What do you wish you knew before investing in Georgia?

Question

Hi there! I'm wondering if anyone from California or out of state has any tips/ lessons on investing in Georgia (specifically Augusta) or any "dumb tax" to share? My investing partner has lots of experience here in CA, but we're interested in investing in SFH in GA. Is there anything you wish you knew before investing in Georgia versus California? Big thanks in advance!

Stan Sugarman · Answer

We see a lot of out of state investors come to Georgia due to our low costs. They usually overpay like the quad example above. Augusta is a tertiary market and paying 400k for gross rents of 2400-3600 a month means you will take a loss on sale and will find it hard to refinance ever. Yielding less than 5% in Augusta is underpricing risk to a huge degree.

Curt Smith · Answer

I'd vote +10 on @Stan Sugarman post if BP would let me.

The old phrase;  cheap does not make a deal is in play.   And Stan added the REFI/sell/appraisal/cash flow after debt service issues to look before you leap.

Buy in the path of progress.  IMHO just good jobs is not good enough, there needs to be growing jobs.  Which means you need to know what areas to avoid but also where the jobs are coming.  Much to study from afar.

I have a help I packaged into a file linked off my BP profile first paragraph;  bullet proof portfolio.   New investors think they are buying houses, WRONG, you are serving your customer and your customer is the tenant.  Choose your tenant type then go fishing for housing (location, price, configuration etc)  that tenant type would want.  :)

Local REIAs have all gone to zoom and I know many out of state investors are members of gareia.com and the local contractor / legal helps is very useful for non local folks.   Join all the REIAs and choose which is most helpful for OOS folks.

Paul Rush · Answer

I agree with @Stan Sugarman also. The same investing principals apply everywhere. What has you interested in Augusta @Whitney Ortiz? There seems to be a lot of out of town investors coming our way recently

Whitney Ortiz · Answer

@Paul Rush My partner and I had a particular deal pop up in Augusta. It fell through, but after researching the area, it seems like a good place to start. As a newbie, I'm looking for somewhere with a "low entry fee" and cashflow and Augusta seems to offer that. Still doing my due dilligence though.

Paul Rush · Answer

Auben Realty used to advertise turn key rentals. Im sure they probably still do. You should also reach out to @Betsey Davis about locating some turn key deals in Augusta

Paul Rush · Answer

I agree that Augusta is a great place to invest. Let me know if I can help you out with anything

Jim Blackburn · Answer

@Whitney Ortiz

You get a lot more else for your money in GA vs CA, which means you tie up less of your capital. .

You could actually buy a 4 unit property in Augusta area for about 300-400k.  2BR/1BA units that will each rent for be 600-900.  Total gross rents 2400-3600.

With 25% down, you have a total est. mo. expense of approx. 1200 -1500/mo.  Strong cash flow. Good for buy hold.

If you need an intro to any Augusta realtors , pm me.

Jim

Matthew Powell · Answer

@Whitney Ortiz

Augusta may be a good market, but have you thought about Savannah, GA? There are many promising neighborhoods around the suburbs and the amount of turn key rental properties is going up due to all of the fix and flips happening. Savannah has the most appeal to young families and it has a military base that is a little more “recession proof” IMO. If you’d ever like to learn more about the Savannah market don’t hesitate to reach out! I’ve lived here for the past few years and grew up an hour away so I’ve become really familiar with the market.

Todd Weber · Answer

I'm in the same boat as @WhitneyOrtiz. I've been researching the Augusta area for some time now and all the indicators seem to be pointing in the right direction. It looks like the Augusta market has good long-term potential and a much more favorable entry point than other areas I've looked at. Being out of state, I'm most interested in turnkey opportunities, but this seems limited there. I've contacted Auben Realty and am waiting for more info. Does anyone know them or any other turnkey providers in Augusta?  Any constructive input would be much appreciated.

What do you wish you knew before investing in Georgia?

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