All Forum Posts by: James Sigsbee

I was also non-renewed despite no claims (insurer pulled out of market) and went from $13k in 2024 to $29k in 2025 for 24 units in northern Metro Atlanta. I have a CMBS loan with particular (difficult) insurance requirements. I tried working with 4 different commercial agents over a two month period. Two couldn't even place the insurance meeting the requirements. I wish I had answers or suggestions for you, but I was unable to do better and just wanted to share that and say you are not alone and is a frustrating situation.

Good morning BP,

Does anyone have a multi-family property manager (please no firms specializing in single-family) that would be able to serve Cherokee County GA well?  Thank you in advance for the recommendations.

This is a good post by @Edward Zachary Samperio.  Just as an additional point to consider, gentrifying areas often get hit the hardest in a downturn.  Don't just go into them because they offer a lot of upside, they offer that upside for a reason - and that reason is they are also higher risk.  As a novice investor, just make sure you feel very good about a deal if it is going to be your first and you are committed to buying in a gentrifying area.  

Are you willing to share what kind of properties you have and where they are located?  I work with 4 different PMs in the metro area and might have recommendations.  Feel free to connect and message me if you don't want to publicly post that. 

Are you willing to share what county / counties you are looking for coverage in (or even just North/South/West/East of Atlanta)?  Maybe others will have a PM who covers all of Metro Atlanta (and does it well), but my PMs tend to stay concentrated within a roughly one hour radius of their office.  

@Nick Fitzpatrick

Surprisingly, not that many.  I own some single-family properties and I probably get 5x+ the number of texts and calls on those than I do my multi-family properties.   

Great post!  I feel this in the metro Atlanta market.  I've been at this a while and work in commercial real estate and the number of real opportunities in the 5-30 unit range is lower than most people would think.  

@Katlynn Teague

Love house-hacking as a strategy to get started in multi-family (up to 4 units).  The 1-4 financing is superior to a commercial loan on the property, which gives you an advantage over most investors.  I come up with a ballpark 6-6.5% cap rate based on your figures for this property (well below your preferred rate of return).  It has been very hard to find an on market deal with a cap rate 8%+ in a decent area and only off-market has really given you a shot at that recently.  That may change depending on what happens with the market, but you will almost definitely have competition on market for properties like you are looking for.  Keep looking (particularly off-market) and be patient and you will find something!  

@David Taylor,

Hello and welcome to BP.  I work and invest in Hall County.  Happy to connect and be a resource to you!