General market sentiment for Atlanta

[Patrick V.]

Hi all,

I am an out of state investor who is looking for a location with solid cash flow and decent population growth/appreciation projections. It seems Atlanta fits that mold quite well and is ranked high for cash flowing rentals. 

- What are your thoughts on the current market? Atlanta has seen decent appreciation, do you except prices to continue growing or do you foresee a correction in the near future?

- What areas are 'up and coming' and cash flow well that you would invest in? Ideally I would invest in grade B or C areas with good prospects for future development?

- I hear many new companies are moving to ATL and Microsoft recently opened a large branch. Are there any areas near these proposed new companies that are appealing? 

- Did you see a decline in tenant demand with Covid? Has it rebounded?

- Any recommendations for RE agents that work well with investors?

- Is the market competitive and favoring sellers as interest rates and supply are low?

- What types of properties do you recommended? Ideally I would get a value add multifamily as I have enough capital and prefer to deal with one property then various SFRs and I can still get a residential loan as long as the property has 4 units or less.

Many thanks for any input!

[Matthew Nicklin]

I have been buying in Atlanta for over 10 years. Today the market is the hottest it has been in those 10 years. We are seeing a huge supply shortage. Right now as I write this our supply is at 1.4 months supply which is the lowest it has ever been since they started tracking it in the early 90s. Here is the chart for the entire MLS.

It is without a doubt a sellers market. The last listing I had received 14 offers on it with 4 of them at $10k over asking price, all of them cash.

So it is very competitive if you are a buyer, if you see something you like you have to put in an offer immediately and move quickly. We are still helping buyers and still getting deals under contract. 

I am still very bullish on the Atlanta market as a whole as we have strong job growth with a lot of companies moving here. The low interest rate environment has caused a lot of would be sellers to just refi and remain in their current home. I think we will see more inventory come on market in Q2 or Q3 of 2021. I anticipate we will continue to see good appreciation in the Atlanta market.