All Forum Posts by: Cindrell Harry

@Greg Thanks for the response. I'll keep trying an report back on my findings. Headed to a commercial REIA meeting later this week so will get additional info as well.

Hello All

I am not a new real estate investor but I am new to seeking commercial real estate funding. I am looking at providing a 20% down for small apartment building ( 5 to 50 units) . I've spoken with a few commercial real estate bankers in the area who has stayed they are "moving" away from multi family investments due to market saturation in the atlanta area. Any one else have any advice or seeing the same behaviour?

@Charlotte Chew

After landloring for almost ten years...I always spent extra time screening my tenants!!! This upfront activity has saved me thousands over the years. I've waited an extra month to get the right tenant rather than rushing to put a seemingly good tenant in , the " I can pay you 3 months in advance " run from those folks. It will take you several months to evict them or even longer if they know the system.

I require credit , criminal background checks. Two month bank statement ..2 years rental history and at least 1 year job history. I pretty much steer away from " I'm coming from a relative's house" potential tenants. If I'm Leary of of a potential tenant I ask in conversation if they filed the previous years tax return to get a gauge on how responsible they are. FINALLY, I stress criminal background checks on ALL individuals in the home 18 or over . Some of these stringent practices have allowed me to maintain many multi year tenants that pay consistently...ontime... and keep my homes in relatively good shape.

I'm looking at doing the same thing here and need help obtaining fininacing to purchase distressed. Why not just refi after you renovate the homes to a 30 year fixed?

My thought is that you should sell the Atlanta based property and hold on to the four-plex for dear life. It's a lot easier to deal with a locally owned property during the "learning process" than having to pay a property manager or fly in the manage an emergency. My thought is you should do what ever you can to implement a system to manage your four-plex yourself and squeeze as much profit from it as possible ( I'm not knowledgeable about your area but if you can make minor cosmetic improvements to gradualy increase the rent in one of the unit as a tester, would be worth a try ), and/or consider vacation home rental if your area supports it.

Majority of folks we host are girls weekend trips and birthday trips.. Since  jan  anand launching the second home near lil 5 poimts, there have been more conference attendees...graduations...spring breakers and family vacations. Based on airbnb data (affliate link)

http://www.airdna.co/#_l_9k

I studied before jumping in....the busy season starts from May til late sept with July  bbebeing the peak month. SO YES....atlanta is a little unknown tourist gem to folks who stay here. We started in Sept with a 3/1  and are utilizing the airbnb platform. We have been able to establish consistent superhost status and a well earned 4.9 star rating. We do a few other unique things to help earn these rating on top of provide a clean and unique homes to stay in. 

FYI... I'm not finding it to be an issue if the homes are not bear public transport. Most folks rent a car or uber.

@AL PAT I think that would be a great area. As it's also not too far from atl. It depends on how you market it to out of towners.

@Matt my homes are in east atlanta and near the airport. The first house we experimented with is on the edge of east atlanta.

I recently saw a post dated a year ago about someone inquiring about investing in vacation homes in atlanta. to my surprise..several of the investors made the statements that atlanta should not be considered a vacation area. My husband and I tested this theory by converting one of our atlanta based homes to a " vacation" rental using the airbnb platform. so far it's exceeded our expectations by posting an average of 60-65 percent vacancy rate ( which is during non peak months). We were previously making $860 monthly on this particular home, which included $50 lawn care. Now, on average we are taking in around $2800. After expenses we are profiting around $1900 to $2000. Needless to say we are quickly converting the other rental homes to follow suit. We are finding a majority of the travelers come to Atlanta year round various conferences...getaway trips...concerts..family vacations etc.. Has anyone else had similar experiences with supporting vacation rentals? by the way this home is not located in, what is considered prime areas ( midtown, buckhras, or even near colleges).

What should be the process to add a business partner to the deed of the property you own. I have agreed to go half ownership on an investment property in exchange for half of what I invested to purchase. He would prefer not to use an LLC for this one time deal. Thanks for any guidance