Harrison, NJ · Member since 2018 · 7 posts · 1 vote
Hi all (hoping I do this right the second time!),
Newbie to investing. My husband and I are about ready to buy an investment property in Lithia, FL--- also thinking of expanding to other greater tampa bay area. Does anybody here had experience purchasing in Lithia? Any advice? We are mainly interested in the area as we have family there and have connections with the military community. We've seen some deals, but wanted to get some input from experienced investors about investing in this area vs. other places in Tampa.
Ideally we'd like a multi-family, but we know that it is rather limited in Lithia, FL, so we are open to single family homes as well.
Lithia is a growing area. It is not to far from Tampa. There is new construction in the area. If you need help finding properties let me know. I am also an agent.
There aren't a TON of multifamily properties outside of major metro areas in Florida. Period. Houses are rather inexpensive here, so there just isn't that much of a need as far as I can tell. Lithia is a pretty nice area. It's getting a little "out there" relative to Tampa, but not terribly so. Brandon is also nice. It really depends on what you're looking to go for. Are you looking for a place for you, or are you looking for a straight rental? What are your needs vs. what are the needs of the tenants you hope to attract? Are you looking for more beachy areas? Urban? Suburbs? Are you looking to make the property an AirBnB, seasonal rental, or year round?
I see from your profile that you're from NJ. I'm a relatively recent transplant from NJ myself (about 2 years now). I'll tell you this now. You're not used to the weather here. It doesn't take much to acclimate yourself here, but there are weather related things you need to think about here that you didn't have to think about in NJ- namely hurricanes/ flooding, and insects. No one tells you this ahead of time. There are a lot of bugs in Florida. Lizards too, but they're cute and not nearly as heavy in the gross out department as "Palmetto Bugs." We know them in NJ as roaches. They're not quite like NY roaches in how they nest- but where you are will have an affect on how much you're going to have to deal with them.
Food for thought. I'm by no means an expert on the area yet, but I've been exactly where you are. If you'd like, hit me up, and I can tell you what I know about the area.
We are looking for a buy-and-hold rental property. Not really picky regarding if it's a suburb/urban/etc. We started with Lithia, FL as we have military family that gave great reviews of the area (ie. fish hawk highly rated schools, increasing property values, military family renting in the area). It also seemed like a great community every time we've visited. Military families right now seem to be our main target population, but we know that there will be high turnovers, so we're pretty open.
I'm just curious if anyone had experience in Lithia as I agree it is pretty out there already. There are some properties that seem to look good in numbers using Zillow, but we still wanted to see if any investors had real experience and were successful/not. We'll check out Brandon as well! Thanks!
We're staying here in NJ I'm afraid but it seems like it's a good deal considering the palmetto bugs!
Lithia is a growing area. It is not to far from Tampa. There is new construction in the area. If you need help finding properties let me know. I am also an agent.
I live right next to Lithia (in the Valrico area) and have a new listing coming up in Fishhawk (the dominant neighborhood in Lithia). It’s a great neighborhood for rentals as there is always new military families coming to the area as well as other families. Very popular area because of the schools and amenities.