Newbie - starting the journey

[Clay Davis]

I am in sales and make decent money, but also want to start building an income stream for retirement. Looking to buy and hold for rental income.  Don’t want to get tied up with anything that needs a lot of rehab, which makes the economics a bit more challenging.   I have a friend/mentor who has a decade of experience at this, and a successful realtor who supports him also - so there are two important pieces.   Now looking to get insights from others who are buying single-family houses that don’t need a lot of rehab - what kind of cash flow can be expected, and how are they mitigating risks as the ratios aren’t quite as favorable.

[Michael Dumler]

@Clay Davis, recognize what you're asking for. You want to acquire a property that requires little work in which limited risk is assumed that cash flows adequately. There are only 1,000+ other investors in the ATL market who are also looking for this exact investment. Not to mention, a lot of these investors are cash buyers. This strategy was obtainable in 2014/2015/2016 but the market has gotten extremely competitive, to say the least. As a real estate agent, I've seen some investors get super aggressive to the point where the deal is barely break-even. ATL is slowly becoming an appreciation-based investment market unless we start seeing a shift in either pricing and/or rates. My advice is to house-hack your first deal. House hacking is one of the best-tested methods to acquire real estate with limited risk exposure. That being said, what is your experienced friend/mentor implementing at the moment? I'd be curious to hear his take on the market and investment strategy.