All Forum Posts by: Andy P.

Thanks JScott, definitely seems to be the case (hard to acquire). Well, I'm committed to the trip regardless so we'll see what's out there when I show up!

On a related note, anybody have good contractors and property mgmt companies they can recommend? Those that service and know the Gwinnett area?

Thanks everybody. really appreciate the insights.

Thanks, everybody. Great, great info here. I should have asked a lot earlier!

Joel, the MFH/quadplex type investment is very interesting. I may do a bit of research to see what's out there, though admittedly, I haven't done much research into this sort of investment.

Re:SFH and cash flow.... you guys are confirming what I had been thinking. Hard to get great cash flow at higher price points in the areas I was looking at. That said, I worry that some of the other areas that I originally looked at with better cash flow may not result in as good appreciation. The thoughts behind Gwinnett was to focus on good school districts and find a stable area that "should" deliver steady appreciation over the next 10-20 years. Not to say that other areas won't do this, but that's how I approached this.

It kind of sounds like one better strategy might be to buy 2 lower priced houses (100-125) rather than 1 property in the 200 range. Seems like cash flow would be better as more renters are in the market for that price point. Or as Joel mentioned, maybe the higher end places are still "better deals". My worry about those is how big the rental market is for a house that's $300K+? Seems that once you start reaching that level, the supply of renters starts to dry up a bit. Am I mistaken?

Hi, Ali. From what I've heard/researched, Gwinnett area has a lot of great schools which I'd imagine would keep that area fairly desirable for families. e.g., collins, north gwinnett, mill creek, lanier, peachtree ridge, duluth...

I certainly don't want negative cash flow and I'm open to looking at other areas. To be honest, I don't know a ton about Cobb but I was under the impression that Gwinnett was a pretty solid area. I also think that cash flow may be better in parts of Lawrenceville and Duluth than Suwannee, but Suwannee seems to have higher priced homes. One consideration is whether it's better to stay in the 150-200 range so that there isn't as much cash buyers out there. Or at least that was my thinking.

Thanks JScott. Seen your very informative posts on other topics BTW.... very helpful.

Yes, I meant gross rent. I suppose my question to you pros out there is, if I purchase something around $175 and rent it out at $1,400, do you see that as a reasonable cash flow return? I know it depends on all the costs associated, but from other posts, it seems people are looking at lower acquisition prices which result in a higher rent-to-price ratio (1%+). Just wanted to get a sense of whether the economics of this sort of deal makes sense for someone who is thinking long-term. E.g., leverage + appreciation....

any thoughts appreciated!

Andy

Hi, all. I know there's a wealth of information on this site but was hoping to get a more recent assessment of the Gwinnett County area and the opportunities as they are today (April 2013).

Specifically, my partner and I are looking to buy a SFH and have determined the following criteria:
- $125-$200K
- Houses built on last 10 years or so
- Areas that align with the good school districts (Suwanee, Buford, Lawrenceville, etc)
- Looking for a long-term buy and hold strategy

I know there's big debates around cash flow vs. appreciation, but for purposes of what I'm trying to do, I'm thinking long-term appreciation in areas that I believe will continue to have high demand due to school districts. Based on some prelim analysis, it seems that a place that's around 175K, would net around ~1400 in rents which doesn't seem to be the best rent-to-price ratio, but should cover all costs and yield some cash flow. The majority of wealth down the line expected to be the appreciation.

Anyway, wanted to see if anybody had thoughts on the Gwinnett area and whether targeting the price range I laid out is reasonable from an investment perspective. Is there opportunities? Any insights appreciated. Thanks.