Duplex specialist real estate agent (Atlanta, Mableton: rental market, crime, house)

[yosenut]

Hello. I have appreciated all the information I found in these threads about Atlanta Metro living.

My husband and I are planning to buy a duplex within the next three months to live in one half and rent out the other. We work in Midtown by Piedmont Park and don't want a commute over 1 hour during peak times or an unsafe neighborhood (diversity=fine, high property and personal crime= unacceptable). BUT we can't spend more than $120K either. I know how hard those requirements are because I've spent quality time on realtor.com since May and the list of eligible properties is always around 5 long.

At this point I've recognized I need an experienced multi-family realtor who won't balk at the low commission of a sub-200K deal and has an ear to the ground on the unadvertised properties I'm missing. Oh, and knows the towns where I'll likely find them (Austell, Mableton, etc.). My internet searches on realtor review sites have given me no results.

Does anyone have any leads? Also, thank you but I'm not interested in great single-family home specialist realtors. Investment property realtors are a very different market. I need their specialized knowledge of rental markets, property management companies, etc. We already own a similar duplex in FL so are familiar with our needs.

Thank you in advance.

[BobKovacs]

You want a duplex for under $120k? I'm thinking my biggest concern wouldn't be finding a realtor, but finding a bullet-proof vest to wear when visiting the properties that meet that criteria.......

Bob

[yosenut]

Good one, Bob. Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. What I forgot to mention was that my husband and I have already done some due diligence, having been through this process before, and visited some of the properties we've been finding and the surrounding neighborhoods.

What we learned was that the ones for less than $120K that fit our criteria are fixer-uppers. We have no kids yet, so that is fine with us; we have the time to do it after work and on weekends. Better a distressed property in a safe working class neighborhood than a newer house in a neighborhood with twice the rate of personal crime vs. the national average. So yes, the livable sub-$125K duplex is alive and well in the Atlanta suburbs.

We'd still like the help of a professional buyer's agent to help us maximize our opportunities, however. Anyone? Anyone?

[jxu66]

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