Investor in Georgia

[Jonathan G.]

hello everyone,

We currently own 4 SFH (3 in GA and 1 in TN).

My goals are primarily geared towards retirement income. Our strategy has been buy and hold with 15yr pay off goals.  All are leveraged with enough cash flow (jointly) to cover all expenses . Three of them put close to 800 each into equity every month.  I would classify our homes as high Bs. They are 4-5 bedrooms , higher end appliances , granite, with a mixture of wood floors/carpet and linoleum in most baths. Three are worth about 270k and rent for about 2100 each and one is a townhouse worth about 70k that rents for 1000(sadly I remain upside down on this on after almost 9 years( purchased for 145k in Clarkston GA). We have had 3 of the properties for 7-9 years and the most recent since last summer(2015).  My next target home will be in Kenessaw GA  hopefully Fall 2016. After all the reading over the last month or so, I can clearly see I could have done much better on my most recent purchase (although I am pleased with long term aspects of the deal) and looking to do better on the next deal.

I'm comfortable negotiating low level contract work (windows, floors, paint, landscaping, etc) and enjoy offering advice to others. I have a fair understanding of home mechanics (plumbing, electrical, etc) but I  contract these tasks out almost always.

Looking for connections for our next purchase (later this Fall) as well as fair contractor services (general needs in regards to routine / urgent repairs . Would love to have input on your honest and fair resources . 

Most valuable lessons learned here since I've joined:

-zero tolerance for late rent

- getting in to properties for regular inspection (recently found 3 inadequate and/or clogged AC filters

-Getting all of our properties up to fair market value

-I am looking to embrace a regular HVAC maintainance contractor (between all of our rentals and personal properties we have 13 HVACs so this will represent a large yearly expense (yes I know it prevents potential major repairs later but I have engineering experience and have watched these guys come out to "maintain" the units and rarely do they clean any inside and never outside coils) and it seems like they essentially check the freon charge and change filters. I guess I would really appreciate a quality HVAC guy