Best real estate invesment for $100K (Atlanta: sale, foreclosures, rental)

[wisemage]

I would like to buy a property for invesment around $100K. I could make %20 down payment. Any ideas?

Thanks

[atlantagreg30127]

As a reminder to Realtors - advertising is not permitted here.

Craigs list however, is a good way to find "deals" in realty (rehabs, foreclosures, etc).

[BobKovacs]

Are we talking "investment" as in "I want to buy, hold for a while, and sell at a large profit", or as in "I want to rent the house for the long-term and generate monthly cashflow?

In the first case, good luck- especially in this market. There are several issues:

- Even with a high appreciation rate, a $100k house doesn't build enough equity to be worth the hassle- you lose all your profits at the time of sale with commissions, fees, etc.
- The market is so flat/declining now, that it'll be some time before we start seeing even moderate appreciation, so unless you're planning on holding for 10+ years, you're wasting your time.
- The days of building a nice house in a quality area in the Atlanta metro for $100k are long gone. $100k now gets you a small house in a fair to sub-par area, and those houses aren't going to appreciate much. If this was the mid-90's, what you bought for $100k would have been a much different story.

In the rental scenario, you've got to be willing to actively manage your tenants to make a decent return in that price range. A $100k house, as noted above, isn't going to be in a premium area and won't attract premium tenants, so you may end up dealing with delinquent payments, damages to the house, lack of maintenance, etc. Is all that really worth a possible return of a few hundred dollars a month?

Also, even with 20% down, most banks won't lend to you for an investment property unless you can show a proven track record of successfully being a landlord.

[K'ledgeBldr]

'69 Camaro RS/SS convertible.
'63 Corvette (matching numbers)
'69 Shelby GT 500

Now, that's good investment "property".

[JPD]

I'd stock up on vintage guitars if I was looking to make an investment in something that'll grow in value.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by JPD

I'd stock up on vintage guitars if I was looking to make an investment in something that'll grow in value.

Or gold bars. $100k worth of gold will be worth much more in ten years than any house.......

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Or gold bars. $100k worth of gold will be worth much more in ten years than any house.......

My thought exactly. Amen.

My father owns a Patek Phillipe gold watch that his father bought in Switzerland in 1950. It was valued at about $17,000 in late 2008, and had soared to a value of $23,000 by late 2009. It drives me crazy that he blithely wears it around in public.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...ldBeWorth.aspx

[JPD]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Or gold bars. $100k worth of gold will be worth much more in ten years than any house.......

Surely those would be a lot less of a hassle to sell, too.

[noah]

I disagree. Over the long term gold has not provided good investment returns. Those that bought at the last peak are, in some cases, still sitting on loses despite the huge run up.

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Or gold bars. $100k worth of gold will be worth much more in ten years than any house.......

[wisemage]

Originally Posted by noah

I disagree. Over the long term gold has not provided good investment returns. Those that bought at the last peak are, in some cases, still sitting on loses despite the huge run up.

If you have $100K cash then gold is a good invesment.

I'am living in E.Cobb I would like to have a condo at midtown as an invesment and/or second house. I am wiling to pay $1000-$1500 a month... But I don't think I can find a nice condo at my price range in midtown.

And if I loose my job I'll move to this condo/house so monthly payment should be below $1500.