Atlanta Real Estate Investors Alliance Blog

Landlords, Learn How to Boost Rents, Retain Tenants and Minimize Liability

John AdamsAtlanta’s real estate radio host, columnist, author, and investor John Adams will be our speaker for the Movers and Shakers Meeting on July 18th starting at 11:30 AM at the 5 Seasons Brewery  in Alpharetta. John Adams is a full-time investor, broker, and author of multiple books about real estate. He also writes a weekly column for the Sunday real estate section of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and has a weekly call-in radio program on News-Talk Radio 920am WGKA. John will be speaking on his “Top 10 Tips for Georgia Landlords” and how to boost rents, retain tenants and minimize liability.

If you plan on attending this exciting and informative lunch meeting, please be sure to RSVP on Facebook so that we know you are coming so that we can plan accordingly.

RSVP on Facebook

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John Adams

Posted on July 7, 2011 by

John AdamsDescribed as “Atlanta’s most trusted voice in real estate,” John Adams is a leading expert and consultant on issues of home ownership in the southeast United States.

Since 1973, he has bought, sold, brokered, leased, or managed residential real estate valued at well over fifty million dollars.

His investment seminars at Emory University in Atlanta have attracted overflow crowds every quarter, and his call-in radio program on News-Talk Radio 920am WGKA is listened to by thousands of Atlantans every week. The program received the 1990 Excellence in Media Award from the Atlanta Board of Realtors. Read More→

Selling or Renting Your Home Fast!

Posted on July 6, 2011 by

Sell or Rent Your Home Fast!As real estate investors, Kim and I have bought, sold and rented a lot of homes over the years.  One of the most important lessons we’ve learned is to pay attention to price.  Price, especially in this market, determines the “if” and “when” your property sells or rents.  If your price is just 2% or 3% too high, it can cause your home to sit on the market for months or even years.

I know, you’ve always heard that the three most important factors to consider in regard to real estate are location, location, location.  That may be true when real estate values are rising, but in this economy, the three most important factors are price, price, price!

Right now, we have two homes on the market – one is for sale, the other is for rent.  Let’s look at how we market each home. Read More→

We have a lot of exciting things happening this week at Atlanta REIA. Tuesday we have the official kick off of the Super Smart High Tech Home Buying and Selling Basics Workshop and Webcast. On Wednesday, we have the iPad Investing Workshop Part 2 with Don DeRosa. On Thursday, we have the Haves & Wants Meeting followed by the 5 Seasons Brewery Tour and Beer Tasting. Come out and join us! Don’t forget, next Monday, July 11th is our Atlanta REIA Main Meeting and Vendor Trade Show. Don’t miss it! Read More→

Social Media and Your BusinessLearn about the Do’s & Don’ts for your business in the social media age, specifically for real estate investors, at the Atlanta REIA Small Business Group on July 14th at 3:30 PM at 5 Seasons Brewing in Sandy Springs.

  • Some tools make more sense than others, let Jeff Sheehan show you the one’s that make the most sense
  • An integrated marketing approach is the most effective way to market your business
  • Social media is just one component of an overall marketing strategy
  • Social media is not a cure all for your business
  • Social media does not always work in producing quantifiable results
  • Social media can be a time waster if you let it
  • FTF networking is a vital component of whatever marketing you do
  • The current profitable customer and/or client is still king!

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iPad Workshop Replay (Part 1)

Posted on July 1, 2011 by

iPad Workshop with Don DeRosa Everyone has probably heard about the hot new iPad 2 by now. You’ve probably also heard Don DeRosa talk about how its not just a cool new toy, but an integral tool he uses to run his real estate investing business. You’ve probably already seen many investors actively using their iPad at our Atlanta REIA Meetings and Networking Events to take notes, take pictures, play music, videos and webcasts, send and receive emails and keep track of all our upcoming events and more.

Don DeRosaPerhaps you’ve recently purchased an iPad yourself and, like the rest of us, want a lesson on how to not only use it more effectively for personal use, but more importantly, use it to run your investing business from virtually anywhere, on-the-fly. If you want to learn how to the iPad to revolutionize your business, be sure to watch the Workshop Replay of our first iPad Workshop (Part 1) with Don DeRosa that we recorded on Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at our Atlanta REIA North Office.

If you missed the workshop and would like to watch the Workshop Replay (Part 1 & 2), Gold Members can register for $15 and Silver Members for $25. Click here to Register for the Workshop Replays Now! Read More→

When Tenants Move Out - Part 2In last week’s column, I shared some of our secrets we use to get our rental properties back from our residents (tenants) in a clean, ready-to-rent condition.  Today, let’s finish up.

