2020 House hacking in Atlanta??

Question

Greetings BiggerPocket Community,

I am looking for someone in the Atlanta area with experience who can sorta mentor/guide me. I am a 26 year old recent college graduate. I work in IT and have a stable career. I have decent credit and have been saving for quite sometime.

I know these times aren’t the best in terms of renting out space with this virus getting worse but I’m thinking about my future in terms of retirement. Should I hold off on purchasing my first investment property. Should I find a condo in a good location? What are good areas in Atlanta to buy right now?

Any insight would be appreciated. Thank you all again!

Respectfully,

Kristopher J.

John Lyszczyk · Answer

@Christopher Johnson Hey Chris, I'm not from Atlanta, but I thought I'd share my experience briefly and lend some advice. House Hacking is a great way to start off considering that you'll not only offset the cost of living, but as a result you'll gain experience in landlording and managing rental properties. If your goal is to scale, you'll learn quickly on what you need to do to accomplish that.

I'd start by researching financing solutions that are available to you. Maybe reach out to a few MLOs and ask them how to get started. Maybe get preapproved? Secondly, start researching your market and driving to those areas of interest. Real Estate agents can be some of the best resources when it comes to finding out information on a specific market. Call them and ask them questions to find out more info.

If you plan on renting out a room of the house you plan on living in (Single-family) keep in mind that you may be seeing/spending a lot of time with this person, so finding someone who is like minded or has qualities that you like is very important.

Brandon Dumbuya · Answer

@Christopher Johnson

I agree with @Brenden Mitchum and @John Lyszczyk about house hacking. Brendan was spot on about going for a SF with a guest house. I'm currently under contract for a SF with a 2/2 guest house I plan to house hack. A 2-4 unit would also work but they are pretty tough to come by here. That being said, don't tell yourself no. You may get lucky.

Brandon Dumbuya · Answer

@Christopher Johnson

Feel free to reach out. I’m always happy to help.

Christopher Johnson · Answer

@Brandon Dumbuya thank you for that information. I may reach out to you personally once I have my first investment under contract if that’s ok.

Jingru Sui · Answer

Hey, start with single family or small duplex. Not condo. also pay attention to rental restrictions. Most condo(Some townhouse as well) 's HOA fee and restriction will limit your ability to rent it out with profit.

Brenden Mitchum · Answer

Hey @Christopher Johnson

It looks like you have already gotten some solid advice here. I completely agree with the guys that you should start off with house hacking.

I would also like to add that you should focus on finding something that is either 2-4 units or a SF with a mother-in-law suite and separate entrance. I would avoid the rent by the room scenario just because it might be harder to find roommates during these times. That being said, I am actually in the process of moving to a new house with new housemates in a rent by the room situation. This is obviously anecdotal but shows that some people are still crazy enough to do this right now.

You'll find small MF deals hard to come by here in ATL but there are a number of SFHs with a mother-in-law suite on the market right now. Many are surprised by how many of these types of houses there are in the ATL area, especially the suburbs.

So, it looks like your next two steps are to get pre-approved and team up with an agent to start looking for deals!

Please, let me know if you have any questions or ever want to chat about the Atlanta market!

Rashaun Forrest · Answer

House hacking is absolutely the best way to start in real estate, you get the best rates because you are living in the unit for long term.

Contact your realtor and look for anything quad or less as anything over becomes more complicated. Get pre approved so you know your budget then start hunting for something that the location and the numbers work. Good luck, feel free to reach out if I can help further.

Christopher Johnson · Answer

@John Lyszczyk

Thank you for that information. I will take that and run with that! I was just in a bit of a brain fog, couldn’t figure out whether or not now would be a good time but I have not used all my resources to determine that answer. I will be giving some of the agents in Atlanta a call here shortly.

2020 House hacking in Atlanta??

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