All Forum Posts by: Holly Barrett

I'm familiar w/Helen market. Conservatively I'd use 70% occupancy and for ADR one method is to plug in some dates in AIRBNB during each season, look at a few comps (based on property you are analyzing), get an average, then add them up, divide by 4. It's a quick & dirty way :) 

@Dahsiem Baylor

Feel free to pull my investor buyer questionnaire from my bio link, you can find it on my Instagram :)

@Brian Hatcher omg! I just registered and then realized it’s on the same evening as the first GOP presidential debate!!! I hope you do another one of these soon!!

@Tom P.

Am I the only realtor reading this that isn’t a fan of double siding? I know it makes US more money, but I’ve never understood why buyers choose to go this route. You are effectively unrepresented as the seller is still the CLIENT, not you. Isn’t this the #1 route to litigation in real estate transactions? I could be wrong about that. I rarely hear stories of double siding going smoothly without someone getting pissed off.

I know it’s hard to turn away from $$$ but I think I’d rather refer you out and take a referral fee than to double side. Just my two cents.

I'm in the same boat! :) I'm trying Opcity, Old Expireds, I run an STR Facebook group & host worshops & networking events through that. Haven't found a slam dunk method yet. Let me know if you find one! Planting seeds and praying it pays off!

 Oh awesome! I know she will appreciate that!

Questions: 
Which is more important to you cash flow or appreciation?

How much would the Chicago home cash flow each month?

How much would the Chicago #2 acquisition (studio) cash flow you each month?

What part of ATL do you want to live in?

Are you open to house hacking in ATL & getting roommates? 

 Ok I would like to weigh in on this. I totally hear you Esta. However, let me share from a North GA Realtor's perspective. North GA is rural, hills / mountains, windy roads, forestry to navigate around etc. Point being it takes me 30min to get just about anywhere. Driving an hour to show a property is nothing here. If we focused in on a 30min drive time radius, we probably wouldn't be selling many houses ;) lol 

I routinely drive 2 hours to show properties actually. Lucky for us our drives are beautiful and not stressful at all, since we have no traffic, its like a joy ride - I listen to a LOT of podcasts and CSPAN!

That said, not all North GA realtors want to drive that much, and some do focus in on their little mountain towns. So I'm not speaking for everyone. Me personally, I am an STR and North GA expert. My husband is from Helen, and I lived there during elementary school. So I LOVE Helen. My hubby also is a white water kayaker and pre-children I spent most weekends camping all around North GA and beyond w/him near the wild creeks & rivers he'd run.

I say all that to paint the picture that some realtors really do cast a wider net for their geographic selling span and it is justified in cases like this when we are more sparsely populated. :)

Hope that is helpful!

 Hey Shirley, I am a North GA based realtor. One thing you could do is share that w/your current agent and see if they would like to refer you to an agent more familiar w/the Helen market. That way he/she can still earn a referral commission and not have to deal w/driving to Helen (they may prefer that option anyway!) Everyone wins :)

 Neil is correct about inventory in Helen - primarily bc outside of Helen city limits (which is tiny) STRs are not allowed w/o a special use permit, no guarantees of approval, and no way to know if they will approve you before purchasing :*( I'd steer clear of White County outside of Helen. Helen itself is still a slam dunk imo due to the purchase price to occupancy rates (I'm seeing hosts fare better there than BR, unless you have a super cool unique BR property, maybe Neil disagrees). 

Helen properties tend to move fast when they pop up if they are priced right.

I run a North GA STR Hosts Group and this is the feedback I've been hearing.