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All Forum Posts by: Tchaka Owen

Tchaka Owen has started 3 posts and replied 930 times.

Post: 2 year lease good or bad

Tchaka OwenPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Merritt Island, FL
  • Posts 962
  • Votes 1,140
Quote from @Peter Hendriks:

I have a Good tenant in Brevard County Florida. [snip]. What are your thoughts on using the two-year lease? 

How about increasing to $1250/month and keeping it a month-to-month tenancy? I've had my tenant for 7 1/2 years now and used to renew annually. I stopped that a few years ago....and things are still going well. Remember that with rents being higher here, you don't really have much to lose. If the tenant remains good, awesome. If things change, you're not bound by a long lease.

PS - spent 30 seconds and know exactly where your property is located. You're right next to Eastern Florida State College, that bodes well for finding tenants if things go awry with this one.

Post: Attorneys near East coast of Florida

Tchaka OwenPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Merritt Island, FL
  • Posts 962
  • Votes 1,140
Quote from @Reagan Clo:

Hey, I am looking for any recommendations other investors have for attorneys or lawyers that have knowledge about drafting the paperwork needed for purchasing off market, creative financed properties. I am looking in Orlando or Brevard County.

 Most attorneys should be able to do this. I have an attorney I've worked with for about 15 years and she's still my go-to even though I now live in Brevard (she's in Broward). She's savvy with the investor side of things. Let me know and I can put you in touch with her. 

Post: Why is the Ohio market so popular right now?

Tchaka OwenPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Merritt Island, FL
  • Posts 962
  • Votes 1,140
Quote from @Account Closed:

It has nothing to do with leaving out American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. I'm not sure why you are dissing them.
Look who pulled out an atlas. Way to go!

Post: Why is the Ohio market so popular right now?

Tchaka OwenPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Merritt Island, FL
  • Posts 962
  • Votes 1,140
Quote from @Luca Perinuzzi:

I have been seeing that cities like Cleveland and Columbus (Ohio) are becoming increasingly more popular for investors. I'd be curious to know what is making these markets stand out to investors.

Any advice based on experience would be great. Thanks!

Lots of good advice above. I'll add one more: because Ohio has not been a darling to most OOS investors until recently. Other places have ranked higher. An example is Indianapolis. It was a hotspot from around 2018 until a year or so ago. Lots of money came from all over the country. It's still a nice place to invest, however there aren't home runs to be found (a local pro made that statement in late 2021). Cincy, Columbus, Toledo, Akron, etc had investors, but not the nationwide recognition they've now been getting as money flows in the quest for the best returns. 

Tchaka

Post: Why is the Ohio market so popular right now?

Tchaka OwenPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Merritt Island, FL
  • Posts 962
  • Votes 1,140
Quote from @Account Closed:
Aaaah, so the US is made up of 7 states. Got it.

Post: Need advice HELOC / HELOAN or don't do either?

Tchaka OwenPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Merritt Island, FL
  • Posts 962
  • Votes 1,140
Quote from @Randall Alan:

 

First, unless you previously locked your home equity loan rate, you are probably looking at an interest rate of 8-10%?  (just guessing).  Then, regular mortgage rates where you finance your properties are probably in the 7-8% rate.  Finding properties that will cash flow at these high interest rates is tough in most areas of the country right now.  There are 5-6 cities that get cited on these boards as being more affordable... but most areas, what is supposed to be your "profit" on a deal, would end up going to pay the extra interest on the mortgage payments if you bought at today's rates.   

 Randy,

Agree with everything you wrote; I'm pointing one thing out though: while HELOC rates are in the 8-10% range, it's not because they're new loans. HELOCs are usually attached to Prime (ie, Prime plus or minus a certain percentage). So the HELOCs obtained 3 years ago will be higher today too.

Tchaka 

Post: Renewing Tenant Lease

Tchaka OwenPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Merritt Island, FL
  • Posts 962
  • Votes 1,140
Quote from @Juanita Zavala:

Out-of-state investor looking to raise rent on my properties in Melbourne and Cocoa. I am interested in referrals for forms to use as I am managing these properties myself.

Thanks!

@Nathan Gesner's advice is spot on! That's what I do for my property in VA.
As far as FL is concerned, I'm a licensed real estate agent here and I only use the FAR/BAR lease. It is hands down the most even-handed one that protects both sides of the transaction. See if that's what you have now and go from there. Brevard County is notorious for attorney-written leases and IMO, they are horrendous. They're very lopsided and that's not how I do business. FL already leans landlord-friendly (a good thing), there's no reason to then stick a wrench up a tenant's rectum and twist it. 

Tchaka

Post: Space Coast, Merritt Island, Melbourne STR's

Tchaka OwenPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Merritt Island, FL
  • Posts 962
  • Votes 1,140
Quote from @Samuel Boyd:
Good stuff, Samuel! Merritt Island is a tough one to crack......your research may be correct, however I've heard numbers from 7 days to 90. One I did hear is that the 7-day applies to properties on lots zoned "multi". It's been extremely difficult to get concrete answers. If I find new info, I will share.

Tchaka Owen
Xcellence Realty, Inc.

Post: Space Coast, Merritt Island, Melbourne STR's

Tchaka OwenPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Merritt Island, FL
  • Posts 962
  • Votes 1,140
Quote from @Samuel Boyd:

@Alyssa Johnson as mentioned, it really comes down to each municipality. I curated this list for myself about the rules and regulations for the city's I personally deal most in. Hopefully this will be helpful! I can send the spreadsheet if this screen grab is too blurry. As we know, you will make more on the beaches, but property values are much higher, so you'll really have to analyze the ROI. Good luck!!


 Great chart! But are you sure about Satellite? Unless rules have recently changed, they do not allow STRs in the incorporated portion. The northern section (which might be what you're referring to as "Patrick") is different as it is unincorporated. However the city portion has been a NO for a while. 

Post: STR Airbnb in 2023: Does the home has to have a pool? How many bedrooms?

Tchaka OwenPosted
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Merritt Island, FL
  • Posts 962
  • Votes 1,140
Quote from @Niv Astronivo:

Hello everyone, I invest in South Florida, I know that AIRBNB in 2023 will be more challenging and not as profitable as 21/22, which makes me think about the strategy for buying my next STR...

Do you think it would be better for the house to have a pool to get more bookings? So should I just skip houses with no pool?

Is a three-bedroom house for 600,000$ and a pool sounds like a good deal or is it better to have 4 bedrooms? To clarify I'm talking about Hollywood area to FLL to Pompano Beach.


I live in Hollywood Lakes for 12 years - you're not getting a home with a pool there for $600k today. If you want a pool or 4BR in that price range, you're going west of US1 and very likely west of 95. IMO, if you go west, yes you want a pool. It's much less important when you're east because the Atlantic is right there. People renting there are likely going to the beach. Sure, a pool would be nice too but not nearly as imperative. Also, being east is prime. Skipping over FLL and to Pompano, there used to be bargains there, not so much now. Can you get that east of US1? Possibly. The segment between US1 and 95 is quite nice and you should be able to get a pool or 4BR (or both) - that might be your winning location.

Tchaka