Ocala Florida Rentals Opinions
Member since 2018 · 51 posts · 13 votes
Good day Everyone,
Hope everyone is having a great end of the year :)
Anyone on here invest in long term rentals in the central Florida area? Particularly Ocala, Orlando, Gainesville. When I look north Florida area I see lots of rentals sitting 90 plus days. I was told by one realtor to expect 4 plus months to get a unit rented.
All my rentals are in the South Florida area currently and looking to expand to other places. But down here at least last time I listed (full occupancy as of now) 60 days was the longest it's ever taken me.
Would love to hear anyone's experience with the area.
Thank you for your time.
I work with a number of investors that have properties throughout the state. I also have a number of units myself in SW Florida. The rental market has slowed and has soffend in price over the last year. Most of the PMs that I talk with recommend trying to keep good tenants even if you have to lower rent.
What I have seen is that things are renting ( and selling for that matter) if they are priced right. All the investors that i have worked with this year have full units right now. We did not see any of the new builds we acquired sit for more than 60 days.
I have had very good luck with our properties in Ocala. It is a strong market that people and jobs are still moving to.
Hope this helps.
Best of luck.
I work with a number of investors that have properties throughout the state. I also have a number of units myself in SW Florida. The rental market has slowed and has soffend in price over the last year. Most of the PMs that I talk with recommend trying to keep good tenants even if you have to lower rent.
What I have seen is that things are renting ( and selling for that matter) if they are priced right. All the investors that i have worked with this year have full units right now. We did not see any of the new builds we acquired sit for more than 60 days.
I have had very good luck with our properties in Ocala. It is a strong market that people and jobs are still moving to.
Hope this helps.
Best of luck.
I work with a number of investors that have properties throughout the state. I also have a number of units myself in SW Florida. The rental market has slowed and has soffend in price over the last year. Most of the PMs that I talk with recommend trying to keep good tenants even if you have to lower rent.
What I have seen is that things are renting ( and selling for that matter) if they are priced right. All the investors that i have worked with this year have full units right now. We did not see any of the new builds we acquired sit for more than 60 days.
I have had very good luck with our properties in Ocala. It is a strong market that people and jobs are still moving to.
Hope this helps.
Best of luck.
@Todd Anderson thank you for the detailed response. I appreciate it. All of my current units are in the SE Florida. Being used to the "bigger-city" rental vibe, I was a little hesitant with Ocala even though I love the area. I kept seeing so many listings, and some were sitting for 90+ days on Zillow, so it made me a bit unsure about the area. Your message is definitely reassuring. With that said, do you have any recommendations of areas to avoid in the Ocala area?
Thanks again.
I own properties in NW Florida. Great properties will still rent. When selecting tenants keeping a tenant is just as important as selecting one. I always try to stay a little under market rent to keep units full. I have properties in the Chicagoland market as well and those continue to rent pretty solidly. Great properties under market will always find tenants. You need to be better than your competition and keep rents reasonable. Greed will kill an investment and turnover costs money. Reducing rent or keeping it the same is much better in the long run.
Run the numbers of an increase in rent of $100 versus loosing a tenant and the cost of the rehab. Average rehab when a tenant leaves $3000 (understand we can debate this, it’s an average) and loss of 30-60 days of rent. 60 days to find a new tenant at $2000 a month plus rehab the unit even if it’s only painting is $7000 ($4000 in rent and $3000 in rehab) versus the $100 in rent increase $1200. That’s a $5800 loss. That takes a lot of cash flow to make that up.
I own properties in NW Florida. Great properties will still rent. When selecting tenants keeping a tenant is just as important as selecting one. I always try to stay a little under market rent to keep units full. I have properties in the Chicagoland market as well and those continue to rent pretty solidly. Great properties under market will always find tenants. You need to be better than your competition and keep rents reasonable. Greed will kill an investment and turnover costs money. Reducing rent or keeping it the same is much better in the long run.
Run the numbers of an increase in rent of $100 versus loosing a tenant and the cost of the rehab. Average rehab when a tenant leaves $3000 (understand we can debate this, it’s an average) and loss of 30-60 days of rent. 60 days to find a new tenant at $2000 a month plus rehab the unit even if it’s only painting is $7000 ($4000 in rent and $3000 in rehab) versus the $100 in rent increase $1200. That’s a $5800 loss. That takes a lot of cash flow to make that up.
Thank you and I agree with you 100%. All my current units are what is thought to be a little below market on rent. Even though taxes etc have all increased, raising the rent and having the tenant move will definitely be more costly. 100% agree with you there. I just wanted to make sure that the vacancy I was seeing in those areas weren't a result of people leaving the area or lack of people to fill the rentals etc. Do you have any properties in Ocala?
Thanks
That makes sense. The news outlets talk about people selling their property, but I’m not sure they are leaving the area. DOM have definitely slowed down. I don’t own any property in Ocala. I own in three different states and the same data is being talked about. It’s more market specific than anything else.
I’m in Orlando and work in property management across Central Florida, and I can tell you that if a rental is sitting for four months, it’s overpriced. Full stop.
Winter is definitely slower than summer in FL broadly, but good tenants do still move in the winter. What really determines your vacancy time is how aggressively the property is marketed and how closely the list price matches what homes are actually renting for, not what people are asking for on Zillow.
Anyone can list a property for whatever number they want. The real indicator is days on market. If you see a home sitting on Zillow for 90 or 110 days, that simply means it’s overpriced for the current conditions OR they are loosing possible tenants to chronically slow response speeds.
On our end, we’re consistently placing tenants within two weeks to two months even right now across Orlando, Kissimmee, etc. But that’s because we push listings to every major platform, respond quickly to showing requests, and adjust pricing based on real rental data.
Central Florida is still a strong market. If you’re priced correctly and marketed everywhere, you shouldn’t be sitting four months.
I am in the Gainesville market and we have had several investors close this year and get their units rented within a week. In one scenario, a client closed on their townhouse and had a 3 year lease signed the next day which is not common, but a testament to the rental demand locally for accurately priced and marketed units.
As far as Ocala (where I grew up), I also see a lot of units sitting for 90+ days. The area is without a doubt growing, but building may be outpacing demand there currently.
Good day Everyone,
Hope everyone is having a great end of the year :)
Anyone on here invest in long term rentals in the central Florida area? Particularly Ocala, Orlando, Gainesville. When I look north Florida area I see lots of rentals sitting 90 plus days. I was told by one realtor to expect 4 plus months to get a unit rented.
All my rentals are in the South Florida area currently and looking to expand to other places. But down here at least last time I listed (full occupancy as of now) 60 days was the longest it's ever taken me.
Would love to hear anyone's experience with the area.
Thank you for your time.
@Javier Perez not sure who told you 4 months, they most likely are not pricing their properties accordingly. We manage in Jacksonville and Orlando areas, we also own a bunch of rentals in Jacksonville, and I don't think we've had any take 4 months to rent while on the market. I would say 60 days is even a somewhat conservative leaning estimate for days on market, most of ours rent within 2 weeks to 60 days, and if a property is getting above 30-45 days that usually means we need to adjust pricing as well. Also, the winter months (Thanksgiving through 2nd/3rd week in January) are much slower, but starts to ramp back up in the Spring.