Welcome Courtney,One great resource in our area is the Rhode Island Investors Meeting, held every third Thursday of the month at the Hilton Garden Inn in Warwick.

Winter Garden, Dr Phillipps, and Windemere are all very trendy and on the rise, and they're great if you're working on the west side of town or even downtown.

I'm Jes, from the wonderful garden state.

Sadly, many buyers are actually paying these prices, because they are desperate to get deals and lack the discipline to wait until the market corrects.If you know that you can get the higher rents and are willing to accept a little vacancy in the short run, then this is a garden-variety value-add deal, assuming that you have the capital to do the value-add.I would try to get a handle on the rehab costs (worst-case scenario), and then take that to the seller and tell him that the property is overpriced because it needs X, Y, and Z, and show them the estimates you got.  

Instead of focusing on Orlando, look to the outskirts of Orlando where all of the growth is happening: Apopka, Lake Nona, Winter Garden, Oviedo.  

If things get REALLY bad, then yes, things like rationing, inability to water lawns/gardens, etc. may cause demand problems in those markets. 

The most attractive to tenants have been the low utilities: furnace upgrades, the solar PV and solar hot water, along with providing garden space in the back yard.

Stuff breaks too much in traditional houses, and the landlord usually pays for electricity, water, garden maintenance, etc. 

I lived in the Garden District in the early 70's.

Welcome Account ClosedFellow Kansan -- I used to live in SW KS myself -- Holcomb just west of Garden City - still travel that way quite a bit during the fall hunting seasons.Where you're living that's got to be a tough market to invest in - think you'll have to get creative.