All Forum Posts by: Stetson Miller

Hi @Laura Au,

Although we're in a very price-sensitive market, properties are still moving fairly quickly once they do hit that magic number on the list price. Good deals do still come up, but we have many buyers on the sidelines right now waiting to act when those come up, so you can still expect tough competition when those come along. Prices for both rentals and sales values have largely stabilized over the past few months, so indicators are starting to point to the fact that we've hit a bottom and are now in the rebound stage.

Historically, our markets have been highly volatile based on current interest rates, which we've seen over the past 5 years with extreme growth and pullbacks. As rates begin to drop over the coming years, I would expect that trend to continue, with pricing climbing exponentially according to the rate changes. 

@Jim Windgassen How confident are you in your sale and rental projections? One additional thing to consider is that if you place a long term tenant, it's very common in this market for them to be responsible for their own utilities, so you may be closer to break-even with a long/mid term rental that it initially seemed.

@Katie Lyon Because our weather is more temperate over the winter months, we have much more consistency in demand across all times of the year, so typically the market stays fairly consistent through all seasons. Best of luck moving forward with your sale though!

Hi @Katie Lyon,

Properties are typically still selling in Cape Coral right now to active buyers, even with elevated inventory. Aggressive pricing is necessary to achieve this, so it's important to ensure the property is realistically priced in line with market standards, which often is not necessarily what you're hoping to sell for. 

As for offering subject-to financing, this is something that can be advertised under 'seller financing' in our local MLS, and there's investors that search specifically for listings with that marked, so that should introduce your property to a new set of buyers that may not have considered it before. I would also include 'creative financing available' at the beginning of the listing description to capture everyone else looking on Zillow, etc

Hi @Ramsey Doumani,

Your strategy is more than possible, self management with the team you already have in place should be a breeze. With that being said, in a worst case scenario, you can always hire a property management company to handle the day to day items if it comes to that. 

Regarding the condo/townhome situation in Fort Myers vs Bonita Springs, I would say the more important things to focus on would be the association fees charged, what is included in those, and the rental restrictions of the association. There's only a handful of these in the Bonita market that meet the ideal criteria for your strategy, but they're much more prevalent in Fort Myers. I would recommend targeting 30 day minimum rentals (Most associations are 90+), allowing 12+ rentals per year (most allow 1-3), and no in-person screening for tenants required.

Hi @Blake Winiecki,

Long term multi-family rentals in places like Lehigh Acres and Fort Myers are still performing well, even at current interest rates. With that being said, the interest rate is going to be the single biggest determining factor for whether you're barely breaking even, or seeing a decent monthly cash flow. Because of this, in my opinion, the financing type and rate received is going to be more important than the strategy type itself. There's a few different ways to focus on a lower rate such as with house hacking and making the investment your primary residence, requesting a significant closing credit from the sellers for standard rate buy-downs (which I've had great success with recently), or utilizing lenders who offer short term rate lowering solutions such as 2-1 rate buy downs (again, ideally paid for by the sellers).

Hi @Andrew Steffens,

Sending you a handyman contact now

Hi @Huong T Nguyen,

I can send you a few different names, please feel free to send me a message or an email to the address below and I would be happy to provide that,

Thanks!

@Heath Shepard I'm not familiar with the builder, however, with this being a new construction CBS build, there's little to worry about regarding hurricanes and additional protection. Although still rare, some of these duplexes are now coming with impact windows, which further lowers your insurance and increases storm protection, so this may be something else to look into. Good luck with the build!