North Atlanta Multifamily Units

[Brett Vincent]

Hi there, I'm looking to purchase either a duplex, triplex, or fourplex using everyone's favorite "house-hacking" strategy. My question is about where exactly I should be looking. I currently live in Cumming and am interested in the Dawsonville area. Granted, this is somewhat an emotional choice because I like the area. I like Helen, Lake Lanier, etc.. I don't have a problem taking emotion out of the equation and looking toward Sandy Springs/Marietta or Decatur instead, but if given the choice, I would want to move up 400 instead of down. I haven't looked too much in the area I currently live because as far as I'm aware Cumming and it's surroundings are not good places to invest in multiunits due to highly appreciated home prices and rent that doesn't match those prices. I was actually just reading an article in the AJC business section last weekend about how Dawson is starting to be affected in a positive manner by Forsyth' s growth. I currently have a MLS feed set up with recently sold multiunits and new listings, along with looking at sites like Redfin, Zillow, Trulia, Loopnet, and Realtor.com. I don't see too many multi-units on the sites in the Dawsonville area though, and am wondering if I should just look closer to Atlanta such as Decatur and Sandy Springs/Marietta. Granted, I may be searching for multi-units in an inefficient manner since I'm completely new to the multi-unit field. I've read the articles and studies about how great it's supposed to be to own rentals in those areas, and I see a lot more rental units pop up down toward Atlanta than I do up north. I can pay up to about 160-170k for this multi-unit including any rehab costs. If anyone could give me some tips on where I should be looking for rentals in Atlanta or north of it and what kind of rents/tenants I should expect in those areas, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm looking for units where I can get some cash flow without dealing with terrible tenants or maintenance issues all the time. That's one reason why I've been iffy about Decatur because I know it has some pretty bad spots to it. I'd rather have peace of mind than maximum cash flow. Also, if you can tell me where you are finding your units, especially the kind that need a little work because I want to avoid turnkey if I can. Thanks, Brett.

[Stan Sugarman]

Most multifamily properties(4 units and more) are sold by commercial brokers who do not list on MLS. You might want to network and look at costar/loopnet.