All Forum Posts by: Andy Luick

What were your projections when you went in....and what were the surprises?  I hear lots of good things about Houston so renting it should be pretty easy.  Consider the loss part of an education.

I've been in the metro atlanta market as a contractor and investor for almost 25 years now.  Like any place else, it depends where your properties are, who is in them and who is managing them.  Dekalb county is way too tenant friendly and I'd avoid it at all cost for single family rentals.  South Dekalb has become a shooting gallery...parts of south fulton are the same.  We're a large city so with patience you can find good renters still but buy by the school districts....at least for what you are doing...for my model, shared housing...it's entirely different and I don't worry about schools or resale or comps...just net cashflow.  Find the cheapest house in the best school districts.  To buy and hold anywhere for single fam rentals, just stick with the best schools.  Our golden arch runs from west edge of duluth to the the west edge of east cobb.  You'll do better with cash...just like you would anywhere else. It's a challenge and one I woudn't do without boots on the ground but we're starting to go back into Clayton County.  Wouldn't work for you as the schools are yuck....but it works well for shared housing.  Same with East Point.  The location is great for workers, the airport is expanding & upgrading, we just got the new Porche center down there and Solis is building a new upscale Ritz Carlton type hotel there....all positives.

You'll have to hunt for them but find something that needs lipstick..(paint & carpet) but you can find decent rentals in your range in east cobb, parts of west cobb, cherokee county and edges of alpharetta and johns creek or duluth.  Just stick to the better schools and you'll be fine...even when it crashes.  Key is find a decent management group which is pretty hard to do...many churn tenants to get first months rent or they offer a lower monthly fee and kill you on repairs and maintenace.  

In my mind there is a correction coming and it will be sizeable but it will hit most markets this time.  Even so, Atlanta still has a bunch of new construction and alot of apartments going up.  Even with a correction, rents will normally go up and, if you're in a good school district, you will keep cashflowing with good management.  You will just be upside down on paper for a bit.  We have a ton of corporate relocations (mercedes, rubbermaid), great infrastructure, decent transportation and a business friendly govenment all adding to our growth.  Just bear in mind that the hedge funds went in deep here and time will show that it was not the best move.  You're seeing the consolidation starting here now,,,some are combining forces while others are forming derivatives as fast as they can to get out before the music stops.  Eventually the bulk of this product will get dumped on the market and it will kill single fam values here for a bit.  If you're in it for the long term, it won't phase you.  Go a little lighter on the credit requirements and tighter on length of employments and references to find your best long term renters here.    

I love atlanta but I'd also look at Greenville, Greensboro, Charlotte, Nashville, Austin and San Antonio.  Texas may be tied to oil....but it's really not.....it has 5 or 6 of the top growth cities in the country.  I'm not sure of the price points in those areas others here can speak to that.  There are deals anywhere....you just have to know how to find and work them.  Happy Investing!

@Austin Faux- so what happened with this one?

@Steve Vaughan - so how did you site turn out for you....what was the experience?

Coverstain is double the cost of Kilz but just a better product.  @Scott W. - cat piss is awful and primers won't do anything for you.  You have to hit it with an enzyme product like, I think it's called Pee Be Gone...or something like that.  Only commercial product I found to work. I've moved recently and can't lay my hands on the product I have left.

One of my friends says this formula works but I've never tried it:

• 5 oz hydrogen peroxide
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp dishwasher orange soap (something about the orange scent help break up the urine smell), or for best results use 3 drops of wild orange essential oil

Most of us won't rent to tenants with cats for this reason....it's hard to get out AND every other animal that wanders by going forward....will mark the same spot.

@Janice Traub- are you asking us because you are marketing cages?  In areas like 30310 and 30311 it's just a cost of doing business there.  Even on the nicest block you have someone eying the house and as soon as it's vacant, they're robbing the place.  The legislation won't help much at all as few of these units get reinstalled "new" somewhere...they head to the scrapper for a quick $20.  Most of the neighbors won't rat anyone out in those areas so if you can slow them down or deter them...all the better.

I once had a property on elizabeth in 30310 and we spent a fortune on a theft proof cage.  In the end, the property went vacant.  Someone wrapped chain around our cage, tied it to a truck in the neighbor's yard and pulled the cage out of the ground.  The street is still a hell hole even if it's at the rear gate to Ft Mac.  It's time will come but I don't wish to be a part of it.

We still selectively use cages but it's more on how private the yard is around the property.  On our east point properties, we use cages half the time.  But if someone is venturing into areas like oakland city, adair park, capital view or pittsburgh.....just have to have them.

@Tyler Hubarth- you're right to be concerned.  Textured ceilings are 99% of the time never taped or finished.  It's a huge cost savings to builders as the real cost in hanging drywall is taping and finishing.  If the texture is in decent shape and we're not seeing heavy water damage, it's a PITA but we actually brush and roll it with Ziser Coverstain.  You'll knock some of the popcorn down and it will drip so tarp heavily.  We've found this to be our best approach.  Usually, we can seal over smoke in walls & trim with just Kilz but for some reason, Kilz doesn't handle the popcorn or texture as well so we use Coverstain there.

@Tim Lindstrom - we really dont recommend using PVC trim in our market...for a whole bunch of reasons, the main one being it isn't suited for our region.  The PVC will gradually warp, twist and split over time...especially with the heat coming off the bay windows and the hardiplank.  The exterior of your home isn't a place to go cheap.  When we've been stuck with PVC.....either on trim or window grates, we will prime with Zinser Coverstain then top coat with SW Duration.  We use Duration on our retail HandyANDY job and for our investment & rental properties.  For caulk, we swore by SW Sheermax for years but they changed the formulation and it doesn't tool well for us anymore...so we switched to PPG Topgun3000.

The other issue with your bay window, aside from caulking is to make sure the tops of the windows are flashed properly.  The metal flashing should extend 3/4" to  1.5" beyond the outside edge of your brick mold.  If it's cut short, as it usually is in our market, you can fill the small gap with a clear elastromeric sealant like Thru the Roof by Sashco which is available at Ace Hardware.  Be careful with it as it's not paintable but it will last 30 years.  We use this product for this purpose and sealing roofs.  Without catching this, water will get in behind the siding and your pvc trim...and you won't notice it because the problem won't be obvious until years down the road, the trim pops off.  By then, your frame is rotted out.  That's another draw back to any maintenance free trim....trim on a house is your warning sign that something has failed...it's the canary in the coalmine so to speak.  That's why we still use wood trim mostly and back-prime on all edges to seal the wood....if it ever rots because something failed, it will be discovered while it's still a cheap fix.

So are you wanting to take the house back....or get someone from here to buy it at sale?  I doubt anyone is going to pay more than the $112k if the rough estimate is $140k....not enough spread in there for anyone to get very excited.  More than likely you will be buying it back....luck!

That's why I like shared housing...don't have these issues...usually.  We had one last year that tried to take over the entire house after everyone was given notices that we were not renewing anyone so we could sell it off.  He had all the utils changed to his name end I ended up in court with him for months before I could get him out.  Had been a great tenant but a poor surgical outcome left him addict to pills.  Biggest nightmare I've had so far.  He sued me repeatedly....didn't go anywhere but still had to deal with it and him.

We just had a room go empty on shared housing project....old tenant left on a wed and new tenant rented sight unseen except for video and moved in friday.  No repaint...no clean up...no nothing.  That's nice!