Can anyone please recommend a good buyers agent in Georgia- Atlanta or elsewhere in GA?
I am having a really hard time getting onto someone decent and I’m shopping to buy property now.
Contact Karina at Select American Homes.
I don't have a buyer's agent as such, do you need a more hands on approach Labrador?
If you don't and are just looking for some GA property that is turnkey, then head to:
http://www.atlturnkeylistings.com
access code: areiatlanta
There is about another 30 properties about to be posted onto this site in the next few days (fresh out of rehab and tenanted)
This site is from our wholesaler in GA and property management is also in place so all that is needed to be done is due diligence on the specific property including an inspection, appraisals, etc.
Ga (like the rest of subprime) is over.
Go to Vegas or Star City – better odds on red:)
Hate to say it but concur with Tash… here is something I sent out to my guys … seriously test the theory.
Atlanta
If it is under 50k , it is 90% by Dekalb dump, HUD owner occupiers or a short sale. Over 60k are flips. Over 80k are flips that WERE 40 – 50k last year and the yield haven't increased (Dekalb Dump = "Map of France" = Bouldercrest/Panthersville/RiverRoad/Linecrest/Ward Lake)……..not a "no" – just a potential to STINK LIKE HELL in the wrong wind – avoid by 1/2 mile or do a sniff test….or make your own decision and just decide that you understand that you are buying for potential yield churning… I wll post a separate post on it.
There may, just MAY be a rare, rare exception but rents haven't increased so think 40,000 times before investing in Atlanta right now for the price and yield. Double taxation (size), tougher tenants, tougher environment, higher costs and a million leaping on the bandwagon.
Atlanta made sense for about 6 months after Vegas died…… and there may be the RARE exception still but this is a TOUGH market by comparison to the "easy" states of the desert environments. Every day I spend in Atlanta, I am grateful for the investment opportunity that existed in Vegas and thank my lucky stars that it was there but there is an absolute line in the sand and it is well upon us – again, exceptions exist and are great – but think EXCEPTIONS. Maybe that will change, I don't know but I can say this:
I get every property, every day, every second that comes onto the market in Atlanta and I know the bandwagon's spiel but I can tell you RIGHT now, it comes with a rental pool that just isn't west coast, it comes with a lot of issues and dear HEAVENS, THINK HARD. Guns, drugs, unemployment, inherent whatever, higher repair costs, overheads, theft, I live it, I breathe it…… just think.
In full disclosure I am a licensed real estate agent in Atlanta – it seems odd to think that I, as a dual citizen HAVE to be licensed to do what I do and everyone else doesn't have to be anything….. As an agent all I can say is think 43 times over and REALLY analyse your returns….. for capital growth with a total outlay over 80k, pick a boom/bust town – go anywhere else… for yield… do your calculations again and again….if it still makes sense, great.
If by some miracle anyone was right about shadow inventory and it isnt sucked up by the 200,000 investors that currently mean 39 bids on any even vaguely decently priced property (not that I have seen a single property I would recommend for investment purposes in Atlanta by my criteria in about 3 weeks), then I will be the first to lead the charge back in…. actually, after a year in Atlanta, and I am committed to Atlanta for another 5 years for myself and everyone I deal with at bare minimum, but after a year there, I would never actually come back here unless prices SERIOUSLY were back around 40 – 50k. It took Vegas to dry out and Atlanta to still be 20k cheaper for me to even think about Atlanta in the first instance.
Please don't get caught up on the stories of a market 4 months ago.
Ask those on this forum – last year, this house was sold to your for 40k, would you buy it at the price today? 80k? In Vegas, I could find that argument – but it is of the understanding that it is for capital growth……in Atlanta…. I can't.
LONG before subprime, there was the US market, it was FANTASTIC, it still is….but it is different…..
Novel concept…..Think the next phase of US investment and DON'T EVER settle for less than makes sense for your investment goals – recalculate 43 times before spending a cent.
It ticks me off… the US market is a GREAT investment market for property but not at "any cost".
DON'T GET RIPPED OFF.
A US Buyers Agent is a licensed real estate agent within the state that you are buying. They are someone who by law are acting FOR you and put client above self. This can NOT be someone who is a flipper, a wholesaler etc. They are someone who owes you:
Care
Obedience
Loyalty
Disclosure
Accounatability
Confidentiality
They will ALWAYS put YOUR interest above themselves. ASK FOR CREDENTIALS.
