Investor FAQ

On-market listings, off-market and pocket opportunities, value-add and distressed properties, straightforward rentals, fix-and-flip candidates, land, and small multifamily throughout Metro Atlanta and surrounding markets. Tell me your strategy and price range, and I’ll tailor what I send you rather than blasting you every new listing that hits the MLS.

Yes — for the same reason it matters for owner-occupant buyers, but more so. Investment financing (see the Financing section below) has its own qualification process, and knowing your real number before you fall in love with a deal keeps you from wasting time on properties you can’t actually close. I can introduce you to lenders who specialize in investor financing if you don’t already have one.

The underwriting is different (rates, down payment, and qualification lean on the property’s numbers, not just your personal income), the analysis is different (you’re underwriting cash flow and return, not just whether you love the kitchen), and the legal and tax picture is different (landlord-tenant law, depreciation, and potentially an LLC). The property search itself works the same way — comps, condition, and negotiation still matter.

Yes, when they exist — through my own network, other agents, and relationships built over time, alongside the marketed inventory on the MLS. I’ll always tell you plainly whether something is on-market or off-market and what that means for how competitive the process will be.

• Conventional investment property loans — standard financing underwritten largely on your personal income and credit, with a higher down payment and rate than an owner-occupant loan.
• DSCR loans (Debt-Service Coverage Ratio) — qualify primarily off the property’s rental income rather than your personal income, popular with investors who own several properties or are self-employed.
• Portfolio loans — held by the lender rather than sold on the secondary market, often used to finance multiple properties under one loan or to work around conventional loan-count limits.
• Hard money / rehab loans — short-term, asset-based financing for a fix-and-flip, priced for speed rather than long-term holding. See the Fix & Flip Numbers Calculator below to pencil out the holding and financing costs on one.
• Cash — no financing costs or qualification hurdles, but ties up capital; some investors use cash to win a competitive offer, then do a delayed-financing refinance afterward.

Programs vary by lender, but as a general range: 20–25% down (roughly 75–80% loan-to-value), a minimum debt-service coverage ratio around 1.10–1.25 (meaning the property’s rental income covers 110–125% of the mortgage payment) for standard pricing, and a minimum credit score typically in the 660–700 range. Rates on DSCR loans generally run higher than a conventional mortgage since the underwriting leans on the property, not your personal income — ask your lender for current pricing.

Debt-Service Coverage Ratio = the property’s net operating income (rental income minus operating expenses, before debt payments) divided by the annual mortgage payment (principal and interest). A DSCR of 1.20 means the property generates 20% more income than it costs to service the debt. The Rental ROI Calculator below shows you NOI and cash flow so you can gut-check this before you talk to a lender.

Two reasons: lenders view non-owner-occupied loans as higher risk (an investor is statistically more likely to walk away from a property they don’t live in if things get difficult), and conventional loans carry a Loan-Level Price Adjustment (LLPA) for investment properties — an added fee, often paid as points at closing or built into the rate, on top of the base rate. See the Investment Property Closing Cost Estimator below to see how this shows up in your cash-to-close.

Conventional (Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac) guidelines generally cap an individual borrower around ten financed properties, including your primary residence, though underwriting gets more conservative well before that limit. DSCR and portfolio lenders are typically more flexible on property count since they underwrite the deal rather than your personal debt-to-income profile. Your lender can walk you through where you stand.

Almost always — commonly 2–6 months of PITI (principal, interest, taxes, insurance) per property, held in reserve after closing, and the requirement often scales up with each additional financed property you own. Factor this into your planning alongside your down payment and closing costs; it’s cash you need to have, not cash you spend at the table.

It depends on your liability tolerance, financing plan, and overall portfolio strategy — there’s no universally correct answer. An LLC can help separate personal assets from a lawsuit tied to the property (a tenant injury claim, for example), but it isn’t automatic asset protection on its own, and it adds cost and complexity (formation, a registered agent, separate bookkeeping, and in some cases a different, harder-to-get loan). This is a conversation for your attorney and CPA before you write an offer, not after.

Not always the same way. Many conventional and DSCR loans still close in your personal name (sometimes with the LLC added afterward via a deed transfer, which can trigger a due-on-sale clause conversation with your lender), while some portfolio and commercial lenders will lend directly to an LLC, typically at a different rate and with a personal guarantee. Confirm this with your specific lender before you assume either path.

