All Forum Posts by: Kirk Thomas

If you want to get out of your lease because you are reacting to something in the house. That is probably doable. But trying to get a judgement in Florida because the tenet before you smoked seems very unlikely. Second hand smoke is usually defined as a person actively smoking next to or around another person. You would have to prove that the toxins were still in the air. That the landlord knew about it. Then the judge would probably ask why you didn't move. Seems like a very hard and long sell.

Not uncommon. You can make sure that you do not have an unpermited addition. If you want to correct it you can request a new appraisal/survey (talk to your county appraiser). This could have secondary effects such as increasing your property tax or highlighting permit issues.

I am not sure what you mean when you say you will not need hurricane insurance.   It will be part of your insurance.   I collected 95k on a 135k house in insurance on a house in Orlando from a hurricane(2004).  7 months to rebuild. I would not ignore that part of your insurance information.  You can also get discounts if your house is up to stronger building codes.   Florida is a state that you want to work with an insurance broker as the prices can be fairly high and can vary greatly for the same insurance.

Originally posted by @Mark Smith:

@Joe Fairless I agree with that 100%.

@Rick C. I thought I was all set on going with multifamilies, now you're making me rethink everything! Haha that's a very good thing though, I want to consider every option. I have a question about single families...a super newbie question! I know there is a logical answer here since obviously SFR rentals occur everyday, I just want to understand. Let's say I purchase a single family and I have a mortgage payment. Why would someone rent this property from me and pay me significantly more than the monthly mortgage payment when they could just buy the home themselves? Their monthly rent could potentially be 2-3 times the mortgage payment. My thought is that a single family could never cash flow the same as a multifamily, but I would love to be wrong about that.

 People rent for many reasons.

1.  They don't want to own a house.   

2.  They don't think they will be in that area long enough to buy a house.

3.  They can't afford the down payment or are saving for a down payment.  

4.  They just moved to the area and want to rent while they figure out what they want to buy.

5.  They like stable bills, avoiding the random $500 plumbing bills, new AC, new roof, garage springs break, etc. 

6.  They got foreclosed on and are waiting for that to clear off their credit. 

7.  Divorced and ex got the house.  

etc.  

Now your real question is can a SFH cash flow the same as a multi. Yes it could but in most cases it probably will not. Multi 1-4 units also are a lot different than 20-400 units. You get some efficiency with multi units but you also get a slightly different problem set. If I was heavy into either multi or SFH I would work on getting my processes and procedures and team down. Read the E-myth book. Talk to local people that invest and manage both types.

As always wish you the best of luck.

Tony,

When you are looking at that price range with HOA fees just make sure that you understand all the sunk costs, turn over for that asset class, and potential assessments that you might be facing. Even with cash depending where you buy and if you manage it yourself you might have problems cash flowing. Perhaps a duplex or triplex at that price might be your best bet.

I would finish up your bachelor degree and then hold off on your masters.   Start getting experience working with people and buying and selling.  The finance side you get with a masters is pretty easily learned.   Most of a MBA is not directly useable unless you are an executive at a large company.   

Good luck the central Florida area still has opportunities in it for those willing to work.  Just keep an eye out for market corrections if the housing prices to earnings get to far out of whack.

Right now mostly just flying/building/managing simulators.  But embry riddle graduate with commercial licence single/mult.  My CFI long since expired.  Currently buy and hold looking to become more active the last half of this year.   Glad to meet fellow pilots who like RE.

I have dealt with severe mold issues in the past. We took a third of the house to the studs (hurricane charley). I found out I was very sensitive to it where others weren't. I would buy them out. Then clean it up and then have it mold tested. Keep the record of the clean test or if there are issues address them soon. Best of luck.

Originally posted by @Justin Stamper:

Azalea Park is a great buy and hold area that i plan on buying a few rentals in this year

 We know the Azalea Park rental market pretty good.  Easy to rent in the area.  Have a rental just north of it.  

We have been using smart move for several years. Very happy with it. Before we had run the checks through a real estate agent friend. Which was slow. Regards, Kirk