Real estate fund managers Michael Episcope and David Scherer had Georgia on their minds—specifically, Atlanta. The city, part of the third-largest-gaining metro area in the U.S. last year, according to Census Bureau data, was only getting hotter. So when the co-founders of real estate investment company Origin Investments spotted an opportunity last year to purchase a 125-unit apartment complex, they jumped on it. The property’s location, in Virginia-Highland, an affluent Atlanta neighborhood that’s home to organic shops, cocktail bars, and an indie film theater, was great. Yet Episcope and Scherer had a problem.