Good places to live/ buy investment property (Jacksonville, Miami: real estate, insurance)

[gamb312]

I am looking for good places to live and/or buy investment property in central Florida (between Palm Beach and Gainesville). Any tips or helpful information would be greatly appreciated.

[SKB]

"Thanks to everyone who's posted. Feel free to keep them coming. I am learning a lot. I think one of the big problems that I have is not knowing what city in Florida I would like to focus on. I would like to stay around mid Florida (somewhere between Palm Beach and Gainesville). I don't really know anything about good places to live or purchase investment property. Any suggestions?'

You would be referred to in this particular market as a GF which in turn would turn into a FB. If you don't know what means you are definitly about to find out.

Anyone would be completely off of their rocker to try to purchase investment property in Florida right now especially with NO experience.

You missed the boom that lasted from 2003-2005 so forget about it.

[rich renter]

Originally Posted by gamb312

I am looking for good places to live and/or buy investment property in central Florida (between Palm Beach and Gainesville). Any tips or helpful information would be greatly appreciated.

No way should you be buying investments at this time, market is coming down fast, now if you are looking to buy for yourself long term that would be something i would consider, but even then why buy high today when you can buy low tomorow. thats my motto at the moment

[moo4unme]

Not all properties are priced high and not a good investment. There are plenty of properties like ours that are priced low to sell and not over priced to sit on the market and wait it out. We have priced our 6.23 acres with a home well below what it is worth or will be worth in the next couple of years.

You have to decide where you want to invest or live. We are in Howey in the Hills, FL. That is about and hour west of Orlando.

[sunrico90]

The opportunities are available, just research and see if this works for you. If you want to invest keep going north and west and you can find very good deals that can render positive results in the future.

Risk is always part of the equation, so research and evaluate. Start small, test the waters, visit the county website and monitor the sales for the past 6 months. Check the chamber of commerce for future developing plans and how can you benefit from your investment.

You must develop a skill for future grow. Keep all option open. I have a friend that leases 6 acres of land and is making 7 figures without breaking a sweat.


Read the following article from a general contractor....

Top Growing Counties

Flagler county, Florida, located between Daytona and St. Augustine Florida is the fastest growing county in the nation and includes the following cities and towns: Beverly Beach, Bunnell, Marineland, Palm Coast, and of course the city of Flagler Beach. This county was also hit by Wilma which spread devastation and has increased the demand for general contractors.

The next fastest growing county is Palm Beach County, Florida. On the east is the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west is Lake Okeechobee. Palm Beach County contains the following cities: Pahokee, Belle Glade, South Bay, Palm Beach Gardens, Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach, Greenacres, Atlantis, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton. These are all cities where general contractors are in high demand due to the extremely high rate of population growth and hurricane devastation.

The 10 Most Populous Florida Cities

Information from the 2004 US census.

1. Jacksonville 777,704
2. Miami 379,724
3. Tampa 321,772
4. St. Petersburg, Florida 249,090
5. Hialeah 224,522
6. Orlando 205,648
7. Fort Lauderdale 164,578
8. Tallahassee 156,612
9. Pembroke Pines 150,104
10. Hollywood 144,535




1. Alachua County
2. Baker County
3. Bay County
4. Bradford County
5. Brevard County
6. Broward County
7. Calhoun County
8. Charlotte County
9. Citrus County
10. Clay County
11. Collier County
12. Columbia County
13. DeSoto County
14. Dixie County
15. Duval County
16. Escambia County
17. Flagler County
18. Franklin County
19. Gadsden County
20. Gilchrist County
21. Glades County
22. Gulf County
23. Hamilton County
24. Hardee County
25. Hendry County
26. Hernando County
27. Highlands County
28. Hillsborough County
29. Holmes County
30. Indian River County
31. Jackson County
32. Jefferson County
33. Lafayette County
34. Lake County
35. Lee County
36. Leon County
37. Levy County
38. Liberty County
39. Madison County
40. Manatee County
41. Marion County
42. Martin County
43. Miami-Dade County
44. Monroe County
45. Nassau County
46. Okaloosa County
47. Okeechobee County
48. Orange County
49. Osceola County
50. Palm Beach County
51. Pasco County
52. Pinellas County
53. Polk County
54. Putnam County
55. Santa Rosa County
56. Sarasota County
57. Seminole County
58. St. Johns County
59. St. Lucie County
60. Sumter County
61. Suwannee County
62. Taylor County
63. Union County
64. Volusia County
65. Wakulla County
66. Walton County
67. Washington County

[CHEWY12]

Originally Posted by gamb312

I am looking for good places to live and/or buy investment property in central Florida (between Palm Beach and Gainesville). Any tips or helpful information would be greatly appreciated.

If you like to gamble come on down there is a place at the table for you.There are plenty of players that will take your money no problemo.

Just my opinion here. You might want to spend some time in the area that you want to invest into. Many parts of Fl. are going through a price correction right now that may last for some time.

[gypsychic]

Check out this article:

New Rules of Real Estate 2006: Best Places to (Still) Invest - November 1, 2006

There are 3 cities in Florida on this list.

[Dave_n_Tenn]

If Florida is your choice... let me suggest a more conservative approach at this time. Find out what to avoid. However one precurser for value is to ask:
"what areas of the state during the housing boom, did NOT see band-wagon type development"?

Look at milage rates, insurance rates, schools, roads, infrastructure or the lack there-of. Find the amount of high end homes in the community. Look at "household" income at the local level, not regionally or state wide. Look at unsold new home inventory levels. Look at re-sale levels.

Simply put, those areas that didn't boom ... didn't bust. (not an absolute) *Doesn't apply to very low end housing or trailers.

[gamb312]

I do understand that the Florida market is coming down at this point but wouldn't it be a good time to buy when the market is at a low point? I figured that buying investment property or any property would be a good idea during a time like this.

[Dave_n_Tenn]

gamb312 said:I do understand that the Florida market is coming down at this point but wouldn't it be a good time to buy when the market is at a low point? I figured that buying investment property or any property would be a good idea during a time like this.

Yes.... but .... the market hasen't hit bottom. Now... if you were gonna live in it for a while it might make more sense.

Look for value (different than low price)... and there are a lot of investor owned properties that are being sold at really low prices, with lots of up grades.