New Member from Cumming Georgia

[Ryan Sasscer]

Hello, I am a new real estate investor and excited to begin networking with wholesalers and investors here on Bigger Pockets.  My only experience in real estate so far is the purchase of two single family houses I lived in as my personal residence.  I currently have a tenant in one of them that I am holding as a positive cashflowing investment property, and I sold the other when I moved at the beginning of this year.  I have enough cash on hand to provide a down payment of at least 20% for a property in the $300,000-$400,000 range.  I am searching for a 2-4 unit property (not in need of repair - fully tenant occupied), in a middle income neighborhood, in the North Georgia area (Buford/Cumming, Dawsonville).  I have a lot to learn about the process of lining up financing for an investment property, as my only experience with acquiring loans is through traditional mortgages for houses I lived in.

I am currently an active duty Army Officer and an AH-64D Pilot.  My profile says I am from Louisiana because that is where I am currently stationed, but I am interested in buying property in North Georgia or Florida.

Thank you for taking the time to read my introduction.  

[Brandon Turner]

Hey @Ryan Sasscer thanks for jumping in and introducing yourself! If you haven't yet- be sure to setup some "Keyword Alerts" to get into conversation in your target area.

Seeya around!

[Ryan Sasscer]

I actually did set up some key word alerts for Cumming and Dawsonville Georgia a few days ago, but I don't know if they are working. What will alerts look like?  

[Jack Forester]

Welcome! You will get a little snippet of the thread, with your keyword in bold. 

You can purchase a 2-4 until property using the conventional loan process. I'm closing on one Friday, requires 25% down with interest rate being about a point higher than a primay home loan

[Sam Bagwell]

I'm from Cumming as well!  Good luck finding a fully occupied 4-unit in our area; there just aren't that many small multifamily properties, especially in good repair and occupied.  Forsyth County is probably either going to be a massive multifamily property or a single family house.  If you go single family, with values as elevated as they are, you may be able to make a good equity play, but cash flow will be tight unless your down payment is huge.  If you're ever back in town on leave, let me know, and we'll talk shop a little bit.

[Varun Parkash]

Originally posted by @Sam Bagwell:

I'm from Cumming as well!  Good luck finding a fully occupied 4-unit in our area; there just aren't that many small multifamily properties, especially in good repair and occupied.  Forsyth County is probably either going to be a massive multifamily property or a single family house.  If you go single family, with values as elevated as they are, you may be able to make a good equity play, but cash flow will be tight unless your down payment is huge.  If you're ever back in town on leave, let me know, and we'll talk shop a little bit.

 Hi Sam, how much has Cumming changed in past 1 year? Is it all inclined towards single family residences? What percentage of appreciation have you seen?

[Sam Bagwell]

@Varun Parkash  That's a pretty broad question, and is tightly location-dependent.  Cumming itself is a very small city, but which dominates Forsyth County.  In the past couple of years for certain segments of Forsyth County and Cumming, I've been seeing sales prices going up each year by 10%-15%, though that has slowed in the last 5-6 months, it seems.  In the Northeastern part of the county, though, appreciation has been much slower.  Residential construction is difficult in Forsyth County for properties not in a subdivision, so I've been seeing an uptick in prices for un-built lots in subdivisions, but a bit of a plateau in prices for lots of land less than 10 acres.

[Andrew Syrios]

Welcome to BiggerPockets Ryan and good luck investing!

[Varun Parkash]

Originally posted by @Sam Bagwell:

@Varun Parkash  That's a pretty broad question, and is tightly location-dependent.  Cumming itself is a very small city, but which dominates Forsyth County.  In the past couple of years for certain segments of Forsyth County and Cumming, I've been seeing sales prices going up each year by 10%-15%, though that has slowed in the last 5-6 months, it seems.  In the Northeastern part of the county, though, appreciation has been much slower.  Residential construction is difficult in Forsyth County for properties not in a subdivision, so I've been seeing an uptick in prices for un-built lots in subdivisions, but a bit of a plateau in prices for lots of land less than 10 acres.

 Thanks Sam for your insights. South Forsyth county is already developed. West I believe has been stagnant in terms of price changes in last 6 months. Interesting as you mentioned that it’s hard to buy a plot and build everything yourself.