One of the easiest ways to get your rental trashed is to insist that your “tenant” stay in the property because the “contract” says so.  It’s a case of you telling the tenant, “You’re gonna stay and pay!” and the tenant saying, “You wanna bet?!”

Folks, though most of our leases run for a year, I NEVER want a resident staying in one of our homes for one day longer than they want to be there!  With this in mind, we have “out” language in our lease agreement.  It simply says: If a resident wants to end the lease, just give us a 30-day written notice and pay an amount equal to one month’s rent.  (NOTE:  To be fair, we, as landlords, can cancel the lease using this same formula.) Read More→

When a Tenant Moves Out – Part 1

Posted on June 29, 2011 by

When Tenants Move OutEarlier this month, three investors visited our ranch.  They were having a lot of trouble with their rental properties.  In addition to high turnover rates, when the tenants moved out, they left the homes a wreck.  The investors wanted to know how to more effectively manage rental properties and tenants.

They couldn’t have picked a better time to visit.  Two of our properties had just gone vacant.  The first property was a high-end home – the husband had been hired by the FBI.  The second home was in a tool-belt neighborhood – the couple had just bought their first home.

When the investors saw the condition of both of our properties, their jaws hit the ground.  The yards were cut, flowerbeds weeded, floors vacuumed, cabinets cleaned, and the bathrooms were spotless!  Truly, with almost no work on our part, another tenant could have moved in that day! Read More→

Dustin Griffin, Executive Director of Atlanta REIA, conducted this New Member Orientation (NMO) Workshop & Webcast on June 21st 2011. The purpose of this workshop was to introduce new members to Atlanta REIA and to show them how they can get actively involved in our organization and get the most benefit out of their membership. Dustin covered the following on the Workshop & Webcast:

  • Atlanta REIA’s mission and goals
  • Meetings, subgroups, webcasts and workshops
  • Different membership types: Gold vs. Silver
  • Individual Memberships vs. Business Memberships
  • Paying you up to $150 for member referrals
  • How to get involved
  • How to promote your business
  • How to promote your deals
  • How to build your buyers list and contact database
  • Our member benefits and discounts
  • Our private member only website
  • And much more! Read More→

Russ HinerI’m SO excited about our Very Special Guest Speaker this Monday at the Atlanta REIA West Meeting that I almost wish we could just skip right over the weekend and get right to it!  RUSS HINER is gracious enough to come speak with us about “How to Negotiate Your Way to Success”.   What a great opportunity to learn priceless negotiating skills from one of Atlanta’s strongest real estate investors!  Russ is definitely highly qualified to speak on this topic.  Listen to this… you wouldn’t know it from talking with him, because he is not one to “toot his own horn” and he may be upset with me for even sharing this with you, but I found out through the grapevine that his background includes being a coach on the teams of such legends as Russ Whitney and  Robert Kiyosaki!  You think he may know something about negotiating that we can learn from?  ABSOLUTELY!

Let’s face it folks, whether we are buying a house from a seller, selling a house to a buyer, or simply buying something at our local retail store, what comes out of our mouth when we are negotiating on every transaction determines our financial success in life.  Those  of us who learn to negotiate the best, wind up with the biggest stacks of CA$H!  Listen, all the techniques and strategies for buying and selling real estate can be learned along the way, but it’s the negotiating that determines how big our checks are with any strategy.  So, it just makes sense that if there is one skill that we as real estate investors should spend our time and efforts learning, practicing, and continually improving upon, it’s DEFINITELY negotiating.  And Russ is going to speak on this very topic for us this Monday, June 27th at the Cherokee Cattle Company for FREE for Atlanta REIA Members, and only $5 for non-members!  No matter if you haven’t done your first deal yet, or you are a seasoned investor, DON’T MISS THIS ONE, its sure to be some of the best information you could possibly expose yourself to in order to help you get to the next level.  See you Monday! Be sure to come early to get a great seat and soak up everything Russ has to share with us.   Have a great weekend! I hope it goes by fast!

This is another great week at Atlanta REIA! Monday night at Atlanta REIA West, Russ Hiner will be teaching you how to hone your negotiating skills. On Tuesday at the Note Buyers Group, Tom Boyer is going to teach you how to make money buying and selling real estate notes. Thursday is the Haves & Wants Meeting for real estate players looking to do deals now. This Saturday is the “Saturday in the Park” with Atlanta REIA. Bring your family and come party in the park with us! Read More→

This week we have several excellent subgroups for intermediate to advanced investors such as Movers & Shakers, Cash Cow Commercial Group and Haves & Wants. We also have a webcast on how to get involved with Atlanta REIA (New Member Orientation) as well as a Technology Workshop with Don DeRosa on how to use the iPad. We will also be releasing a few Member Only Webcast Replays this week as well. Read More→