I thought atlanta has a high crime rate, am I wrong?
But why more upside in Atlanta? Did you buy anything there yet?
It’s not any worse than other big cities. The actually city of Atlanta itself is small (pop 500k) the greater metro and suburbs are 6M. Most people live in the northern suburbs. The northern suburbs are very safe (ie. Marietta, Alpharetta, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Duluth etc).
Few reasons for good upside is that there is a good tech scene there. A majority of payment processing goes through Atlanta (Global Payments and First Data) so you have a lot companies with data centers there. There is a strong Tech school there (Georgia Tech) that is feeding a lot of the tech innovation.
The quality of life is high. Lots of young population, a lot of amenities. New hip restauranteurs are coming to Atlanta due to lower cost to open. Big movies are being filmed in metro Atlanta (Hunger Games, Avengers etc) due to favorable tax breaks. This is further fueling the hip and coolness of the city. It’s very accessible with the largest airport in the world (pax capacity). I could talk for awhile about Atlanta.
I’m already invested there. I have a few props already. I’m from Atlanta. (BAJacket = Bay Area Yellow Jacket).
The area Manch was sent a mail above is not that great, unless you just want to own like 10. Sweet spot for decent properties is probably closer to the 300k range if you want good tenants and decent location with appreciation upside.
Similar reasons why Austin is good for @hanera is the same reasons Atlanta is good.
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Just tell me which one is better: Atlanta or Austin? 
I don’t know as much about Austin sub markets, but if I was to guess Austin was better in the past. Now it’s probably even.
Translation: Austin is the past and Atlanta is the future.
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manch is trolling me. Is Atlanta still growing? Most of Austin & its suburbs have slowed. Only neighborhoods near current and future campus is holding well.
There are reasons it is so cheap. First of all it is not inland but a coastal area about a mile away from the waterfront. It borders National City which is the worst neighborhood in San Diego County. Notice the bars on all the doors and windows. It has a concrete yard behind an iron gate. The house is old and small, 3/1 830 sq. ft. add in what loansby said about the schools. Enough said.
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Atlanta is growing a good bit. Lots of transplants. It’s a bigger city than Austin. Pro sports teams and other things that Austin doesn’t. I’ve always viewed Austin as a nice quiet area because the UT was there.
Atlanta probably has a bigger Asian presence than Austin. Some Asian concert tours used to include a stop there.
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Atlanta is not cheap either. Many million dollar homes, even more 600k+.
You’re looking at the high end premiums. There is a lot of that in the center of city, but Austin is the same way. You would not be buying those for rentals. If you wanted a blend of decent homes, good schools, and good quality tenants you have to be the aforementioned suburbs. These hold their value decently, but upside is somewhat limited. Here’s a good example.
https://www.redfin.com/GA/Alpharetta/4860-Byers-Rd-30022/home/24711054
If you want high upside, East Atlanta has been hot (might be too late now). It’s smaller intown homes and lots that are getting gutted and flipped.
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@hanera, that’s just the actual city of Atlanta (500k people). Almost all the Asians live in the northern burbs. Just looked at metro area and in 2010 it was closer to 5%. 5% of 6M is more than 6% of 2M. So technically @harriet is right.
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Why is the northern part of almost all cities preferred to the southern part?
Examples SF, Atlanta, Chicago
For SF and Chicago, I assume that’s because it’s waterfront. Waterfront is always desirable.
That’s not the case with Chicago. The north side waterfront is actually called the gold coast, but the south side has a much longer waterfront than the north. It is also more housing projects and industrial properties.
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The waterfront is to the east in Chicago.
North LA is definitely the best part. Same in Sacramento, Seattle, San Diego, Berkeley, Oakland… name one town where the southside is better?
South Sunnyvale is better than north.
Northern hemisphere is more developed than the the southern part. Maybe people think that north is better in the old days
Does it matter?