This week I will be closing on my first house that I plan on renovating and selling in the next few months. I have been looking for a low-end flip for over a year now and I finally found one via NetWorth Reality in Atlanta.

Throughout this year long process, I have learned tons about the Atlanta real estate market and in general what to look for in purchasing an investment property.

My criteria for my first purchase has been:

  1. The property value + $15k (for wiggle room) must be within my budget
  2. No seriously large repairs should be necessary. (roof and foundation need to be in good condition)
  3. Near my residence
  4. Low crime neighborhood.
  5. Zoned for good schools.
  6. Zillow and comparable houses needed agree on the value of the home*.
  7. Best-case estimated profit needs to be at least $15,000.
  8. Must be able to be sold quickly at a higher value
  9. No condos (typically have high Homeowners Association fees and renting restrictions)

The house I am buying meets most of the criteria, although its location is about 30 minutes away one direction. As a developer that sells his time, I am not excited about having to drive that on a weekly (daily?!) basis, but I plan on outsourcing as much of the property management that I can.

Once the repairs are finished on the property, I want to sell this property as soon as I can, because I don’t have time to manage renters or property repairs. While I already have interest from one person to rent from the house,

Hopefully this will be a profitable endeavor, but it could just end up being an expensive learning experience.

  • While I agree that Zillow doesn’t know what it is talking about when it comes to home values. I also think that the people buying the homes would not want to purchase a house too far off the price listed online. The house I bought Zillow thinks is worth $115k and I purchased it for $47k.