Florida Real Estate Investing: Where the Best Opportunities Are in Today’s Market

Libby McBee (00:00)
Biggest thing is knowing the market and

when it’s a good time to buy and when it’s time to sell. Right now, I would say in Florida, it’s not a good time unless you’re gonna hold the property because our prices are reducing, at least in the Tampa Bay area. So understanding the living, breathing organism of what a real estate is and being able to know ahead of time before the market shifts. I mean, I think a year and a half ago, I was telling my real estate agent friends, was just like, y’all listing agents are gonna have to start working

because we’re done, this is it. And sure enough, the market, you know, we went understanding two weeks on the market to now 60 days on market. So understanding how that works is huge.

Cody Crabb (02:14)
Hello and welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast. My name is Cody Crabb with Investor Fuel. Today I’m joined by Elizabeth McBee, a broker associate with Florida Luxury Realty in the Tampa Bay area. Elizabeth describes herself less as a salesperson and more as a facilitator of real estate deals, helping people buy and sell across residential, commercial, listings, buyers, down payment assistance, 1031 exchanges, and more. So we’re gonna get into all of that and get some of her insights. Thanks so much for joining us today, Elizabeth.

Libby McBee (02:43)
Thank you.

Cody Crabb (02:44)
So just to kind of kick things off here, I’d love to know kind of how did you get into the, how did you get into real estate and what made you approach it more as this kind of facilitator role in when you started to get into it.

Libby McBee (02:58)
So I purchased two homes with agents and I wasn’t educated. I didn’t know what was going on and you come to the closing table with no knowledge. And so for me, it was personally about helping educate my clients so they don’t have, they’re not surprised when they get to the closing table. That was huge for me.

Cody Crabb (03:20)
Yeah, I can totally see that. Yeah, it’s not a simple process and much less so when you kind of aren’t being kind of helped through the decision and like in the wise of everything. So that facilitation part. you did you got into real estate and you said you kind of became a well, I’d love to hear kind of how you describe your role because you were very careful to say that that that it’s it’s. ⁓

You aren’t this, you aren’t that. So what is it exactly that you do for our audience?

Libby McBee (03:47)
So, real estate is abroad. It’s a constantly, it’s a living, breathing situation. People don’t understand that because what the price is now isn’t what it’s going to be later.

For me, I say facilitate because it is taking somebody who wants to buy, somebody who wants to sell, and bringing them together and making the deal happen. And it could be, and there’s always, if there’s issues, there’s problems, like I’m a problem solver. So I stay ahead of any issues that may happen during the process. There’s always inspections. Commercial, you have phases, like phase one, phase two, if there’s an issue with

the ground on the property. There’s zoning issues sometimes that you have to keep track of. In Florida alone, we have wetlands that you have to stay on top of. So if you’re purchasing property to build on it, you need to know where you can and can’t build. So there’s, it’s a lot of information. I’ve helped people with down payment assistant programs. I’ve helped families who are on section eight.

purchase a home. To me that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever done and it’s a lot. It’s a lot of information in my head that I just go case by case by case. Like the person comes to me, here is your problem, I shall solve it.

Cody Crabb (04:56)
Mm.

I love that. ⁓ So you kind of in the kind of chat before we started, kind of we were talking about kind of the roles that you play and you I heard the phrase anything and everything real estate, which I find really interesting. I would love to know kind of what how has that benefited you to be sort of a jack of all trades? Whereas like a lot of people are like, no, go niche down, do the more specific stuff. That’s that’s better.

I would be curious as to your experience of the opposite with kind of having a more broad approach.

Libby McBee (06:23)
So having the broader approach helps me help my clients.

I already have the knowledge base. So when you go under contract with something, there’s rules. If you’re working with a lender, then I tell my clients, I’m like, you’re purchasing a home via the mortgage guidelines. So there’s laws and rules that a mortgage company can’t even do a mortgage on a property. Now imagine if you’re a real estate agent and you don’t know this information and you put a contract on a property for your clients and then find out that you can’t close because the mortgage

won’t close for you, that’s big. And again, I go back to like, and then you need to know your zoning, you need to know…

Again, what I’m doing for my clients is to make sure that they’re educated in the whole process. And then we don’t have any issues and we can go to a smooth closing, which is so nice. And then also helps that I’m really good at my job and talking to other agents, which also is another thing, because we all work together, right? So having that relationship with other agents too is a big niche. Knowing what I’m talking about really facilitates that.

