Local Presence Matters More Than Market Reports

Most operators will tell you they "know their markets." They'll show you CoStar reports, demographic trends, rent comps. They'll fly in for a property tour, meet with the broker, and fly home to make a decision.

We do it differently. We live in Jacksonville. Our families are here. Our kids will grow up here. When we say we know this market, we mean we drive these streets every day.

That matters more than you might think.

What Data Can't Show You

Last month, we walked a portfolio that looked solid on paper. Good unit mix. Reasonable price per door. Decent occupancy numbers.

Then we showed up.

Some of the properties were completely vacant. Cameras mounted outside. The kind of place where you're walking through with a concealed weapon just to see the units.

You would never know that from the listing. You would never know it from a market report. You only know it by being there.

This is what living in your market gives you. Not better spreadsheets. Better judgment.

The Submarket of the Submarket

Here's something we've learned about Jacksonville: nice areas have pockets that don't work. And rough areas have pockets that are improving.

You can't see this from a 10,000-foot view. You can't see it from CoStar. You have to know the streets.

We recently looked at a deal in what most investors would call a "good submarket." But the specific street? Different story. The tenant demographic on that property was known locally for a certain reputation. The current operator was running solid marketing, clean units, professional management. Still sitting at 15% vacancy.

That told us everything. If a competent operator with good marketing can't fill units, that's not an execution problem. That's a demand problem. And no amount of better management from us was going to fix it.

We passed.

An out-of-state investor looking at the same data might have seen an occupancy problem they could "solve." We saw a submarket that doesn't want to live there.

Same-Day Decisions

When a deal hits our desk, we can look at it in the morning, drive the property by lunch, and know by dinner whether it's worth pursuing.

That speed matters.

We're not scheduling a flight two weeks out. We're not relying on broker photos. We're not making decisions from a conference room in another state.

We're in the car, on the street, walking the units. We see if there's investment happening nearby. We see if there's a path to progress or if the area is stuck.

And when we talk to brokers, property managers, and other local operators, we're getting information that out-of-state investors don't have access to. Or we're getting it earlier—before the opportunity passes.

Relationships You Can't Build from a Distance

There's a community bank here we've built a relationship with. They know us. They know our track record. They're willing to get aggressive on terms because of that relationship.

That didn't happen overnight. It happened because we're here. We meet with them. They see us operating. They know we're not flying in for one deal and disappearing.

Same with brokers. Same with property managers. Same with sellers.

When you live in your market, you're not a name on an email. You're someone they've sat across from. That changes how deals get done.

Why Jacksonville

We didn't pick Jacksonville randomly. We moved here intentionally—and we're staying intentionally.

The fundamentals are strong. Population growth. Job growth. Income growth. It's not reliant on one industry—there's financial services, manufacturing, insurance, logistics. That diversity matters when you're betting on a market for the long term.

Cost of living is lower than Miami, Tampa, even Orlando. It's not a boom-and-bust market like Dallas or Denver. It's steady. Predictable. The kind of growth you can underwrite to without needing everything to go perfectly.

There's also less institutional competition here than in bigger metros. We're not fighting private equity firms and REITs for every deal. We're finding opportunities with local owners who've held properties for decades and are ready to move on.

But more than the numbers—it's where we want to raise our families. The quality of life is high. It's safe. It's affordable. We're betting on Jacksonville for the next 10-20 years, not because a market report told us to, but because we live here and we see it every day.

That's a different kind of conviction.

The Submarkets We Target (And the Ones We Don't)

Not all of Jacksonville is created equal. And knowing the difference is half the game.

Where we're focused:

San Marco is on our radar. If we could buy there at a good cost basis every day for the rest of our careers, we would. It's established, walkable, and has strong tenant demand from young professionals. The kind of area where people want to live—not just where they end up.

Green Cove Springs and Orange Park are great too. Good fundamentals, room for growth, and less competition than the core urban submarkets.

Certain pockets of Arlington work too—but you have to know which ones. That's the tricky part.

Where we stay away:

Moncrief is a no for us. High crime. No clear path to progress. Even at a low cost basis, the risk isn't worth it.

Parts of Arlington—yes, the same Arlington we sometimes buy in. That's the point. You can't just say "Arlington is good" or "Arlington is bad." You have to know it block by block.

Northwest Jacksonville near the airport is too rural and undeveloped for what we're looking for. It might improve over time, but we're not speculating on that.

Here's the reality: there are pockets in Jacksonville that look attractive on paper—decent price per door, reasonable rents—but locals know to avoid them. And there are areas that look rough from the outside but are actually improving, with real investment happening.

You can't see that from a CoStar report. You have to drive it. You have to know the streets. You have to talk to people who've been here for years.

That's the edge we have. And it's the edge we're betting on.

What This Means for Investors

When you invest with an operator, you're trusting them to see things you can't see. To make decisions you can't make from a distance. To know the difference between a deal that looks good and a deal that actually is good.

We can't promise every deal will be perfect. But we can promise that when we tell you a submarket is strong, we've driven it. When we tell you a property has upside, we've walked it. When we tell you the tenant base is solid, we've seen it.

That's what local presence actually means. Not a line on a pitch deck. A real advantage.

Interested in Our Deal Flow?

We're actively looking at opportunities in Jacksonville and building relationships with investors who value the way we operate.

If you want to learn more about what we're seeing in this market—or just want to be on our radar when we find the right deal CLICK HERE to find a time and let's start the conversation.

Thanks for reading,

Dillon McGough, Dylan Stewart, & Josh Roosen