All Forum Posts by: Lesley Resnick

Charles, 

I have been in Jax all my life and real estate almost as long.  I may be able to offer some help.  PM me and we can talk more.

Lesley 

Jacksonville Florida is the place.

There are a ton of great deals, there a great duplex down the street well under $200k

hit me up in the morning, I can give you all the details.

I live in Jacksonville about 120 miles from Disney.  I looked into partnering with a friend of mine who lives in Orlando.  It is potentially an interesting market for shot term rentals. However, be cautious since most local municipalities do not allow short term rentals.  This does not mean it is not going on, but they are starting to crack down.  If you are small and local you would probably be alright, but being out of town and having a management company....  One could make the case you are a hotel.  In Florida, under a 7 month rental you are technically a hotel and have to be zoned appropriately.  My advice is tread lightly and do a ton of research before jumping in.      

To change he conversation back to some of the earlier posts....

Expensive areas, NYC, CA, etc. are typically not landlord friendly, which does matter.  It does not appear in any numbers.

I believe cash flow is king.  You can't eat equity or put it to work in these markets.  If you have limited resources and refinance / reinvest is party of your strategy, you are waiting for years for your next deal.  In cash flow, you can get qualifiede for more, through leveraging the cash flow.

I am interested in steady predictable passive income.  An unpredictable big hit every 10 years, is not a means of living off passive income. 

The fundamental problem is you are selling something you do not own.  That makes you an agent or a broker, thus the need for a license.  

It is easy to confuse that legality and enforcement.  At some point in time enforcement will catch up with the market.  The wholesale market may be tapped out by that point but it is coming.  There are only so many desperate homeowners out there.  As the housing market and the economy come back, there will be even fewer.

 I am with Patrick, buy a duplex to start.  I would look at the local credit unions.  I am a big fan of Vystar.  I believe they write loans in Tampa.

The multi family commercial loans are currently cheaper that the fannie mae standard loans by a point+.  Some of the portfolio lenders are running promotions like no closing costs.  I believe this is adding to the market action.

I am seeing a good number of quads (multi-quads) in the net $25k-$50k a door in Jacksonville.  Some are in need of work and some are move in ready.  They vary by neighborhood and age.  Rents ranging from $500-$750.  Putting them between 1% and 2% a month.

I generally find lowes to be better than home depot, but if you looking for close outs or clearance, I don't find there to much of a difference.  Most of my properties I look for new neat and clean.  The dated part of tile is less of a concern for my tenants.

I think it is a matter of risk tolerance.  Do you buy IPO stocks or power companies?  It is important to know where you are in your own risk level.  If you are young and growing your portfolio leverage is good.  If you are looking to retire in the near term, then you should be more conservative. 

The other part of the is the tax implication when computing ROI. Managed correctly, there should be little or no tax implication. A REIT fund would not offer you tax free returns.