New member Intro/Moving to Atlanta

[Jake Miter]

Hi,

My name is Jake, I am 25, from Troy, NY, and new to REI. My girlfriend and I will be moving to Atlanta in early May so I wanted to introduce myself and just say that I hope to get to know some of you over the next several months.

Some background: I graduated college in 2012 and immediately put all of my efforts into the sport of skeleton with the goal of making it to the Olympics. Skeleton is sledding on the same ice track as bobsled and luge except it’s a single person sled and I am on my stomach going head first. It has been a lot of fun racing for the USA and I’ve learned a lot of lessons as a full time athlete, but sports like this cost way more money than they ever return. Luckily, I found a remote customer service job right after school that has allowed me to stay afloat and leave without any debt other than student loans. However, it will take a few months to get my savings to a respectable number.

My only experience in real estate investing so far has been via Airbnb. With permission from my LL, I began subletting my apartment as a short term vacation rental last year while I lived in a dorm at the Olympic Training Center. Over seven months my ROI was roughly 23%. Most of that time was peak tourist season, it would be a bit less over a full year. If house hacking is like training wheels, then this was like a big wheel tricycle, but it definitely kept me interested in real estate.

My plan right now is to continue educating myself, start looking at properties once I get to Atlanta, and learn how to assess value. I am most interested in buy & hold and house hacking. We will be renting for the immediate future, so would love any suggestions on good areas convenient to Atlanta Medical Center and Emory Hospital (my girlfriend is a med student).

Thanks for reading

[Ryan Johnston]

Hi @Jake Miter

Welcome!  I moved from NY myself but was closer to the city.  Sounds like you found a great landlord if they were willing to let you AirBnB the place.  The Emory area is fantastic and gives you the option to be in some great local areas.  The areas will really depend what is most important in terms of proximity to the campus, walkability, nearby shops/restaurants or transit.  Areas like Buckhead, Lindbergh, Midtown, Virginia Highland, Poncey Highland, Decatur, and right at Emory offer a little bit of everything for renters.