All Forum Posts by: Quentin Davie

Nathan, first off congratulations on deciding to do your first BRRRR project. I am a investor/ realtor in Atlanta and I will tell you not to discourage you but to know what you you are up against that a perfect BRRRR in today's market unless sourced off market is almost impossible. Now with that said you can perhaps find one on MLS but you have to be prepared and act fast when the deal shows itself. Another way to find BRRRR deals are to be creative in which you would essentially purchase a property and and have found the hidden square footage rather in a carport or basement (convert to livable square footage). I am on the back end of a BRRRR and it was "suppose" to comp out at a certain value but I was held to the mercy of the appraiser. So my next advice would be to get really friendly with your bank (small local bank or credit union) to know who they hire for appraisals and what they look for while doing the appraisal. I would go really really conservative these days because of the increase in equity and appraiser are somehow not buying into all the hype. I recently had a clients home appraisal come in $15,000 under but it was clearly like size comps to justify a higher price. Get super conservative with your comps and account for 5-10% value mark downs. This way if it turns out to be higher in value it's a cherry on top and did based your investment strategy on inflated prices. Appraisers are out to protect the interests of the financial institutions and not you as an investor. Lastly a perfect BRRRR is great and all but even if you can go conservative with your numbers at the beginning and underwrite a business plan for a BRRRR in which you pull most of your money out it's still a success. Good luck and may the BRRRR be with you!

Alex, I am a fan of using the DCA payment standards because the government/state of Georgia spends a lot of research capital to compose this list yearly. They do this in order to protect the government money and not pay more (voucher program) in one area than what tradition rent price/ salaries have demanded. 

Rentometer simply collects data from user generated input and listings of rental data and surveys they conduct, so some of this data may be greatly fluctuating, because it pulls from landlords who only post on sites like zillow, zumper, etc.

The next best way to find rental prices is have a realtor like myself pull the latest leased properties of the same bedroom size, location (within 1 mile) , and leased in last 6 months from the MLS. These numbers are really accurate and you can almost guarantee you will lease the property (depending on condition) for what the MLS comps show.

By the way DCA payment standards are shared for multiple counties (in case not found on the Greater Atlanta DCA list. Make sure to use current year because they are updated yearly. 

Greater Atlanta : https://www.dca.ga.gov/sites/d...

Clayton County/ Jonesboro Housing Authority : http://jonesborohousing.com/?p...

Fulton County: https://cdn.website-editor.net...

Dekalb County: https://www.dekalbhousing.org/...

Decatur Housing Authority: https://www.decaturhousing.org...

Alex , you can think of garage conversation as double edge sword. First value during appraisal or selling, with a garage ups (no garage decreases value)  the value of a home as opposed to not having garage. At the same time extra livable square footage increase the value of a home (value is decreased if you converted garage to livable space). If this home is being flipped it depends on the target buyer (do they prefer a garage or extra bedroom). You must study average number of beds in the area. So in this case of a sale/ appraisal it would be a even wash on price appreciation because your lose garage which would decrease value and gain sq footage which ups value. 

In the buy and hold scenario separate from appraisal/sale, the converted garage serves as a positive when thinking bedroom count for rent increases. I always use section 8 payment standards for rent. For instances in 30305 zip code section 8 pays $2,178 for 3 bedrooms and they increase rent to $2,662 for 4 bed rooms. So in this scenario having the converted garage (extra bedroom) has a bigger ROI and demands higher rent.

Hello @Emily C. , welcome to the Atlanta REI market! I am a active investor/ realtor here and would love to educate you on the developments in this market. I won't say it's impossible, but a perfect BRRRR in this hot market of investors offering all cash / no due diligence (earnest money hard day 1) bump the acquisition prices past 70-75% of ARV. Keeping a close eye on your criteria and being able to act fast is a necessity. I suggest picking a couple zip codes, know type of property you want (i.e 3bed/2bath larger than 1,000 square feet at or below a predetermined dollar amount), and become an expert in these neighborhoods will put you around more potential deals in order to find your perfect BRRRR.

