All Forum Posts by: Jack Bobeck

@Arianne L. Great story, people may not always remember you or what you have done, but they will remember the way your story made them feel....."Hey if she can do it, so can I", the fact is to take action and do it. I've had $1 million in properties get pulled from me, but I bounced back and now have 500k in properties. You live, you learn and you move on and get better at doing the deals. 

I'm back to buying foreclosures and Subject To deals, there are reverse mortgage people out there too, so many deals, you just need to pick the neighborhoods, talk with people, work with wholesalers (such as yourself). I love rent to own deals, so many people still cannot find a house so you can buy cheap, sell to someone else, and get a note and cash out refi and move on to more deals. 

When you find something you are good at, stick with it! Never add a partner, you don't need one. Just keep doing what you do, and write a book on it soon, so we can all buy it! Thank you for sharing and best of luck to you in the future!

I'm buying properties that are in foreclosure or distress. There are still people using reverse mortgages and the banks own the properties, there are still short sales going on. Life is happening, but I am NOT buying at ridiculous prices relative to the market. I do believe there are good deals on homes in my chosen ZIP code that I can buy at $60 per square and the value is $120 per square. 

Money is cheap to borrow, banks are still allowing us to cash-out refi, so go for it, just DO NOT OVERPAY and make sure you can cash flow when you buy. Rent to Own still a great option, still lots of people who cannot qualify for a house. 

@Carolyn Morales Find a good CPA and ask them this question. Much like "any" professional you are bound to get different answers, including out here. Find a CPA that invests in properties to learn how they can help save you $$$. 

Best of luck to you - Jack 

@Robert Raffalo You should get on the JWB mailing list, they will send you a list of all the people they help each quarter, new owners. The guys are disciples of Than Merrill who is a disciple of Robin Thompson who is a disciple of Ron Legrand (who brags about it all the time). So review what Than is doing to see how JWB has grown. The guys there do run a great shop and have been growing before, during and after the Great recession. My wife, Liz Bobeck, is a local Realtor and has worked to sell them some lots investors buy at Tax Deed Sales. 

They own about 900 lots in Jacksonville to develop still. They basically use private money to buy and finance the building, then work to find a renter and sell the turn-key to an investor who uses their 401k or retirement savings to buy the house. JWB manages the property and makes sure the renter pays, I think they charge 8-10%, which is normal here in NE Florida for prop management. They have a lot of local contractors they work with to get homes built. Alex Sifakis is the president and I have met him a few times, great guy and his team are doing really cool things locally in Jax. 

There are some $950 rents in areas I would not consider going at 12 AM to collect the rent, so don't use $$$ as your only gauge. Look at the crime stats for the areas as well when considering the property. I use the 12 AM rule as you may one day have to go to the property late at night. 

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office uses Crimemap and you can see it and review the data before you make an investment. Good luck with your investing. 

@Ashanta Kelly I am not a Realtor, but as an investor, I can tell you that San Marco has some major problems with flooding and the City has a plans to fix it, within 3 years. They need to build new pumps and systems to help with the major issue of flooding. You will have to get expensive insurance to live in the area on a sunny day, is it worth it when there are other areas that are not flood-prone? I think there are better options in Riverside and Avondale as well as Ortega. San Marco was devastated during Hurricane Irma, from major flooding. 

With regard to renovation loans, the best person in NE Florida is Jamie Zeitz. Here is a nice article on him. Liz Bobeck Realtor, my wife, has worked with Jamie to assist people with renovation loans and he has been great to work with in Jacksonville. 

@Jeff Ashton My wife, Liz Bobeck, and I are active investors here in Jacksonville. We have owned rentals since 2008, and she has been a successful, active, Realtor, since 2005. She has 84 condos right now that are set to be sold in Fall of 2018, in Orange Park, FL.  She's helped investors buy and sell over 500 doors in NE Florida. She'd be happy to help you. 

If you have a day job, I would recommend you build a list of wholesalers who are buying foreclosures or homes in the market that are distressed. As @Mark Fries states, there are deals out there, but you have to have a system to get the homes. Do not BUY a system from a "guru", work with the local wholesalers, ask people on BP, go to the REIA (leave your wallet at home) and meet other wholesalers, network, network, network NOW. It will pay off for you in the long run.

I have NO crystal ball, but I cannot believe that the int rates will continue to rise, the global economy is not that strong and if the dollar rises too far, it could cause economies overseas (to fail) and this will rattle the markets and people do not buy, anything, when they are nervous. So I see low rates, which is great, great growth in Jacksonville. Low unemployment in Jax, and an explosion going on downtown and the suburbs. Great time to be a Realtor in Jacksonville!

If you are going to watch for anything, watch 32202. The downtown has over 500 empty buildings, there is buzz that the Jacksonville Jaguars owner is going to redevelop 13 acres along the waterfront with a convention center, hotels, and more destination stores and restaurants. Now might be a good time to look at Buildings or condos downtown, because I believe it will happen and it will raise the value of everything downtown. Lofts, warehouses, they are all good options if you can add retail down below and rentals up above. I think the area is ripe for real growth. 

Check out these images, you can see all this data at NEFAR This gives you perspective in Jacksonville, FL of when you should have bought as compared to where we are now. 

2011

2018

Newbies into Real Estate, know that while we may never get back to 2011 prices, there is no need to buy at the top of the top of the market. 

From a post online at WJCT - In a very good neighborhood. 

A stately house with a complicated history is being auctioned off in Jacksonville’s Riverside neighborhood.

The property, which was last owned by the state Department of Corrections, could be yours for the right price.

Duval County property records show the five bedroom, two-and-a-half bath brick home was built as a rooming house in 1927. After switching hands a few times over the years, the house at 2830 Park Street was purchased by the Florida Cabinet using what’s called the Internal Improvement Trust Fund.

In 1982 the state Department of Corrections took control of the house and used it for what’s called a Women’s Adjustment Center — a sort of halfway house for female inmates with short sentences.

Now, a Department of Environmental Protection spokesman said his agency is in charge of selling it off, along with other excess state properties.

“Generally, these types of properties are acquired by the state through purchase or donation,” Jacksonville DEP spokesman Russell Simpson said. “The DEP serves as the administrative agent to the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund (Governor and Cabinet) which simply translates as the managing agent for state owned properties.”

Simpson said the state is accepting bids online on the almost 7,000 square foot lot and the house, until September 12th. Bidding started at $179,000. The property was appraised for more than $200,000.

I added a link to the story as well as a link to the State's excess property page. Good luck!

Jack