San Diego's Real Estate Library: Investment Update

In Florida, our investments have gone backwards. We always go into an investment with a break-even cash flow in order to weather any storm that may arise. But in Florida, we have the "perfect storm". Taxes have shot way up, insurance premiums are outrageous (if you can even get insurance) and to top it off, rents are plummeting. So our numbers really didn't work out as planned. Last year we sold some FL properties with a substantial gain - this year we are just getting our investment back in Brooksville (no profit) and will probably take a small loss in Cape Coral.

The question is, to you face the pain all at once or endure death by a thousand cuts? The negative in Cape Coral is awful and it will be years before the situation turns itself around. In other words, we feel that if we were to sell a few years from now, the price we would have to get to overcome 3 years of negative cash flow would be unlikely. So the risk is probably greater than the reward.

Nevertheless, we have the cheapest house on the market and still no bites. So if I have to lower the price even further, than I will have to recalculate this and may decide to rent the place out instead.