Would love some Floridian Advice!

[Dana A.]

Hey Everyone! I am looking into the Florida Market (From Palm Beach to Miami) however I am open to hearing more about other areas you all could recommend. I currently work with investors and developers here in NoCal & SoCal and would like to mirror my business model in Florida. Possibly even start flipping homes myself. Although I love the commissions received here in California as a realtor, I see more opportunity for a more prosperous, healthy and happy life in Florida. It also helps that I have family their too! :)

With my partners here, I could continue to work both states so my transition shouldn't be super hard. After almost 27 years in CA, I think I am done...

[Doug Smith]

I've lived and worked in the Tampa Bay area for 27 years now, but I just returned from your neck of the woods. I absolutely love visiting Northern California. Like a lot of State's, Florida and California are really diverse with different people and markets. Think of Miami as LA. That's about where the comparison ends. Orlando is heavily tourism driven...it's got the hotel rooms and convention traffic like Vegas without the gambling and neon. The Space Coast is a bit more laid back (Jacksonville down to Vero Beach). SW Florida...Naples up to Sarasota...is very quiet with a slower lifestyle, but the Fort Myers area has been slammed with hurricanes and the real estate market is active right now (for better or worse) with people trying to capitalize on that. The Tampa Bay area feels a bit more "corporate" while the Panhandle has nice beaches, but tends to have a lifestyle closer to that of Southern Alabama. It's really, really different...like California. That being said, we have a the highest net positive migration in the country right now, but housing starts have not kept up. We sorely need housing that the lower-middle-class can afford, but the profit margins tend to be with the higher-end housing. We've been lending, building, and investing in the Tampa Bay market for many years and have a very strong understanding of the market. We've seen the ups and the downs and understand when to pounce on a deal and when to walk. I wouldn't be scared of Florida, but I would take some time to get to know the place and make sure you have strong "boots on the ground" that really knows the area before committing a lot of capital.