Wholesaling in the Port St. Lucie, Florida Area?

Question

I've heard Port St. Lucie, Florida come up a few times on various real estate podcasts as a good place to wholesale in Florida. Others have said it's fairly competitive. Which one is true and who are the real players?

My local Hartford, CT market has gone very stale. I'm starting to think about sending out yellow letters again, but I very definitely am looking for a different market to farm. I'm open to suggestions.

John Thedford · Answer

keep in mind you can Market a contract but when you start advertising the real estate even with a contract you are brokering real estate not the contract

Nick C. · Answer

That's awful, you can always add improvements to raise rents, but if property taxes are killing everyone it seems hopeless to try to cash flow. Nothing you can really do about that.

Property taxes here in Florida are reasonable. There's always something to complain about, but I don't think that's one of them.

Jeff G. · Answer

Well, that clears things up @Nick Colamarino.

Here the competition isn't all that bad. There are a lot of wannabes, but that's okay. The problem is the property tax rates here are set to idiotic levels. Many people here pay property tax bills that are roughly the same as their payments on their mortgages. It's silly.  As such, good cash flow is hard to find. There is a lot of repossessed houses nearby that practically scream, "Hey, look at me: I'm shadow inventory!" but the numbers just don't work because of the damned taxes.

Nick C. · Answer

Every metro area in Florida is extremely saturated with wholesalers. Florida seems to be the first stop on every guru tour. I don't know what you consider a good area to try to wholesale, but the good news is the prices are still low relative to other parts of the country, the rents are still decent, and we've still got great weather. The bad news is there is heavy competition, a glut of wholesalers and buyers, and lack of deals.

Jeff G. · Answer

Hmm... thanks for the reply.

I suppose it depends upon what the phrase "substantial consideration" means in the context of enforcement actions since the passing/amendment of the statute.

I would not consider interfering with the natural right of individuals to contract freely to be "addressing" anything.

John Thedford · Answer

p.s.  they can charge you with a 3rd degree felony for brokering without a license

John Thedford · Answer

Florida has amended the statutes and most of the unlicensed brokering has been addressed. read 475.43