Looking into the Atlanta and surround areas for SFR

[Karena Wong]

Hello fellow BP'ers, 

Newbie here. 

I'm planning to visit Atlanta, GA the last week of July with my boyfriend to look at different neighborhoods and surrounding cities for SFR-4plex investment. Although my real estate agent friend tells me I am probably 4-5 years late to the game to be investing in Atlanta, I still think it has the fundamentals that make it a stable investing market. It's still a major travel hub, has great schools, and a stable economy.

What areas do you think are best for investing? We want stable class B or A neighborhoods w/ great schools, and low crime, to be hands off as we are from New York City (so would need turnkey or a great team w/ realtor and property management). I am reading good things about Roswell, Alpharetta, Sandy Springs.

We'll also be making a stop in Savannah for a few days. And why not look at REI while we are there? Any suggestions in terms of Savannah GA?

Also best food suggestions? Yelp is not always so reliable in certain areas. :)

Thanks much! 

-Karena

[Paul Timmins]

@Karena Wong

Welcome your profession should be the source of all the private $ you will need.

Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers who provide deals and rehabbers (cash buyers). Find them through Google and meetup.com Do this via phone till your move.

Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses, The Book on Estimating ReHab Costs http://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

To find out about an area go to IREM.org search for ARM certified property managers. Call 5 ask them what they see expenses running per category per unit. What do they see them selling for per unit, what is the market occupancy rate. What are the market rents? Ask them if they know anything coming up for sale. Great way to pick up some good info and possibly a deal.

You can also search NARPM.org for the RMP (Residential Management Professional) and MPM (Master Property Manager) certified.

Paul