Buying a house in Alpharetta to rent out? Thank you. (Atlanta: real estate, renter)

[dls]

I am considering buying a house in Alpharetta and renting it out. How difficult will it be to find a renter and keep it rented? The house will probably be $500,000-$600,000, in Windward or a similar subdivision. I am not looking to make much profit, as this is a house I would live in 5-10 years later. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks in advance.

[lastminutemom]

I think it would be very difficult -- but I am unsure why you want to do this if you don't want to make much money? Are you certain that real estate will appreciate in the next 5 years? Around here, prices are certainly flat this year... if not slightly lower.

The rental home market is very difficult right now, though I am not certain about that price point.

[BobKovacs]

Unless you're planning on making a large downpayment, you're likely to actually be losing money every month. A $500k mortgage is going to run you around $3k/month, plus taxes and insurance- you'll probably be looking at close to $4k/month in carry costs. I'd doubt you'd be able to rent it for anything close to that.

Bob

[dls]

Well that's just it: prices seem pretty cheap and it seems to be a buyers market, so I thought it would be a good time to lock in good price. Thanks to the responders.

[dls]

Just want to reiterate my question here. How easy is it to find a good tenant for an Alpharetta (or maybe Duluth) house in the $500-$600K range? Would I experiences long periods of vacancy? I assume rent would be at market price or slightly below. Thanks again for any help.

[lastminutemom]

I think it would be hard -- why would anyone rent at what i would assume would be relatively high rent, when they could buy a lesser home -- but still they would own it.

As a said before, the rental home market in Atlanta is in a slump. Also, you need to make sure that the neighborhood you buy in, doesn't have convenants which would prevent you from owning a property as an investor. Homeowners Associations in newer communities are notorioiusly strict.

[jeweloflight]

Originally Posted by dls

I am considering buying a house in Alpharetta and renting it out. How difficult will it be to find a renter and keep it rented? The house will probably be $500,000-$600,000, in Windward or a similar subdivision. I am not looking to make much profit, as this is a house I would live in 5-10 years later. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks in advance.

I'm not sure how easy it will be to rent out a house of that calibur in the Alpharetta area. Most people looking for a house up around Windward Pkwy. in that price range would prefer to buy, not rent. If I were you, I would do my homework on the demographics in that area, but I know generally most are homeowners, not renters. If you're trying to get in on a home now, and have someone else pay the mortgage until you want to become the occupant, I would consider another area more likely to have single family rentals. Then again, half a million dollar homes just aren't typical rental property. With the rent I would pay to stay in it, I could own my own. But maybe you'll luck up on a transplant family that needs that kind of space and location, and the rent on a home like that may seem worthwhile depending on what city they'll be coming from; say, like New York City or San Francisco.

Other posters have mention the market. Don't worry about the market, and the fact that it's slow right now; this is the perfect time to buy and hold. One thing's for sure stastically, real estate ALWAYS appreciates; sometimes at a slow rate, sometimes at a fast one, but it appreciates none the less. It's a buyer's market right now, but don't worry, trends show it will turn around as it has in the past. Now is the perfect time to buy for investment purposes, while everything is quiet and slow. Then when the market goes on the upswing, you'll be sitting pretty in the driver's seat as the owner of a nice piece of property, as the market begins to favor sellers again. One thing is key: right location, right price = a good deal. Good Luck.

[xxman777]

You should probably make sure the HOA doesn't have any restrictions on rental units. A lot of newer HOA's put restrictions on the number of rental units a subdivision has. If so you want to make sure you would be able to have one of those spots if you do decide to buy.

[doublek]

There are many property management companies in metro Atlanta who will actually post a "listing" of your home and will actively work to find you a tenant. The only problem you may run into is that people renting a home in the price range you're looking at usually want to rent to own. So if you're planning on living in it in the next 5-10 years you might want to consider that. Also don't forget the cost to close that home loan as well.

[Go Blue 99]

FYI according to this article, there is no slump in Alpharetta home sales. So you might not get a good deal as you are hoping.

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