All Forum Posts by: Shawn McCormick

@Jason Baker You should look at connecting with CFRI, that is the local chapter of the National REIA. They do have an active investor community in Volusia and have regular meetings. They meet the last Thursday of the month, so there is one coming up.

I know most of the people that attend, and they are very helpful and will be able to provide you with some resources.

Best of luck

@Kerline Jean- Baptiste Welcome and congrats for taking the leap!

I would suggest attending meet up groups in person, there are many throughout Orlando. You will be surprised that so many that attend are just like you and looking to get started and others willing to help.

One of the best places is CFRI (Central Florida Realty Investors). They have about 20 meetings a month all over Central Florida. There are genearlized meetings and focus groups that are geared toward specific areas of investing like flipping, multi-family, landlording, woman investors, newbies. It is non profit and no selling, just local investors networking and helping. I am on the board and can get you a guest pass for your first meeting if you like. 

Best of luck!

Hi @Nick Huffman welcome to the forums. Orlando has a pretty vibrant investor community both in person and here on Bigger Pockets. I am on the board of CFRI, the local chapter of the National REIA, you should come out to some of the many meet ups we have to network with both investors, trades and agents.

Would be happy to connect sometime, Best of luck to you!

@Andrew M. Welcome to the forums, glad you decided to jump in! I would be happy to analyze your homes value, the likely time to sell and a net sheet to show more realisticly what you may walk away with as your estimate of $525-575 is quite a spread. 

With the roof replaced already and will go ahead and make some assumptions that the water heater and a/c are fairly new as well. You shouldn't have may cap-x to really eat into your cash flow. You will lose your homestead exemption which will raise your taxes, so consider that if you decide to hold.

Being an OOS landlord myself, it's not that bad as long as you find a good PM and the house is in descent shape, you vet your tenants well and have protections in your lease. The pool is a liability in my opinion, so that is something to consider as well. 

Your exit strategies could vary from doing a lease option, selling sub-2 and still maybe getting your equity paid over time or cash out and 1031 into a property closer to where you are going..maybe buy a multi family and hosue hack it...

Let me know if you'd like to discuss further, Best of Luck!

@Mike Romano I agree with the others, why would you go at it alone? A buyer's agent can help you negotiate price, terms, repairs etc. If you go direct to a lisitng agent, who is their loyalty too?

Cash offer do carry weight as they can close quicker, don't need appraisals etc, but as an agent that works with buyer and sellers, I've seen it many times where a seller will pick a different offer due to some connection to the buyer (ex military, young married couple just starting etc) They want to know its NOT going to an investor specifically. 

If you want to talk this through, I'm in Orlando and happy to help.

Best of luck!

 Can you PM me your email address and I'll send you a link.

thanks @JD Martin

 Hi @Maxwell Banton, can you PM me the address so I can look it up on MLS and maybe run comps for you. Hopefully your Realtor is experienced in listing/marketing STR properties and understands the values of a fully furnished unit.The resale market is full of STR units, so it could take months to sell. Are you prepared for that? That puts you in a position to keep it listed and hope to cover costs capitalizing on Spring break.

 It doesn't look like you have any bookings past March. Most buyers find it more attractive to purchase a place that has some future income built in when they buy it. Others may like that it doesn't and would want to spend a couple weeks updating and theming it so they can add their own touch and start fresh. 

I gave you my opinion in your last post on the furniture, finishes and theming. It sounds like this may one you need to walk away from and chalk it up to education/lesson learned if you are bleeding that badly. Maybe speak with your CPA for any options that could lesson the blow if you sell. 

Reach out if you want to talk thru anything. Thank you

@Pamela Gates I'd be happy to share my thoughts on condo-tels with you, but can tell you it is not going to give you cash flow that you likely desire. We do have some really nice resorts that offer these, but there are too many negatives for what investors will typically put up with. 

Now if you are looking for something that you will use personally a few times a year and just want something that will cover costs and pay for itself, than that is another story.

Happy to discuss further if you like, just PM me.

Best of luck

@Lou Benveniste Welcome back to REI. I am on the board of CFRI, the local chapter of the National REAI. We actually have our monthly general meeting tonight if you can make it. Otherwise, we have another 15-20 meet ups every month. I can send a free pass for your first meeting if you like.

What type(s) of investing do you do now, what types of networking do you want to do..multi-family, flips, LTR, STR.

The forums work great just with using keywords!

Best of luck, reach out if I can be of any further help.

@Ingo Bothe I could help provide any insight into the Orlando market for you. I've helped dozens of other BP members purchase STR's here. There are a lot of nuances to learn before you just dive in, as this is a highly competitive market.

Since you are new, I would advise running numbers that include using a property manager. Most are 20%, but a few are 15%. Once you learn the ropes and put systems in place, you could then consider self managing, but keep those numbers in just in case. Size (number of bedrooms) and location (closest to theme parks) are two of your biggest factors to consider as you can't change either of those. You can change the decor, theme out the garage and bedrooms to attract guests. 

I would advise being in one of the resort communities that have great amenities (pools, lazy rivers, game rooms, theaters, volleyball, gyms etc). With so many units here, standing out and getting found on the platforms in a 'regular neighborhood' is getting more and more difficult. All the homes in resort communities come with heated pools, hottubs, come fully furnished and the resorts are already well positioned with tour group operators, travel agents and the algorithms to give you a head start. 

Much more to discuss and consider....

Best of luck