All Forum Posts by: Shawn McCormick

@Red Johnston Welcome! I'm a Realtor® locally here too and really get a lot out of BP. I would have advised to join CFRI, but Sandra beat me to it. She is a past president and her, along with many, many others have helped me gain great knowledge about investing. So glad to hear you joined!

Happy to have a conversation with you sometime if you would like to spitball some ideas you have or need direction on local resources. Good luck!

@Jonathan Feliciano @Juan Alzate @Mora Clark  the investors that i've been working with lately have realized that they can't focus on one zip code or 'hot area'. They have to go where the deals can be found and others may have passed on or failed to find. As Tyler mentioned, you may have to go well outside Orlando to find the rules of thumb if that is your only requirement. Appreciation has been significant in this market for several years. 

IMO, the cost of waiting will further price you out of this market, either prices will continue to climb or interested rates will..or both. If the deals on MLS are your only option due to needing financing, find ones that have been on the market a few weeks or more and negotiate. You can do this upfront or after inspections and show that the home needs work and then renegotiate price or ask for concessions. This works more often than you think, even in a sellers market. Good Luck!

Hey @Ryan Ee and @Eric Starks Welcome, glad you found BP. Quite a few fellow Orlando investors here. Look on FB and MeetUp.com for locals that have various groups to network in all over Orlando. Good luck to both of you, if I can be a resource, happy to help.

Hi @John Menton looks like you have some choices and good advice. If you still need help with lenders, property manager or an agent please let me know. I would love to give you opinions on which communities might be the best fit depending a few things. Good Luck!

@Matthew Edge Orlando is a big market and is still growing by very big players, not people buying a cabin or unique property for the view. These are primarily cookie cutter houses that feed the theme parks, beaches etc. So, yes, the theming has to be above average to stand out and a bigger house (7-9 ) beds is more ideal as there are less of them and they can be themed out to be special (a condo and townhome can't really do that). People aren't coming for the mountain views or to be near nature. This is primarily to create memories for the kids and the house is just an extension of the theme parks..guests want to have amenities and games even outside of the parks. There are about 6-8 prime communities that offer the best amenities and homes that have the size host large families/groups.

Hope this helps.

@Joseph Decker You should check out CFRI, the local chapter of the National REIA. They have over 20 meetings a month all over central Florida and specialty meetings, focus groups and educational seminars. Many members have started offshoots that have weekly/monthly meetings as well that can be found on Facebook and MeetUp.

@Pearce Trenary In Orlando, that budget will limit you to mostly townhomes at this point if you want to be in the better communities that have guard gated, amenities galore and good reputations. If you don't mind going to a little older community or a 3-4 bedroom home, you'll have a lot of choices in that price range. Virtually all of these will come furnished (may not be to your taste and always room to improve) but they are pretty turn key. Let me know if you need more specific info. Good luck!

@Saurabh Gupta Joe Seagle at PCS title. Lawyer, Title, Trust company. Has contract packages for all types of investments/offer types. Knows wholesaling, subject-to and other creative structuring very well.

@Wendy Lin I'm in Central Florida and connected to many wholesalers if you are looking for off market. The terms are much different than traditional purchases as you are buying the contract and not dealing directly with the seller. I would caution about buying remotely from a wholesaler if you plan to flip. The numbers have gotten tighter and tighter the last couple years and it get tough to do unless you have a full crew here. As far as your budget of $200, that won't go too far here anymore unless you are far outside of metro areas and that makes the ARV lower too. Just some points of view IMO.

@Jephte Augustin I do not own any, but have helped many purchase. There are several variables that will affect the answer. Some HOA's include cable and internet, depending on the type of community you are in (full resort-style vs 'regular' ). Utilities will fluctuate also based on occupancy, pool/spa on timer, owner-controlled thermostats, is garage a/c, if its only 4 beds it could be single-story, how old is the home (energy-efficient windows), how many square feet, how old is the a/c and is it the correct tonnage for the property etc....

When purchasing these, that information should be readily available via the seller or property manager. But this is Florida and a/c is always on and pools should run 8-12 hours a day. So electric could be $300-600/month..as a general rule, most of these communities will be electric, so no savings on gas. Internet and cable could easily be $200-300 unless the HOA has contract pricing and internet is a big issue especially with gaming and streaming, so you have to have great service.

Hope this helps.