All Forum Posts by: Robert Berganza

I am looking for an investor friendly, competent granite installer for the Lakeland, FL, Polk County area. Any recommends would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

I am looking for a good contractor in the Lakeland, FL area for a fix and flip project. The ideal contractor would understand cost vs profit and keep that in mind during the project. The project is a small residential flip with an ARV of maybe $130k, so keeping costs reasonable will be key. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Self recommendations from contractors are also welcome.

I would also suggest taking a good look at Lakeland. Sitting between Tampa and Orlando on the I-4 corridor, it really only has room to appreciate further. If you haven't been here before, I would probably spend a day driving around Lakeland and see what you think. Check out our downtown area, take a drive around Lake Hollingsworth, the surrounding neighborhoods, and maybe a drive through Deerbrook, Christina, and Eaglebrook neighborhoods. I might be biased because I live here, but I believe Lakeland is one of the best markets around. It's not overvalued (yet), but it's sitting in a great area for growth. Our job growth has also been very promising.

For residential, I second Adrian Smude I would highly recommend PCREIA. For commercial though, I'm still looking. I think commercial is more about building relationships with other commercial investors and brokers. As far as I can tell, there just isn't a commercial meeting around here.

It depends, are you looking to invest in residential, commercial, or undecided?

I'm living in the other sunshine state, here in Florida, looking to do my first commercial/multi-family deal this year. I've read book after book, but there's only so much to learn on paper. I'd be really interested to see how your journey goes and what direction decide. I'm thinking of waiting until I can find maybe a 6-unit with only moderate deferred maintenance, tackle improving that, and go from there. Luckily, from what I can gather, I live in a decent market to invest. The idea of investing out of state is pretty intimidating. Best of luck to you. PM me if you want discuss the journey, newbie to newbie

Hi everyone I live in Lakeland, in Polk County, Florida. I have been going to our local REIA meetings in North Lakeland; however, I've found there's little to no involvement in commercial investing at that meeting. Are commercial REIA's less common, or am I just not looking in the right places? If not, how or where do the commercial investors network? I found an off market apartment building south of Lakeland, and was hoping to bounce some ideas off the other members at our REIA meeting only to find that no one I ran into owned any commercial property. Any thoughts or tips would be appreciated

My wife is completely supportive and totally uninterested. It took me some time to get used to being wholly involved in a project and not being able to share the details. HOWEVER, once I got past the initial disappointment, it's actually been pretty good. She's happy for me, and accepts the hours I dedicate to the task, but doesn't second guess any decision I make, because she has no knowledge or interest in the topic. I've found friends at the REIA meetings to talk real estate. It's actually quiet nice. Best of luck going forward!

I believe you find some really good connections and some reliable referrals if you visit the Polk County REIA meeting. It's the first and third Thursday, every month at 7:00 pm at the 98 North Ramada Inn

There is an 8 unit apartment building I know of in a low income (but low crime rate) area just outside of Lakeland, in Polk County. The owner was renovating but recently stopped all work. I think he ran out of budget before he could finish the project. If I reach out to him to see if he's willing to sell, is there anyone who would want to follow through with the purchase, assuming the property and the numbers were right?