It's rought 2% over prime so 5% interest only.In my example, $39k line of credit, I can take it all out and have a monthly payment of about $175/month and the $39k is not due until 10 years from now.Just boosted my reserves by an incredible amount.

Also, I don't drive by rentals regularly to give myself an ego boost, I drive by regulary to make sure there are no shenanigans going on at my property or neighborhood.

If I have the $ to pay the 3k out of pocket (actually more around 2300 since I get to skip a payment) wouldn't I want to keep the rate lower and boost my cashflow rather than lower my upfront cost, but pay more over long run?

Having a mentor or partner will expedite your learning curve dramatically so you waste less time making mistakes.I'm in a similar situation where I live in SF but wholesale in the central valley because SF deals are tough to find.

I was all set to read another real estate book but this thread just keeps getting more informative.Looking at the title I probably made it a little more dramatic than it really is. 

Doing it any other way would be a dramatic waste of time.

However, based on my revenue projections and factoring in a 25% commission for professional property management, it seems unlikely to generate significant cash flow unless they can significantly boost revenue.I'm open to working with a professional PM if they can guarantee decent cash flow.

Do you think there are any overall drivers behind this decline other than the dramatic increase in rents during the pandemic?

That book laid the foundation of real estate investing for me and gave me that boost to jump into more research and learning. 

BTW, at the same time house prices nationally were going up much more dramatically than ATL, so again 3-5% a year seemed extremely reasonable for a very fast growing area.