This summer, The Bascom Group cobbled together a $250M fund to buy value-add apartments nationwide. The Cali-based company JV'd with NYC-based Spirit Investment Partners and received money from Oaktree Capital Management. We spoke with Spirit's David Nachman about its purchase of The Laurels at Overlook Park, a 232-unit apartment project in Sandy Springs along the Chattahoochee. The plan is to use a $13k/door renovation to push rents from 75 cents/SF to $1/SF--while remaining an affordable option. “If you can improve the interiors, create a real [awesome] pool, and deliver at a price that is 10%-20% cheaper than the competitor, that's the sweet spot,” David says. (As for what makes a pool "kick-ass," we'd probably need a full-length newsletter to address that.)

When it comes to suburban garden apartments, the money is only starting to look there (spending the past few years in a love affair with urban multifamily). So, product tends to be cheaper by the pound. As for architecture, David says a project built in 2000 differs little in look from one built in 2007 or even 2013--at least from a renter's perspective. “We're a little bit more nervous about supply in the Buckhead area and Midtown,” he says. But Atlanta is fast gaining economic steam. And suburban apartments are now feeling the benefit, he says.