Atlanta agents for investors?

[Nils Schulze-Halberg]

Hi,

I was wondering if any of the Atlanta members had any recommendations for agents specializing on investors. I've contacted a few agents through the regular real estate sites, but there seems to be a tendency to wanting to work more with owner/occupants.

Would greatly appreciate any thoughts/feedback. Thanks a lot!

Best,

Nick

[Joel Owens]

Hi Nils,

I am born and raised here in Georgia and have lived here all my life.

If you are talking residential houses to buy and hold as rentals that market in many parts of Georgia is saturated now. As an out of state investor you are at a disadvantage compared to local investors who might can act faster than you can.

Most everything is selling in certain price ranges to owner occupants right now. Anything almost that an investor would consider for a rental 3 bed 2 bath, 4 bed 2 bath etc. for a low price point that rent for a good price the homebuyers are scooping up.

This is why you hear of agents not wanting to work with investors and like the owner occupants. For owner occupants it's not about the returns but about the monthly payment and the emotional connection to the property. Agents know that is an easier sell and a faster path to a commission check.

Bank REO's are few and far between for houses. That leaves short sales and regular home owner sellers feeling better about the market and they want top dollar so they are selling to home buyers. Now not all price ranges have recovered.

For example a subdivision here that is highly sought after ranges in price from 150k to 1 million. The listings at 270k and under fly off the shelves but when you start hitting 300k and higher maybe only 15 to 20% of those are selling and the rest are sitting. I am not trying to discourage just saying the lowest prices were back in 2009,2010 in Atlanta.

Historically I have broker friends that have been in the business almost 50 years and have seen about 4 cycles of recessions etc. Residential usually comes back first followed by apartment buildings and then the other asset classes of commercial.

When caps start compressing and prices are no longer below replacement costs then some start shifting focus to building again and land development. Georgia still represents a great value and has not rebounded yet in my view especially for commercial. I believe commercial here is where residential was 2 to 3 years ago. Good deals can still be had and I am working with a bunch of investors shifting focus to multifamily and the commercial sector where it's not crowded and overpriced and overheated.

Residential long term rentals still make sense for cash flow versus purchase price compared to other markets here. You being an out of state investor I am not a fan of buying little houses. Hard to control from far away and usually you have an agent for a PM that will run your property well and when a regular sale comes along not focus on it.

I can't tell you how many times I have talked to investors on the phone or met in person where they regretted buying little houses far away. Not all are horror stories but I hear maybe 1 for every ten that says it was the best thing ever for them to do. Now there are speculative markets where you can make a cash play years ago and prices have risen. I don't really see that as investing but playing lottery with the market. You could win big or be stuck with a property for years you don't want.

I am not downing the residential market here just sharing my experience and what I have seen. I think huge equity and resale gains have dried up for little houses here but you can still obtain great cash flow for the price. I am talking about carpet and paint jobs and not full rehabs where of course you can increase value but those are really hard to do from states away.

I only deal with apartment buildings and triple net leasing investments. Some rentals in the really hot areas for duplex,tri-plex,and quad in Cabbage Town, Virginia Highlands, etc. is trading at 5 to 6 caps which is think is way,way overpriced on those old buildings. They are thinking of an appreciation play but I see it as a bad investment.

My world is larger apartment buildings usually 50 plus where an out of state or out of the county investor can have a full time repair person and property manager on staff and the property runs itself with minimal oversight on your investment. If you have as an out of state investor 6 little houses scattered over different counties many PM companies only handle certain areas. So chances are you will be using a bunch of PM companies to manage those spread out houses. That is tough to do from out of state. Hope it helps some.