All Forum Posts by: Lakeisha Black

I would love to come as well.  I am not too far from you as I am just in New Tampa.  Please let me know when is the next one.

Thanks.

Lakeisha

I have an investor friendly real estate agent - Emmitt Walthall.  He knows the Tampa Bay area and is pretty easy going and a real estate investor as well.  [REMOVED].  Please tell him I referred you to him.  Good luck!

I have an investor friendly realtor who may be able to help you.  I am not sure if I can post his info here so PM me for his contact info.

@Kevin Cook Do you mind advising which streets in Tampa to stay away from?

@Eric Odum I thought the same thing about the neighborhood.  It is nice to be on the West side but still a C class neighborhood.  I am still OK about the location, because it seemed like the neighbors would look out for each other.

I wanted to give everyone an update.  From everyone's feedback, I think I did OK on the location.  However, we had an inspection done today and it looks like it is going to need about 25K worth of work to insure it according to the inspector.  I think I will be backing out of this deal and getting my earnest money back.  I am so grateful for everyone's words of encouragement and advice.  Don't worry...I am not giving up...just back to the drawing board to find a house that meets my criteria.  BTW - if there are any investor friendly realtors who would like to connect, please send me a colleague request.  I am so low maintenance and do a lot of my research on my own - just need a little guidance. I may be getting rid of my current realtor.  

So lucky to have BP...the community keeps me going.

Have a great day, everyone!

Lakeisha

Rentometer is a good start as well as Craigslist and Zillow. Once you narrow down your area you can call a few property management companies to confirm the rent because the rent range can vary widely.

@Robert Curls Congrats to you Robert.  That quote is so true.  Let's keep each other going...the more support the better.  I think it is going to be a roller coaster ride for me, but going to try to enjoy it.  I am really fortunate to have our BP community as a great mentoring resource.  I would never be so prepared for this RE venture.

@Sam B. I also appreciate your question. If I had to, I would live there and not fear for my safety.  I am not sure that is saying much because I used to live in Newark, NJ - a block away from a crack house. :-)  As I walked through the house, I thought about advice to make it nice so I would want to live there. 

Fellow BP colleagues...I need a sanity check. So I started looking at SFRs as a rental property since May. I have finally found a 4/3 property in the Tampa Riverbend neighborhood and have my 69K offer accepted. I have researched the rents from various sources - rentometer, craigslist, zillow, etc. I am pretty sure that I can get at least 1200/month. I think it is a decent area - working class neighborhood with no major crime in the area. Yesterday my husband takes a look at the property and he is doubtful that it is a decent neighborhood ("in my lowest days, I wouldn't live there") or that I can get the target rent. Even if I had to lower the rent, it would still cash flow at least 300/month. I have used the SFR rental analysis spreadsheet to confirm my numbers. There are some potential issues, but I am scheduling an inspection to ensure I understand the full picture.

Question:  What am I missing? Is it possible that no one would want to rent this house since I don't see many listings in that area? Is it likely that someone will be interested?  Did I get this property completely wrong? The house is located at 2107 W Comanche Ave Tampa, FL.

Thanks for your guidance.

Lakeisha

I am finding that good deals in Tampa are going quick now and I started looking in April/May.  I am not finding great new inventory.  It could be that we are in a lull period right.  I think it could be depend on your area and your requirements.  It may be helpful to post more specifics as the type of property/specific area you are looking for.