Giving up dream of house hacking in Florida

Giving up dream of house hacking in Florida

Member since 2019 · 68 posts · 8 votes

Hello fellow FL investors and Floridans wonder if you could drop some of your two cents here. I am from the North East and currently living in NH but earlier this year had an interest having a good cash flowing multi in FL after lots of research from last several months and based on the market condition right now I get a gut feeling thats not gonna happen anytime soon for me. At this point, all I want a 2-4 unit which could even break even or may be couple hundred bucks shy from that me occupying one unit as I want a property in FL anyway but that even seems very hard to come by. I work from home and sometimes needs to travel, don't have kids so only requirement is anywhere max 1 hour traveling distance from any major airport. I am open to both east/west coast and northern part of FL as I really don't care just want a decent property in FL. 

What are the towns/neighborhood would you recommend where I still might get lucky keep searching? So far I looked into Jax a lot and St Augustine, Daytona, Tallahassee, Panama city, totally ignored the South, some part of west coast (but most of them are sing fam, few duplexes but numbers don't even make around half way close to the asking price!), inland close to Orlando but no luck. I dont have requirement that I have to live by beach unless may be find a greater deal on 2 unit and do STR on the other and try to cover the expense that way even then which area would you recommend? Or should just waiting for market to possibly crash again would be best bet? Main problem I see is rent is quite low compared to the what we get here in North East even on 1800s house on the other hand price is too high. I never lived in FL and still don't have much idea of the pros and cons of different part

0Reply
96 views

Most Popular Reply

Investor · Ogden, UT · Member since 2018 · 295 posts · 208 votes
7y

@Imran Ahmed Panama City would be a good option for you. Bay County property taxes aren’t bad and you could cash flow on a 4 unit here and get in with a low down payment for residential.

See this reply in the discussion

18 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Investor · Ogden, UT · Member since 2018 · 295 posts · 208 votes
    7y

    @Imran Ahmed Panama City would be a good option for you. Bay County property taxes aren’t bad and you could cash flow on a 4 unit here and get in with a low down payment for residential.

  • Real Estate Agent · orlando, FL · Member since 2009 · 159 posts · 121 votes
    7y

    That sounds like an easy find in Olrando

  • Member since 2019 · 68 posts · 8 votes
    7y

    @Mike Shulman you think so..Which areas ? 

    @Blake Dailey thanks will look more in there. Hows the STR market there is it only busy on the PCB?

  • Investor · Ogden, UT · Member since 2018 · 295 posts · 208 votes
    7y

    @Imran Ahmed I house hack with STR in about 25 minutes from the beach and I still do well- I haven't paid a mortgage payment myself yet which is nice. The Beach side has wider margins but bigger barriers as well. If you are close enough for a quick drive to the beach side you will still get good traffic, especially if you can differentiate your listing a little.

  • Member since 2019 · 68 posts · 8 votes
    7y

    @Blake Dailey thats sound great and exactly what I am looking for as my own residency at this point. Yes, will try to be closer to the beach . Do you mind sharing how many units you have and do you do STR on all of them on per room basis or the entire unit?

  • Investor · Ogden, UT · Member since 2018 · 295 posts · 208 votes
    7y

    @Imran Ahmed yeah no problem, DM me and we can chat more about specifics.

  • Developer · Panama City Beach, FL · Member since 2019 · 8 posts · 5 votes
    6y

    @Imran Ahmed Blake is your guy for the Panama City side. I live in the west end of Panama City Beach, and I'm building a luxury vacation rental in Inlet Beach that I will live in for at least a year. My plan is to airbnb the bottom two floors out while I'm living in it for the first year to put towards the mortgage. I highly doubt it covers the whole mortgage like @Blake Dailey is doing. However, the appreciation is insane in the area; I just found out yesterday that my home has appreciated 70k in 3 months.

    Long story short, I wouldn't give up. FL has great opportunities. I have more knowledge in the luxury STR space; so, that's why I'm doing what I'm doing. However, I think almost all the house hacking strategies will work in FL. If you can cover the mortgage with your job, I wouldn't wait for the market to crash.

  • Investor · Ogden, UT · Member since 2018 · 295 posts · 208 votes
    6y

    @Darren Koenenn You are killing it too, that’s awesome about the 70k appreciation in only 3 months!

  • Member since 2019 · 68 posts · 8 votes
    6y

    @Darren Koenenn thanks for the input. I actually also focusing more on PCB since the last time I posted here and doing some more research. May be a duplex where I can live in one unit and convert the other for STR or would you recommend 4/2 condo in high rise or something ? Since my goal is to hack it for now, wouldn't mind owning a home right by beach or selling it later with more appreciation. But dont come across anything very close to the beach or even few blocks behind 1-0 15 min bike ride gonna be fine?

