All Forum Posts by: Josh Bowser

@Michael Dumler nailed it

Hey Robert - welcome to BP. 

The 1% rule refers to Monthly Gross Rent / Purchase price of the property which is a back of the envelope calculation to determine if a property will cashflow or not. 

Net cashflow will account for line items such as insurance, taxes, principal and interest, expenses, vacancies ect.

Best thing I can think of is to house hack in your local market if that is possible for you. Second best thing would be a rent by the room strategy such as Padsplit or homeroom model where these platforms are present.

Hey Lisa - good communication / specific market knowledge (ATL is big, you want to work with someone who works where you're trying to buy) / and honesty. 

I wouldn't work with an agent that is going to require you to sign an exclusive when looking for rentals. You need to see dozens of deals a week to make something happen in Atlanta.

Lastly, you need to make sure you are also respecting their time and putting in the amount of effort you expect to receive. 

Hey Tyler - welcome to the ATL! I'm a fellow house hacker (3bd 3.5 bath townhome in kennesaw)

Unfortunately with rates these days - it's going to be tough to cash flow on a house hack. The best bet you're going to have is a 4 bedroom / 3 bath in the $330-$360k range. I would not expect to cover 'everything, but you should be able to reduce your cost of housing below what it would cost to rent.

I'd try to buy in the best neighborhood you can along i-75 / i-85 as close to 285 as possible. Smyrna, Marietta, Norcross have a lot of great rental demand. There is a lot of demand in the Kennesaw area  for individual room rentals due to KSU being so close (KSU has a large commuter population).

If Austell / Mableton is interesting to you - there are a lot of duplexes that trade in the low 300s. You can cover about half of your PITI with prices and rents (assuming each unit is a 2bd 1 bath).

Split level SFH and multi story townhomes can have great floor plans for roommates.

Personally, I would rather buy a SFH / TH with a great roommate floor plan as you can continue to rent by the room if you want to acquire more properties with the same strategy. Right now, there is slightly less demand for these type of houses compared to a year ago. Small multifamily is still incredibly competitive at every price point.

Hey David - speaking wrt Atlanta here.

Recommendations for Location & Type of property is going to be based off the following questions:

1. What are your expectations when it comes to your returns?

2. What are your long term goals (cashflow vs. appreciation)?

3. What does your ideal tenant profile look like?

Atlanta has different submarkets and strategies that will work for just about every investor. However, it all depends on what you're trying to get out of it! Happy to help however I can.

Hey Josh - sounds like you're in a great position!

If you want to buy close to Atlanta - you're best chance for yield is likely going to be townhomes that are currently owned by investors that are rented to voucher backed tenants. Many of the HOAs across the metro at that price point do not have inhibitive rental restrictions.

I would strongly urge you to avoid areas with flat or declining population in areas like Macon. Most of the time, markets are cheap for a reason - keep that in mind. If you're going to go to Macon, take a look at Warner Robins. 

Areas like Newnan, LaGrange, Carrollton are fair game and solid markets from a demographics and price to rent stand point. You can find nice rentals in these areas at your price point.

Rookie mistakes to avoid:

- Buying cheap properties, just because they are cheap.

- Buying in areas that have negative population growth

- Trying to do everything yourself

@Janice Johnson - there is investor demand everywhere in the metro. You're probably going to have the most distressed sellers in Dekalb, Clayton, and Fulton (ITP and SW) as they are densely populated. However, these areas are incredibly competitive.

Hey Kevin - just shot you a note. I have a handful I can introduce you to depending on your portfolio type/size/location.

Good stuff out of you! Increasing money down increases ROI when your borrowing rate > cap rate (UYOC ect..) i.e negative leverage. Most deals on market today look like this.

When borrowing rates < cap rates, then it makes sense to use high leverage.

Hey @William Fruman - you're spot on.

Most of the stuff on market right now will not work as a LTR with current interest rates at 25% down. We're still finding some some stuff off market that cashflows at 20-25% down, but those are town homes with voucher backed rent.

You need to be looking to put 35-40% down to be cashflowing in this market.

Feel free to shoot me a DM - happy to chat!