All Forum Posts by: Trevor Fleck

@Khaled Morad I learned about the Cape Coral market from a turnkey company - Rent to Retirement. Thus far, it's been a great market for me. I have seven build to rents ongoing right now with the first finishing in March. Last February, I was able to purchase my first two lots for $7,500 and $11,000 respectively - both on freshwater canals. At the time projected rents for the 1585 sq ft 4/2 was $1,850 and I was all in for $238k (lot + construction + closing costs). Fast forward to today and those same lots are selling for $45k and rising fast. Rents are around $2450-$2500 and similar properties are appraising for between $360-$410k. 

I was down to Cape Coral last week and everywhere you look they are building. I read somewhere that Cape Coral has something like the 2nd most new constructions/capita in the nation right now. With the right builder and lot selection, you can still get in for under $300k for a new build (4/2 or 4/3 1650-1774 sqft). I think rents are on an unsustainable trajectory but I do see a window of another 6-9 months where before the price of land gets bid up beyond a point that it makes sense for a build to rent play. 

Cons right now is that with all construction everyone is backed up - permitting, inspections, materials, various subcontractors, etc. So what was a 9-10 month timeline before is now more like 12-14 months. However, looking around Florida I still haven't found a better opportunity with a nice balance of cash flow and strong likelihood of continued appreciation at the time of this writing for SF new construction. 

@Wil Orozco sounds like you've made a lot of very good moves to set yourself up for success. Developing a team out of state will be your biggest challenge. Have you considered tapping into a turnkey company as a way to tap into someone else's established network and have some "guardrails" of sorts to make sure you minimize your risk. Also a great way to learn a market and "pilot" before deploying all that capital you'll have. Either way, congrats! You have set yourself up to have a lot of great options. Happy to chat more and help strategize if it would be helpful. 

@Tyler Fox depending on your situation and what you're comfortable with (as well as if your market is a decent area for investment) I'd consider one of the following:

• Purchase a single family home and rent out unoccupied rooms or Airbnb them
• Purchase a single family home that could make a good LTR and then move in a year or two
• Purchase a multi-family, live in one part, rent out the rest

It's really what you're comfortable with in some ways. For example, I would have loved to house hack with a duplex, but my wife wasn't having it. So we ended up buying a house but rented out one of our rooms through Airbnb and that paid the mortgage most months. So you've got some great options. 

@Thuan Nguyen I would consider a cash out refinance while rates are low and use that money to invest in a market that provides better cash flow even after a property manager is taken into account. I could make compelling cases for dozens of markets, but ultimately think about some general guidelines like:

• Landlord friendly state
• States with low property taxes
• Markets where the population is growing
• Markets where companies are moving
• Markets that have a desirable feature for those who have remote jobs and can choose where to live (ex. mountains, ocean, lakes, university-town, etc.)
• Focus on the sunbelt all else being equal. Most sunbelt states contain elements I mentioned above and it is projected to be the fastest growing area of the nation for the next 30 years

Happy to chat more if it would be helpful. Good luck!

@Nick Narine I know Tampa is definitely a hot market! I'd be curious if you find good cash flowing opportunities. You may want to ultimately expand your search a bit outside of Tampa to other desirable areas of Florida that are more up and coming. For example, I looked at Tampa, but ultimately ended up in the Cape Coral area. 

@Austin Mason You're definitely approaching this right. Educate yourself, start networking on BP and in your local target market, start analyzing deals, get a mentor who is where you want to be in 5-10 years, and then start making offers! Is your plan to undertake more of a DIY rehab to start or is your bandwidth too limited? 

Congrats @Chase Cannon. Where was this property located? 

Thanks @Rodney Menendez these are really helpful links!

@Maryann Navarro good luck! Are you looking to build your own team or tap into an existing network? I know a lot of turnkey companies operate in that market. Might be worth speaking with a few. If nothing else you'll get additional opinions on the market. 

@Mike Barone I haven't. However, I did have a lot with gopher tortoises on one particular lot that I was forced to sell. It's roughly $5k/tortoise to remove these days. However, you then have to have them sent to a "relocation ranch" and right now none are open in the state of FL due to laws limiting how many can be relocated/acre. It's a real mess and of course gopher tortoises didn't exactly get the memo about lot lines so that's why I stay away from lots that are anywhere near known gopher tortoises. You can get thrown in jail for up to three years if you try to remove them yourself. It's a big deal and Florida takes it very seriously.
Usually they are easy to spot by the burrow, unmowed grass around them, and often the City has marked them with small, white PVC pipes. 

@Stetson Miller@Peter Davis any experience removing burrowing owls or knowledge on who might be able to speak to the cost?