I first moved here I'd repeat doing house-hacks with multifamily residences.  Well, there were none at the time that worked or made sense and very few options that fit into my long-term goals with my family so I pivoted and found a great luxury house-hack (pool house w/guest house) and to make the numbers work I got creative and began mid-term and then short-term renting it to boost the revenue.  This is just the surface of what it took to do this and I'm not even mentioning the incredible impacts of my team such as @Nick Velez , my insurance agent, my inspector, my contractors, and brokerage that all played a role into finding opportunity and capitalizing on it.

Quote from @Nicholas Burch:

@Josh Green@Dom Radcliffe

I have ben told to apply for and obtain Florida state business license/permit and a county business license/permit to operate STR in Polk county, FL. Can anyone already in this area help with advising if I need anything else? Thank you!

 So how many licenses do you need and how long does it usually take, if you happen to know?

1) State License through FL DBPR

2) Local county or city license.  You'd need to call your local municipality to find out if its a county or city license.
..3) there could be additional requirements based on the community the property is in.  

Quote from @Michelle Medina:

Hi everyone, my name is Michelle Medina, I'm a total newbie to real estate and was suggested to start here. I'm 28, work in IT, and am an amateur MMA fighter. I recently came into some money after my dad's passing that I'm looking to invest in more than just mutual funds. But I know nothing, have just started reading books and listening to the BiggerPockets podcast, and am looking to learn as much as possible and find what door to put my foot in. 

Whatever guidance can be provided is greatly appreciated!

 Michelle - glad you're reaching out for help.  I'm also 28 and am an active Real Estate investor and Realtor here.  I have helped a lot of people in their early stages of investing - I was there not too long ago!  If you'd like some personalized guidance, feel free to shoot me a DM and I'd be happy to put some time on the calendar for us to chat for 20-30 min.  It's important to understand your options and to make and work towards a plan or goal first. :)

Quote from @Iana Watanabe:

Hello,

My husband and I will be visiting Florida next week, from August 23rd to 27th. Currently residing in the Bay Area, we're considering a possible relocation to Florida. Our visit will primarily focus on Fort Lauderdale from August 23rd to 25th, followed by Tampa/St. Petersburg from August 25th to 27th.

During our stay in Fort Lauderdale, we're particularly interested in finding a single-family home that comes with an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU), which we plan to utilize as an Airbnb or short-term rental (STR). As newcomers to the area, we're hoping to connect with a knowledgeable real estate agent who can guide us through the different neighborhoods and provide insights on areas with potential Airbnb restrictions. If you've had positive experiences with local agents who fit this description, we'd greatly appreciate recommendations.

Our visit to Tampa and St. Petersburg will follow immediately after, and we're eager to explore various neighborhoods and tour potential homes during our stay from August 25th to 27th. Any advice you can offer on these areas, including insights into their real estate markets, neighborhoods, and potential investment opportunities, would be incredibly helpful.

One concern that's been on our minds is the issue of home insurance. If you're a property owner in either Fort Lauderdale or Tampa/St. Petersburg region, we'd love to hear about your experiences dealing with the recent home insurance crisis. How did it impact you, and what steps have you taken to navigate this challenge?

If we like Florida, we aiming to close on a property by the end of this year.

We're grateful for any insights, advice, or personal experiences you can share. Thank you!

 Hey! I'm a local realtor and investor in the Tampa Bay area. Especially when it comes to short-term rentals, the space gets a little trickier.

I got a great insurance agent that really is a benefit for my clients - his quotes are so much more competitive than you'll find trying to find it yourself or with an agent that doesn't specialize in this.  Important amenities like a pool heater I have a vendor that is thousands cheaper. What about management? I actually Co-host properties too cheaper than anyone else.  What about furnishing/design? I also have helped launch that business as well for those wanting that service and we are better and cheaper than you'll find online.  This is just a few of the angles that will cost or save you money in this kind of investment - there's also advanced strategies like using solar as an investment and other strategies I bring to the table based on your needs whether it's a flip, buy & hold multifamily or short-term rental.  Feel free to DM me if you're serious about the Tampa Bay area and we can see if it'd be a good fit to work together 👍🏼

@Adam Weinstock

Oh yes actually already am 👍🏼

@Adam Weinstock

Hey Adam! What brokerage are you with?

Just a PSA I also get ~20-40 off market properties mostly single family but the occasional multi family or commercial. About half of those are in-house and the other half through various contacts here. 👍🏼