The Jacksonville rental market is sometimes a challenging one for our investors and other clients with rental properties. The cost to buy most rentals in Jacksonville is quite low (as contrasted with other cities, such as Denver) – for example, a new (or newer) construction townhouse in an up-and-coming area like Oakleaf Plantation can be had for around $100,000. It may rent for $1,000-$1150/month.
So, at first glance, these numbers can be attractive to an investor.
Some things to consider to the would-be Jacksonville landlord, in order to make your rental purchase a success:
- Be aware of the HOA dues and CDD (Community Development District) fees! These add up and take a large cut out of your rental income.
- Be prepared for the property taxes and include this in your assessment of the subject property.
- Talk to a residential property management professional! Many companies (including Real Estate Solutions) are happy to talk to prospective clients about properties: what they might rent for, the condition required for a rental, etc.
- Be prepared for a vacancy of 30-60 days, depending on the area. Vacancy time in greater Jacksonville varies wildly. Properties at the Beaches tend to rent within a couple days, but properties on the west or north sides may sit for 60 days. What a property needs to be attractive in a given market can vary.
- Be prepared to make the property “rent ready.” With RES property management in Jacksonville, we track the useful life of wear items such as carpet and paint, and we recommend our clients replace them when the time comes. Properties in poor condition attract poor quality tenants!
- Decide whether or not to hire a professional property management company in Jacksonville. What is your time worth? Are you prepared for a lot of phone calls, emails, text messages, etc., as well as countless trips to your property in order to get it rented? Are you prepared to deal with any repair issue that might come up -at any time of the day or night? Are you prepared to deal with legal issues including slip-and-fall claims by a tenant, security deposit disputes, non-payment of rent situations and handling myriad possible lease violations? If you are, we’re hiring! 🙂
If owning successful rental properties were easy, everyone would do it! Not to mention, property management probably would not exist. Owning residential rental property can be challenging, but there are a lot of great resources and professional management companies out there to assist investors and landlords with anywhere from 1-100 rental properties.
