Advice on Investing in Jacksonville, FL

[Samuel Rothmann]

Hey BP Community,

I am new to this site and I haven’t invested in real estate yet.

I’ve been spending a lot of time educating myself (reading books, listening to podcasts, reading blogs, etc). I've already learned a lot from the people posting here on the BP forums!

My goal is to buy a single-family home in the near future and rent it out.

After debating between a few cities, I think I have settled on Jacksonville. It seems to me to have a lot of potential for growth in the upcoming years.

Unfortunately, I don’t live in Florida and I have never been to Jacksonville.

I’d love to hear nay advice you can offer about investing from out-of-state, advice on good neighborhoods in Jacksonville to explore, if you own property in Jacksonville what your experiences have been, and really any other recommendations you may have!

Knowledge is power and I want to be as prepared as I can be before I begin this awesome journey that I’ve read so much about on Bigger Pockets!

Thanks!

-Sam 

[Sterling Cox]

Hi Sam,

I'm in the same boat as you....that is, learning, reading, listening all that I can (for free, which is cool), but still haven't made my first purchase other than the house I currently own and live in (i.e. not an actual investment property).

I live in Jacksonville and have been scouring the market this summer, drove by some properties today in fact (they weren't what I was looking for, though).

I'll say that it's drying up a bit, but I don't mean to dissuade you at all, in fact I think there are still tons of great deals out there (here), but the time is now. You should definitely listen to the Passive Real Estate Investing Podcast #21. It focuses on Jacksonville.

Right now the hot neighborhood is Murray Hill (east of Cassat Ave.)...but it's getting harder to find anything there currently. Check out Lakeshore too. Both are pretty safe and near enough to good/cool parts of town. 30's era 3/1's mostly usually requiring some rehab or updates. If you have a bit more capital to work with, start looking in Riverside/Avondale.

Hit me up with any more questions if you'd like.

-Sterling