You may be interested in investing in Atlanta real estate for a variety of reasons. Maybe you're excited at the prospect of renovating an old house. Maybe a friend of yours owns rental property and has told you it's a great way to build equity in your financial future. Maybe you're tired of the ups and downs of the stock market and want to try another investment avenue. For every real estate investor, there's a different reason driving him or her.

Effective real estate investing has to emanate from an educated start point and progress to a planned exit. To this point, there are three basic ways you can invest:

• Buy a property, live in it for two years, and sell it. You pocket the capital gain, up to $250,000/individual and $500,000/couple, without paying capital gain taxes.
• Buy a property, renovate it, and resell it for a profit. This is extremely popular with investors right now, and as a result intown Atlanta is somewhat short of well-priced houses that are good candidates for renovation and resale. This certainly doesn't mean you can't do it...you just need to be realistic and smart in how you buy.
• Buy a property, fix it up so it is a suitable rental, rent it, then refinance to pull cash out and cover your costs. Hopefully your tenant(s) are covering your mortgage, taxes and insurance...maybe even giving you a positive cash flow. If you have bought wisely, your property should go up in value as time passes, creating a nice nest egg for you down the road.

There are other paths you can take too...your own vision is the only limit. I'm here to help you in your quest.

If you are interested in real estate investing, I can recommend a great book for you to read. It's written by Gary Keller, the Keller in "Keller Williams Realty". It's called The Millionaire Real Estate Investor. I believe that an educated real estate investor is more successful, and I want you to be successful.

Contact me and let's schedule an introductory meeting at my office...let's discuss what you have in mind...of course there is no obligation...and I'll give you a copy of The Millionaire Real Estate Investor absolutely free ($21.95 value). Now that's a smart business move! I've helped numerous Atlanta real estate investors pursue their dreams...what about you?

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Katie is the Atlanta editor, local real estate expert, and contributing writer to LoftLife magazine!