All Forum Posts by: Matt Jones

Hi Jami,

I buy multifamily properties and, as a local real estate agent, I represent buyers who buy multi and single family properties.  Feel free to add me to your distribution list.  

When was it built, and how old are the major systems? $3,200 is probably a decent rate unless it’s new construction. New construction properties can qualify for significant insurance discounts, but otherwise, I generally expect insurance in this area to run a little over 1% of the property’s value if it’s in decent condition.

Feel free to DM me if you’d like a good insurance contact to shop around for a better rate. Just a heads-up: with the way the insurance market has been here over the past couple of years, this is accurate as of today, but things could look very different (for better or worse) in 6+ months.

 Welcome Terrence!  Pensacola is a great market for investing and the number of properties available right now is up so there are actually some on market properties with potential.  We have lots of wholesalers so I'd recommend getting on their lists to add to the number of investment opportunities that are coming across your plate.  PM me if you need a list.  I'm also happy to share access to a spreadsheet where I track Single Family, Multifamily & Rental Inventory for the Pensacola Market(Escambia & Santa Rosa Counties) each week.  Good luck & let me know if i can help you with anything!

Hey @Joel Matthews,

If you decide to invest in multifamily closer to home shoot meet a message.  I specialize in small multifamily properties in Escambia & Santa Rosa counties.

The numbers look a little tight but if you want to do a deal and get some experience this may be worth it to you anyway.  I like that you have a misc category AND a 20% contingency.  I and many other investors tend to underestimate rehab expenses so it's a great idea to build in some cushion.  I've done dozens of renovations now and I still use the 20% buffer and because of that I'm typically able to come in at or below my budget.  

I did not see closing costs on your spreadsheet for either the initial purchase or the refi.  I'd recommend adding those as they'll adjust your returns.  

Awesome, STR investing works well here provided that you have a great location and take great care of your property. The market is saturated with STR's further from the beach and attractions, so my advice is to be picky about your location and underwrite the numbers carefully to make sure the investment will be profitable. I'll PM you with info on some of the meetups.

@Bryce Nurding it sounds like you have a solid plan.  Unless you have an immediate need for the cash I'd wait until I could pull out the extra $40k.  As another poster mentioned rates are lower than they've been in the previous 18+ months but unless some very surprising economic data comes out between now and when you did your refi it seems unlikely that rates are going up in the short term and there is at least a decent chance that rates drop a little more before then.  That said, I wouldn't let projecting rates factor into my decision as much as whether or not you want to pull the extra $$ out.

@James Colvin Welcome! Pensacola is a great market and has areas that work for LTR, STR, Flipping and Wholesaling. There are also several local meetups for investors so it's easy to get involved. What type of investing do you want to do?

Hey Matt, Pensacola receives a lot of visitors between the beaches, hospitals, navy base, downtown and colleges so it can be a great market for STR(including AirBnB) investing. That said, I'll share a few pieces of information that I think will be helpful. I currently live in and operate 1 STR in the area and as a real estate agent I've helped people buy lots of STR properties from Perdido Key to Panama City Beach.

1) The STR market here is congested and there is a lot of competition. We generally have enough visitors around warm weather holidays and while kids are out of school to keep occupancy high but the rest of the year can be very rough unless..

2) It's ideal to be located in or very near one of the things I mentioned above that attract visitors to the area. It's the in town STR properties that aren't particularly convenient to any of the major attractions that have struggled the most since this market became crowded.

3) The difference between good and average or bad STR operators is huge. When accounting for location, the hosts that have a unique property with great reviews, service and pricing will have much much better occupancy than the hosts that think they can throw some bland furnishings into any old property and be successful. Anyone could do well 3-4 years ago but it's the people who take it very seriously who are doing well today.

4) You'll want to list on more than just AirBnB.  There are lots of options like VRBO, booking.com, direct booking platforms, snow bird sites and medium term rental sites.  Occupancy is important to profitability so you'll want to get on as many sites as you can in order to reach as many potential renters as possible.  The snowbird and MTR sites may be most important if you launch during the off season.  Bonus Tip: take extra care to get 5 star reviews on your early stays. It's hard to recover from a bad review when you only have a handful of good ones to balance it out.

I hope this helps and good luck!