All Forum Posts by: Duane Alexander

I've had a rental in Stone Mountain for the past 2 years perform pretty well. When I was looking I was running numbers on properties in more expensive neighborhoods but the rent return often doesn't cut it, especially with how competitive it's become to find a good deal on investment properties in/near Atlanta. Think there's a lot of banking on appreciation over income which is fine if that's your strategy but if you have solid/increasing rent for a few years, the value of your home will appreciate naturally as that means your cash on cash/cap rate is probably improving as well.

You can get something around 200K that's decent and good rental. Around 100K might need a lot of work up front right now to fix up to be rent ready. You don't have to wait to get 500K house which might not be good rental at all since you might not be able to rent good price. 

It depends on what the $100K would get.  Is that a house in a rougher area or a starter home in a good area?  If the latter, I'd get started with the $100K.  You can always keep it for 4-5 years and then sell it if you want to buy a more expensive home.  Biggest thing is to run the numbers and see what they look like and think about the area you are investing in and how much work you want to do.  A cheaper house in a rougher area will take a lot more time and have higher turn over (which costs money both in lost rent and in repairs).