I often get calls from, work with and close deals with folks who want to invest in real estate in Georgia. Some of these folks are from outside of Georgia, many of them know what they are doing and all of them believe that they see value in Georgia real estate.

Most of them bring cash.

Other folks, from inside Georgia and from outside of Georgia, want to become real estate investors, but want some guidance on where to start.

Here are a few basic questions that I need to know about you if you are a real estate investor.

1. what has been your experience with real estate investing?

2. how much cash do you have reserved for real estate investing?

3. how many properties would you like to invest in over the next two years?

4. your intention is to buy, hold and rent properties, correct?

5. if so, then what has been your experience with land-lording? if not, then what is your investing strategy? what is your criteria for what makes a good investment?

6. how soon do you want to make a purchase?

7. in addition to your cash, are you expecting to require mortgage financing?

8. who is your lender of choice?

9. if you do not have a lender of choice, then who do you bank with?

10. who is in your Atlanta real estate network? contractors, lenders, property managers, etc. ?

10.5 in addition to your questions that you’ve already asked me, what other questions do you have?

Once a new client gets back with me on my questions, I can then answer their questions with more clarity and guidance.

Are you ready to take the next step? Are you already on a path and you just want an opinion? Please reach out and let me know if I can help you.

“During the fourth quarter of 2009 signs appeared that a long-awaited recovery in detached residence sales may be happening.

However, comparing the fourth quarter of 2009 to the fourth quarter of 2008, is like comparing apples and oranges.

The depths of the fourth quarter of 2008 are not likely to be seen again soon. Regardless, there are still areas of concern which could limit the degree and time frame of a full recovery.”

Click here to read the rest of this article at Examiner.com.

I am now the “Atlanta Real Estate Examiner” at examiner.com.

They bills themselves as “INSIDER SOURCE FOR EVERYTHING LOCAL.”

Subscribe to The Intown Insider RSS feed to get all of my posts.

If you want regular, realistic market statistics and quick reads on local real estate economics, local styles and  local trends, 3 – 4 times  a week, then subscribe to my Examiner.com RSS feed.

Either way, thanks for reading, thanks for your referrals and thank you for the opportunity to earn your business.

Marcie Geffner is a noted real estate, finance and business writer and Bankrate.com published three of her recent articles that offer lots of information on the current federal income tax credit.

Here’s one entitled “4 Tips for the Homebuyer Tax Credit.”

Here’s another entitled “Secrets of the Homebuyer Tax Credit”

And, here is one more entitled “Homebuyer Tax Credit Rewards Repeat Buyers.”

Here’s my favorite item from the guidelines that govern use of the credit:

“The home can be a mobile home or travel trailer that is fixed to land owned or leased by the home owner. A mobile home or travel trailer that is actually mobile doesn’t qualify.”

Uh, does this particular mobile assemblage account?

Here is a helpful cut and paste graphic from my friends at W.R. Starkey Mortgage – they show the differences between last year’s Homebuyer stimulus plan and this year’s Homebuyer stimulus plan on an easy chart.

Please let me know if I can help you get your real estate on in the next 5 or 6 weeks – if you hesitate, don’t come crying to me!

2010, The Year of The Short Sale…

2010, the year that national average prices will bottom in April-May…

2010, the year of the experienced real estate agent…

Here’s the most recent version of “The Mother of all Atlanta real estate charts” – which side of the bottom line do you want to be on?

“The Mother of all Atlanta real estate charts” does not lie.

Here are 5 reasons that Intown Atlanta and Decatur Sellers should hire me in 2010… Read the rest of this entry »

Here is the “To-Do List” that my Assistant Dana and I follow for our clients when we need to market a luxury penthouse for rent.

It looks exactly like my marketing checklist for the sale of a property, only I add some personal teeth to the tenant selection process.

We modify and customize our list to suit every client, but this is pretty much what we do every time we list a property.

38 items – turn me and my team on and we will get it done for you! Dana, my Assistant is a hyper-detail oriented master of the internet, so she gets the major media placements done.

I’m just the hustler.

Please call me if I can answer any questions… Read the rest of this entry »

Lake Michele is this pretty little lake off of Rockbridge Road in Stone Mountain – the neighborhood has a few, classic brick ranches that are within walking distance of a tranquil fishing lake.

It’s pretty – and my friend Kris listed an REO there for just $37,620.00. He received 3 offers in the first 24 hours after listing and one of them was from my client.

My client didn’t get it.

But somebody did, probably for under $50,000.00.

A well built 3 bedroom, 2 bath on an ACRE of land.

If you are looking for a ranch – a traditional or a mid-century modern – and if you are looking for properties with some land mass to them, and if you do not care about public school performance, and if you like the Eastside of metro Atlanta, and if you want a fixer-upper, and if you like lakes, and Stone Mountain, by God…you should be looking in and around the 30088.

I’m not talking about an investor flip – I’m talking about smart primary residence buyers buying these type of properties, fixing them up and living in them.

Seriously.

Read this IRS publication #523 – it is all about “Primary Residence” taxation and it has an explanation on “excluding the gain.”

Fix ‘em up, and move out in a few years – either rent the property and get a nice positive cash flow, or sell them for a profit!

If you do this over the next 5 – 10 years, then you will probably be able to locate properties just like these, for under $100,000, all over this submarket.

The capital gain “upside” is remarkable.

The fact that the gain is not “income taxed” if the gain is less than $250,000 and if you live in the property for at least 24 months … well,  that fact is just the biggest bonus plan in the United States today.

Prices are increasing on average in this submarket. Get ‘em while their still under $50,000…