All Forum Posts by: Naga A.

This is probably a stupid question. But, if you are an out-of-state investor and do not have yet a chance to actually look at a property, how do you go about making an offer on an out-of-state property?

I am an out-of-state investor, investing in the Metro Atlanta market. I plan to be in town at the end of this month and start making a list of properties I am interested in buying. Among these properties, I find a couple of properties I really like and would like to lock them down before they are sold to somebody else. However, before actually seeing them, it is hard for me to sign a contract. I fully intend to purchase them. But, who knows what happens when I actually see them? Actual properties may not be as nice as pictures, or neighborhood may not be as nice as expected, etc.

So, my question is whether there is any way for me to have an agent hold properties for me without my legally committing to purchase them by signing a contract. Should I make offers subject to my inspection of properties when I am in town in three weeks? In that case, should I give up EMD if I back out of the deal for no good reason? I am thinking of paying an agent a couple of hundred bucks to hold properties for me. Has anyone done such arrangements?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

So far, we have been discussing about the flipping side, what about buy and hold?

Which county in Metro Atlanta area is good for buy and hold and why?

>Which county or counties of these four (Cobb, Dekalb, Fulton, Gwinnett) do you prefer to either fix and flip in or buy and hold in and why?

I am one of the investors who had not-so-great experience with a turn key rental company."

What these turn key rental companies conveniently fail to tell you is that there may be other expenses you have to pay after you purchase the property, such as repair expenses, vacancy, eviction (if applicable), a new tenant placement fee etc.

Since they know that you are an out-of-state (even foreign) investor, they know that they can take advantage of you and that you have no way to check on what they are doing. So, they might come up with some phoney repair requests from a tenant, and they charge you so called "arrangment fee (mine was 20% of any repair expenses).

So, if I were you, I would stay away from these turn-key rental companies.

Joel,

This property management company manages properties mostly for investors. I told them that I would like to use a vendor that does all the work at or around $2.50 sq/ft (using Mark's number). So, they know what I am looking for, and hopefully they will find a contractor that does a job at that price.

Thanks for all your advice!

Thank you Joel and Keith,

Seems many people think I should go for tiles, which I will do. I just asked my property manager to get me quotes from a couple more contractors (made sure not to use slippery ones).

So, with the price quotes for these three options, installing wood laminate would make sense then?

Mark,

It's $0.68 laminate. I got the quoate from Lowes, the product is called Project Source 8" x 51" Winchester Oak Laminate Flooring.

I received the below cost estimate of three options (all carpet, carpet for a master bed room and carpet for a master bedroom and wood laminate for the rest) from my property manager.

My questions are:

1.) is this cost estimate reasonable?

I live out of state and has to rely on a property manager (so going to a carpet manufacture and installing myself is not an option) so I will accept the cost as long as it is not a total rip off.

2.) in the long run (I am a buy and hold investor), which option should I choose?

I know with wood laminates, I do not have to replace it for each tenant turn over like I need to for carpets. But, does that justify $500 extra cost?

The property is a 3/2 SFH located in Las Vegas.

1) All carpet - StainMaster item # 176023
1044 sq ft
including carpet, pad, install & tear out/haul away of old carpet
Approximately $1640

2) $175 to tear out and haul away all old carpet.
New Carpet and pad on stairs, master bedroom & master bedroom closet
Includes installation & haul away
444 sq ft approx. $775
plus
Tile remaining upstairs item #48305
569 sq ft. approx. $1850
Mortar, grout and sealant approx. $400
Total: approximately $3200

3) Carpet and pad on stairs, master bedroom & master bedroom closet
Includes installation & haul away
444 sq ft approx. $775
Plus
Wood laminate remaining upstairs item #103553
569 sq ft. approx. $1225
transitions/separations between boards approx. $100
Total: approximately $2170

I do not know any of these companies you listed above. But, Dale is right. These turn key properties are generally a lot more expensive than those you buy from agents or wholesellers.

Further, these so called turn key properties are not trouble free as they claim to be or not any better quality.

I know real estate is all about local, but am still confused as to why Atlanta experiences such a drastic housing price drop (18% drop in a year). It is not like Detroit where the city is built on one single industry (automotive), or Nevada or Florida where they experienced the extreme housing bubble.

Is there any other explanation for such real estate price drop?