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Updated about 5 years ago on . Most recent reply

User Stats

96
Posts
34
Votes
Michele Z.
  • New to Real Estate
  • Augusta, GA
34
Votes |
96
Posts

Starting out in Augusta, GA (Ft. Gordon)

Michele Z.
  • New to Real Estate
  • Augusta, GA
Posted

Hello! My research tells me Augusta, GA could be a great market for a rental property and perhaps even ongoing investments. 

We're a USMC family coming to the area next PCS season. We'll likely do a brief trip end of March to physically see the area before moving down in June. We are first time home buyers. We have a 3yo and a 65lb dog so house hacking isn't in the cards for us.

Unlike most military families, we will need to live in our first property for ONLY about a year before we convert it to a rental. We're thinking about our situation as a slower BRRRR as we want to have cash flow. We are looking for a SFH around 2000sf-ish that needs updating and is therefore slightly lower than market value. We want to aim for a $1500 rental price + pet rental which we hope is achievable with our specific market.

According to online portals my husband and I have low 800 credit scores so we hope to use a conventional w/ 20% down to avoid mortgage insurance as we need to save our VA loan for a likely much more expensive market (DC) in 2021.

Our main focus is on Evans/Martinez because of proximity to the base -AND- the new cyber developments downtown, plus access to amenities that we think will be attractive to the incoming workforce. That said, we are very worried about internet access in those older, more established areas after some quick searches and hope to not be pushed into Grovetown as it seems like it would only appeal to families. New construction in Grovetown isn't going to get us the cash flow we want right out of the gate. 

What are your thoughts about starting out with lower than $200/mo cash flow in an appreciating area? We've been searching the consumer available MLS and realize that there's not a lot out there at the moment (that we can see) that meets our needs.

That said, here's a specific question: if we end up with no choice but a newer property in Grovetown, would 20% down plus 11-12 mos worth of payments be enough equity to allow us to refinance, if necessary, when we leave? We do not want to lock up the majority of our capital just as we'll be faced with purchasing in the DC metro area. We're also not eager to waste another year of rent paying someone else's mortgage. This may be the one and only time we will ever be stationed in a market not in a major metropolitan area and we'd hate to waste the opportunity.

Eager to speak with those who are actively investing in this market since we can't physically get out to any meet-ups before we move to the area. Also very interested in finding out about the wholesale market - not exactly sure how one finds the people doing that. 

I appreciate any comments/suggestions as we're on such a specific timeline and want to learn as much as we can, as quickly as possible. Thanks!

Most Popular Reply

User Stats

96
Posts
34
Votes
Michele Z.
  • New to Real Estate
  • Augusta, GA
34
Votes |
96
Posts
Michele Z.
  • New to Real Estate
  • Augusta, GA
Replied

@Solomon Morris assuming you meant to at me and not that other Michele who spells her name correctly.  ;)

The issue is not using the VA loan twice, it's choosing to have the entire allotment available for one of the most expensive markets in the county. It's also about hoping to cash flow a property as soon as we start renting it, and I can barely make a decent cashflow work with 20% down, I don't know how it would be remotely possible if we went no money down. This is why we're considering 20% down because we don't have room to factor for mortgage insurance as we run the numbers on the properties we find on the MLS.

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