Cody Crabb (07:27)
Yeah.

Yeah, for sure. And especially taking the time to kind of get deep with somebody and make sure they know what they’re getting themselves into. With real estate investing specifically, you if you’ve said you’ve worked with investors, I would be curious to know, you know, what is it, what has, what’s been some benefit that investors have gotten from getting that kind of approach?

Libby McBee (07:49)
Biggest thing is knowing the market and

when it’s a good time to buy and when it’s time to sell. Right now, I would say in Florida, it’s not a good time unless you’re gonna hold the property because our prices are reducing, at least in the Tampa Bay area. So understanding the living, breathing organism of what a real estate is and being able to know ahead of time before the market shifts. I mean, I think a year and a half ago, I was telling my real estate agent friends, was just like, y’all listing agents are gonna have to start working

because we’re done, this is it. And sure enough, the market, you know, we went understanding two weeks on the market to now 60 days on market. So understanding how that works is huge.

Cody Crabb (08:31)
Yeah, and I think it’s being able to keep a close eye on things like that. But also like the maybe maybe with different insights, I think you start to see patterns and things that maybe someone wouldn’t if they were kind of focused in one area. Whereas like, I don’t know, a good example is like maybe COVID when like office was just tanking because everyone was working from home and then but like.

but Holmes were doing amazing. So like if you’re kind of styled it off, not that you wouldn’t know about the other side, just that if you have a more broad picture, you can get a better sense of what, things are going and things predicting what’s going to happen next.

Libby McBee (09:10)
you

Cody Crabb (09:10)
So, okay, I’d love to know you’re in Florida. Do you work exclusively in Florida or do you work in other places as well?

Libby McBee (09:52)
exclusively Florida when you get your license in any state you’re you’re directed to that state so and I don’t have my license anywhere else and I think that’s a little bit too much anyway.

Cody Crabb (10:00)
Gotcha.

Yeah, ⁓ Florida would give you plenty to work with. So what’s a Florida specific situation that you know of that kind of people get blindsided by? Like it could be a lot, it could be a local thing, it could be, I don’t know, I know there’s lots of issues with water in Florida, stuff like that. If you’re gonna advise someone that wanted to come invest in Florida, what would be some of the things you would let them know about?

Libby McBee (10:25)
Number one, when you drive down one street, it could be million dollar mansions and the next street could be mobile homes. mobile homes are not trailer parks like most people think they’re actually.

normally 55 plus and older communities and we have a lot of them. So we are like, there is no side of the tracks. It is a melting pot in Florida. One street’s one way, the next street’s the next way. I mean, sometimes you have to drive to get to the good stuff. It’s so interesting. I love where I live and people, when they get here, they’re shocked. So I have a good time explaining.

Florida. I have helped a lot of people move to Florida and I have a really good time explaining like okay this is what you should expect. I understand what you’re saying but it’s not the same. They hear trailer parks and they’re like my god but it’s it’s not the same. It’s a whole different body.

Cody Crabb (11:19)
Yeah, that’s that’s that’s good to

know, because I feel like in a lot of places like you can kind of move neighborhoods and you just wouldn’t ever know. Like if you didn’t leave that neighborhood, you would never know kind of what was around in terms of like what what other demographics and stuff. I also live in a place where not quite like street to street, but certainly like neighborhood to neighborhood. Like I know if I go like a mile that way, I shouldn’t be out there past 10 o’clock because it’s it’s pretty.

pretty scary. But that’s what I mean. it really you have to know the area. I mean, have you worked with a lot of people that are coming in? You said you helped to move to Florida. So like, have you worked with people coming out of state? And what’s often the the submit? What’s some advice that you give people that kind of come in from out of state and don’t know exactly what they’re looking for yet?

Libby McBee (12:05)
So when I work with.

clients out of state, always ask them where are they working? It’s not so much buying the house, but because traffic is really bad and you want to be in the right spot when you purchase your home. So I don’t go off of like when I try to get them to describe what they’re looking for, I ask them, number one, where do you work? Then the next level is, OK, what do you want? And then go from there. So when I tell them the traffic, like, you know, if you’re in North Tampa,

going into Tampa at 8 o’clock in the morning is going to be brutal. So I always get their work schedule. What’s your job like? I start with a job and then I work away from that. mean, if they work from home, no big deal. No, then we could go around those neighborhoods. it really, like if you’re moving to Florida, you really want to pressurize or put the most important part is where do you work and what do you want your commute to be because that can be brutal.

