I was born and raised in Racine, WI but attended college out of state at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota.

If the zoning permits it, I'm considering converting it to a studio (2 universities nearby and lots of demand for studio living spaces).Has anyone done this before?

By the end of the year we will have an attractive, fully remodeled 5-plex in a decent area close to the University, shops, hospital, etc..Preliminary calculating the commercial value as a function of the NOI and assuming a 10 cap we would seem to have gained a decent amount of equity - if we do not occupy the 2BR.

The area has about a 3% vacancy rate, is within a few miles of a major university, and is generally in a location that is up and coming.

I was actually considering my first property to be near my campus (Michigan State University) where I can hopefully find a good deal on a duplex and then rent that out to graduate students or even small families since housing is ALWAYS a huge topic around these parts.I'm sure I'll find a great deal of priceless info here in the BP community to the point where I know now that I won't have to pay an arm and a leg for education in real estate :).

Yes, you guessed it, I'm an engineer too.But your area near downtown Atlanta will have other market segments on which you could focus: University staff, young professionals, grad students.

While I agree it might be from termite treatment, every termite treatment I have seen, the holes are not random as they appear here, but rather universally space around the outside border of the home, and not the interior of the home.

Sure thing,I'm not a CCIM yet as I have my plate full as a college student at Arizona State University and as I am taking other real estate field related courses.

However, it's an interesting neighborhood: Zoning laws makes it so I cannot easily rent to college students; however, it's close enough to the University that we received a lot of interest from Graduate students and families with one family member going back to school.It's also in a good location for oil and natural gas employees. 2 minutes away from 2 major highways that provide access to sites further east and south.

We have a beach community a few miles from us so we would not need property management.Some of you have mentioned having an atty or CPA, is this particular state-to-state or a universal thing?