All Forum Posts by: J Scott

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you -- getting started in real estate with a bunch of cash on-hand...

I've been doing a lot of research over the past several months, and have decided to focus on apartments (buy and hold) for several reasons, with economies of scale and the ability to outsource management being the two big reasons.

This will be a full-time venture.

My business plan is almost complete (still doing some local socio-economic and demographics analysis in the areas I'm considering), and I'm working on building a strong team. I have a great CPA, RE attorney, and plenty of good contractors. I'm looking for a great Property Management company (this is my biggest concern right now), a good Title company, and when I finally relocate (about 2 weeks from now), I'll start contacting potential RE agents and start networking at the local REIA groups.

I've been studying REI for about a year now (and have been lurking here much of that time), have some great advisers who are successful RE investors, and am still soaking up every bit of knowledge I possibly can.

I'm documenting my day-to-day progress on my blog, so anyone that wants more details, feel free to go there (link is in my original post). And I'll be sure to update the forum here on my progress as well.

Thanks for all the encouragement!

No, these will be my first investment properties...

I plan to focus my investing on multi-unit residential properties (10-30 unit apartment buildings) to start. My investing goals will be a combination of long-term buy-and-hold (to replace income for eventual retirement) and finding value plays where I can increase NOI short-term (1-3 years) for relatively quick profits and cash-flow.

I'm in the process of moving to Atlanta from Silicon Valley (where I've been in the tech industry for many years), and am currently building my investing team. I've found my CPA and Attorney, and am open to recommendations for good title companies, general contractors, property management companies, and commercial real estate agents.

I'm finishing up my business plan now, and my goal is to spend the next couple months getting familiar with the local areas, and then start acquiring properties.

Hey everyone...

While I've been studying real estate investing for several months now, I'm just getting ready to start acquiring properties.

I'm actually in the process of documenting my real estate journey online.

Hope you find the site informative and/or interesting (I'm not making any money off the site, so hopefully this won't be taken as an attempt to advertise).

Looking forward to learning from all the folks here!

J Scott

Thanks Wade!!!

I think you meant 750 hours AND more hours than any other job...

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=146825,00.html

First, my apologies if this is the wrong forum...

I'll be relocating to the Atlanta area in a couple months, and plan to start buying multi-unit residential properties.

I'm looking for a recommendation for a CPA and an Attorney with real estate expertise in the Atlanta area...

Any recommendations greatly appreciated!

I think you need more information here...

In terms of income, what vacancy rate do you expect? To determine this, consider the local vacancy rate for duplexes, how long the tenants have been renting those units, how those rents compare to average market rents for similar places, etc. Additionally, is the town where this duplex is located improving or declining in terms of rents and vacancies?

You didn't include any expense numbers. Are you going to manage the property yourself? What about maintenance/repair costs? Is there deferred maintenance from the previous owner? Advertising costs? Utilities? Landscaping? Are taxes high or low for the area? Is insurance how or low for the area?

What about your financing? How much will you be able to put down? What type of loan will you be able to get? At what rate?

Once you have all this information, you should use these numbers to calculate your NOI and your cash flow to see if you'll make money or not. And remember, if you're cash flow is small, you need to account for large recurring expenses (like a new roof, appliances, etc) and ensure that you have funds to cover those.