All Forum Posts by: Darius Hollis

@Elizabeth Seely

Welcome Elizabeth, you're definitely in the right place to get your foot in the door. Connecting with agents, real estate professionals and other investors on this site will allow you to find the right people to put in the time and effort on the front end and get good deals in front of you.

Best of Luck!

@Joey Arrazolo

As an investor it is essential to have a strong team in place. A fundamental member of that team is a great agent. Investor Friendly Agents in your local market should have in-depth knowledge on the market trends in your local market, that way they can steer you away from bad deals and towards good deals. 

When you engage an agent as investor, the first conversation you must have is regarding your goals. What ype of properties are you looking for? What returns do you expect? How do you plan to finance your ventures? All these questions should be discussed upfront to let the agent know what type of deals you expect them to bring to the table. In return for their work, an agent will typically expect to represent you in your transactions as a buyers agent or sellers agent and earn their commission from representing you and puting good properties in front of you. 

Look for a property manager that has experience with vacation rentals because the marketing on short-term rental properties is different than what most property managers may be accustomed to. 

@Cameron Crosley Totally understand, investing out-of-state and site unseen can be scary, but if you can network with a great agent in a strong or emerging market, then doing deals as an absentee owner can actually turn out less stressful than going through the process alone and spending time and money chasing down deals outside of your local market. 

@Damien Stowers 

Join a local REIA and look for the veterans. More often than not, they will be happy to offer some advice and encouragement. Broaching the topic of mentoring kind of happens naturally when you share your goals and build rapport.

@Cameron Crosley Have you considered investing out of state in cheaper markets with good upside? 

@Matthew Trotter @Michaela G. I would 100% agree with Michaela. A lot of those railroads are not active anymore as well and the prime rental areas that would be good investments tend to be far from them as well.

West Midtown is going to benefit from some serious redevelopment over the next decade. I think the bad reputation and high crime has held it down for quite sometime, but now new forces are moving in to develop residential and commercial space that will be close to the new Georgia Dome and Turner Field Redevelopment as well as the Beltline. It is definitely a place to keep your eyes on. 

Hey Michael,

The belt line areas are high competition right now and inventory is either overpriced or in a poor area; however, there are opportunities in emerging areas near the Beltline, such as the West Midtown area (30318), which is poised for long term growth and have good rental potential in the meantime. I would also suggest the Decatur area, which is growing by the day and has a large tenant base. I get a call nearly every day at my brokerage from someone looking for a rental in Decatur. You can find a distressed property within your price range in both the aforementioned areas, but expect to have some budget for renovation and/or rehab. 

I was talking to an investor in my area the other day who managed to come out with barely a scratch after 2008 and arguably strengthened his portfolio during the "bust."  We talked about the coming downturn and he said that no individual makes the market, but we can all determine how we approach it. In other words, its all cyclical and the only way a downturn would be a complete disaster is if you have not positioned your current portfolio to keep generating income even through a storm and if you are not managing your assets in order to buy good, cheap deals during the downturn while unprepared competitors are caught off guard. I personally think that a downturn is inevitable, but its far off for many markets, closer for others, but doesn't matter if you prepare properly.