Newbie from Alpharetta, GA

[Amit Bhavsar]

Hello Everyone : My name is Amit and I am a newbie from northern Atlanta burbs. I am excited to be part of the Bigger pockets community and amazed to find awesome experts here who share their experiences and wealth of information on this site. Big thanks to Brandon.

Not an experienced real estate investor by any standards, but learning the ropes by reading a lot of good stuff here. Hoping to find a mentor who I can work with.

I have been looking mostly around Alpharetta & Roswell area without luck (yes I need to spread out but not sure which areas to look for)

If any one can recommend me some good neighborhoods/zip codes/price range that will be nice.

Here is what I am looking for:

1) Single family or duplex or office condo

2) Stable neighborhood

3) satisfactory to good schools

4) >10 CAP after management

5) Price range: for Alpharetta area I see 3b2b single family homes in decent

neighborhood going fast in a range $165k

6) Reasonable property management fees.

Look forward to connecting with you all.

Thanks,

Amit

[Rick Baggenstoss]

@James Park has a great command for the market where you're interested. You should read all of his posts and follow him.

As @Ali Boone said, it ain't easy. In Atlanta, cap rate and good schools are inversely correlated. You'll want to look at both to determine what's right for you.

You do need to do some more homework on your own.

1. Go to www.greatschools.com and get some maps for the schools in your target area and the areas north like Cumming, Dahlonega, and Gainesville.

2. Read up on the areas on www.city-data.com. This has tons of socioeconomic data and has heat maps so you can see how things vary from street to street. The data is lagging so drive around once you narrow.

SFR/Duplexes are valued on cap rate. You might research why. You can create a cap rate for one, but it's a wild guess when the information to determine your expenses is much more evident than with a commercial multi-family.

There's so much information on BP. You might also attend some REIA meetings. Investment opportunities are presented regularly at these.

Best of luck!

Rick