Rental Property Investor · Saratoga Springs, NY · Member since 2017 · 51 posts · 16 votes
Hope everyone is excited for the upcoming holidays! My wife and I traveled to Chattanooga Tennessee last year and fell in love with the city. We are from upstate New York but we were curious as to what is the rental market in Chattanooga? The city reminded us of our small city back home which is crazy expensive to get started in $300k+ for a duplex which usually needs updates to get market rent. The cost of rental apartments down there is drastically less to buy and the rent is also less than where we are from, we just don’t know the demand. We would probably be looking at buying a starter duplex and hiring a property management company to test the market. Any insight from locals would be awesome.
Many thanks and Merry Christmas!
@Brian V. I’m looking to sell some duplexes in Chatt. Been investing there since 2009 and I live in LA. For several reasons it’s time for me to sell. I can tell you the town is booming. Lots more growth on the way. I can tell you more. Message me or anyone else on this post of interested in the properties. Tim
Hey all, glad I found this informative (albeit old) thread. I'm from Oregon, and while it's not as bad as Cali, the prices are still crazy compared to what I'm finding out here in and around Chattanooga. Excited to be finally getting into the market and buy a small MFR.
The real challenge in chattanooga is finding good property management. I found a quadplex with massive cash flow, but that doesnt matter if your property manager has taken 8 months to fill 3 units. One is still vacant! Mountain view pm has been rough.
@Allan Smith I know a guy who does a great job with property management and filling units - @David Grabiner - I would reach out to him. Where is the quadplex? Are you sure that is not part of the problem?
The location is no doubt part of the problem. However, even things like getting contractors in and out should have nothing to do with the neighborhood. A ~$3k budget on one unit has taken 8 months because they did nothing with it for the first 7.
@Brian V. I’m looking to sell some duplexes in Chatt. Been investing there since 2009 and I live in LA. For several reasons it’s time for me to sell. I can tell you the town is booming. Lots more growth on the way. I can tell you more. Message me or anyone else on this post of interested in the properties. Tim
Great info here! Does anyone have feedback on the East Lake area, 37407? Through Google maps it seems there are a lot of neighborhoods with pride if ownership.
Here is a what I thought about East Lake area of Chattanooga when I visited there in March of this year from an earlier post on Chattanooga:
I would be investing in Eastlake. This area to me looked good for the investor ok with a lower income area. I drove every street on either side of Dodds from 48th to 37th and every street on either side of Rossville from in the same area.
The area reminded me of Inglewood or Compton (Los Angeles, CA) back in the day when the latinos were starting to move in and take over streets. I saw many latino kids playing in the front yard. Several groups of latino men hanging out in their front yards enjoying Sunday beer drinking. They all looked like regular working people. I saw many black families having a birthday parties for their kids on the front lawn. There were also white families scattered in the mix.
I also did see a few rough streets with some guys street hustling their spot with their pitbulls.
All in all this looked like the place I would buy rentals in. Target rich with renters. It reminded me of the environment I grew up in Inglewood (90302) in the 80's.
I am heading back to Chattanooga in August to do more scouting. I hope this helps!
I have actually looked into investing, and possibly moving, to TN here in the very near future as well. I am going to Nashville this Fall and intend to stop at multiple cities along the way. After reading this thread, Chatanooga sounds a lot like Colorado Springs, CO. I fell in love with that place because of the outdoor activities.
good to know! I was looking at the Memphis area, and apparently it cash flows better when it comes to lower income neighborhoods, but Chattanooga seems to just be a more robust city, with more options for residents, and I've heard there are some new developments being proposed near the East Ridge area, too
You’re right about developments in the East Ridge area. Our offices are just 5 minutes or so away from East Ridge. A realtor just recently mentioned a lot/land purchase that could handle a 6-plex apartment somewhere in ER. We haven’t seriously considered it yet due to other more pressing projects and investments. If you’re interested I could find out more.
On the other hand - Do check out our multi-family development of 18 units if you’re up to visiting - 2001, 2003 & 2005 McCallie Avenue. They are based on the “Missing Middle” for rental housing in Chattanooga. It’s a brilliant build/concept developed by area architects (as I’ve been told) to meet the housing needs of the community.
For those thinking about buying in East Lake...you need to be careful. First while most sub markets have appreciated (so has East Lake to an extent) the city is targeting gentrification in different parts of town. While I know the mantra here is invest for cash flow, the truth is you make the majority of your money by buying right and selling down the line. With that being said, as someone who owns and manages a fair amount of rentals all over town, including East Lake, there are more that a few parts of East Lake that should be avoided.
Hey everyone, just wanted to pick up on this thread, and ask how important an enclosed garage is in Red Bank?
If a unit has an undercover area for parking and a tool shed in the garden, is a garage a must?
Basically investigating the possibility of converting Ana teacher garage into an extra bed and bath, and putting up and undercover parking area and tool shed to compensate?