That's a tough one. I cant even find turn key for under $40k in the Mississippi Delta. I purchased some land from a tax sale and considering putting a double-wide ( they will deliver and setup for around $30k) on the land. That's around $31k. Add a little curb appeal $2k, and a deck$1k and it may become a desireable rental. Good luck.
I do not advise in Turnkey under 50k.
1) not worth financing... If your not financing then what's the point
2) bad tenant quality
3) no exit strategy because no one will want to by it other than a sucker investor.
That is probably true for Washington but not for a lot of areas in the South. I think you can find houses that are already rented for less than 40K here in Jackson, Mississippi. I typically buy a house for 30-35K and maybe spend up to 5K with the rehab (doing none of the work myself.) Yeah, I pay cash but then get a HELOC after I've owned it for a year which usually gives me enough money to buy another house. As for exit strategy, the reason houses are still cheap here is that we were late going into recession because our houses were never overpriced and we are later still coming out of it. The foreclosure rate here is still 10% while it is 1.5% in the rest of the country. But I'm persuaded it will come back. Rents are high and a new factory is being built. Even if I can't sell my property the rents are so good I don't think I can lose. A house which cost me 30K rents for $850 or more. Atlanta is another matter. Houses are relatively expensive there.
Have you done your research and connected with all of the local wholesale companies in your area? If you have, did you also run craigslist advertisements and search for all of the local sellers in your area using the internet, mail, restaurants, vendors and alternate resources? There are about 70 different marketing resources in our database for ways we locate properties from watching the grass grow as we drive to or from a given location to others with direct mail, the courthouse steps, etc.
There will always be an abundance of properties available from sellers for varying types and prices of properties. In the investment business and primarily wholesaling business we don't wait on leads. We are a lead generation machine and in order for us to place properties under an initial contract we spend hours of research over a property. We have to build rapport with a family, learn their circumstances, determine the best systems that will help them overcome their current situation and help them feel secure in us and our solutions. We plan for an entry strategy, share ways our offers can benefit sellers and allow them to tell us if our solutions work for their family. Each marketing campaign has a cost associated and each seller has a need.
When a realtor is reaching out to wholesalers we want to partner and we want to help. But the best solution I see is not one of asking for a handout. None of the investors businesses I know would survive a day if we asked others to give us a deal so we can pass it on. Thats not to say we wouldn't be completely willing to do a joint venture partnership on a given property to help a newby or wanna be investor on their first, second or third deal. But those JV agreements have a cost to those bringing us the property for our guidance and support. I say, reach in your wallet and pull out the largest bill you have. Go fill up your car, drive around and look for deep (really deep - in the city look for signs where the city has penalized/fined for the grass being mowed) grass, look for vines climbing up the sides of walls of houses on the exterior and any other thing you might feel will help identify someone isn't living in a property or someone needs their property sold. The level of distress you see is their beginning phase for that family. If you find a family that wants to talk and share their story your first step is to let them know you're a realtor, your second step is to find the way to place their house under contract so either listing it or buying it YOU can personally monetize it.
We have a 12 step or so process we share and go through when we are trying to help others take their lives from 4 figures to five and from five to six and so on. There is a process we go through with growth, in the investment business. Its extremely different from realtors. Realtors are wonderful and I have many incredible friends that are realtors but you don't think like those of us building a marketing lead generation machine. Investors think like Eagles and Lions, we see the whole picture and we can choose how narrow to drive our focus on a given set of parameters. We can dial in on a given system, grow the ways we will reach into one single phase and find what we want from the properties in that area. Next we go into that area using tools, not necessarily on foot to see what in that area we want whats the best way for us to be able to get properties there to become ours. Sellers may even show up with the heard to see the kill. But they may not and that leaves room for us to come in and help solve their issue.
I read an article several weeks back that shared the ways realtors can benefit from having one or more investors in their contact lists as a source for buying and selling properties. We can all benefit but my best advice is make sure every single person you know knows what you do, Make sure you share your vision, your goals, ways you help families and how them working with you will enable them to be able help other families. We rejuvenate the neighborhood, redevelop houses, add tenants, lease option properties and sell tenants properties through a planned development process to help families to have a home of their own.
That brings me to you and how are you helping families, what benefit do you have to offer them? Are you helping by posting a property listing and waiting for a buyer? Are you finding a buyer and then seeking those around you to bring you a property? What does that really do to help that family? That means the family that called you or walked in to your office did all of the work and leads me to the point of an active helping RE agent does more than "JUST" fill a pipeline. Great agents do great things to help others find properties, market to unfound areas, seek to find the place where no one has thought to look that a family has been searching for properties for a while whether its a $5,000.00 property or a $5,000,000.00 property. The agent that desires to help others by becoming a go getter goes, seeks, does and finds for their customers. They realize the value of being an agent is more than just filling their pipeline and waiting. They see the opportunities and rise to the occasion by creating opportunity.
We have turnkey wholesale deals in NC and occasionally other areas but haven't had any in or around the metro Atlanta, Ga. area. I imagine you can find many agents and wholesalers there that are making a difference finding buyers and sellers properties and you wont have to look very far or long. I know of several wholesalers there that are even in my lists of contacts and they've emailed me their for sale properties for years. They add to their property list every week so I'd say if you're the person thats making sure when properties come available you're capitalizing on them by immediately placing them under contract you're helping others by making sure theres an upcoming closing and sale. Even if there properties need rehabbing you should be the one managing and making these properties better to increase the sales prices and your own profits.
To your increased future success in your Atlanta, Ga. area market.