JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Multiple Listing Service shows there are 304 foreclosed properties for sale in the Jacksonville area.  Some big investors are snapping up those deals and then renting the homes.  But smaller, cash-strapped investors can get a piece of the action too by tapping their retirement accounts and becoming landlords.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The housing boom and then eventual bust left many people who bought high holding the money bag with nothing in it. Condominium prices, especially here in Florida, were hit especially hard.  Those prices have since plummeted and some folks are starting to wade back into the buying pool. Those buyers include families who are looking for a different type of lifestyle in downtown Jacksonville.

Seth Pajcic, his wife Kathleen, and their two children moved into their three bedroom condo on the 17th floor of the Peninsula condominium complex on Jacksonville's Southbank last December. Pajcic uses the skyway to get to work at his law office downtown.  "If you work downtown, the way gas prices are today, you're not going to be paying that much for gas. You can walk or take the train," says Pajcic.