NEED an exciting place to live in Southeast - Posted by Homeless

Real Estate Investing
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Posted by RichV(FL) on August 02, 2003 at 19:42:14:

Michaela,

I will never complain about the amount of new investors in Florida ever again after hearing what is going on in Atlanta.

3000+ in an investment club. It almost sounds unreal. I’m curious to see Atlanta…I may hit the CRE online convention in 04.

And yes I hear the “get rich overnight” guys all the time. I met a guy like the one you mentioned last week. He is going to do this and that and single family homes do not make enough money…yada yada yada.

He is going to buy one commercial strip center and make his millions and retire. yup. :slight_smile:

Regards,

RichV(FL)

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NEED an exciting place to live in Southeast - Posted by Homeless

Posted by Homeless on August 02, 2003 at 11:51:40:

Selling my house, quitting my job, and ready to relocate.
What is the best area in the southeast to live? Only have about 50 grand to relocate and would like to invest the bulk of that in some type of business, possibly real estate, to make enough to live off of and reinvest for retirement, etc. Have been thinking about SFH and Mobiles.
The main thing right now is that I need a place to go. I’m tired of being in a large house with an acre lot. I don’t like snow/ice either. I want a small 2/2 home on 1/4 acre lot. Need some room for the dogs. Willing to rent for a few months in order to find the perfect home. Florida has some nice areas and has the right type of climate. It’s also the 2nd best state to own a business. But… There are a lot of people on this board from Florida. Is the market saturated?
Is there a place in the southeast that you can buy/sell/rent homes fast, with the economy being the way it is?

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Re: NEED an exciting place to live in Southeast - Posted by Jerry Martin NC

Posted by Jerry Martin NC on August 02, 2003 at 22:20:42:

I may be able to help you . I have three houses for sale in Winston-Salem, NC. Great place to live. One hour from mountains. Three hours from beach. Climate is mild with some snow but not a lot.

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Re: Southeast Georgia - Posted by Barry

Posted by Barry on August 02, 2003 at 18:58:09:

Check us out. This place is really growing. YOu could even go a little farther south in Camden county where the Kings Bay Nuclear sub base is. I hear they are one of the fastest growing areas in the state. My area, St. Simons and Brunswick and really booming to. Also, much fishing goes on here, I saw you mentioned something about boat rentals. And, so far, the hurricanes keep missing us (we are the western most point on the coast). Of course there is also the Savannah area.

Take care,
Barry

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Re: NEED an exciting place to live in Southeast - Posted by John V, FL

Posted by John V, FL on August 02, 2003 at 16:48:52:

I would not suggest moving to South Florida with only 50k. Plus the competition is so ruthless these days with the equity built up either down here or semiretired relos from the Northeast looking for things to do that I bet it much more competitive than anywhere except the larege markets in California. I would check out Pasco County just to the north of St Pete. New Port Richey by the coast and Dade City a bit inland are nice, low crime and affordable. A little further away (one hour) is Ocala with tons of affordable real estate deals with a huge market of mobile homes.

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Re: NEED an exciting place to live in Southeast - Posted by Dan-fl

Posted by Dan-fl on August 02, 2003 at 16:20:28:

Come on down,the weather is fine.I moved down here 13 years ago from N.J and went fulltime as a investor 5 years ago.There is alot of new dreamers down here,but still alot of deals to go around.I’m in the tampa bay area.

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Asheville, NC - Posted by Tarheel T

Posted by Tarheel T on August 02, 2003 at 15:42:35:

I can put you right into a 2/2 mobile on .25 acre lot.
Rent with option to buy. $1,000 down. $495/mo. payment.
Come on down!!

Tracy

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Charleston SC nt - Posted by Scott

Posted by Scott on August 02, 2003 at 14:48:03:

.

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You are an individual, I suppose … - Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA)

Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA) on August 02, 2003 at 12:14:03:

Homeless------------------

You are an individual, I suppose, so choosing where you live is very much a personal decision.

Have you moved in the past and established roots? If so, you know some how to do it. Otherwise, you probably need to study up on the topic.

There are some books which can help. One is “The Places Rated Almanac” by Rand-McNally. There are a couple of similar ones such as “101 Best Places to Retire” and “Best Small Towns in America.” You should be able to find them at the local public library. You could also look them up on amazon dot com and and you will see similar books.

I think that the Southeast and the Midwest are the best places to look for rental properties that make sense.

However, the amount of money you have would probably not generate very much income if you buy just ordinary property values. You might expect to make $3,500 to $5K a YEAR in rental income.

So, you might want to buy bargains and resell them quickly for profits, then buy “holders” for rentals as you find deals that make a lot of sense from a rental standpoint.

I don’t think you need to worry at all about any area being saturated with investors, except Atlanta GA which is in a down-swing right now. And, if you are good at being an investor, you can probably prosper well there also.

Austin TX is in somewhat of a slump as they are hurt by the slow sales of high technology gear. I think that is a great part of the country, albeit a bit on the hot and muggy side. But, it will bounce back, and you would be well poised to take advantage of that.

There is a lot of census data from the 2000 census on the internet. You might be able to use some of that to sort down to a few choices. And there is a lot of local information on the internet: the chamber of commerce stuff, which always makes even the most horrible place on the planet look appealing, and much more. Many newspapers have online editions for free, so you can read about a locality some. Also, www.realtor.com is excellent for seeing what the asking prices are for housing and how many properties there are available. I have recently looked at that site to count houses available, then divided that number by the population of the area. From that you can get an idea of how tight or how available housing is. For instance, here in Oakland, CA, where I live, there is about one and a half houses available for sale for every 1000 population. In Paw-Paw, MI, the figure is about 65 per 1000.

