Buying Retail Properties to turn into Rentals

[Patrick Shea]

I am living and investing in ATL, well starting to invest. I am have identified my target area and the types of houses I am looking for, fixer uppers and turnkey. In the area I am looking I am able to purchase all cash and made 5 offers last week via the MLS and my agent, none of which got a counter offer and a few didn't even get a call back. On turnkey I am offering around 80-85% on the comp and on the fixers I am offering 60-65% of list which equates to about 75% of ARV with repair costs included. My struggle is that I know I can cash flow at List price. But I really wont have any instant equity. My plan is to buy cash upfront, get repairs done and tenant in place than finance so I can buy another rental. I will need to minimize the amount of money left in the property so I can continue to grow my portfolio. My driving goal is to cash flow. Based on how hot the market is in the area I am looking at, most houses sell at 95% of list price within 30 days, should I be offering full price and just slowly building cash flowing properties until the market cools off?