I've used a lady called Tricia Hall from Meridian Realty and she is fabulous. Her email address is [email protected]. She is based in the Atlanta area and if you let her know what you're looking for she can set up email alerts for you.
Hi,
I think you have missed the boat. I deal with property in GA but stock there gone right down. I have townhouses around 60K but houses now really need around 90-100K. We do mortgages but usually only around 50%.
Regards,
Steve
What do you expect to pay for the service you are talking about. I am just curious.
1. You want them to find the house
2. You want them to manage the rehab
3, You want them to find you a tenant
What is your limit on what you are willing to pay for that service
I provide that service in KC and I charge a flat fee but you get my labor prices and my discounted material price because I buy so much for example I just bought wire today around 2375 feet and paid 519 before taxes 560 after taxes and that was with 20 or 30% off I really can't remember LOL as it was just this morning but I have receipts to prove what I am saying
and that was at home depot where they clearly lost money as they sell wire at cost but again I buy so much I get certain benefits.
Again just asking what are you willing to pay for the services you are asking for
Testing
Cheers for all your input Emma and everyone else. I've had a lot of listings sent through to me lately and have been trawling through Zillow and Trulia and I'm still seeing a lot of places, 3 or 4 bedrooms, built since about 1990, not too far out (eg Fulton county, College Park etc) for $30k-$50k. The yields look pretty good, $800 – $950 per month, they don't seem to have been trashed, some of them have been listed for 100s of days and there are plenty of places nearby for $70k – $100k. So what am I missing here? Just trying to get my head around the situation, obviously it's a bit of a challenge when I'm not on the ground there.
Secondly, this situation with the institutional buyers, hedge funds etc taking first pick of everything – is this happening right across the country? What about places like Kansas City or Charlotte. If Atlanta's dried up does anyone want to shed some light on other more fertile pastures?
This is an old string but Atlanta never really dried up. Many have opinions as to which market is "best" Vegas never made any sense to me and still doesn't but to each her own. There are still great deals to be had IF and only IF you have a good team on the ground to work with. Our model is different as we create shared housing and avoid the whole rent-evict-repair-rerent cycle the atlanta rentals have become. I once owned or controlled over 300 single family homes in metro Atlanta and it became an absolute nightmare for me. From that experience, I switched to shared housing where we market the rooms as separate rentals. It works for us and we get much better net rents, less turn-over and much less repairs & repaints….plus the house is never vacant so theft is zero. I know Atlanta very well so it makes sense for me to continue working here. We now partner with investors who are stuck with empty or non-performing rentals and get them turned around with our shared housing model. Andy
BoughtWithEquity wrote:This is an old string but Atlanta never really dried up. Many have opinions as to which market is "best" Vegas never made any sense to me and still doesn't but to each her own. There are still great deals to be had IF and only IF you have a good team on the ground to work with. Our model is different as we create shared housing and avoid the whole rent-evict-repair-rerent cycle the atlanta rentals have become. I once owned or controlled over 300 single family homes in metro Atlanta and it became an absolute nightmare for me. From that experience, I switched to shared housing where we market the rooms as separate rentals. It works for us and we get much better net rents, less turn-over and much less repairs & repaints….plus the house is never vacant so theft is zero. I know Atlanta very well so it makes sense for me to continue working here. We now partner with investors who are stuck with empty or non-performing rentals and get them turned around with our shared housing model. AndyHi Andy,
Thanks for your post.
I hear from so many Australian investors saying this and that market dried up etc…
There are still so many good deals out there to be found. In my opinion the Australian market is way overpriced and I have many contacts still finding awesome deals in the "overpriced" Aussie market. The US still has a long way to go before the prices get close to previous highs. My whole Aussie portfolio is in the process of being liquidated and I have been all in here in the US. I have turned Yanky hahaha
100% agreed. If you have the right team on the ground that has the investors interest at heart you are certain to succeed no matter where you buy.
Thanks and have a great day.
