We Are GaREIA Issue 3, September/October 2015 | Page 5

conduct a yellow letter campaign and talk with
sellers. In September we will be offering the
Georgia REIA Boot Camp. This will consist of
two evenings and two full days of education
covering the basics of finding and funding deals,
fixing up a property, then how to flip the
property or manage it as a rental in your
portfolio. One of the boot camp highlights is a
bus tour of properties in various state of
condition where students learn how to estimate
repair costs and maximum allowable offer
(MAO). Also starting in August Steve Laube
will be teaching Mastering Passive
Income. This class is appropriate for investors
of all levels, covering various sources of passive

income including social security, 401(k)s, IRAs,
annuities, stocks, bonds and real estate. Tax
implications are also covered. This course can
help investors of all ages know how to design
their business for the types of income and
lifestyle they desire to have. Another advantage
of these courses is membership in the Google
group for the class and past participants. This
provides a continuous source of education and
guidance as students apply knowledge and skills
learned in the course.
So whatever your real estate goals may be,
Georgia REIA is here to help you achieve those
goals starting with the foundation. I will look
forward to seeing you at these coming events.

Atlanta, Georgia “News Notes” September 2015

*** Atlanta Business Chronicle Publishes “Top 100 Influencers” in Real Estate
The Atlanta Business Chronicle released its annual list of 100 people influencing the home market in the
Atlanta metropolitan area last month. The city’s “Who’s Who in Residential Real Estate” featured agents
and professionals from every major brokerage as well as large and small businesses involved in real
estate. The Chronicle also makes it a point to include government agency heads, developers, and analysts,
“without whom no such list could be complete,” the publication noted.
*** Town Center in Suwannee, Ga., Snags $46-Million Partnership, 200+ High-End Apartments
Suwannee, Georgia, is about to get a serious influx of luxury. Already on the list of “Top 10 Cities with
Most Expensive Rents in Georgia,” Suwannee will now feature an additional luxury apartment building
with a monthly re nt higher than $1,500. The residences, which will be most one- and two-bedroom units
intended to appeal to millennials and empty-nesters, will be constructed for possible conversion to condos
are part of a $46-million deal to expand the city’s Town Center development. Project plans indicate that
the new development will, in addition to bringing in more high-end housing, add 10,000 square feet of
mixed-used space to Buford Highway and be finished in 2018.
*** Atlanta Suburb has “The Biggest Backyards in America”
If you need a home with plenty of room for the children to roam while remaining solidly on your private
property, you might want to consider moving to Lawrenceville, Georgia. According to Zillow, median lot
size in Lawrenceville is 14,375 square feet, compared to a median lot size in Baltimore, the smallest on
the list, of 1,710 square feet. More than a few people must find those lots attractive, as Lawrenceville
property values rose just under six percent last year and Zillow dubbed the local market “very hot” based
on recent data.