Cody Crabb (12:42)
Hmm.

Yeah,

I think in some states it’s not so bad. I live in Utah. Traffic can be kind of a thing here, but not anywhere near what I hear in some places like LA, famous LA traffic. And so it sounds like it’s one of those where you really need to be aware. And that’s why think, like you said, knowing your market is so important because someone might be like, well, thanks for that. Now my commute is three hours. So I appreciate you getting me a house there. So if you’re an investor specifically, I would be curious to know.

Do you see any opportunities in Florida right now where people can, in your market, where people can maybe take advantage of that?

Libby McBee (14:15)
So vacant land is a big thing. Commercial investors would be where I would, if I was going to talk to an investor, he would need to be retail because we have a lot of new construction still going on and not enough retail to back that up. My husband’s in development. He does grocery store change, grocery store thoughts. So.

We need that kind of infrastructure in Florida. So if you’re going to invest, would not worry about the residential side of it. I would definitely bring in retail because that’s what we’re missing. We’re missing grocery stores. We’re missing restaurants, entertainment. Those key components are huge and would definitely be a big boost. And you would want to go Pasco County and then like Tampa’s done. Pinellas is done. the counties of where we’re at.

And there’s probably like five or six counties in the Tampa Bay area easy and you want to go more inland and further north and that’s where all that the good deals if you’re going to be an investor that’s where you’re going to get the good deal.

Cody Crabb (15:20)
Gotcha. So let’s say someone is listening to this podcast and they kind of like your style. They’re like, I’m going to I’m thinking about investing in Florida. What kinds of things can you help our listeners with and kind of who who would you like to get in touch with you if they if they wanted some help?

Libby McBee (15:34)
So definitely people who want to purchase real estate, obviously, if they’re investors, that’s what they’re doing. If they need help with somebody that knows what they’re doing, obviously, call me. More importantly, you’re…

The amount of knowledge that I have of the entire area is a lot more than most agents do. So knowing where to go and what to do is going to be a key component. Again, my husband’s a developer, so I literally see him creating grocery stores all the time in different areas. it’s like understanding that knowledge on top of, like I know how to do his job just as well as can do the residential.

side. So it’s pretty big in getting things done. So I think that’s all I can answer to that question. I’m not sure.

Cody Crabb (16:18)
Hmm.

I’d be curious to know

what do you attribute? You say you kind of, sorry, you kind of cut out there for a second, sorry. So I was gonna ask you, so what do you attribute this kind of, you said you feel like you know, you’ve got a kind of knowledge base that’s a little deeper than a lot of other people in your position. What do you attribute that to? Why do you say that?

Libby McBee (16:42)
The first half of my career, I was an administrative assistant, so I’ve worked in a lot of different administration rules. Law, was an admin for law. I’ve done, where was I at?

my God, so many. It’s administration. I was an executive assistant and my job was to know what needed to be done before anybody else knew what needed to be done. And I know what questions to ask to get the correct answers. And so I attribute to a lot of my knowledge base because of my administrative assistant skills.

Cody Crabb (17:08)
Hmm.

Cool, yeah, that sounds like that would certainly be helpful. ⁓ So if somebody wants to get in touch with you, how can they do that? Where can they find you online?

Libby McBee (17:19)
I’m definitely on Google. I am on, of course, Zillow and all those homes.com because as soon as they put your license in there, you’re scooped into that little field. So you can look up Libby McBee or Elizabeth McBee on Google and you’ll find me. I’m there.

Cody Crabb (17:33)
Awesome, sounds good. Well, I appreciate the insights you’ve given us on Florida and kind of your expertise and insights. I appreciate that. And thank you listeners for joining us as well. If you feel like you got something out of today’s episode, make sure you give us a quick like, subscribe, comment, all the things, and make sure you don’t forget to follow us so that you don’t miss another awesome episode like this one. Elizabeth, thanks so much for joining today. It’s been a pleasure.

Libby McBee (17:54)
Thank you for having me.

Cody Crabb (17:55)
Thanks.

Libby McBee (17:56)
Have a great day.