Investing in Atlanta

[Praful S.]

Hello BP members,

I will be traveling to Atlanta soon and would like to use the opportunity to get familiar with the neighborhoods, rental market, opportunities, making connections with agents, investors, GC's, etc.

I looked at some of nicer neighborhoods of Atlanta and Alpharetta and quite a few of them are on the East side and North-East side. Is Atlanta/Alpharetta area a good rental market? Is it possible to find cash flow deals? 

Thanks

[Michael Ehmann]

Gonna have to disagree with Lane on this one, to an extent. The South parts have historically been rougher, but there is a lot of new activity in the market.

To start: two important terms in Atlanta are ITP (inside the perimeter) and OTP (outside the perimeter). Interstate 285 forms a big loop around the city, and this look is referred to as the "perimeter". Most stuff OTP tends to be a little more suburban, although there is still a lot going on in some of these submarkets, too.

Also another important aspect to the market: The Beltline. It's a large project that is transforming a lot of areas which historically may have been rougher. Any areas close to the Beltline are becoming hotter.

Here are some of the areas I'm somewhat familiar with. This might be a good starting point for you.

Marietta: this is NW OTP. Lots of families, pretty good high schools. Close to Kennesaw State, which is one of the largest universities in Georgia.

Smyrna: a lot of properties here can get pretty expensive, especially for the ones on the NW perimeter getting close to the city. The Home Depot is one of the biggest companies in the area.

Midtown: this is where I live. Several universities are close by, pretty central to the entire downtown area. Lots of downtown business and large corporations naturally.

Virginia Highland: a little East of Midtown. Older, nice homes that tend to be very expensive.

Buckhead: Lots of wealth here. It's a little North of Midtown. Draws a big nightlife scene.

Sandy Springs: quite a few large companies are based up here. It's on the 285 perimeter, basically directly north of Midtown, a little past Buckhead.

East Atlanta (Edgewood, Cabbage Town, Reynoldstown, etc): transitional market which has really blown up a lot. IMO things are starting to get overpriced here, but more experienced investors may have different perspectives.

West Atlanta tends to be more "early transitional" than East Atlanta, which means a lot of areas are hot but may not be overpriced yet. There are lots of submarkets here.

I'm not as familiar with NE Atlanta, but there are lots of submarkets that others have mentioned.

If you're interested in connecting with an agent, one of my good friends is with Sotheby's and does a lot of work both ITP and OTP (particularly on the North side for OTP). He's a top performer in his office and is very knowledgeable about the different submarkets and how the city has been transitioning. Let me know if you want his info.