In Georgia, a modest state filing fee plus, if you use one, a registered agent service (commonly $100–$300 per year), and if you want an attorney to draft an operating agreement, that professional fee on top. The Investment Property Closing Cost Estimator below includes an optional line for this if you’re titling a purchase in an LLC.

A single-member LLC is generally a “disregarded entity” for federal tax purposes by default, meaning rental income and expenses still flow to your personal return the same as if you owned the property directly, unless you elect otherwise. The liability and financing implications are usually the bigger factors in the decision, not the tax treatment — confirm the specifics with your CPA.

At minimum: cap rate (NOI ÷ purchase price), cash-on-cash return (annual cash flow ÷ cash actually invested), monthly cash flow after all expenses and debt service, and a realistic vacancy and maintenance/CapEx reserve — not just the advertised rent. The Rental ROI Calculator walks through all of this and gives you a full itemized breakdown you can save as a PDF.

It’s a quick screening tool for fix-and-flip deals: Maximum Offer = (After Repair Value × 70%) − Rehab Costs. It’s a starting filter, not a hard rule — some strong deals justify paying above the 70% line (a very short hold, a hot resale market, a lighter rehab scope), and some deals that pencil under it still don’t work once you look closer. The Fix & Flip Numbers Calculator runs this rule automatically alongside your full profit and ROI numbers.

Use a per-square-foot range for the scope of work (a cosmetic refresh runs very differently than a full gut) as a placeholder, then always build in a contingency buffer — most experienced flippers budget 10–20% on top of their initial estimate for the surprises that show up once walls open. Treat any pre-contractor number as a planning estimate, not a number to bid the deal on.

Cap rate measures the property’s return independent of financing (as if you paid all cash) — useful for comparing properties on an apples-to-apples basis. Cash-on-cash return measures your actual return on the cash you put in, given your specific financing — two investors buying the identical property with different down payments and loan terms will see different cash-on-cash numbers even though the cap rate is the same.

Accurate enough to know your walk-away number and your margin for error — you’ll firm up exact figures during due diligence (contractor bids, insurance quotes, a rent survey). Run your numbers with the Rental ROI Calculator or Fix & Flip Numbers Calculator and the Investment Property Closing Cost Estimator before you write the offer, then verify everything during your due diligence period.

No. Georgia law (O.C.G.A. §44-7-19) preempts every county and city in the state from capping or regulating residential rent amounts. You can raise rent by any amount with proper notice, and there’s no statewide just-cause requirement for non-renewal of a month-to-month tenancy.

For a month-to-month tenancy, Georgia requires 30 days’ written notice to terminate. For an annual (year-to-year) tenancy, it’s 60 days’ written notice before the term ends. A fixed-term lease simply expires on its own terms with no additional notice required, unless your lease says otherwise. These same windows are the practical minimum for notifying a tenant of a rent increase taking effect at renewal.

Within 30 days of the tenant vacating and returning keys/access, with an itemized written statement of any deductions — Georgia doesn’t offer a two-stage accounting process the way some states do, so get this right the first time. If you manage 10 or more units, Georgia law also requires the deposit to be held in an escrow account or bonded. Missing the deadline or shortchanging the itemization can expose you to statutory damages beyond just returning the deposit.

Georgia’s process is fast relative to most states: for nonpayment of rent, no pre-filing demand is required — you can file a dispossessory action as soon as rent is late per your lease. The tenant then has a short answer window (commonly about 7 days) after being served; if they don’t respond, a default judgment can issue quickly. An uncontested case can move from filing to a Writ of Possession in roughly 2–3 weeks, though a contested case (and any appeal, which requires the tenant to post a bond) takes longer. Never attempt a “self-help” eviction (changing locks, shutting off utilities) — it’s illegal in Georgia regardless of how far behind a tenant is, and exposes you to real liability.

For any property built before 1978, federal law requires a lead-based paint disclosure and EPA pamphlet at lease signing, same as a sale. Georgia doesn’t mandate a broader landlord disclosure form the way it doesn’t for sellers, but a clear, well-drafted lease covering habitability, maintenance responsibilities, and your specific property’s rules protects you far better than a generic template pulled offline.

Treat it as an orientation, not a substitute for counsel. Landlord-tenant law has nuance (habitability standards, fair housing compliance, lease-specific terms, local county court procedures for filing) that a real estate attorney or a Georgia-specific property management resource should confirm for your specific property and tenant situation.

