F.I.L.A. (Forever I Love Atlanta)

When I first visited Indianapolis, I had no idea that it would lead to me acquiring a portfolio of properties there one year later. Similarly, my first trip to Atlanta was for a Atlanta Hawks basketball game to celebrate my friend's birthday. I had no intention of investing in the city at that time.

However, as I spent time in Atlanta, I grew to love the city's rich culture and vibrant energy. As a kid who grew up in the early 2000s I was raised on Atlanta music and artists (lol I didn’t have to be a savvy real estate investor back then to know to stay away from Zone 6 and Zone 3!). So, I began to research the local real estate market, job growth, economic diversity, and landlord-friendly laws, and found that Atlanta had a lot to offer as an investment market. I also established key relationships with other real estate investors and property managers in Atlanta, which helped me gain a deeper understanding of the local market.

Atlanta has been one of the hottest real estate markets in recent years, and for good reason. The city has experienced significant population growth from 2000 (419,382) to 2021 (496,461), with a current population growth of 18.3792%. The strong population growth resulted in Atlanta being one of the hottest rent growth markets in the nation from 2020 to the beginning of 2022. Additionally, Atlanta is home to some of the largest employers in the country, including Delta, Walmart, AT&T, and Coca-Cola.

As a result, Atlanta has a diverse and robust economy, with strong rental demand from the 50% of households in metro Atlanta that prefer to rent rather than buy. In fact, the city is No. 3 for Fortune 500 companies, and 29 of these companies generated aggregate revenues of $429 billion in fiscal year 2020. It is crucial to only invest in markets with a diverse economy (you don’t want to invest in a market like Detroit in the 1970s whose economy was too dependent on the automobile industry).

Atlanta is also one of the top 5 tech hubs in the country, with companies like NCR, Honeywell, Silicon Valley-based Apple and Google parent Alphabet, and Microsoft calling the city home. In recent years, Atlanta has been one of the top markets in net migration, with people from all over the country moving to the city for its job opportunities, cultural attractions, and high quality of life.

I established relationships with other local real estate investors and working with a property manager in Atlanta to gain valuable insights on the market that simply cannot be researched online. Our team is working with an experienced asset manager who is very familiar with the Atlanta market as she is a Georgia native.

I conducted a shift-share analysis on Atlanta and found that the MSA economy has been remarkably resilient in the face of economic downturns. In fact, Atlanta maintained or gained total jobs in two out of the last three recessions, including the Recession of the early 1990s, Dotcom Bubble, and the Great Recession. Although Atlanta did lose 162,606 total jobs during the Great Recession, it quickly regained 448,253 total jobs from 2011 to 2018, demonstrating just how resilient the Atlanta economy is.

Of course, like any city, Atlanta has its good and bad parts, and it's important to do your due diligence before investing in any property. I spoke with Atlanta locals and police to gain a solid understanding of the different neighborhoods and which ones to focus on and which ones to avoid.

Overall, I am excited about the potential of the Atlanta market and look forward in growing my portfolio there. With its strong economy, growing population, and top employers, I believe that Atlanta is a great market for real estate investors who are looking for long-term growth and stability.