JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Becoming a Navy wife took Shaina Smith and her family all across the country. After arriving in Jacksonville about five years ago, they wanted to put down some roots and found the perfect home. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt had a big kitchen. No carpets. It was a three bedroom. I didn\u2019t want a big house,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n But a season of new beginnings gave way to heartbreak. Two years ago, her husband Kelly Smith passed away. The loss led Smith and their girls on a journey of healing and a new chapter.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just had too many memories. Yeah. And I think we just needed a fresh start. So that was the biggest thing,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n She put their house up for sale and found a new place to live, but her former home sat on the market for six months.<\/p>\n READ: The cost of convenience: Why your favorite grocery apps might be costing more than you think<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cVery stressful, obviously. I had to cut back on a lot of things. I have two kids, you know, kids are expensive. So I\u2019m like, this is just not, it\u2019s just not reasonable,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n The wait pushed Smith to consider renting out her home instead and she turned to Mario Gonzalez, Broker-Owner of Navy to Navy Homes<\/a> for help. <\/p>\n Gonzalez is also past president of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors and said more homeowners are becoming landlords as a ripple effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n Early on, many homeowners locked in record-low mortgage rates dropping to 2.65 percent in 2021 and for some, those rates were too valuable to give up.<\/p>\n READ: HOA Heartbreak: Florida bill could soon give homeowners the power to break up with their HOA<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cSo we saw really kind of in 2024 when a lot of these people were moving, they were turning these homes into rentals because they had locked in a two and a half, 3% interest rate, which they\u2019ll probably never see again in their life. And that really flooded the market with rentals,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n The pandemic also drove home prices up. Before COVID, Gonzalez said the median home price in Northeast Florida was in the $200,000s. A couple of years later, it jumped to $380,000 and interest rates also started climbing again, creating a different challenge for other homeowners looking to move on.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re what we call the accidental landlords. They probably can\u2019t sell if they bought around $380,000 and their home is worth $380,000 right now. They can\u2019t afford to sell because they haven\u2019t had enough time to push that equity down,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n Pushing them to turn their homes into rental properties instead. It\u2019s the rise of the landlords, and local homeowners are front and center. <\/p>\n Recent numbers from real estate data company BatchData<\/a> found in the third quarter of 2025 small \u201cmom-and-pop\u201d investors with one to five properties owned 92% of all investment properties in the U.S. <\/p>\n A growing shift from a trend Action News Jax Anchor Tenikka Hughes first investigated in 2021<\/a> as a part of our ongoing \u201cPriced out of Jax\u201d series.<\/p>\n Then, Tenikka uncovered a quarter of all single-family homes in Duval County, were owned by real estate investment companies. <\/p>\n Action News Jax checked with Duval County Property Appraiser Joyce Morgan<\/a> for an update and so far this year, Morgan said, \u201cInvestors who own 3 or more homes, which includes national investors, account for 32% of all non-homesteaded condos and single-family homes in Duval County.\u201d<\/p>\n BatchData found Jacksonville still remains in the top 5 cities where large institutional investors own homes<\/p>\n This as the White House said President Trump is pushing to stop \u201cWall Street from competing with Main Street homebuyers<\/a> signing an executive order in January to restrict institutional investors from buying up single-family homes. <\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n \u201cAs a residential property manager, we represent individual homeowners and that will make the competition a little less fierce for them. So their homes will probably rent a little faster,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n As for Smith, after waiting half a year for her home to sell, she locked down a renter in just 30 days.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we bought the house, the interest rate was good. Mortgage is less than what I\u2019m renting it for,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n And a home she once planned on letting go is now a part of her family\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, again, my husband passing, it\u2019s changed my perspective on life and I\u2019m like anything can happen. And my, I just want to leave a good foundation for my kids. That\u2019s my biggest thing and I wanna make them proud,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n Gonzalez said ultimately, your home is an investment and when it comes to selling or renting, talk to an expert who can advise you on your options, so you can make the best decision for you and your family. <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Becoming a Navy wife took Shaina Smith and her family all across the country. 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