@Anks Desai I am a investor/realtor in Atlanta. The Atlanta BeltLine is Atlanta’s newest outdoor space and is comprised of 22 miles of unused railroad tracks circling the core of the city’s in-town neighborhoods. From trails and walkways to open green space and parks, the Atlanta BeltLine works to connect people throughout the city. The very hot neighborhoods around the beltline offer an opportunity to get in for under market value (light renovation) or at or slightly above market value (turn key) and have great appreciation in the next 2-5 years. Some areas that you should research are: 

Grove Park ( Microsoft moving here) - https://www.ajc.com/news/atlan...

West End / Pittsburgh Neighborhood 

Edgewood 

Non Beltline

Decatur- Lots of renovations and Flips

College Park ( Airport City being built here) - https://www.collegeparkga.com/...

@JonathanCheng The West Highland neighborhood has experienced lots of newer builds (2010 or newer) selling in the last 6 months Square footage 1,600-2,000 range at average price in high $300,000 to low 500,000 depending on square footage. (per MLS data)

While the Carver Hills neighborhood has had some investor renovation action on older homes (1960's -1990 products) that are smaller (792 square feet - 878 square feet). The homes renovations look to be minor and the purchase prices some in 2018- 2020 around $60,000- low $100,000 with ARV $135,000-$194,000

This is a a interesting area in that homes are older and more inventory via older residents may be sold in next couple years at or below market rate. It looks to be a great area to buy and hold with rents $1,295 for small 3/2 at 864 square feet to 4/2 at 1,000 square feet at $1,895 (two of the latest MLS lease comps). Section 8 also pays in the Carver Hills zip 30318:

Studio $1100 - 1 Bed- 1133 - 2 Bed $1287 - 3 Bed $1617 (per Fulton county Section 8 payment standards 2021) 

Hello @rashadjonesjennings reach out to First Southern Bank , they are a local bank who funds commercial loans in the Atlanta area. I have spoke with Brian there a couple times who is a loan officer. 

Hello @beckylai The Douglasville vs Cartersville debate is interesting. A couple of points to help:

1. Average rent prices in Douglasville are around $1,371 (closer potential to get 1% rule) while Cartersville is around $1,219.

2. 26% of the homes in Catersville are 2000 built (higher Cap Ex expenses) or newer while Douglasville 43% are 2000 built (lower Cap Ex expenses) or newer.

3. Median home price is $213,093 (higher appreciation/ lower Cash on Cash Returns) in Cartersville while median home price in Douglasville is $194,385 (higher cash on cash returns/ slightly lower appreciation)

Douglasville is closer to the city which is experiencing population growth which means population will push out to suburbs like Douglasville. Their are many factories/industrial business in Douglasville which diversifies the tenant class. Amazon has a large facility that was just built 2 years ago in Douglasville. Both areas are solid for rental but I believe Douglasville has higher upside with growth closer to the city and thriving working class population.

@Haley Thornton Great job starting and having a investing criteria. Pertaining to question #1 , I don't think you should qualify properties as cheap and or expensive, but look at deals that fit your lenders DSCR requirements and your personal ROI/Cash on Cash return criteria . As you begin to create deal flow (wholesalers, Realtors, off market direct to seller) you can get creative (partner , wholesale, seller finance) if the deal makes since. The target for suburbs will likely yield you more inventory and higher returns due to less competition in the areas rather than the normal hot spots in the city.

Jonathan, this is a great area for appreciation (6-8% in next year) and cash flow 3-4 beds renting $1,500–2,000 (low inventory). There is a oddly large amount of renovated inventory mid 300-400 k for sale. I would advise buy and hold to reap benefits of natural appreciation and cash flow. This way you can set your self up for a future 1031 exchange with the equity that will be built. Renovate the home nicely (LVP, stainless Steel, backsplash kitchen/baths, accent walls) and you will have longer term high class tenants. May the BRRRR be with you!!