Hiya BiggerPockets ATL, trying to get started (offers rejected)
Former ATLiens, but we've been living in Seattle for the past 10 years.
All kinds of life events are pointing us back home, and we plan on being out there in two years or so.
What we'd like to do is kick start our investing endeavors out there in advance of our arrival . . .
We decided we'd like to buy, rehab (and either refinance to rent or just sell).
So we watched a million podcasts, read books, did mock deal analysis, and have already automated some of the deal vetting process to make an offer.
Comfortable with that, we pulled some cash and got a HELOC to serve as our own personal private money lender until that runs out, we can handle a few deals at a time, IF we could find them.
Lately, we're really liking Pittsburg, Mechanicsville, all the way over to English Avenue, for a multitude of reasons:
- The cost of entry is relatively cheap there
- We're not first movers so we have watched before/afters on properties in these areas for a year or so and it seems doable
- I went to Georgia Tech, that area has always been near to my heart, sketchy or not
- Historic civil rights area, I'd personally have some pride in making that more accessible
- I'd not mind moving my family into some of these areas when we leave Seattle
What we are finding is most homes are going over asking and even then our offers are getting rejected. It feels an awful lot like the strategy that's been going on in Seattle for 1/2 a decade (list below market, frothy bidding wars ensue).
We are from out of state, and so says our earnest money checks.
We're getting about 5% of our offers accepted, and that's recent. My GC father is heading out to check them out tomorrow. We are finding them all on the MLS through a buyers agent. Is that the wrong way to go about this kind of strategy?
Now we've once again reached a point where we have more questions than answers. Questions like:
- Is it cheaper just to raze a dilapidated property and build new?
- How fast does building happen in Atlanta, still relatively quick?
- $/sqft for new construction?
- Demo costs (with/without lead and asbestos)? A few quotes have varied by 300%!
- What are things going for over there? 10% over list, 20%?
- Our rent expenses are roughly estimated to be about 40% of a comparable rental rate, after a mortgage it leaves $100-$200 a month in cash flow, is that par for the course in Atlanta, specifically in those areas? It doesn't seem worth it (rehab and rent) for those kinds of returns.
- Is there someone a little further (or a lot further) along than we are that would be willing to dispense some knowledge?
- Could any RE investor here benefit from some technology/software assistance? I'd gladly swap my tech skills for some hard-earned RE knowledge.
I'm sure there are more, but this has been a long intro (and a not so veiled call for help).
If anyone has anything that could help move us along, or needs anything I can provide, just let me know.
Best of luck to everyone patient enough to read to the end of this :)
Steve