All Forum Posts by: Shawn McCormick

Check out the classifieds here, you may find some good properties.

@May Thompson Welcome and congrats on getting started. There are many aspects that you could get started in without diving right in and risking your own capital. I would start out by joining your local REIA and networking with individuals there. Most investors have opportunities that would allow you to be doing things within the community while you learn.

Wholesalers need photos of properties and to run comps, flippers need offers written and submitted, trades to schedule, permitting to file and so much more. Realtors that are truly investor friendly could always use help reaching out to investors, checking out properties, marketing, pulling lists etc. 

Hope this help a bit, best of luck!

@Fab Ragh Lake Nona is a really great place to live and work. Investing can be a little tougher. Although it has everything you would want in a rental (young professionals, families, great schools, brand new retail, convenience to highways/airport/disney etc). The cost of entry will likely prohibit you from being able to cash flow monthly. Most of the area is new within the last 6-8 years, so cap-x should be low and tenant quality should be higher than average and there is still plenty of growth.

You could move a little south into Saint Cloud and still find some better deals, but with that comes less of the above benefits. Long term appreciation will be good. Possibly look into mid term rentals as there will be a ton of corporate training, traveling medical professional and trades like engineers that will need that type of flexibility. 

Best of luck!

@Joanna Liriano Congratulations and welcome to BP. Great job on setting goals and soaking up knowledge. I would advise you to take it one step further than having accountability to us here on this forum. Get a real accountability partner that you call weekly/monthly. 

The calls don't have to be all just about your real estate goals, start smaller and get used to the idea of the call and then increase the level each call, set s.m.a.r.t. goals!

I don't know a thing about NJ and short term rental market there, but happy to hook you up with an agent that can work with you and help focus on the specific property types that will work for you.

Keep us posted and best of luck!

@Jude Zamor Orlando really lacks in multi family housing. Obviously we have some, but typically they don't come to market very often and the ones that do are generally old, not in great shape and/or overpriced. 

I believe another post mentioned you were trying to use a VA loan. That will honestly add another layer of difficulty if you are trying to house hack and live in one side. Finding one that will pass VA inspection, be in your price range, have a seller that is willing to consider a VA loan and a property that will pass VA inspection and have one of the units empty are all issues that you'll have to face.

Don't get me wrong, VA loans are not difficult or have too stringent of qualifiers, but unfortunately, there are long standing stigmas that they are.

Happy to discuss further if you like, best of luck!

@Michael BaumThank you!

@Sean Murphy There are many factors to consider when looking into STR market here in Orlando, the big 3 are location to Disney, the community itself and how good are its amenities/reputation and how well the house is themed out (has to look fantastic in photos online).

You have to look at properties here as individual small businesses. Past performance or data collection sites don't necessarily reflect how well an individual house will do. If you have the right size house in the right community and good theming, it will, by default you'll get bookings, but you have to be a great operator too. I certainly have my favorite communities that have good marketing and reputations, offer the best amenities that I can recommend. But without your effort to put systems in place, strive for great reviews, and staying involved, you may fall behind and be disappointed. 

Happy to dive deeper into this if you like, feel free to connect.

Best of luck!

Hey@Fallon Gilbert Welcome to Real Estate and BP!

Let me know what type of metrics you are looking at and budget etc and would be happy to have a call to discuss the market here in Orlando. I wouldn't dismiss STR, especially here in Orlando and if you come here, you'd always have a place to stay and could potentially write off your trips.

Best of luck, reach out anytime.!

Well done! don't slow down..stay motivated and focused!

Best of luck hitting those goals.

 Totally understandable, I've been here 18 years and wish I shoulda, woulda, coulda all the time! If I knew then what I know now, I'd of been retired. There is still plenty of growth here and appreciation as a state that is so attractive to so many. Prices are higher, but higher prices don't stop LA, Denver, New York from people making money. If you are seasoned and know you make your money when you buy, it's harder to get hurt. 

The margins for wholesalers and flippers has been reduced as of the last few years as it becomes more mainstream and prices of homes, materials and labor go up. 

Sounds like you have options..sell off your rental portfolio on seller financing and use that cash flow to fund your business here, or tap in to that equity and do the same, just grind it out for a couple of years building a team and understanding the market, you'll be fine.

Good luck!

@Huso Akaratovic

Hey Huso, you should just pull the trigger, what's holding you back? Are you happy where you are, what are the pro's/con's? If you wait for something to happen in Orlando, the same thing will likely be playing out where you live and you'll have to sell your current home for less just to get something here. Prices are normalizing to pre Covid levels, that doesn't mean there is a crash or a bubble that is going to burst and with the amount of people moving here, prices are only expected to increase overall. We have had over a decade of double digit appreciation, so the longer you wait, the more yo will pay (in the Orlando market at least).

As far as rates go, the general feeling is that they will come down..and you can always refi out of the rate you get..some lenders are offering free refi's until xx-xx-xxxx if you buy now. You can make part of your offer to buy a permanent rate buy down, rather than a 2/1 rate buy down (not a fan of those really).

Price decreases that you are seeing are generally sellers that still think the market is 2021 and they can ask whatever they want or uneducated agents that don't know how to price a home to sell, we got thousands of new agent jumping in when the market was good and they didn't have to learn any skills, just list it for whatever the sellers wanted. I would say that builders have been adjusting prices if they have inventory of homes that are completed or nearly completed to get them off of their books. Empty houses generally mean a motivated seller (they are paying taxes, insurance, HOA, and Two mortgages, so I would target those when possible.

Hope this helps, Best of luck to you!