Good InvestingRon Starr*****

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Re: NEED an exciting place to live in Southeast - Posted by Blake

Posted by Blake on August 02, 2003 at 11:56:05:

Texas, if you dont mind the heat

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Re: NEED an exciting place to live in Southeast - Posted by Jerry Martin NC

Posted by Jerry Martin NC on August 02, 2003 at 22:30:47:

Also I have been in the pest control business for thirty years and could put you in that business if there is any interest.

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Re: NEED an exciting place to live in Southeast - Posted by Homeless

Posted by Homeless on August 02, 2003 at 16:35:43:

Actually the Tampa-St. Pete area is high on the list. The in-laws have a place down there and have offered to let us stay there for about 6 months. She’s actually a real estate agent down there working in the St Pete area. It is a beautiful area. The only real problem is that its near the in-laws. Not that I have a problem with them, we just want to be out away from family. We enjoy our visits with them (up to three months a year), but we also enjoy the space between us. I think they feel the same way. It’s still high on the list of places to go though. I’m sure we can work out our privacy issues.

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Re: Asheville, NC - Posted by Homeless

Posted by Homeless on August 02, 2003 at 15:48:41:

Doesn’t sound like a deal to me. The last time I was in Asheville it SNOWED. That would be the deal breaker right there.
The Biltmore is a fascinating place to visit though.

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Re: You are an individual, I suppose … - Posted by Homeless

Posted by Homeless on August 02, 2003 at 12:37:57:

Thanks, I have been looking on the net to find info on different places. Real Estate is on the top of the list of things to do. I’ve always been interested in it. Second on the list is boat rentals, or something similar. I don’t see why I can’t do both. I just can’t stay here and dream forever. I’ve got another 30 years of working before retirement age (taking into account the retirement age will be raised to 70) and I just can’t take that anymore. It’s not like I’m living from paycheck to paycheck right now, but I don’t have what I want, either. Well, actually I guess I do have the material things that I always wanted, I just don’t have the peace of mind and happiness that goes with it. I thought I did until about two years ago, when all of a sudden I started thinking that life is way to short to keep doing this day in and day out. I have about 6 weeks to get out of my house. Maybe I should take a few months, get an RV, and travel around to some of the places I might like to be.
My thoughts right now have been leaning towards places like the SC coast, GA coast, and Florida. I think New Orleans would be fun, but they seem to be a magnet for hurricanes and floods. That part would not be fun. I’ll just keep up the research and include Texas.

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Re: You are an individual, I suppose … - Posted by keith hutson

Posted by keith hutson on August 02, 2003 at 22:06:28:

South Georgia, around Kingsland, Folkston and the general Okefenokee area is going to boom before long. It is now almost a suburb of Brunswick and Jacksonville. Low taxes, great climate NO SNOW! and hardly ever worry about a hurricaine.

KHutson

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Re: You are an individual, I suppose … - Posted by michaela-ATL

Posted by michaela-ATL on August 02, 2003 at 14:48:02:

You sound a lot like me ;-). I’ve been wanting to leave Atlanta and my criteria is :no snow/ice and the real estate has to be better (Atlanta sucks right now - Bad economy and a glut of wanna-be investors - not a good mix). Unfortunately, I still ahve property here and can’t leave, yet.

Good luck! Drive around and find a place of your liking and then make the best of it!

Michaela

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Re: You are an individual, I suppose … - Posted by Homeless

Posted by Homeless on August 02, 2003 at 15:45:35:

Sorry you can’t come along. I’ve been on the computer all day, along with the trusty atlas doing some research. I’ve come to the conclusion that I may have to get a different type of business that will have a decent income then do the REI thing. I thought I would do my research then start mapping out places to go. I’m going to go ahead and pack all of my stuff in storage, rent an RV, then take off. The kids are grown and can fend for themselves, my parents are in good health and don’t need me. It’s time for ME now, and I had better make the most of it.
Actually, I’ve read your posts and you do the houses that I like. I don’t want to do them for a living, just one to live in. I should loan my furniture to you, (lots of antiques) it would go perfect in those homes and I wouldn’t have to pay for storage!
Good Luck, and maybe you can run away one day also.

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Re: You are an individual, I suppose … - Posted by RichV(FL)

Posted by RichV(FL) on August 02, 2003 at 15:05:27:

Michaela,

You need to come to the west coast of Florida. It never snows here. We do get a lot of lightning though.

Also we do have a lot of those wanna be investors. I think its like that in every state now. REI is the new thing to do. I feel many of the newbies that are not doing thier homework and just jumping in will not last very long in this business.

Regards,

RichV(FL)

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Re: You are an individual, I suppose … - Posted by michaela-ATL

Posted by michaela-ATL on August 02, 2003 at 16:00:59:

So, if you have to be out of the house in 6 weeks you can always consider bringing your antique furniture down to Atlanta and house sitting my house, while I’m trying to sell it :wink: . (which I’m exepcting have finished beginning to middle of Sept)

Michaela

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Re: You are an individual, I suppose … - Posted by keith hutson

Posted by keith hutson on August 02, 2003 at 22:10:34:

by the way, the panhandle of Florida is good. Destin is exploding and many people I know there are investing. The sky is almost the limit there.

The panhandle around Panama City, Destin, Niceville, Crestview and toward Pensacola is a good place to consider.
K Hutson