All Forum Posts by: David Holcombe

Hi! I'm selling my personal investment property, an Airbnb in the Kirkwood neighborhood of Atlanta with a detached ADU on a corner lot. It's a great neighborhood. The property is 1 block to restaurants/retail and there's lots of nearby development including the Pullman Yards district. the lot is 270ft deep and it's a corner lot, so there's lots of room to add amenities, a pool, a third unit as a guest house or tiny house on wheels. Both units are legally rentable and have full kitchens and parking. The main house (Unit A) is currently an AirBNB that averages +/ $6,000 a month in gross revenue. Unfurnished rent comps for the main house are around +/-$3,700/month. Unit B is currently vacant/new construction. Unfurnished rent comps for the ADU are in the +/- $2,900 per month range. Our Unit B projections as an STR are in the $4,500-$5,500 per month range. Let me know if you have any questions.

AirBnb Link here: 

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1026738445261703917?guests=1&am...

For sale listing here: 

https://www.redfin.com/GA/Atlanta/120-Howard-St-SE-30317/hom...

Thanks! 

David Holcombe

Keller Knapp Realty (ADU and STR Specialist)

Hi! I'm an investor in Atlanta focusing on STR's and ADU's. We've got a few tickets left to our free "ADUcation" event next Wednesday in Kirkwood. We're going to tour our latest ADU build, talk about ADU's in Atlanta, how to build them, tips and tricks, why we love them. Learn more about this investment strategy. The main house is an STR and will also be open for tours. It'll be fun and informative. It's a free event but you have to sign up to come, tickets are limited. Thanks

Hi Chris, I'm a real estate agent in Atlanta and one of the things I specialize in is building ADU's and helping investors buy properties to build ADUs on. I've gotten quotes from lots of ADU GC's. Here's my favorites: Meg Rowlett - Park Atlanta Homes, https://www.parkatlhomes.com/adu-packages, Jeff Cox, Cox ADU https://www.instagram.com/cox_adu/, ATL ADU CO: https://www.atladuco.com/contact, Pop Custom Homes, Tyler Kitchens https://www.popcustomhomes.com/. Good luck!

 @Ronald C. Davis Thanks! Well, the advice of the lawyers I've spoken with who are working on this is: If you qualify to get a license under the current legislation, then you should go ahead and get the license. There will likely be grandfathering rights included in the next STR legislation so having a license can only help your case. It's possible that someone could qualify to get a license under the current legislation but not under the new legislation, so might as well get the license. Important to note, Dekalb county is in the early stages of introducing their own STR legislation. The initial draft is very restrictive. (Most of City of Atlanta is in Fulton County, but a lot of the East side is in Dekalb). If you're in Dekalb, there's more risk that you may not be able to continue to operate than Fulton, IMHO. Good luck!

 @Kevin Ramos yeah, hold on to that great loan! 

I'm not endorsing this idea but I've seen people get around this by signing a "6 month lease" with every tenant but then giving them the right to terminate at no cost after 30 or 60 days or whatever it is. If the HOA doesn't specifically restrict against termination rights in their leases, they can't stop you. Of course, they could always change the rules again to close that loophole. You could lobby for a 30 day minimum rather than 6 months. That would allow you to still operate as MTR but restrict STR. If I were in your shoes and hadn't bought furniture yet, I would avoid doing MTR.

Hi @Adrian Tjakra 

I realize it's been a month or 2, did you get what you need here? I worked for an MTR property manager in Atlanta, own an MTR, and have worked with quite a few buyers/sellers of MTR's as their agent. I'd be happy to chat with you about the Atlanta MTR market. There are several different MTR and STR operators in Atlanta that could be a fit, depending on what your needs are. There are companies like Studio Housing Atlanta or Above the Line Properties that focus on leasing houses for Atlanta's film/production guests. For placement only, (leasing) they generally charge around 10% of gross revenue.  Stays are generally between 2-12 months. Most of the houses they work with are higher end. They offer some property management services but the management side isn't as robust as the leasing side of the business.  Then there are full service leasing and property management companies like Minty Living or Atlanta Luxury Rentals. They're both full service options that could allow you as the investor completely hands off.  Minty charges 20% of Gross Revenue, Atlanta Luxury rentals was 25% last time I checked.   From there, there are also several individual real estate agents that do mid-term leasing. I'd love to chat with you about MTR's in Atlanta just to hear how it's going for you and if there's anything I can help with. Message me and let's schedule a time to chat. Good luck!

 Haha! Very true

@Mike Wilcher Jr I would figure out what investment strategy you want to pursue and let that drive your location decisions. Any of these neighborhoods could be good to invest in but it depends on what your goals/strategy are. If you're looking to do short term rental, for instance, Peachtree Corners would be better than Lagrange or Newnan since it's closer to demand generators. If you wanted to rehab properties, any of these markets could work.  I would also want to figure out whether you want to self-manage or have a management company. LaGrange and Peachtree Corners are an hour and a half apart so if you're self managing, that could make a big difference. You'd also want to keep in mind how long you want to hold a property.  For me personally, I like neighborhoods like Peoplestown or West End where the Beltline is coming through and there are other major developments in the works that will accelerate appreciation in those markets.  I also like markets like Cabbagetown/Reynoldstown because they're great to rent out to film/production guests. You can get better cash flow through furnished rentals there.  It really just depends on your individual goals/strategy.  Then there's always PadSplit which is about as high on the cash-flow spectrum as you're going to see in Atlanta. They have a totally different buy-box. Happy to chat Atlanta real estate anytime if you'd like! Good luck!

Another good option would be to reach out to 2-3 management companies in the area and ask them how much revenue they think they could generate for that property. They may be able to give you comp data for other nearby properties they manage. They’re the local experts and they’re incentivized to help you to get your business. Airdna is a fantastic tool but it’s limited to booking data from AirBnB, Booking.com and VRBO. It’s not able to show you direct bookings. In markets like Atlanta, where we get a lot of direct bookings for film/production stays, the numbers can look very skewed.