All Forum Posts by: Alex Palma

We are located in Marathon and are starting our rental investing portfolio this year. Anyone else down here?

@Alex Bekeza thank you. Sent you an email through your website

@Alex Bekeza do you lend in Florida?

@Jerryll Noorden what alternative lead generation strategies do you recommend?

@Matthew Kistner Great point. We cumulatively pay $6,000/year on all the insurances on our property in the Keys. In fact, here you must consider the "tri-fecta" Wind, Flood & liability/property. The biggest scare to the keys is that if FEMA stops subsidizing homes which are older than 1974, the costs can become cost prohibitive.

Basically, FEMA helps subsidize properties that are at or below flood planes in which were built on or before 1974. The reason is, there were no flood maps back then. Those properties are labeled: Pre-FIRM (Flood Insurance Rate Map). The government has subsidized these food premiums for years, but every year one hears rumors of the subsidy being lifted. this is the REAL scare of purchasing any property that is not on stilts.

Hope this helps

@Brian S. No problem... Marathon is popular, because the city has allowed an explosion of legal short term rentals (min 7 days).  A bunch of cities are fighting with the VRBO's & AirBNB traction and have had hard time controlling them. They are trying to stop them or start collecting "their-share".

 Here in Marathon they initially started licensing for free to stimulate the market, now they are MAKING  a killing on license fees and taxes.  I believe a 3 bedroom is $1100 for the initial fee and a renewal of $750/year!!! Thats a lot of money for the city and of course all the tourist dollars that come with the foot traffic.  

@Brian S. Its a unique market with lots of the attributes of a large & destination cities with idiosyncrasies of a small town.  In 2016, 700,000 people visited Marathon, only second to Key West which had 1M.  2018 data will be out soon.  The exponential growth of the vacation rental has basically pushed out the working class, because real estate is more valuable on a the weekly market, than the monthly market. 

Many new home builders would sell you on vacancy rates of ~40 week rentals, which I find difficult to replicate. To entice outside investors to buy a new build with anticipation of using 2 weeks out of the year.  Sometimes it MAKES sense, but others its just a hoax.

Workers are difficult to find due to the inert high cost of living.  They charge 20-30% more than the mainland.

But if you "find the right" one (cliche), you can make it work.  Will share once I have some properties and projects in motion.

@Ryan York Currently we are moving into our vacation home. I am moving from the mainland (Miami) and will live full-time in our vacation home. We rented the home out for several years and actually performed very well. It was not a money maker, but it payed for most of the expenses.  The rules to rent in the keys are tricky. Some cities like Marathon let you rent out short term (>7days), while other islands do not allow the short term rentals and will fine you.  Marathon specifically has an application for the rental home. It must have fire extinguishers, emergency lights, ext.  There is an annual fee to get the house inspected. We pay 10% management fee (its a STEAL) the average is 20%. People really want to have pools and access to the atlantic ocean.

This is our listing

https://www.vrbo.com/874014

The market is pretty saturated in the vacation rental space, therefore I am focusing mainly on long term rental. Due to the unique vacation rental market, non-water front properties don't get the same attention, because most of the vacation rental owners are out of state.  

Starting in the next couple weeks, I plan on starting a mailing campaign for non-water-front properties. Im interested in long term renters. Luckily my wife is a Realtor here, this will allow us to scour both the FSBO's & the MLS.

Let me know if you have any other questions

Moving to the Florida Keys, specifically the Island of Marathon.

Looking at connecting with other investors.

We (wife and I) are a team of 2.5, including our Chocolate lab Tarpon. We are focusing at buying and holding, specifically long term rentals. Trying to stay away from short term/vacation rentals and water homes (to volatile & expensive) But would always consider if the numbers are right.

About Us:

Wife is a licensed realtor and I’m a traveling ER physician.

I have purchased and flipped at least 6 homes in the past and wholesaled 2, prior to med-school 17 yrs ago.

Looking at realistically buying 1-2 properties per year.

Prefer to buy at a discount, repair, refinance and repeat.

Goal: provide a solution to a housing sparse market, while establishing a long term retirement plan for ourselves.

Not looking for a “quick-rich” solution.

I do like long walks on the beach, good bourbon/whiskey and sushi.

I am self proclaimed professional fish-feeder, because I love to fish but fail at catching.

Hopefully all my talents are hidden in real estate.

Any other liked or non-like minded individuals out there?