Hi everyone!  I am finally jumping into the investment game and looking to acquire my first buy and hold and have settled on the St. Petersburg / Clearwater FL area.  I am looking for referrals to a good real estate agent.  Does anyone have someone they could provide?

Wish me luck!

Congrats on taking action.  Just out of curiosity why Clearwater?  What attracted you to that market.  My mother and father live there. 

@Jennifer Pendzick 

Welcome to Bigger Pockets.  Best of luck on your investments.  

no more than 20 minutes to the beach. Decent job opportunities. Constant warm weather. Relatively low prices. What's not to love?

Welcome to BP and investing!

I had actually received from a colleague of mine the top 20 rental makets based on % of increased rents over 2014.  Clearwater, St. Pete & Tampa were all on it so that was what led me to those areas.  I also love FL and have always wanted to invest there.  While I have not posted much on BP - I listen to the podcast weekly!!  Doug Marriot - I have to agree!  Do you have an agent you could recommend?

I would recommend the most handsome one on Bigger Pockets. He has to run off to a meeting in a minute though.

My wife and I have thought about Clearwater as well but for maybe purchasing a property to be used as a vacation rental. Anyone going the vacation rental avenue vice monthly rentals? 

We own 3 vacation rentals and are in contract for our fourth, all in the same area of upstate New York, Adirondack Mountains. I manage a bunch of VR properties in South Beach Miami area, but don't own them. 

We have been exploring Florida, Caribbean, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, etc for our next place to invest in VR's. It's a hands on venture, so hiring great help is key - and the more you own the more leverage you have with help - so we are hoping to invest with others in a warm area that is VR friendly (many areas ban weekly rentals!), fun to visit ourselves and has some decent prices still. 

Keep us in mind if you find an area you love. Stuart FL was our last visit - loved the town and is VR friendly. 

Good luck! 

Good Luck Jennifer for making a decision to take that first step. Looking forward with hearing how your first deal goes...

@Jennifer Pendzick  great location! Welcome to BP! Hint hint @Doug Merriott   is a local agent for where you are looking. Have you been pre-approved for a mortgage yet? That is the first step to investing. 

@Jerry Padilla Thank you!  yes, pre-approved plenty of cash ready set go!

@Jennifer Pendzick,

To Make the @ work do the following:

Hold down the shift key and type the following: @?

Look below this Window, and you will see a list of list of names of people who have posted in this thread.

Click on the name of the person that you want notified via an email that you responded to them.

If you are a Colleague with anyone that has not posted in this thread, and you want them to see your post, hold down the shift key, and type the @ and the first 4 letters of the first or last name.

Look below this Window, and click on your Colleague's name.

They will be notified via an email about your post in this thread.

Raymond