All Forum Posts by: Cresundo Whitaker

@Andrea Belfon How much do you charge for you services?

@Erica Muller, yea if you could give me his contact that would be great, I am sure I could learn a lot from him. I really want to learn more about real estate investing. I know the market is peaking in Westend but it still seems to be struggling above I20 close to downtown and bankhead. But of course I am still an amateur so I probably don't know what I am talking about. lol

@Andrea Belfon Update: I wound up buying a house in the Ashview Heights area. If you don't know that area it is a block or two from Morehouse, Spelman and Clark. It is a 5/4 and has a very versatile layout. I wanted to be closer to the dome but most of the houses that I was looking at that I could afford needed substantial repairs and I decided against going into a major rehab and flip with my first venture. Not really scared of it, but the numbers did not really work for me. With more capital I would have definitely and still may in a year or two depending on the market, with all of the plans for the westside it could boom quickly, but to me it seems to still be moving pretty slowly above 20. Now below 20 in the historic west end and adair park and parts of oakland park the boom has happened and is growing. Of course I am not a professional real estate agent and I am just getting started so this is an amatuer assesment of the market.

But my plans for this property is still buy and hold but now I am looking more toward student housing. The house is a duplex of sorts, so the back is a 3/2 and the front is a 2/2. Cool layout and I am going to hack it for a year or two and then get another deal going depending on the success or failure of this one. I am closing on the house in a week (hopefully) and I am excited to get started. 

Thanks for the responses guys I really appreciate it.

@Kevin Polite I will be needing a loan, I am waiting on my mortgage broker right now to see exactly what I am approved for. But I was hoping to get an fha 203k loan to help out with the renovations if I found a house that needed some work. Like most houses in that area. And you are right, the prices vary from street to street, sometimes corner to corner. I have looked into the plans, and there are millions said to be spent revitalizing the area. But I can't really find any plans that are very specific other than the Beltline, The new dome, the hard rock hotel, and some green space and community centers or something. Everything else is pretty vague or maybe I'm not looking in the right places. I am still researching it weekly to see if I find something new. 

@Nick Fitzpatrick you are the person I want to talk to. I agree downtown atlanta is definately lagging behind the other areas you mentioned, but I am not able to buy in those neighborhoods right now as much as I would like to, they are a little outside of my price range. 

The duplex would be owner occupied and I have checked the airbnb market and it seems that people are booking pretty regularly as long as the rooms and the host are nice. A lot of the places are sold out and one of the more popular ones that I saw was off of Holly st, which is a little further from the Ga Dome but still about 15min away. 

I will PM you so we can talk though. Thank you

I am looking to buy a house soon. I am a first time home buyer but I wanted to make some money with my first house. So these are my ideas which started from bigger pockets podcast:

1. Buy a duplex live on one side rent out the other side, live mortgage free an stack money for the next investment

2. Buy a duplex and just rent out to college students, business professionals, or airbnb all of the rooms singly except the room that I am staying in of course. Let that help me build up more money to put into the next investment.

3. Buy a 3/2 single family, rent out the rooms to college students or business professionals or Airbnb, let that help me pay my mortgage and stack for the next investment.

So this is my dilemma, I am looking at the westside of atlanta area. Close to the Georgia Dome, the castleberry park, vine city, ect. area.

I am looking at that area because I think that it would be a good investment since there is a new stadium and a new hard rock hotel popping up near there in the next few years. But as of right now it is still on of the worst areas for crime and drugs in Atlanta .

Now I grew up in the hood and sketchy neighborhoods like that all my life so I am not afraid of living there for myself. I was wondering two things.

1. Would a seasoned real estate agent who knows the market in atlanta would say that the area is going to go through a resurgence and that the houses in the area would rise in value because of the planned development.

2. Would this be better suited as a buy and hold opportunity than a buy and rent opportunity because of the safety of the area and the type of residents that the area would probably attract.

I am a noob in real estate so any and all advice is welcome. But I have to add that if you are going to advise me whether it is positive or negative advice/criticism please give a solution to the negative and a reason for the positive so I can learn about the mindset and the vision that I need when looking at investments. Because I may be looking at things through rose gold colored glasses and need a reality check. I'm all up for a reality check that can teach me something.

Thank you in advance. 

I am need of a mortgage broker, a real estate agent and lots of information. I am new to real estate investing and I want to get started and get my first deal done by the end of the year if possible. I have a full time job but will volunteer my time, stuffing envelopes, or helping on a worksite just to learn something. In addition to that I think I have a good idea on what to do with this property that I found on redfin and I would like some help with financing and buying. Totally new to the process of buying property so please bear with me. So just to recap I would like to connect with

A mortgage broker or loan officer to get some financing so I can buy.

A real estate agent to help me with the ins and outs of properties, and what is hot in the market

A real estate investor (flipper, landlords, wholesellers, etc.) to exchange information for time. Not looking to get paid in anything but experience and of course the more I learn the more I can help out your business.

All based out of Atlanta or maybe Charlotte as well. I live in Atlanta right now but I am thinking of moving to Charlotte for work so I will keep options open in both locales for now.

Thank you in advance and I look forward to meeting some interesting people very very soon. 

P.S. I can treat lunch, brunch or coffee for information as well. Depending how my money looks that day, lol

Yes I did think that the seller may not have wanted to put in the time to rehab it. But I was thinking that maybe they were wanting to rehab it to sell it and not rehab it to hold it, rent it and possible sell in the future. I am just learning how to negotiate and your tip is a great idea that I will try because that will give my more money to put in the house. I think a lot of people buy rundown fixer uppers to do nothing and sell them for more in Atlanta because I have seen a few MFH and SFH alike that were bought for half and sometimes more of what the seller is trying to sell it for and it looks like nothing was done to bring that type of value to the property. I will take your tips in mind when I begin negotiating and I will have a trusted contractor look at the property to asses costs and rework my numbers based on the new information that I gain. Thank you very very much, you were super helpful. If I do buy this property I will post updates.

The Duplex I am looking at buying, rehabbing and renting out.

Ok so I have been searching on redfin and zillow for duplexes. I found this one that is in terrible condition but in a decent area. I have driven around the area and it looks like it is in the state of getting better.

My idea is this, it is only about 2 blocks from a train station a couple of miles from downtown and all of the amenities of Atlanta, roughly 2.5 miles from GA Tech and under1.5 miles from Spellman and Morehouse. I am thinking about buying, rehabbing both sides, having student housing or airbnbing on one side and living in the other side.

It is a 2/1 on both sides, I don't know how hard it would be to add a bathroom with a standing shower in addition to the full bathroom, or if I could even do that to code in this are. But either way the student housing is obviously the more reliable of the two as student housing goes. But I could suppliment with airbnb during the down times or what not.

I think depending on how well the rehab goes I could probably rent anywhere from 550 on the low end to 800 on the high end.

Does this even look like a deal that is worth pursuing. Also there is a park less than a block away and the interstate is under 5min away as well.

If anyone has any ideas how much a rehab of a duplex would be?

If my rents are accurate for the climate and the area of Atlanta?

Is this a good idea for this Duplex?

Wow you guys are amazing, i have heard how great the forums are on the podcast and now seeing it for myself. Thanks for all of the support I will keep asking questions and keep posting my steps on the forum

@Abhi Golhar

I am currently doing step one listening to podcasts and reading blogs everyday. Just bought my first real estate book recently.

Looks like a consensus that the next step I need to do is find someone who can help me learn hands on so that is my home work for this upcoming week. I am excited to be here and to have this resource at my disposal. I am a paralysis by analysis expert so just doing it is what I need to do.