Atlanta Suburban SFR Rental Market

[Harsh R.]

Hi BiggerPockets Community,

We are looking into purchasing a 2-3BD SFR in suburban Atlanta (DeKalb, Gwinnett or Cobb County) within the $180K to $260K range, with a goal towards cashflowing the investment at 25-35% downpayment. Ideally these should rent north of $1,350 monthly. Curious to get the community's thoughts on potential cities/neighborhoods you would look at. We were focusing on Lawrenceville, Decatur, Duluth, Marietta, Snelville, Lilburn, Dacula as potential markets, among a few others.

Do you guys believe there is enough depth/demand in the SFR rental market, where these could be leased within 2-3 weeks if listed at a reasonable price? Or should I be focusing ITP for SFR rentals?

Lastly, looking for a property management firm as well. Please let me know if you have any recommendations!

Cheers,
Harsh

[Jenna Parker]

We invest primarily in the northwest suburbs (Marietta, Kennesaw, Woodstock) and have done a few flips in Snellville. You should have no problem renting a SFH for $1,350+/month in these areas if they are clean and renovated with decent rental quality finishes. We have found that we do much better with finding deals off-market as these are very popular areas that many investors target and oftentimes the numbers don't work with listed properties. I think that may improve in the next 6-12 months as we see the market shift some. However, if you are planning to put 25-35% down you should have no problems cashflowing well either way.