All Forum Posts by: Matt Jones

@Chris Mendez

The auctions for Pensacola(Escambia County) & Gulf Breeze, Navarre, Pace, Milton(Santa Rosa County) are held online these days.  Search: Escambia County Real Foreclose or Santa Rosa County Real Foreclose and you can find the websites.  They have a list of upcoming auctions & you can log in and see what properties are actually selling for as they come up.  To be able to bid you will have to place a deposit at the courthouse & it is a pretty interesting process.  Much of what comes up for auction is purchased back by the bank that held the debt but some good deals can be found through the auction sites.

Hey @Chris Mendez

For listings that aren't readily available to the public you will typically need a good network or your own marketing to bring in the leads.  A few tips on building a network to help, be specific about what you want.  I am a real estate agent and I specialize in multifamily and investment property from the Alabama state line over to Navarre, people ask me to send them good deals all the time but unless I know what that means to you i can't really help and I have heard many other agents say the same.  Be specific and find someone who has a niche for the kind of thing you are interested in buying.  Second, get on as many wholesalers list as possible.  They occasionally get multifamily properties and usually sell them off market.  Third, check out some of our local real estate meet ups like PIG or the Gulf Coast Real Estate Investors Association.

I hope that helps and good luck!

Hey @Norma H.

I have a great landscaper that is in Pace I can recommend and I own a property management company that covers the area.  Just send me a PM and I will get you the details.  I don't have a contractor that I've used for soot clean-up but I can recommend a few and one of them can likely handle it.  

@William Allen thanks for sharing your story, it’s pretty incredible to know how far you can go with a big vision and leverage.  I quit my job in July 2016 to pursue real estate full time and met you at a PIG meeting sometime around then but I had no idea you hadn’t been doing this for years before.  Congrats on the continued success!

I'd be happy to! And a little bit more detailed information on what you are looking for in a deal.

@Account Closed There are a lot of similarities between Pensacola and Navarre but a few definite differences. Pensacola is significantly larger and older, Pensacola has a wider variety of construction styles and more multi family available. I personally am a BRRRR but and hold investors but I've helped Pensacola area flippers buy and sell great deals and worked with some very successful wholesalers as well. I think there is still opportunity for all 3 here but I also think you have to look harder to find a good deal than in the past because our market is hot.

@Mike Neubauer @Greg Gaudet @Account Closed

Awesome info, thank you all for contributing. I'll call around to some local STR management companies and ask for estimates. This is a very touristy beach area but I would definitely expect it to be more seasonal with our climate. This particular unit is not currently a beach rental and has not been for the current owners so I have no past data. I would be doing a small renovation & furnishing it so it would be very nice & stand out when it was done I believe. We would probably manage this ourselves, I already manage LTR's for myself and others and have been able to keep vacancy extremely low. I expect after a learning curve we could do the same for our first STR. Thanks!

My first unit had no ac’s, I had to replace all 4 along with all the other appliances.  It was a pretty rough foreclosure but is my best money making rental now.  The second one I bought they were all only 2 years old.  I will take a home warranty if the seller is paying for it but I usually don’t renew and never buy them myself as I’d rather self ensure through higher capex until something actually breaks.  I am an agent and had an inspection report come in a couple weeks ago where the best performing AC out of 3 in a triplex was from 1984!  The others were 2005 & 2014 and did not test as well as the one that’s 35 years old.  

@Johnny Dang I own a few very similar buildings in age, size, layout and rents and have sold 3 of them as an agent also. I think your numbers sound solid, particularly if you are buying with little to no money down and will have good cash flow. Has the building ever flooded before, is that why you are carrying flood insurance if it isn’t in a flood zone? Also, just to be sure, the owner pays no utilities correct?

As far as your Ac and Home Warranty questions. R22 can no longer be manufactured after a certain date but people will be allowed to use up the existing inventory so it’s unlikely to disappear overnight. Home warranties are ok but some are definitely better than others and knowing that you are buying for a specific repair you’ll want to read the small print and make sure the warranty covers Freon and full replacement. Finally, your AC’s are unlikely to kick the bucket at the same time so you could probably plan for that by doubling your repair reserve for the first couple of years and using that money to replace them as necessary. Based on what I paid for my last replacement $4k per unit for new indoor and outdoor equipment will probably cover you. If you don’t have an ac guy you like and trust be sure to get multiple quotes and the prices can vary significantly.

Hey @Ken Barton thanks for chiming in, i checked out your site & submitted the property details.  Look forward to hearing from you!