All Forum Posts by: Nick Fitzpatrick

@AJ Brown I only have experience with the Atlanta Housing Authority and it looks like you are looking in Dekalb. If that is not in Atlanta but rather with the Dekalb Housing Authority, you'd have to check. With AHA, you have to fill in some documents but the PM is in charge of managing most of the change of ownership paperwork. You'll have to check with each PM to see what they cover for you.  

AJ,

An investor with many, many properties within the Atlanta Housing Authority (manages "Section 8" in the city of Atlanta) program explained it to me like this: "Once you get familiar with AHA's systems and processes, you can do very well. Until you hit scale and learn the ropes, it can be challenging." 

I've found this to be my experience as well. I took the time to get to know the processes and employees and have found them very helpful. AHA tenants can either be great or nightmares. When you are buying a tenant occupied property, the tenant matters as much as the property if you plan to keep them in the home long term. 

If you go the route of a PM, they are the one with the relationship with AHA and communicate with AHA on your behalf. You don't have to go to the class or attend inspection, etc. 

Tenant occupied AHA properties are very sought after right now. Most of the sellers I'm seeing are investment groups (small to very large) that are selling off properties due to the increase in prices. 

@Greg Davis HELOC should be easier to get. BUT, when you go to get a loan on a new property you may get push back if they see you are cross-collateralizing. I have a guy at a local CU that should be able to help.

@Sharon Evans Unfortunately I don't have any HML recommendations for a first timer. BiggerPockets has a large network of investors who have used them here locally so I would verify with a few other members before deciding on one.

@Sharon Evans You are venturing into dangerous waters with over leveraging yourself on a deal like this. I've seen people loose money doing this exact thing but haven't seen many make money on it. Here are a couple of things to just consider before you jump in. 

1. You are looking at a personal line of credit for the down payment. Since this is an unsecured line of credit, the rates won't be cheap. Cross collateralization is common but unsecured lines are expensive and risky. 

2. You need a way to pay for the renovations during the draw periods. A HML will want to see the work in a given stage is complete before disbursing that draw. Be prepared to pay for Materials and Labor out of pocket and then get reimbursed.

3. You will always find something unexpected in a renovation or build, driving up your renovation and holding costs. Not accounting for this is a huge risk. 

What you want to do can be done but I've heard this song before. Flipping houses is not a risk-free endeavor. 

@Sean Hayes Disassembling the door knob from inside is easiest and most common. From the outside I've seen bolt cutters do the job if there is enough room. I've never found a story of someone who has been able to get inside to get the keys out, FWIW. 

@Sean Hayes There's never a dull moment in this industry! This hasn't happen to me before but I have two pieces of advice: 

1) Call your broker ASAP. He or she should have the right action for you.

2) Either dump the listing or wait until the tenant moves out to sell the property. If she complains about photos, just wait until you try and show it or inspector(s) want to spent 3 hours poking around every corner. This looks like it'll be a huge time suck dealing with the drama. 

@Sam T. @Jason Huff All of the tower development in Midtown is for apartments. The only condo being built now is Oculus and that has a starting point of $700k- a bit pricey. I do have a Google Doc with every 50+ unit condo building in Midtown I can share if you want names to look up. The eventual goal is to make it a dynamic document that updates avg $/sqft but it's not quite there yet. 

Focus on the older, smaller buildings in Midtown and VaHi that can be rented. They go pretty quickly and attract a good tenant pool. I know of one for $200k that is about to hit and has available lease permits. 

@Jason Pennacchio

Your post and replies are great advice. One part stood out to me and I think it's worth compounding on:

"I found out a friend of mine was doing something similar. (I became discouraged to learn he was doing it a lot faster and with so far good results but have since realized his scale is different, as is his risk-tolerance and goals)."

I'm glad that you found a friend who also was starting out in real estate and I'm THRILLED that you quickly learned that what works for him, isn't necessarily your Golden Ticket. I've met hundreds of Real Estate Investors, whether they called themselves that or not, and each has his or her own way of analyzing and buying deals. There isn't one single formula that anyone must follow. 

Congratulations on your first deal and congratulations on shifting strategies mid-process to achieve your goals. 

@Jessica Freesia I don't see anywhere in City of Atlanta that is hitting 2% anymore. It has probably been 12+ months since I last saw anything near there. I use 1% as a barometer.