    On another note, how would you compare PCB against St. Augustine and Daytona beach area? Just curious since you guys are local and lived there would like to get your view on this. I think other day I read St. Johns county brought the highest STR dollars last year

    BTW, how big is your renovation/conversion project? Are you targeting only high end guest? Could you share a link to an existing listing that you own just to get an idea ?

  • Developer · Panama City Beach, FL · Member since 2019 · 8 posts · 5 votes
    6y

    @Imran Ahmed If you decide to house hack a duplex using STR, I'd advise getting a property as close to the beach as possible. Being in walking distance from the beach will be one of the greatest impacts on your STR rates. If you can't find a property in walking distance from the beach in your price range, then you need to make sure you can get a property that has an easy route to the beach using a golf cart. (You will need to get a golf cart and bikes for your property if you can't walk to the beach) You can find duplexes at all distances from the beach including beach front. Secondly if you want to take this to the next level of house hacking, I'd STR your unit when you travel. This is just one strategy though; I'm pretty sure you can find a way to make the other house hacking strategies work as well.

    I can not speak with respect to St. Augustine and Daytona beach. I'm going to look more into this though. I'd be interested to see how the STR rentals compare to 30a/Walton County.

    My project is a spec house in a new development. It involved researching the area for appreciation and what kind of properties were bringing in the most cash on cash return for STR's. My wife and I found a development that was in our price range with a developer that had a good reputation. No homes besides the model were fully completed at the time we signed our contract, but 25% of the development was under contract and currently being built. The developer had an array of homes to chose from, so we chose one that fit our plan, locked in a price, and signed a contract with 5% down to lock in our price. (The developer wanted 10% down with a pre-approval letter, but I negotiated to 5% with a pre-approval letter.) I'm targeting high in guest, but not the highest end guests. DM me if you want more specifics and a link to the neighborhood.

  • Investor · Washington, DC · Member since 2016 · 22 posts · 15 votes
    6y

    @Imran Ahmed. When you say, "gut feeling", what exactly does that mean?  How many offers have you made?  

    Most investors don't pay asking/list price for properties... do the math and make an offer that works for YOU.  Actually, make an offer that makes you feel a little embarrassed, but that you'd be really excited about if it's accepted.  Most will say "no", but you'll get used to it.  Rinse and repeat until somebody accepts your offer.

  • Panama City Beach, FL · Member since 2019 · 8 posts · 1 vote
    6y

    If you plan on house hacking in Panama City i would suggest visiting the area first... Yes the caps are around 7 percent for multifamily, but there are some pretty rough areas. 

    Panama City Beach on the other hand is a gorgeous area... I plan on buying something in the area next year.. Please reach out if you visit! I get home in December from my current deployment.

  • Rental Property Investor · Niceville, FL · Member since 2019 · 89 posts · 62 votes
    6y

    I agree with some of the advice that you have gotten already. Parts of Panama City are more C-, D...and worse properties. That is likely to change since so many people have moved out of the area and you will be able to rent those properties all the same....but...if you are living in the property then I suggest the west end of Panama City Beach. This part of the beach is rising in popularity and is closer to 30a area. Inlet Beach is great but the prices may be too high. I suggest looking at Laguna Beach. There is a duplex (upstairs/downstairs) on the market in the 400's. I found the price high but it had been remodeled. They were marketed as STR because you can see the gulf from the back deck....around 3 blocks from the shoreline with public access. Hop on Airbnb and see where and for how much STR's go for in whatever area you may be considering....check the reviews too. Keep in mind,...the area is still recovering and investors have jumped at the opportunity to purchase damaged homes at prices that they think are good.....not all of the prices are good. In fact, even damaged homes have increased in value. I lived in Panama City Beach for a while and I can tell you that the current prices are much higher than they used to be...sometimes for much less house. However, PCB was behind the times as a beach town in my opinion....it was the cheapest you could buy that close to the beach back then. Make sure the numbers work for you...whatever you do. Keep flood insurance in mind and focus on the items that would cause your insurance rates to be higher. Don't give up the search! I will add...STR's do great in the Orlando area year-round. What is holding you back in that area? One notable exception to staying away from Panama City is The Cove. This area of PC is very popular but it is one of the areas hit hardest by the storm. What is your rehab limit?

  • Rental Property Investor · Winter Haven, FL · Member since 2018 · 68 posts · 20 votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Imran Ahmed:

    Hello fellow FL investors and Floridans wonder if you could drop some of your two cents here. I am from the North East and currently living in NH but earlier this year had an interest having a good cash flowing multi in FL after lots of research from last several months and based on the market condition right now I get a gut feeling thats not gonna happen anytime soon for me. At this point, all I want a 2-4 unit which could even break even or may be couple hundred bucks shy from that me occupying one unit as I want a property in FL anyway but that even seems very hard to come by. I work from home and sometimes needs to travel, don't have kids so only requirement is anywhere max 1 hour traveling distance from any major airport. I am open to both east/west coast and northern part of FL as I really don't care just want a decent property in FL. 

