New investor looking to do an STR house hack in Tampa

Tampa, Florida
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New investor looking to do an STR house hack in Tampa

Jarett Cestaro
Member since 2021 · 1 post · 6 votes

Hi everyone-

My name is Jarett and I'm a new real estate investor living in New York and planning to move to Tampa in May. I'm ultimately interested in acquiring properties using creative financing and turning them into short-term rentals (in Tampa and beyond) but think it would be best to start by house hacking a small multi-family property and operating STRs out of the other units. 

If anyone has experience operating STRs in this market I would love to connect and potentially partner on something, or recommendations on an agent that could help me find a property for this use-case I'm all ears!

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Kristina Kuba
Tampa, FL · Member since 2021 · 383 posts · 389 votes
4y

Hi @Jarett Cestaro

Welcome to Florida. I lived in NYC for 3 years when I did my medical residency. You are on the right track to building wealth fast with the house hack / STR model. The FHA max of 3 units is $651,050 in Hillsborough county (Tampa is the main city in Hillsborough county). While that is a healthy budget, it is very difficult to get a FHA offer accepted on a triplex or quad.

Another option is looking at larger homes in high appreciating areas like Ybor, Seminole Heights or Wellswood. Some of those older homes were built with MLM suites and multiple entry points, with some creative blocking off and smart locks you can turn your primary into a STR cash machine.

I myself own a quad and a STR in those very areas. Happy to dive deeper into this.

Kristina

3Reply
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  • Julio GonzalezPro Member
    Specialist · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    Hi Jarett, welcome to the community! There is a great group of members on here to connect with.

    561-253-6640
    0Reply
  • Khaled Morad
    Lender · Tampa, FL · Member since 2018 · 422 posts · 210 votes
    4y

    Hey Jarett, nice to meet you. Welcome to Tampa. You’ll love it here. I too am from NY.

    I think you have a great idea. Make sure you connect with an agent who knows the area—particularly the STR rules and limits—as they vary from county or township to township.

    I can connect you with some great agents in the area and other professionals on your journey. If you search STR tampa or St. Pete, you'll find some other forums with a lot of good info.
    min looking forward to connecting and eventually meeting when you make it down here!

    1Reply
  • Barrington Williamson
    Member since 2015 · 4 posts · 2 votes
    4y

    Hey Jarett,

    welcome to bigger pockets and looking forward to having you down here. I'm sure you'll be right at home here because there are tons of people here from NY, NJ, and PA. I'm a tampa bay native and its truly amazing to see this place grow like it has these and its ton wonders for my long term holds which are all free and clear now.  My advice would be to make sure you when you're evaluating properties, to make sure they work for more than short term rentals.  With the influx of new residents and investors paying above asking some using an escalator clauses, numbers are really out of whack. If your only exit is short term rentals, you're putting yourself in a uncomfortable spot if the market turns. When 08/09 happened it hit the tampa bay area hard causing us to lag for years and a lot of investors were out of luck using tons of leverage, ARMs, interest only loans, high cost hard money, etc. which is very similar to whats going on now. Areas I'd look at are Town and Country, Belmont Heights, and Forest Park.

    2Reply
  • Justin WindhamPro Member
    Banker · Nationwide · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    @Jarett Cestaro

    Welcome to Bigger Pockets!

    If you are looking to invest into real estate, I have found this site to be incredibly helpful.

    There are a few self-contained guides that you can access here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides


    I really like the alerts feature that can quickly guide you to current topics that might interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

    1Reply
  • Abel CurielBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Queens, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y
    Quote from @Jarett Cestaro:

    Hi everyone-

    My name is Jarett and I'm a new real estate investor living in New York and planning to move to Tampa in May. I'm ultimately interested in acquiring properties using creative financing and turning them into short-term rentals (in Tampa and beyond) but think it would be best to start by house hacking a small multi-family property and operating STRs out of the other units. 

    If anyone has experience operating STRs in this market I would love to connect and potentially partner on something, or recommendations on an agent that could help me find a property for this use-case I'm all ears!

     Love the approach. House-hacking will allow you to gain 3 main forms of experience:

    - Acquisition experience: finding, analyzing, negotiating and closing on your first deal

    - Project managment experience: Hiring GCs, subs OR doing the work yourself to get your rental unit(s) rent ready

    - Property management experience: Rental unit marketing, tenant screening-tenant interviews-lease signing (LTR)

    Each of these forms of experience will allow you to build systems and effectively use leverage (through tools, systems, and your team) to successfully grow your portfolio over time.

    @Steven Torres if you're serious about doing this in Central Florida.

    Best of luck to you on your journey!

    Abel

    REbuild Team - eXp Realty5234 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    2Reply
  • Alex Talcott
    Attorney · Durham, NH · Member since 2019 · 292 posts · 126 votes
    4y

    Yay, creative financing! I teach college finance and law and am an active buyer. 

    I have a partner active in Tampa with business interests other than real estate. I'd like to put a few toes in the water of Tampa. There are some wicked (as we say in New England) cheap flights down to there. 

    Let's connect!

    0Reply
  • David Parathundil
    Rental Property Investor · Tampa · Member since 2019 · 49 posts · 16 votes
    4y

    Hi Jarett, I just moved to Tampa and am looking for a single family to househack. I would love to get connected and potentially partner on something. 

    1Reply
  • Adam Benmbark
    Real Estate Agent · Saint Petersburg, FL · Member since 2018 · 39 posts · 25 votes
    4y

    Love to see more and more young people interested in building a real estate portfolio! Especially here in my home, the Tampa Bay Area. I'll echo what others have already said. It's important the numbers work out even if you need to switch from STR to longer term rental. I know of several municipalities here in my area that have suddenly changed their ordinances and left STR owner/operators struggling to break even as LTRs. I'm a local realtor and closely monitor the sentiment of different municipalities. I know of a few that have decided to allow it with minimal regulations. Let me know if I can help.

    0Reply
  • Raymond J. RodriguesBusiness Member
    Lender · Miami, FL · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 797 votes
    4y
    Quote from @Jarett Cestaro:

    Hi everyone-

    My name is Jarett and I'm a new real estate investor living in New York and planning to move to Tampa in May. I'm ultimately interested in acquiring properties using creative financing and turning them into short-term rentals (in Tampa and beyond) but think it would be best to start by house hacking a small multi-family property and operating STRs out of the other units. 

    If anyone has experience operating STRs in this market I would love to connect and potentially partner on something, or recommendations on an agent that could help me find a property for this use-case I'm all ears!

    If you’re looking for a great recommendation, I highly suggest you reach out to @Nicole Shaw.  

    [email protected]619-456-8311
    Helm Mortgage Corp.5126 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Kristina Kuba
    Tampa, FL · Member since 2021 · 383 posts · 389 votes
    4y

    Hi @Jarett Cestaro

    Welcome to Florida. I lived in NYC for 3 years when I did my medical residency. You are on the right track to building wealth fast with the house hack / STR model. The FHA max of 3 units is $651,050 in Hillsborough county (Tampa is the main city in Hillsborough county). While that is a healthy budget, it is very difficult to get a FHA offer accepted on a triplex or quad.

    Another option is looking at larger homes in high appreciating areas like Ybor, Seminole Heights or Wellswood. Some of those older homes were built with MLM suites and multiple entry points, with some creative blocking off and smart locks you can turn your primary into a STR cash machine.

    I myself own a quad and a STR in those very areas. Happy to dive deeper into this.

    Kristina

    3Reply
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