From delivering pizzas to owning 15 lots in Florida
by Kris Kemp
Background
Up until 2003, I had worked as a delivery driver for Papa John’s in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. For two years, I had couch-surfed, living at friends houses, crashing on their sofas, in exchange for doing dishes, cleaning, or helping around the house. Why? I wanted to save money and in order to save money, I needed a way out of paying rent. Basically, I was a houseboy, or a concierge.
Believe it or not, the experience was memorable and fun. During that time, I completed two journals–”The Insanity Defense” and “Gravity (the seduction of the equator)”. One day, I hope to publish them. The last place I stayed was David Knight’s kitchen, a separate building with kitchen sink, fridge, table, shower, toilet. That was during the time of hurricane season in Florida and a few hurricanes had hit the area pretty hard. As he was a healthy eater, he requested that I bring coconuts home, as they were all over the street from the hurricanes aftermath. Specifically, he requested two coconuts a day. While driving around delivering pizzas at night, whenever I saw downed coconut trees or coconuts, I would park and toss them into the back of my Honda Civic. I purchased a nice machete for $10-15 bucks and, after bringing them home and placing them in his fridge, would cut them open the next day. For breakfast, we had fresh coconut milk. It was cool.
While I was working at Papa John’s, I kept an eye out for fixer-upper houses. Whenever I saw them, I would look up the address at the property appraiser’s website, track down the owner, send a letter and make an offer. Either it was already under contract by an investor or in litigation limbo, so my attempts were unsuccesssful. Oh well. At least I tried.
Life changes
In 2003, tired of delivering pizzas and somewhat frightened by some bad experiences on the job (being assaulted, being robbed, having rocks thrown at the car), I quit. I had saved $12,000 dollars. Knowing that I needed more money, I
withdrew all my mutual funds, which added $30,000 dollars to the pot. Combined, I had a total of $42,000 dollars.
I was hoping to use this money to buy a fixer-upper house in West Palm Beach, Florida. At this time, though, the real estate market was very hot–home prices were soaring. Even fixer-upper houses were selling for $200,000.
Taking my search online, I came across an ad for 9-acres with a trailer, and a spring in back, for $54,900. A few days later, I drove to Old Town, Florida, met the owner, and put a $20,000 down payment on the land, with arrangements to
pay $270 a month for five years (60 payments) and a balloon payment of $25,000. (A balloon payment is a final loan payment that is considerably higher than regular payments, in order to pay off a loan.) After paying for the trailer, I had $22,000 dollars left. I fixed up the trailer and lived in it. The cost of paint and tools amounted to a few thousand dollars, leaving me with $20,000.
Small town, small pay
As it was a small town, the only jobs seemed to be at Georgia-Pacific, a lumber company just outside of town, and Hardees. Looking through the local paper, I saw an ad for tax deed sales. I visited the county clerk’s office and asked questions. Lots of questions. I visited the property appraiser’s office in the same building and asked questions. I started
attending sales and bidding on land, using the remaining $20,000 that I had left.
(At this point, you might be saying: ‘It was easy for you. You had $20,000 dollars.’ To begin with, it’s not easy when you’re starting out doing this and you have no experience. Money can only take you so far. Anyone can learn how to
do this with a $2,000 dollar investment.)
Deals everywhere
Deals everywhere and I was running out of money, buying properties. But now I needed an income. I contacted friends and relatives and three people responded, agreeing to pay me a small monthly salary and a percentage once they sold a
property, if I could find them a tax deed property at a good price.
For a year, I lived in Old Town, attending tax deed sales. I also attended tax deed sales in other counties–Gilchrist, Levy, Madison, and Jefferson. Once I owned the land, I would re-sell it. My first major sale brought in a profit of around $17,000 dollars. I remember running around the 9-acres, jumping up and down and praise God for the financial blessing. During this time, I was able to work for myself, and living in North Florida among friendly people and beautiful surroundings–springs, rivers, lots of trees–proved cathartic in many ways.
Eventually, I returned to West Palm Beach, and continued to attend sales in nearby counties. Looking over all the counties, I decided to make a numbered map of Florida, with numbers corresponding to website links for county clerks and property appraisers, along with notes on how to buy tax deed properties. Initially, I planned to use this map and notes for myself, but after seeing all the tax deed sales that were happening every month, I came to a dilemma.
Lots of lots
There were so many counties with so many different lots going up for auction. Often, these tax deed sales were on the same day–on the same date there will be two sales in two different counties. Which one should I attend?
Even if I had the money to bid on tax deed sales in different counties that are scheduled on the same date, how would this be possible? I don’t have the time or resources to research all of them. Even if I did, who I would be able to trust to
handle the responsibility of bidding? Too put it simply, the opportunity was there but the coordination to make it work was beyond me.
Writing a course
So, I decided to write a course, a reference guide for myself, on how to buy and sell tax deed properties in Florida. I enjoy writing and am almost embarassed to admit that I’m one class away from a two-year journalism degree. That class–college algebra–is the same class that kept my cousin, Jennifer, from receiving her two-year graphic design degree. But, she’s a successful graphic designer now so I guess it didn’t mean much. Anyway, I’m wandering. In short, I like to write and have been keeping journals ever since.
If I couldn’t possibly do this all myself, why should I keep it to myself? Along the way, I’ve met lots of people who have been helpful and patient in answering my questions, from property appraisers to tax clerks to realtors to title company employees to tax deed bidders. Perhaps I could pass on what I’ve learned. This is why I wrote this course–so others could benefit from my experiences, both good and bad.
Anyone can do this
Anyone can do what I do–flip Florida land for a profit. I failed college algebra three times, keeping me away from a two-year journalism degree. Before learning how to do this, I worked a number of jobs. What jobs, you ask? McDonald’s, lots of different restaurant jobs, painting, car wash, kitchen upgrades assistant, pizza delivery driver, handyman.
Those jobs had their fun times, but I you know what I really enjoy? Writing and helping people. This book enabled me to do both. My friend, Vinnie, has used the techniques in this book to make $16,000 in equity on his first land deal. And that was only two months ago. That can be you. It’s easy when you follow the steps in my course.
Small investment, big return
With an investment of $2,000 dollars, you can start buying land in Florida.
How can my experiences help you? If you read my course, and put it into practice, you can learn how to:
1) Attend and bid at tax deed sales with confidence
2) Buy land in Florida for as little as $2,000 dollars
3) Find Florida property owners who are motivated to sell
4) Fill out the paperwork necessary for buying/selling land
5) Utilize different websites to sell your land
6) Determine which tax deed sales to attend
As there are 67 counties in Florida, with most of these having tax deed sales every month, the chance of finding land at low cost is in your favor. Even if you don’t want to buy property for yourself, perhaps you know someone who could use some financial help. Consider buying them a lot in Florida. Why not invest in your children’s future by buying a lot in Florida?
What’s the prime interest at the bank? Five percent? Land values are doubling or tripling annually. Make your money work for you by investing it in something that yields greater interest.
Check out my website at the top of this article to see some of the lots that I’ve purchased using the techniques in my course. Whatever you do, I encourage you to follow your dreams. Take Care & God Bless You.
Kris Kemp
investor, writer, web designer
Make Big Profits Flipping Florida Land
Kris Kemp
http://www.articlesbase.com/investing-articles/make-big-profits-flipping-florida-land-88835.html
Poughkeepsie, New York Historic farm estate, 18 acres, main house plus 2 attached apartments $350,000.
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