Question 1

How much does my county mix change the carry across a Tampa portfolio?

Accepted Answer

More than most people expect, and insurance is the reason. As of March 2026 the state regulator put the average homeowners premium including wind at $4,063 in Pinellas, $3,525 in Hillsborough and $2,756 in Pasco. That is about $1,300 a year between a Clearwater door and a Wesley Chapel door, and across ten rentals it is roughly $13,000 of annual carry that has nothing to do with your note rate. Look at the same table excluding wind and the order flips: Pinellas averages $2,034, below Hillsborough's $2,676 and near Pasco's $1,917. The coastal wind exposure is the entire spread. Flood is a separate policy again, and much of coastal Pinellas sits in a Special Flood Hazard Area where a lender will require it. We underwrite blanket coverage on the actual county mix in your portfolio, not on a metro average.

Question 2

Is Florida insurance still getting worse for a portfolio this size?

Accepted Answer

No. It is coming down, off the highest base in the country. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation reported that the average homeowners premium including wind fell in 51 of 67 counties between its January 2026 and July 2026 reports. For residential policies effective 2024 or later, 44 companies asked for a rate decrease and 48 asked for zero, and 21 new carriers have been approved to write residential property in Florida since the 2022-23 reforms. Citizens, the state-backed insurer, was down to 293,465 policies in force as of June 5, 2026, the lowest in 25 years against roughly 1.2 million at the end of 2022, and its approved 2026 cuts of 8.8% on homeowners multiperil and 5.5% on wind-only took effect July 1, 2026. The honest read for a portfolio borrower: premiums are still the largest controllable line in your carry, and the direction has turned.

Question 3

Can I use the sellers' tax bills to underwrite the portfolio?

Accepted Answer

No, and this one bites hardest when you buy several doors at once. Florida caps annual assessment increases at 3% or CPI for homesteaded property, but investment property gets the 10% non-homestead cap instead. That cap applies automatically with no application, and it resets on change of ownership, so your first full tax year is generally assessed at market value with none of the seller's carryover benefit. Buy five houses that were all held long-term by their owners and you inherit five understated tax bills at once. Run each address through the county property appraiser's own estimator rather than a metro-wide millage figure, and take the entity and exemption questions to your CPA or attorney. We size portfolio debt service on the forward tax number.

Question 4

Which Tampa Bay submarkets are carrying rent, and which are compressing?

Accepted Answer

Wesley Chapel and Riverview lead on rent, Brandon is the one to watch. Zillow's June 2026 city-level rent index put Wesley Chapel at $2,262 a month and Riverview at $2,159, against Tampa at $1,999, Clearwater at $1,962, Largo at $1,822 and Brandon at $1,639. Brandon is the only one of the eight named submarkets with rent down more than 4% year over year (-4.2%) while its home value fell just 1.3% to $358,445, which is a compressing-yield combination. Metro-wide as of June 2026, single-family rent was up 1.1% year over year at $2,426 while the all-property-types index was down 0.7%, so the apartment softening in this metro is not the same thing as house softening. On a blanket loan the weak door drags the whole coverage calculation, so bring the actual leases per address and we'll size on what the portfolio really collects. See DSCR rental loans if you're financing doors one at a time.

Question 5

What do Florida doc stamps cost when several rentals go into one blanket loan?

Accepted Answer

Budget 35 cents per $100 on the note and mortgage, plus 70 cents per $100 on any deed. Florida charges documentary stamp tax of 70 cents per $100 of consideration on a deed in every county except Miami-Dade, and consideration expressly includes the amount of any mortgage or other encumbrance, whether or not the underlying debt is assumed. Notes and written obligations to pay money run 35 cents per $100. The Department of Revenue states a $2,450 cap on the note tax and no cap on the mortgage or lien tax, but how that lands on a Florida-secured blanket mortgage turns on the specifics, so confirm the closing figure with your closing counsel rather than assuming the cap. Florida also imposes a nonrecurring intangible tax on mortgages, and investors should expect it as a line item. Refinancing an existing portfolio into one loan is usually a note-and-mortgage stamp exercise; acquiring the doors adds deed stamps on top.

Question 6

Can short-term rentals sit inside a Tampa portfolio loan?

Accepted Answer

Parcel by parcel, and the answer hinges on a 2011 date. Florida Statutes section 509.032(7)(b) bars a local government from prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating how long or how often they are rented, but it exempts any ordinance adopted on or before June 1, 2011. That grandfather clause is why St. Petersburg can still limit rentals of under 30 days to three times in any consecutive 365-day period outside hotel-zoned districts, while the City of Tampa has no citywide minimum stay and treats nuisance enforcement as the practical constraint. Clearwater and Clearwater Beach run the tightest regime in the area, with city registration, a 7-night minimum in certain residential zones and annual inspections. Every Florida short-term rental also needs a state DBPR vacation rental license under Chapter 509, with penalties up to $1,000 a day for operating without one. Local rules change, so confirm with the specific municipality before you count that income. If short-term income is carrying part of the portfolio's coverage, we'll want the license and the local approval for each of those doors. Tell us about the portfolio and we'll tell you what the file needs.

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