All Forum Posts by: Erin Church

@Tyrone Adams

Welcome! What path do you think you're wanting to take with REI? Wholesaling, buy and hold, flipping, notes, something else super fun? :)

Hey Johannie,

Welcome to GA and investing! :) I'm also a new investor and about to start house hacking in a month or so when I close on a duplex. :)  I found an awesome realtor that typically sticks to E, SE ATL and it's suburbs.  He's been incredibly supportive with my "newbie-ness" and gets that it's about the numbers.  

Are you wanting to live Inside the Perimeter (ITP) of Atlanta (this is referring to the circle 285 makes... took me longer than it should have to figure this out when I moved to GA) or OTP (outside the perimeter)? Also, what are you trying to live close to to? Do you need to be a certain amount of time from the airport or are you completely open? 

@Deborah Pyburn

Well, that's pretty stinking cool! I've been debating about getting my RE license, but don't feel like I fully understand all of the implications of doing that yet. The PM license sounds quite interesting though and I'm going to dig into this. I had not come across the PM license idea, so a giant thank you for letting me know about it! :) 

@Stan Sugarman

@Christopher Phillips

Thanks guys! :) I really appreciate the help and you all just gave me better info than a $250/hr attorney. This sounds like the path we may take! :) 

Hey Everyone,

I'm hoping someone can shed some light on this or tell me a smart place to look to find the answer. :)  I'm still a newbie that is planning for the future and trying to implement a CYA policy from the beginning. :)

I have free legal insurance with my job and used it yesterday for a one hour session with a real estate attorney. He's really, more of a business, corporation, etc attorney who has investors as clients and used to do real estate, but who I was given to dig in on questions I have. When I was trying to get details about having an umbrella LLC, so I could have some continuity, but not share the liability across all properties, he mentioned having a property management LLC as my umbrella. This would offer the continuity for the properties as far as listing open rentals, accepting payments, etc, but still have separate LLCs for the properties in small groups (so the liability is split up).

I asked if I could have a property management LLC without my real estate license in GA and he said that I could as long as it was just my property and my husband's property. He then said he'd need to double check... but I'd have to pay for that.

So, that's my question, can I have a property management LLC in Georgia if I don't have a real estate license, but only plan on managing my own properties and my husband's?

@Bob B. Lukas likely had to do this as an investment property because you were not going to be living in the house within 60 days of closing (a condition of many primary loans).  

@Lukas Koube The giant tax difference is likely a combination of things. I know that Fulton County just did a giant "tax thing" where they tried to hike up all of the property taxes significantly this year. There was a ton of back lash (surprise), so they're adjusting them (and still not caught up).  Also, as mentioned by Bob B. - applying for the homestead exemption will help. :) 

Hey Regginald,

What info have you already found through your research/google search? What info are you hoping to find out? While I don't have a ton to offer, if you're a little more specific, I think people may be more willing to share :)

@Matt Pulliam

I will first give the disclaimer that I'm a newbie. :) However, I've been talking to lenders, realtors, listening to podcasts, etc, and from what I gather, if it is a quad or less, then it is appraised the same way - based on the comps.  So, I'd look for a similarly sized property with about the same number of bedrooms and bathrooms to start getting an idea of value. (I have no idea what to do with the "extra" kitchens, although in-law suites may give some insight into that.) 

- With a quad or less, it's value is very dependent on what is happening in the selling of near by properties. 

- With 5 or more, it's dependent on the rent/income being generated.

I'm sure someone else will be able to elaborate more, but that's the snippet I have. :)  

 @Michael Noto

@Ryan Saulle

Hey guys - I'm a newbie and trying to soak up as much info as I can. 

With the title issues - if the seller couldn't resolve the title issues, is the bidder able to get out of the deal without losing any money? When looking at the xome.com FAQ, it says:

Newly Foreclosed Properties are sold “as is, where is” with all faults and limitations. It is recommended that potential Bidders complete their own due diligence prior to the Auction.

Also, is there any sort of guarantee about easements and such? There's a property I'm interested in that is on an auction site, but it looks like there may be some odd easement things happening - like the neighboring [possibly a small government type building] structure may be partially on the land and I'm not sure if the parking pad for the property is on the property or a neighboring property. It could be fine, but it got me wondering about the possible implications. 

This would potentially be my first true investment property (outside of smart buys on primaries) and I'm trying to double check everything I can. It feels like I'm packing for a giant trip to a place without stores and trying to make sure I've remembered everything. :)  

Hey Justin,

Welcome! I'm also in Georgia and a newbie. :) If you aren't listening to the podcasts yet, they're amazing! I also really enjoy the weekly live webinars and there's a monthly Northern Atlanta Real Estate Meet Up meet up that's awesome. 

This has some local events including the NARE free meet up: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521-events-and-happenings 

The BP forums are like wikipedia for anything you want to know about. :) (...and if you don't see it, ask - everyone has been quite friendly.) 

Again, welcome!