Last one bought property for a garage but the garage tanked and subsequently they did as well.

I admire his willingness to broach the subject, especially swimming around in the middle of the shark tank.

Equity is only there if the value doesn't tank. 

It sucks when it's someone you know and love, but real easy for most people to to take in stride when its just statistical numbers that are people you don't know/love.Only time will tell if tanking our economy in the name of quarantining is better than having let the virus run its course unimpeded.

Try looking up who the current owner is on realtytrac or property shark.

Has anyone used Property Shark to gather information on a neighborhood? 

Unfortunately it seems like some of the software and platforms like Property Shark, do not offer the same capabilities in Atlanta.

Link: LA TIMESHowever, with that being said, things have been very different with everything at record-high levels now, I have been hearing folks saying since 2015 that market is going to crash/collapse/tank and here we are an inch away from 2018 with no signs of tanking (although SF rental market is now claimed to have reached bubble popping stage).In my research on Austin, TX: I am landing on a similar issue like CA, where I will negatively cash flow around 5-7k initially and I want to avoid it.

I prefer CA as I can get in a car and be to the properties within a few hours on less than a tank of gas. 

Some examples:If interest rates stay super low, dump the cash into the 5% property & refi at both a lower rate and lower balance, freeing up more cash flow.If the principle value of the investments tank but the dividends are safe (this is why I suggested utilities) you can still be seeing modest wealth growth.If an awesome deal comes along you can liquidate, if you've selected a diverse group of recession resistant stocks even a principle loss is unlikely to be crippling, allowing the liquidity you need to capitalize on an opportunity.I'm no stock pro, but I've been a subscriber to the motley fool income investor for several years now, I'd be happy to recommend some examples they are backing - or just subscribe yourself :)Oh and I just realized that my advice runs counter to common advice, which is the further from retirement the more you should think about ira investing.