All Forum Posts by: Ericka G.

Hi Jake,

Thanks for the info.  I will reach out tomorrow to learn more about your experience. 

My REA is an East Point expert (she lives there and flips houses there) and says this is a good buy, but even she admits that the inspectors in EP are tricky and there is a lot of red tape.  Our rental income estimate is higher than market rate b/c of our tenant stock of pilots/flight attendants...if we went with standard EP tenants we'd maybe get $1100 or $1200 max.  

The Altanta market is tricky so all input is greatly appreciated.  This would be our second ATL investment, 5th overall.  

I found my first deal on craigslist back in 2004 - best investment of my life! Not sure if it was on MLS. Seller's husband showed me the property on his/my lunch break and the rest is history.

Good advice Jay, I should probably be more discreet about this niche, LOL,  but discretion has never been my strong suit ;)  Mums the word moving forward!

thanks for the input! we haven't had to put more than $5k into any of our properties to get them rentable...that is why we are a bit unsure on this one. It's a bigger risk but with a potentially bigger profit margin. Realtor is saying the ARV would be $160k after we fix it up...not sure about that

And, yes, airline crashpads are great investments - that has been our niche and it has been great... Class A tenants in Class B/C areas close to the airport. Everybody wins.

Thanks for the input - I did get an electrician out (we're still in due diligence) and he quoted $8-9k but said a smaller company could do it for $6-7k o I think your numbers are right on.  I'm just worried about having to rip out/redo walls and finding more code violations.  The house was beautifully redone, so it sucks to have to rip out done walls to fix vandalism.

How much did you spend to patch/drywall after the electric work and how long did the whole process take?  The electrician who came out estimated 2 weeks.

Hi there,

Found what appears to be a great house for our 5th investment property - a 5bd/2bath a few blocks from MARTA (Atlanta's "subway") and 2 stops from the airport. There is an upstairs loft with two additional rooms that could be used as bedrooms or a second living room + bedroom. House is a 1920s 2 story brick in the Jefferson Park area of East Point (Atlanta) on Harris st, near the medical center.

They were asking $99.9k and we agreed on $90k. ARV: $120k(?).  It needs $10-15k of work to be rentable as all of the electrical needs to be replaced.

We rent exclusively to commuting airline personnel so the main concerns are their safety, space, proximity to airport and public transit.

When I run the numbers, they work BUT this is a bigger project and rougher area than we've ever dealt in. We've also heard horror stories about East Point bldg inspectors - very nit picky and hard to work with.  The house next door is boarded up but everything else in the area looks solid, no bars, well kept.  They refuse to come down any more on price.  Should we take the leap or keep looking?

Cost Assumptions
Purchase Price		$ 90,000
Improvements		$ 15,000
Closing Costs		$ 4,500
Total Cost		$ 109,500
ARV		$ 120,000
Revenues		Monthly
Rental Income		$ 2,400
Vacancy/Loss Rate	25%
Vacancy/Loss Value	$ (600)
Gross Income		$ 1,800
Expenses		30%
Net Income		$ 1,260
Cap rate
Gross Rent	Monthly	$ 2,400
Annually	$ 28,800
Effective Gross Rent (minus vacancies)		$ 21,600
NOI (Effective Gross Rent Minus Operating Overhead)		$ 21,112
CAP rate = NOI/Total Acquisition Costs. GOAL: Cap rate of at least 5%		19%

Hi there,

Found what appears to be a great house for our 5th investment property - a 5bd/2bath a few blocks from MARTA (Atlanta's "subway") and 2 stops from the airport. There is an upstairs loft with two additional rooms that could be used as bedrooms or a second living room + bedroom.   House is a 1920s 2 story brick in the Jefferson Park area of East Point (Atlanta), class B or C area

They were asking $99.9k and we agreed on $90k. ARV: $120k(?)

Cost Assumptions
Purchase Price	$ 90,000
Improvements	$ 15,000
Closing Costs	$ 4,500
Total Cost	$ 109,500
ARV		$ 120,000
Revenues		Monthly
Rental Income	$ 2,400
Vacancy/Loss Rate	25%
Vacancy/Loss Value	$ (600)
Gross Income	$ 1,800
Expenses		30%
Net Income	$ 1,260

We rent exclusively to airline pilots and flight attendants, so proximity to airport, public transit, and a lot of space are key - plus an area that is safe.  We should get $400-500 per room on month to month leases from flight crew who commute through Atlanta. Avg tenant stays 3-6 mos.  

The person who renovated the house did a good job, but a thief ripped out the copper wiring, so ALL of the electric needs to be rewired + fixing walls that will be messed up by electric repairs. I've never had to do electric from the ground up before, so that scares me a bit. 

Clearly this area is marginal if folks are breaking in for copper, right?  The numbers still seem to work, but this would be the roughest area we've invested in thus far and the vandalism gives me pause.  This would also be largest house (2200 sf+) with the most amount of work required of any of the deals we've done.  We have healthy reserves BUT I'm afraid of biting off more than I can chew with this one - my husband is leery of any project requiring us to break down walls b/c there is a risk we'll find even more problems.   Area is solid but the house directly next door is boarded up - also a concern.

What do you think, deal or no deal?

I've been feeling very uneasy about a deal but had already signed the contract to sell.  Today, my attny reached out and said the buyer has asked for an extension on the mortgage contingency which expires in 2 days.  I'd been debating trying to back out of the deal but was afraid of the legal ramifications.

If I refuse to grant the buyer an extension, does that mean that I as the seller can walk away without penalty if they don't get funding in the next 2 days?

I have a contract awaiting my signature on a solid offer on one of my properties BUT I can't shake a suspicion that I'm missing something on the deal.  I purchased 11 years ago in an up and coming area of Manhattan and am now being offered 4x what I paid...

Here's the catch,  though it is a very good offer, it is still way less than the avg sales price for a 2 bedroom in Manhattan due to income restrictions attached to our bldg.  Once the income caps expire - the value of the units in the bldg will double instantly.  There is a lot of confusion on when the income restrictions expire and I can't get my bldg's management company to give me a straight answer, despite asking repeatedly since April.

My agent, who lives in the bldg, just happens to work for the company that manages our bldg.  He approached me about selling my unit and "found" the buyer.  The buyer also just happens to be a broker who works for the company that manages my bldg.   I'm worried that I'm getting hustled - perhaps they know something I don't about when these restrictions expire?  

IF that is true and I can document that they withheld information, lied, or worked together to mislead me - would I have legal recourse after the sale to sue them?  

I've asked my attorney to weigh in and she said the bldg's attorney is the best person to give a definitive answer and I've been waiting on his response since April.  What can I do to protect myself if I move forward with this deal?

Thanks for the input. I'm leaning towards selling but there is another voice telling me that I will regret it. I've never met anyone who was happy they sold out of an up and coming Manhattan area. Most say "man, If we still had that place, we'd be sitting on millions!" Property values in Manhattan pretty much have to go up since it is an island, right? Fear of the board would really be my main motivation for selling, which seems silly. But they are SCARY. Lol. Any experts on Manhattan/co-op real estate on here? The other option would be to