I have a friend who buys and rehabs homes and builds new construction in the north atlanta suburbs. He does extremely well. I also have a contact there who has alot of short sale properties she sells to investors for rentals; I believe they offer property management services (or at least a referral for one).
I’m live in Atlanta, but I’m not an experienced investor, so I’ll only say what little I have seen. I see a lot of properties going for sale out here and housing prices have dropped as they have everywhere. I suspect there are some real bargains out there, but I haven’t dug deep enough to know for sure. Builders have been playing games like “first 6 months free” and “next buyer gets this car”. I’m not kidding about the car, it was parked in front of a subdivision with a sign in the window!
The Atlanta market is filled with homes for sale, foreclosures and borrowers whom are upside down on their mortgages. This creates opportunities, but be aware that the market is overbuilt with more inventory in process so sales and rentals will likely be soft. Neighborhood and property selection is important.
I’m with John. I’m a hands-on guy, too. I want to be near my properties. I don’t want a management company making $$$$ decisions for me at a distance of 800+ miles.
I met a investor in a seminar awile ago may be 6 monts, he was singning the praises of the GA market. This was and investor/developer guy, he would be a great contact to have. As a bonuse listen to the people who are investors in the area you want to go to, or people who already own in that area. Good luck
I am a long distance investor with rental properties in states where I do not reside. I would have no problem investing in Atlanta as a long distance investor if I had a competent property manager in place. I have and have had friends who lived in Atlanta suburbs and who speak highly of the real estate opportunity right now.
1031 exchange is one of my primary exit strategies. If this would be yours too, you need to be aware that GA does not recognize a 1031 exchange if the replacement property is located out of state. If you use a 1031 exchange in GA for an out of state replacement property, GA will tax the relinquished property sale. This reason and this reason alone is why I don’t invest in GA.
Dave, Wow GA is a bit sneaky, I had no idea they did not recoginze a 1031 Excahange IF the next property was located out of state, good information to know, thanks!