Florida Suggestions STR

[Jeff Smith]

Hi everyone. We're just starting out in real estate investing. It's something I never considered before, since real estate where I live is so expensive that the thought of buying a second house just seems impossible.

After stumbling across the idea of short term rentals and really getting heavily into all the podcasts and books on Bigger Pockets I've decided to buy a property in Florida.

We usually vacation at Disney 1-2 times per year so we were planning on buying a place in Kissimmee or Davenport to start but after speaking to some local property managers I was recommended looking elsewhere since the market is so saturated and it would be hard to stand out. They recommended Tampa, Clearwater or Largo.

Does anyone in the Florida area have any recommendations? We're looking for a good jump start because we'd like to buy more properties going forward and don't want to get tied up in the wrong property starting out.

Our budget is about $500,000 and we were looking at 5 bedroom + to stand out but that will depend on the market / pricing.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Jeff Smith:

My recommendation is that you wait. I looked at Florida pretty heavy in the spring of 2022 and nothing made sense. It's saturated, properties are over-priced, and people were making emotional purchases instead of wise investments. I'm sure it's cooled a little, but probably not enough for me. If you're going to shop, know your numbers really well and don't base income on what happened in 2020 - 2022.