How do I look for homes?

[Rahul Srivastava]

Hey everyone, so I'm a newbie first time real estate investor and home buyer. I want to move to Atlanta since I like the city. My plan is to buy a home and live in it for a few years before renting it out to someone else. 

Anyways, my main question is how do I look for homes? I'm using zillow for the most part but are there better ways to look for homes? I have heard MLS which I can't access and driving around neighborhoods but I am not from the Atlanta area (currently live in South FL) so that's not possible. At this point, I'm working on saving up money for a down payment (have 25k so far, I will continue saving into mid 2022 so I am hoping to have at least 40k by that point) and also looking for homes in different areas that look good.

Is it best to plan a trip to ATL and drive around so I can get a feeling for the neighborhoods/homes? or can I effectively research homes online?

[Karissa Sampson]

Check out Decatur. I lived there while attending grad school at Emory. Its close enough to Emory (University and Medical Center) to be attractive to students, professors, and hospital employees alike but far enough away that prices drop. Its just ITP (inside the perimeter) but as the above poster stated, if you drive 10 minutes away to the east the neighborhoods are not as nice. This can be to your advantage, allowing you to purchase near that border as Decatur inevitably sprawls outwards. Just my 2 cents from living there for a few years.