EngeloRumora | Ohio Cashflow
http://ohiocashflow.com/
Email Me | Phone MeF@#$ THE REST WORK WITH OHIO CASHFLOW TO INVEST
Atlanta still has tons of deals but not a lot on the FMLS/MLS listing side of things unless you're looking at Clayton County & South Dekalb which the hedge funds have pretty much avoided, although lately, even they have started buying both of these areas. The better buys will be found through wholesalers and -off-market deals. Yes, the property will be market up but do you really care if the numbers work? I don't! Granted, our model is different by creating shared housing and we get better returns so we can pay more. It's very misleading to see a property that sold in 2007 for $140k available today for $50k. It's alluring to say the least but if you can't rent it and keep it rented & cashflowing, it isn't worth much to me. This is the problem with a lot of what you find in Atlanta. In every market, it all comes down to having someone decent with boots on the ground in whatever market you are investing in. If your investing approach lacks this crucial piece, stay home or you are sure to lose!
It doesn't hurt to have a licensed buyers agent send you email tickles of properties meeting your criteria. The whole bit about the standard of duty they will give you written above in this string, is a bit much. Finding good, honest, dependable people is difficult in any market, licensed or not. Most are hungry and about the commission with ZERO service after the sale. Case in point, I'm partnered with an investor right now who bought a 3/2 a couple of years ago that has marginally performed with about a 2 to 3% return or less when you factor in the vacancy between tenants. The licensed agent made the commission and then a cut of the initial repairs before passing it off to a property manager. Disgusted, the investor was preparing to sell and contacted us to handle make-ready repairs as we also are a well known contractor in our market. He figured he'd sell and at least get some of his money back on a currency play. Instead, we converted the property to shared housing. We created a 4th bedroom at the terrace level which was always there but no one else bothered to do anything with it. Paint & carpet has finished that space out. With 2 rooms rented within the 1st two weeks of our getting the property, our gross & net rents are both more than he was taking in previously. With this approach, our investor has a renewed interest in buying atlanta real estate again and he should . Using a 10% cap rate, the property he put $140k into using a buyers agent two years ago was worth about $60k based solely on cash flow performance. Market rate right now for similar properties in the condition his was when we arrived on the scene is about $100k. Fully rented, the property will produce about $1,500 net a month or 3 times what he was taking in before. It also gives us a "worth" of $180k again using a 10% cap rate against net rents. Granted, this assumes that we will keep all 4 rooms rented throughout the year. We honestly don't get a ton of turn over with shared housing tenants and the space usually fills immediately or within 30 days with maybe a room repaint at worst.
Everyone has their own take on how to evaluate a deal. For me, it is purely net caps against net rents. I've seen way too many pro-forma deals with pie in the sky predictions. The deals look rosey with the $950 rent that never materializes or the 80% return cash-on-cash on a totally leveraged deals that kills you when it doesn't rent at all and now you get the added insult of having to carry it out of pocket every month! It took me over 20 years to create the model I now use so effectively. We'll keep you posted on the property referenced above but it should be completely rented up in the next couple of weeks. Here's a marketing video we use for it: http://youtu.be/CG0C6RzRuW0
Thanks Andy,
Have a great day.
EngeloRumora | Ohio Cashflow
http://ohiocashflow.com/
Email Me | Phone MeF@#$ THE REST WORK WITH OHIO CASHFLOW TO INVEST
andy is the new Jay preaching the same scenerio of reality..
lollol
EngeloRumora | Ohio Cashflow
http://ohiocashflow.com/
Email Me | Phone MeF@#$ THE REST WORK WITH OHIO CASHFLOW TO INVEST
LOL – I think Jay and I speak the same language. Even in these challenging times, there is plenty of money & wealth to be created in real estate. it's all about finding the right niche and riding that wave. I've found mine and am loving the returns….although it's much harder to turn a 3/2 into a 4/2 with 4 separate renters…but it WORKS!
BoughtWithEquity wrote:LOL – I think Jay and I speak the same language. Even in these challenging times, there is plenty of money & wealth to be created in real estate. it's all about finding the right niche and riding that wave. I've found mine and am loving the returns….although it's much harder to turn a 3/2 into a 4/2 with 4 separate renters…but it WORKS!Agreed.
Lots of opportunities still to be found in the US.
Thanks
EngeloRumora | Ohio Cashflow
http://ohiocashflow.com/
Email Me | Phone MeF@#$ THE REST WORK WITH OHIO CASHFLOW TO INVEST
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