    What are the towns/neighborhood would you recommend where I still might get lucky keep searching? So far I looked into Jax a lot and St Augustine, Daytona, Tallahassee, Panama city, totally ignored the South, some part of west coast (but most of them are sing fam, few duplexes but numbers don't even make around half way close to the asking price!), inland close to Orlando but no luck. I dont have requirement that I have to live by beach unless may be find a greater deal on 2 unit and do STR on the other and try to cover the expense that way even then which area would you recommend? Or should just waiting for market to possibly crash again would be best bet? Main problem I see is rent is quite low compared to the what we get here in North East even on 1800s house on the other hand price is too high. I never lived in FL and still don't have much idea of the pros and cons of different part

     As a truck driver, I've been to many parts of the country and what I learned is that almost every place is pretty much the same. There are always going to be good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods. Hopefully, which ever area you decide to look at, you will at least visit the area before making your purchase. I highly recommend visiting FL before making your choice. When I moved to TX, I went to Dallas for a week before deciding where I wanted to live. There are plenty of cheap hotels, just don't stay in the 'tourist' areas! There are plenty of good cities in Florida, but using Tampa as an example - North and South Tampa are pretty nice, but the closer you get to Ybor or even in some parts around USF and the Stadium, the worse things get. So for me to say, "Tampa is great!" could be true, depending on WHERE in Tampa we're talking about. That's why I say you really should just take a trip down here and see for yourself. Everyone's experience is different. The best thing you can do is take the time to see it yourself, THEN start looking for places to live!

  • Member since 2019 · 68 posts · 8 votes
    6y

    @Account Closed I did and they got turned down which I am not worried about thats the process but my point was in general comparison and FL getting ridiculously high price wise especially on rental properties. For example this one right here barely makes 1500/ month where just tax and insurance and water bill could surpass that , without even plugging in cap, maintenance all that and other expenses and forget about debt service. Reducing price even half doesn't help ..its the income property needs to generate. I would be curious to know who buys deals like that..this is just one but most of them are like that unless you get something all gone in 10-15 k and do massive rehab. I would be curious to know how was your last deal in FL and when was it

    https://heartland.mlsmatrix.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?ID=37150109

  • Member since 2019 · 68 posts · 8 votes
    6y

    @Kurt Alder will hit you up before I head there..

    @Melissa Jolley I could totally relate to every thing you said , even me not being ever there I knew right off the bat prices are way high just looking look at the numbers. Thanks for all that valuable info also Darren up above mentioned he is getting something new in Inlet Beach. So why not the mid to eastern end of the beach? Just curious is it not as good as the west part popularity and activity wise? I am already doing AirBnb/VRBO research looks like tons of places available in PCB right now just in 80s/night range . Is that because of the season things slowed down? Do you have any PCB property now how they do during winter?

    For Orlando haven't done SRT yet as I was mainly hung up on multi unit rental properties, I know Disney area is good and should be busy year round. Somebody told me Cypress Lake should good for all the year round golfers, will have to look into it. My rehab budget is max 10-15K as I want a somewhat decent property begin with for the first STR occupying myself as well.

    @Tim Crosby agree with you no alternative checking thing out visiting in person

    I will be in St. Augustine- Daytona first couple weeks of November guys.. gotta get this thing outta my head then would be able to better compare against PCB or Orlando

  • Investor · Washington, DC · Member since 2016 · 22 posts · 15 votes
    6y

    The situation you describe is not unique to this area.  I've invested in NV, MD, and DC. At any given time in any given location some strategies will work and others won't.  On that point, it looks like the FL peeps above have given you some other locations to explore using that strategy.

    Who buys residential deals that don't cashflow?  Typically, it's owner occupants and investors betting on appreciation (i.e. speculators). 

    There's a reason Blackstone started snapping up tons of rentals in 2012 after the crash and now... they're cashing out.  

  • Rental Property Investor · Niceville, FL · Member since 2019 · 89 posts · 62 votes
    6y

    @Imran Ahmed I typed a good response but it wouldn't post for some reason. Off season nightly rates are at least $50 lower per night than in-season rates. Some owners opt to rent on 3-6mo leases to snowbirds during this time. The West end is full of newer developments like Pier Park (large outdoor mall with popular restaurants). It is also closer to 30a and Inlet Beach. Laguna Beach area has experienced a good amount of appreciation even before the hurricane and I anticipate new builds in this area before long. I have shifted my focus to MHP's so I don't own short term in PCB or PC. I lived there when I was going to college and my family still lives there. In order to determine the area you really have to think about price and about what kind of guest you want to entertain. St. Andrews in Panama City is a historical area that is slower paced. All of the condos on Front Beach do well during season but some HOA's fail at maintaining the grounds in my opinion. As you approach Destin, the prices will increase.

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.