All Forum Posts by: Sean Abbott

Hi there from a fellow newbie! Welcome to the community.

@Daniel Harnsberger thank you!

My biggest hurdle for out-of-market research (beside boot-on-ground neighborhood research) is trying to pin down all the different states' landlord-tenant laws and tax regulations. I know it's all publicly available, but reading through pages of legalese turns my poor brain to mush. I appreciate the offer and will likely take you up on it soon!

Hi @Joe Fairless 

I'm looking primarily at multi-family or mixed-use properties. I picked Tampa because during my constant trips back and forth from LA to Tampa, I saw Tampa and its suburb of St. Petersburg were areas being built up pretty rapidly. There are solid universities in the area and pretty steady job growth over the last few years. My father-in-law, who also resides in the area, is a general contractor who has been in the business for over 30 years.

I'd prefer to get into my local market, but Los Angeles (especially the West side of LA where I live) seems like an extraordinarily difficult market to break into without much more capital than I currently have access to.

Hello @Fred Conway ! I'm looking at multi-family. Apartments mostly, not condos. More than 5, less than 20 units to start. I've never been a SFR guy personally. I love the community feel (and tolerate the community problems!) you get from well-run, well-organized apartment communities. As far as area, I'm still familiarizing myself with the neighborhoods/submarkets of Tampa. I was bi-coastal (LA & Tampa-St.Pete area) for about 3 years as my wife was in Tampa for work and family for a while, so I'm only tangentially familiar with the region. As of right now, I'm primarily looking at Downtown St. Pete, Pasadena/Gulfport, Gandy areas of St. Pete and for Tampa, I'm looking at Carrolwood, South Tampa near the AFB and Woodland Terrace/Seminole Heights. Though I'm definitely open to suggestions and more information!

@Joshua McGinnis , thank you for the warm welcome. =)

Hello BiggerPockets community!

I'm an avid lurker on most communities, particularly the /r/realestate and /r/personalfinance subreddits on Reddit which is where I came across this network!

A bit about myself? Hm. I'm 28 years old. Born and raised Los Angeles, CA native, as rare as we are among the transplants. My family's owned small apartment buildings in the Simi Valley/Northridge/Van Nuys area all my life growing up. To get my feet wet outside of the family, I'm currently working in property management for a local, regional REIT that specializes in class A commercial space, but has a small residential portfolio.

I'll be looking to start purchasing rental properties in the Tampa area probably around the start of 2016, as I have a few GC connections (father-in-law is a fairly successful GC) out there able to assist me in renovations, repairs and maintenance. I'm also considering some other out-of-state markets like Richmond, VA, Washington, D.C. and others. Unfortunately, staying in my local market isn't an option for me, as the purchase-to-rent ratios aren't there compared to other markets except in buildings with extremely high financial barriers to entry (at least for me currently!).

Aside from just being "in the mix", as it were, growing up, I've got no formal education on investing (yet!). Definitely looking for advice, education. anecdotes and anything else I can sponge up.

Thanks gals and guys, and I look forward to being part of this community. =)