Invest in the Sunshine State: The Best Real Estate Florida Investments

Florida is still an investor’s paradise. It seems that buyers are unphased by the promise of rougher hurricane seasons, and are still flocking to Florida in monetarily significant numbers.

As an investor, it’s your job to make properties that those people can buy. Or invest in services that make Floridian’s lives easier. A hurricane preparedness service that attaches storm shutters for people, perhaps?

But you can’t just go down to Florida and invest in the first vacant plot of land you see. Here are some cities where real estate Florida investors are doing well, where you should set your sights.

The Best Real Estate Florida Has to Offer

Obviously, the “best” real estate will differ on your type of investment property. For example, Gainesville, FL doesn’t need high-rise condos or townhomes, but if you’re into the flip-and-sell market – it’s a dream.

Tampa, on the other hand, is ripe for large-scale real estate projects. Learn more below.

Gainesville, Florida: A Growing College Town

There are at least four big colleges in Florida. Florida State University, The University of Florida, University of Central Florida, and the University of Miami. Gainesville houses the University of Florida, aka – the Gators.

It’s a college town with a student population of 52,000. The total town population is 132,000, so there’s more there than just the school.

Since it is a university town, though, there’s a lot of movement in and out. Even the non-college neighborhoods see a lot of turnovers, with professors and researchers moving through the university cycle.

And then there’s the on-campus student housing market. Students will pay just about anything to live close to campus and if you have the money to buy a home, you can make it back (and more) with a rental property.

At the moment, the town doesn’t need any more student living complexes, but the rental market is thriving. The central and west parts of town are where most of the money is.

The east part of town is pretty low-income, and they desperately need a grocery store (if that’s your game). The east part of town may not look like much, but it boasts the birthplace and neighborhood of the great, late, Tom Petty.

Downtown also has a good amount of open properties, as it’s in a downward swing with local businesses.

The government is looking to reuse and repurpose older buildings, so look into those before you decide on a new build for commercial use.

Tampa

Tampa is a huge city, and it’s usually left out of the mix when people think about Floridian metropolises. It boasts a population of 385,000, approximately 100k less than Miami.

It’s grown so much in the last fifty years, in fact, that they’ve had to name what was Tampa Bay “old Tampa Bay” and designate a “new Tampa Bay”.

Tampa, in terms of aesthetics, is still mostly a nice neighborhood divided by strip malls town. That’s how most of Florida is, aside from it’s sizeable (but not huge) downtown.

Like Orlando, it does have a downtown with skyscrapers and the like, but it’s the urban sprawl that defines the city.

For investors, there are plenty of spaces that got closed down because of corporate changes, not necessarily because of bad locations. You’ll find commercial leases and sales in every size and neighborhood you can imagine.

For real estate investors, there’s always the calling of “waterfront” anything in Florida. There are enough lakes and man-made reservoirs around Tampa for most people to have some sort of water view.

There’s the historic area of Ybor City, which is a Cuban/Puerto Rican cultural stronghold. It’s a little touristy but there’s also authentic life and community there.

As the popularity and value of Ybor build, we’re seeing property values slowly rise. There are plenty of fixer-uppers to be had in the Ybor vicinity.

Other than that, there’s a market in nearby Wesley Chapel – which is a little too far to be considered a bedroom town, but still commutable. High-rises that are quality but still affordable for working Tampa millennials are a good, open market.

The Villages

If you’re in more of a niche market, like real estate and services that cater to the elderly – you need to visit the villages. The villages is a community that was developed specifically for the elderly and the snowbirds that come to Florida.

In case you’re in the medical field, it boasts one of the highest venereal disease rates in the entire state. Perhaps there’s a market for elder-friendly pay-to-play activities too?

You don’t have to be aged to live in The Villages. A community of that type, for that population, requires caregivers – though they’re not the most profitable market.

Caregivers and low-level medical techs don’t make a ton of money, but they still need housing. If you can produce mid-level quality and quantity, then aiming for this population in The Villages may be for you.

This helpful article will teach you more about the kind of lower earning people you’re targeting.

Florida Investing Projects

There’s a website where you can find investment opportunities in Florida, just by scrolling. If none of these real estate Florida options thrilled you, maybe give that a try.

Florida is one of the biggest states, with a big population that still has a lot of land and property to spare. It’s a little like California in that the more inward (away from the water) you go, the income gets lower.

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