A provision in the tax code (Section 1031) that lets you defer capital gains tax on the sale of an investment property if you reinvest the proceeds into another “like-kind” investment property, following specific rules and timelines. It doesn’t eliminate the tax — it defers it, potentially indefinitely if you keep exchanging, or until you eventually sell without exchanging.

You have 45 days from the sale of your relinquished property to formally identify potential replacement properties in writing, and 180 days total from the sale to close on the replacement property. Both clocks start on the same day — the day your original property sale closes — and they run concurrently, not consecutively, and neither deadline is extended for weekends or holidays.

Yes — this is not optional. You cannot personally receive or control the sale proceeds at any point during the exchange, or you disqualify the entire transaction. A qualified intermediary (QI) holds the funds between the sale and purchase and handles the required exchange paperwork. Line up your QI before your relinquished property closes, not after.

No — 1031 exchanges are for investment and business-use property, not a primary residence (which has its own, separate capital gains exclusion up to $250,000/$500,000 for single/married filers). If a property has served both purposes, the rules get more nuanced — talk to a CPA about how your specific use history affects eligibility.

Yes — the 1031 Exchange Guide (linked in Investor Resources) walks through the identification rules, like-kind requirements, and common pitfalls in more detail. This FAQ section is the short version.

The IRS lets you deduct the cost of a residential rental building (not the land) over 27.5 years on a straight-line basis, which offsets rental income on paper even in years the property is cash-flow positive. This is one of the most significant tax advantages of owning rental real estate — and one reason a property can show a loss for tax purposes while still putting cash in your pocket.

A cost segregation study is an engineering-based analysis that reclassifies specific components of a building (certain flooring, fixtures, appliances, landscaping) out of the standard 27.5-year schedule and into much shorter 5-, 7-, or 15-year categories. Those reclassified components can then qualify for accelerated — and under current law, 100% bonus depreciation — letting you front-load a large deduction in the year the property is placed in service rather than spreading it over decades. It’s typically most worthwhile on larger properties or when you have significant income to offset in a given year; the study itself has a cost, so a CPA should run the math on whether it pencils out for your situation.

Yes — recent federal tax legislation (the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” OBBBA) restored 100% bonus depreciation for qualifying property placed in service after January 19, 2025, which covers the current tax year. That said, tax law can change, bonus depreciation is elective rather than mandatory (in some cases it makes more sense to spread deductions into future, higher-income years), and the fine print on what qualifies is genuinely technical — confirm current rules and your best strategy with a CPA before you file, not after.

When you sell a property you’ve depreciated, the IRS “recaptures” a portion of the tax benefit you took, generally taxed at a maximum rate of 25% on the amount of depreciation claimed, separate from your regular capital gains rate on the appreciation itself. This applies whether or not you actually used the deductions to reduce your taxes in a given year, so factor it into your exit math — or consider a 1031 exchange (see above) to defer it.

Strongly recommended once you own more than one property, are considering cost segregation, or are weighing an LLC or 1031 exchange — the rules have enough nuance that a generalist preparer can miss real opportunities or real risks. I’m happy to make an introduction if you don’t already have one.

• Underestimating vacancy, maintenance, and CapEx. Advertised rent minus the mortgage payment isn’t your cash flow — build in real reserves for the months the unit sits empty and the roof that eventually needs replacing.
• Skipping a rent survey and trusting a listing description. Verify achievable rent against actual comparable leases, not a seller’s optimistic pro forma.
• Not lining up financing before making an offer. DSCR and investor loans move on their own timeline — know your terms before you’re under contract with a due diligence clock running.
• Underbudgeting rehab on a flip. Skipping a contingency buffer is how a profitable flip on paper turns into a break-even (or worse) project once the real bids come in.
• Treating the 70% Rule as gospel instead of a screening tool. It’s a fast filter, not a substitute for running your actual numbers on a specific deal.
• Not understanding Georgia landlord-tenant law before self-managing. Security deposit mistakes and DIY evictions are two of the most common (and most expensive) ways new landlords get into legal trouble.
• Ignoring the tax and entity side until tax season. LLC structure, depreciation strategy, and 1031 timing all need to be decided before or at closing, not after — loop in your CPA and attorney early.