Buying Real Estate in Georgia- Out of State

[Ophelia Nicholson]

I have been very intrested in buying houses in Georgia - Areas include Atlanta, Lithonia, Decatur - This is before I had ever stepped foot in the state for the first time.
A few months ago I got tired of waiting and we just got on a plane and went, stayed in a hotel for a few days and went out with a realtor. Afterall a 200k house in MD/DC was a 40k house in Georgia. I was thinking more towards renting the properties with a property management in place and eventually moving there one day.

While on my visit the realtor basically told me that as soon as I put any appliances, granite, piping basically anything in these houses that they would be stolen and that has basically curbed my appetite for the state but now I'm hungry again to invest there.
Does anyone have any experiences with this- is it that the moment I put something in someone will be in there taking them.
J Scott seems be successful in the region- Is there a specific part of Georgia that is better than the rest. Where in Georgia are you guys finding good results.
Thanks everyone.

[Joel Owens]

Ophelia,

I am honest and some like that and others want it sugar coated.

Unless you are dealing with a broker that agent will have to split that commission with the broker. On these size of properties you are talking a very small commission 30,000 times 3% equals 900 bucks.

Even if the seller pays a minimum commission of say 1,500 after expenses they might make 900.

What you are looking for is not the bad areas.What you want is nice areas where properties are going for similar prices as the nice areas.

These properties ARE out there.They go under contract in hours to days.If you can't jump on them right away you will lose out as there are local investors ready to pounce.

If you get a 700 rent on one of these properties for a manager you are talking 70 bucks a month fee.If there are not other properties in the area they could spend most of the in gas if there are problems with the property.

The only company it would be worth it to is if they had volume in that area and could hit many properties at once.

I get calls all the time for these types of deals and there is just not any money in it for me for the time invested.

Now if you told your broker/agent find me a deal and I will pay you a minimum of 4,000 to 5,000 when it closes then the game changes.

So it all depends on what a broker/agent will work for.There are much nicer areas then the ones you mentioned that have low crime.

The stuff you want in Atlanta are war zones and I would stay away.The property taxes are extremely high in those areas as well eating up almost all the cash flow.

If the tenant leaves and you have to re-rent with the high property taxes you are int he negative and banking on appreciation which those areas could take many years to turn around.

Hope it helps some.