All Forum Posts by: Taylar Caraway

We are looking into buying SFH's in Atlanta that have a basement, side 'apartment', and/or in-law suite as a creative way to generate rental income while owner occupying the property. After some light research, we have determined that zoning and/or HOA's may pose a problem. If the property is currently zoned as single family residential, do we have to apply for a zoning variance? If the property has an HOA, do we work with them? Should we add someone to our team to help with this like a lawyer specific to zoning? What other resources can we leverage to learn more?

Specifically, we are looking in Marietta/Smyrna areas (Cobb County).

Thanks in advance for any insight!

We are looking into buying SFH's in Atlanta that have a basement, side 'apartment', and/or in-law suite as a creative way to generate rental income while owner occupying the property. After some light research, we have determined that zoning and/or HOA's may pose a problem. If the property is currently zoned as single family residential, do we have to apply for a zoning variance? If the property has an HOA, do we work with them? Should we add someone to our team to help with this like a lawyer specific to zoning? What other resources can we leverage to learn more?

Specifically, we are looking in Marietta/Smyrna areas (Cobb County).

Thanks in advance for any insight!

Massive house. Could you split it into 2 units? Make it duplex?

What's the location like? On the map looks like it's kind of in the middle of nowhere but I'm obviously not familiar with SC. Doesn't look like high traffic though (not many roads) which may not be good for a restaurant... but like @Chris Moore said, I'm not in the restaurant business!

Sounds like you need to read "The Book on Managing Rental Properties by Brandon & Heather Turner"

Old house, picky tenant, sub-par land lording = bad combo

Remember this is your BUSINESS so you should run it like a BUSINESS, if you can't do that then it's time to hire a property management company.

Curb appeal is a big deal, so my first thought is to replace the fence. What kind of fences do other houses have in the neighborhood? I hate vinyl fences... they look cheap and tacky to me. If everyone in the neighborhood has a chain link fence then just leave it for now.

But it also depends on what other things may be needing repair... if you have other big ticket items that will need repair then I'd focus your money on those first before worrying about the fence. Plus, you can always replace the fence later on since you're planning to hold it long term.

Great story and congrats! Would love to see before/after pictures if you have them :)

We plan to buy a property to begin our investing career, but we also need a place to live! We will be in the area September 7-12th for our "house hunting trip"... most of our research so far has been done online via Redfin, Zillow, Craigslist, and we've been given access to MLS alerts through a couple people we've met networking. We'd love someone to spend some time with us during these days to help us find properties and show us around the area.

Here is what we are looking for (we have options!) and we aren't afraid of a property needing some cosmetic TLC -

• Duplex, triplex, or quad that we can house-hack; 300k max budget
• Single-family home (3 bedrooms max); would like to stay around 150k if we go this route. Hopefully something we can live in for a couple years and then turn into a rental
• Single family home w/ 2 bedrooms and over 1000+ sq/ft so we can add a 3rd bedroom to increase value
• Single family home w/ unfinished basement and separate entrance - we'd consider finishing the basement to create a downstairs apartment

Any takers?!

Thanks in advance!

I agree with @Travis Rasmussen... going to be extremely difficult to find something in that price range where you're at.

Maybe instead of house hacking with a duplex, you could buy a small house with maybe 2-3 bedrooms and rent out the extra room(s)?? Could be a more viable option at 250k price range. Even still it could be tough.

Also maybe consider a partnership of some sort?

Just some ideas... best of luck!

Seems sketchy that neither reported it to you immediately. Really easy to just play the blame game at this point.

You might just have to eat it. I guess that's why we include repair costs in our monthly expenses...... :(

Welcome to Bigger Pockets!

For me, staying active in the forums helps keep me focused! Helping others can be empowering and reading about other's successes is really motivating.

Couple other things -- Surround yourself with a support system of like-minded people (like joining REI Club which was mentioned previously) and keeping learning, read books! On a recent podcast they talked about the book Miracle Morning Millionaires -- I  haven't read it yet but it is on my list! Sounds like it might be the perfect book to help you jump start each day :)