Investing in Atlanta vs. Chicago

[Anna Evoundi]

I know I want to move to Atlanta in about 5-7 years after doing enough deals, I'm a Chicago native. With everything going on with COVID, I'm having a slight thought of making that move sooner. What is the market like in Atlanta (up to 50 mile radius of Atlanta) for flips and rentals? Is it as saturated as Chicago?-Chicago is very overrun with Investors but that is showing to change already, imo. What are some tips or key differences? Pros/Cons? What do you do in Atlanta and how have you become successful out there? If you've done deals in both CHicago and Atlanta, do you have a preferred market? Why? I just know it is a totally different market that I know slim to none about when it comes to investing. 

Opening up my options to possibly make that move sooner. I also know things will be slowly changing in both markets in the coming months to year or two, so time will tell how they both level out. 

Thank you for any experience you share. Hope everyone is staying safe out there!

[Chris Licavoli]

Atlanta area is great.  All the growth seems to be going north into the mountains.  Its competitive for investors but in absolute terms, cheaper than Chicago.  There is net migration here and job growth (before COVID-19 that is). I would get the heck out of Illinois.  Its a poorly run democrat state that will likely declare bankruptcy soon resulting in pension haircuts and massive tax increases in an attempt to socialize the financial pain.  Georgia has its issues as well, but if you were to rank the states in terms of bankruptcy potential, Illinois has to be near the top.