We Had an Excellent Atlanta REIA Main Meeting for September 2010 Despite the Labor Day Holiday
Posted on September 7, 2010 by
Yesterday evening, many folks turned out for our Atlanta REIA Meeting despite the holiday, to celebrate would could be their Last Labor Day and I want to personally thank everyone who attended. We really appreciate your support for our new Atlanta real estate investor group.
Several investors I spoke to at the meeting had done quite well in the Atlanta real estate investing market a few years ago, but got burned on a few deals gone bad when the housing market crashed more recently. As a result, they took some time off from real estate investing to recover, regroup and had to get a job to pay the bills. They came out last night to get re-focused and re-energized so they can accomplish great things buying, selling and/or holding real estate once more since housing prices are at an all time low. I commend you all for doing what it takes to get re-engaged and not take a few bad blows as permanent defeat. Just know that Atlanta REIA is here to help you in your future endeavors.
I started the meeting off at 6:00 PM by going over all of our upcoming Atlanta REIA events, meetings, workshops, webcasts, networking events and Fuller Center Project Dedications and volunteer workdays. I also gave a brief overview and tour of the new AtlantaREIA.com website. We’ve been really busy since our first Atlanta REIA meeting back in July 2010 and had a lot to share. Click here for more information on what’s new at Atlanta REIA this month.
From 7 to 8:45 PM, we had an excellent panel discussion with three local real estate investors who are still buying, selling, holding and/or renting properties in the current Atlanta real estate market and doing quite well.
Reggie Jackson, a regular at our Atlanta REIA and Late Nite Networking events, shared his secrets on how he buys inner city homes low (really low), does minor renovations and rents them to Section 8 tenants for some really hefty monthly positive cash flows. Reggie also talked about the risks and rewards that come with buying houses in blighted neighborhoods, fixing them up right without overdoing it, and getting the houses qualified to rent to Section 8 tenants so that he can enjoy $500/mo positive cash flows while other investors are just happy to break even in this soft market.
Long time Atlanta real estate investor, hard money lender and frequent Atlanta REIA and Late Nite Networking attendee, Steve Jordan talked about his years of real estate investing experience spent buying single family homes, multi-family units, apartment buildings and more recently commercial property as well as the ups and downs of each. Interestingly enough, Steve also told us why he and many other hard money lenders aren’t lending nearly as much money as they used too despite the incredible buying opportunities out there right now. His answer surprised most of us but made perfect sense.
Tommy Cater, who attended our Atlanta REIA meeting for the first time this month, talked about managing boarding/rooming houses for both adults and college students where he can take a 4 bedroom single family house and nearly quadruple his rent earning $500 per room where he might only be able to rent the entire house out for about $700 per month. Tommy talked about the ups and downs of the boarding house business, collecting rent on a weekly basis, the challenges of managing a cash only business and what he will be doing next with his investing business.
It was fascinating to hear each of our panel member’s real world stories and how they could each relate to each others trials, tribulations, challenges and successes. Our audience, composed of both new and seasoned real estate investors, really enjoyed asking questions and interacting with them since each of our panel members focused on certain real estate niches that many in our audience have not yet pursued. It was a real learning experience for all of us including the panel members themselves.
Reggie, Steve and Tommy all agreed to come back and share more of their knowledge with us any time we want and will be regular attendees at many of our meetings. I encourage anyone who missed our Atlanta REIA Main Meeting for September to come out and meet these guys at any of our future meetings. You will be glad you did.
I want to personally thank Reggie, Steve and Tommy for being on our panel, thank Gordon for putting it together and once again thank all of you who attended and continue to support our new investor group. We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting!
Great meeting last night and it was my first. I already have learned stuff even though I have been managing property for awhile. I also enjoyed getting to know actual details from these veterans about areas I havent worked on yet and even better, not one sales pitch on a product. The small group after-meeting, was also productive.
Ethan, it was great meeting you too and I am so glad you found us and enjoyed our meeting. We hope you will come back month after month and attend some of our other events as well. You will learn a lot from the players and hopefully have much to share with the new guys. I also look forward to you getting involved with our efforts at the Fuller Center of Atlanta. See you soon!