All Forum Posts by: Daniel Miller

@Alex T. I live in St. Petersburg, and more generally Pinellas County, so my area of expertise is in Pinellas. Tampa has a different makeup. You rarely find apartment complexes between 8 and 40 units in Tampa in the middle class/upper class parts of town. Most apartments are institutional grade. The majority of the apartments I see sell are in Ybor City, Seminole Heights, and around USF. There are parts of the three preceding areas I mentioned that are nice but for the most part it's extremely lower income and they have significant management responsibilities. 

St. Petersburg is a little different. The city of St. Petersburg, and more specifically the downtown core, is going through a major gentrification. All properties in the downtown St. Petersburg landscape have risen above their 2007 peak prices. Apartments around DT St. Petersburg are more expensive today than in the boom. The issue with a lot of the apartment buildings in St. Petersburg is that they were built in the 1950s or earlier. The majority of the Landlords here do not take a lot of pride in their ownership. They simply fill a void and rent to who has money. The aesthetics of the properties are generally not a concern. So, for an investment to be turn key it has to undergo major capital renovations. Rarely does this happen. 

There are many rundown buildings with potential but sellers want all the money. Deals here are hard to come by right now. WC Equity group, I believe, is very competitive with their prices and understand the market. Their properties are not overly priced. And if they are run down it's reflected in the list price. Most sellers have properties that need renovations and have deferred maintenance yet want all the money for their properties. 

I can only speak for St. Petersburg and Tampa...others should chime in about Miami and Orlando and their MF Market dynamics.

They always have interesting deals. Many people try to wholesale multi-family properties to investors in the St. Petersburg / Tampa area and I can count on one hand how many actually understand what they are doing. I have never done business with the gentleman but I can tell, because of his pricing, that he understands the MF market in this area much better than some of his competition.

@Joe Demonte I earned a business and psychology degree. Maybe if I earned a Finance degree I would like at it differently? Tough to say. I still say I'd pass on it. I thought my college was watered down though. As for real estate and college simultaneously, I still think jumping in is the best option. Real Estate knowledge and finance is so specific to real estate.

 I came right out of college and into real estate making nothing and I wouldn't change it. If you make the jump there is no safety net. You are forced into almost an instinctual natural selection where you view every deal, potential client, and real estate happening as a life or death situation. If you truly love it and are confident that you can make it, not leaving yourself an out is the best choice you can make.

I educated myself. I would guess I've read forty real estate, real estate finance, finance and corporate strategy books in the last three years of being self-employed. I heard a perfect quote on one of the podcasts, "Do right now what you wanna be doing for the rest of your life". I love that quote and that's kind of what I did. You get a lot of no's along the way because you don't have much credibility or money but eventually the yes's come more and more frequently and it all starts to domino. 

@Account Closed I've found that if I explain my offer and stipulate that the offer stands and they can call me anytime to take me up on it, that I do not have too many sellers complaining. Occasionally you run into a seller who thinks his time shouldn't be wasted and whose high on his horse, but typically they regress after their property sits on the market a few months.

I do choose my battles very carefully. I do not make offers on properties that just came out on the market (unless it's a steal. Then I'll make an offer the morning it comes out). I make offers on properties that have been on the market 6 months plus. I look for properties where the owners have significant equity. (Anything purchase in 2004-2007 doesn't fit my criteria). I look for older owners who have been in RE a while. They know that deals, closings, financing, etc., all takes time, money and can fall through. They appreciate a cash offer.

I do not pigeonhole myself into only the preceding parameters. I have noticed that those parameters provide the greatest return for my time invested in deals though. 

@Curt Davis I have not specifically worked with clients who are hesitant to purchase since the market has rebounded. That being said, if I did have client who were reluctant to make an offer I would simply explain to them that the purchase price should have no bearing on their offer. They need to define what they want out of the deal. The client needs to convey what ROI they are looking for. If you work backwards and start to locate properties that have your clients' coveted ROI they can't argue price with you.

I met a ex-REIT executive one day and we talked for about 15 minutes. Somehow I got on the topic of losing my first deal...a 4-plex that went on the market for $49,000. I offered $59,000 and someone else offered $64,500. I told him about this and he said I made a mistake. I asked, "How?". He stated that I need to define my ROI. I need to locate properties that I like and determine a price that I would be willing to pay based off the ROI I am looking for. He told me to never make an offer based on the list price.

This helped me out a lot...I haven't lost a deal since. (Only been two since but still lol)

Hindsight is 20/20 but I truly believe that if I had to do it over again I would skip college.  I could have started my RE investing career 5 years earlier. I'm a bookworm and pick-up on things relatively quickly. I learned more about RE and finance in the six months after I graduated than I did in the 5 years I was at college. It was fun and I loved playing baseball for the school but reaching my goals 5 years sooner would have been even more satisfying. If your disciplined and focused you can do whatever you want with your life and be successful at it. Just my $0.02...

@Carlos Asuaje 

RE investing is a great way to earn a living after you retire from baseball. I have some professional baseball experience as well. I jumped into Real Estate right after I quit (shoulder). You are able to create your own schedule and define your own business and where you want it to go, among many other things that a career in Real Estate affords. You can still maintain a physical work schedule and rehab/renovate properties if you like. I really enjoy it. Good luck finishing out the season! Go Braves

@Nick Gravina 

Hey Nick. I live in the Old Northeast. You couldn't have picked a better neighborhood to live in....I don't know if I'll ever move!

As far as investing goes St. Petersburg really doesn't have a "best" option for you, it depends on the deal. SFHs would work a lot better than some of your friends think. The county is extremely dense and navigating to and from SFHs in St. Petersburg is much more doable than Tampa. Lot sizes are generally smaller and people are packed in over here. Also, SFHs that went through foreclosure in St. Petersburg are still popping up daily. Many SFHs have garage apartments behind the house. This might be an avenue you could pursue. I saw a SFH pop up on the MLS today for $69,000 that included a garage apartment behind the main house. Estimated rent anywhere between $1300 and $1500. House needs $20,000 to be rentable. That's a solid ROI and you have semi-diversified income (two tenants).

The apartment market is very competitve. C Class apartments are trading in the 8-9% Cap Rate range. Apartments in the Old Northeast go for $100,000 a door. Check 524 Bay Street NE and 1120 Beach Drive NE. Over $100,000 a door in both sales. I mostly invest in apartment buildings and I haven't made an offer on anything substantial since 2012. There are deals to be had but they take work, luck, and typically having an in with someone.

I'm not too intrigued by the office market here. Tampa is considered "the financial or business" capital of the Tri-City (St. Petersburg-Clearwater-Tampa) area and it is home to many more small businesses and entrepreneurs. 

The warehouse market is picking up. Small warehouse build specs have been popping up around the county. That being said, Industrial Cap Rates are near all time lows. 

If you want to talk or need some advice let me know. I'm a Commercial Real Estate Agent, but I am an investor first and I like to help people. Oh, and stay out of the South side!

I bump this thread. Just started a similar topic...

@Dan Stevens 

One idea, that I really love, is a laundromat. You should see if there are any around in your area. You own the business and the real estate! What's better than that. I would look into it but the property I'm looking into has one adjacent to it.

Someone asked about the zoning previously. In my county, you have to have industrial zoning to even think about building a storage facility. Industrial zoning is not handed out willy nilly. The only property type the county will think about rezoning to industrial from another type is one that happens to be along railroad tracks.