AHA BNB - Anyone Crazy Enough To Do This?

Question

So, here I am trolling various sources for properties in other markets, and I stumble on this posting for an Air BNB-like investment opportunity.  I click the link to browse a website that looks beautiful, but is seemingly VERY vague about what they do, what they offer, and what the opportunity is for investors.  On one hand it sounds like they are using the capital to rent out properties to use on AirBNB.  Then in another section they discuss "Buying" up a block of units for rentals.

Then, it confused me that the project they reference is in GA, but the company is headquartered in CA, and the CL posting I found was in yet ANOTHER state.

So, I come to my BP family to ask if anyone knows anything about this company, or the opportunity that they offer.....?  Has anyone every invested with them?  I would love to hear some real life examples to help vet this opportunity.

http://ahabnbhousing.com/

Account Closed · Answer

Would a website publicly announcing that they are seeking investors and stating guaranteed returns qualify as solicitation? Anyone familiar w/ solicitation laws that has an answer?

Cara Lonsdale · Answer

That was my first thought too.  How could they possibly guarantee such returns?!  Seems ludicris.

Paul Sandhu · Answer

It sounds like a Ponzi scheme.  Buy 5000, get 30%.  Buy 10,000, get 40%.  Buy 15,000, get 50%.

Casity Kao · Answer

@Cara Lonsdale  Will they not answer these questions for you?  I find this post difficult to follow because you can't explain it that well, so my response is I would not invest in something I don't understand nor should you.  Pictures are only a fraction of the story and that's the only thing so far this deal has going for it.

Paul Sandhu · Answer

Do a whois search of the domain name owner, and this is the address:

450 Stonewall St, Atlanta Georgia 30313 US

Google that, and it's an apartment building.  Mostly 1 BR, the rent are 2 BR.  If someone is making alot of money from this website, I think they could afford to move out of a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment.

Cara Lonsdale · Answer

Digging a little deeper, there are online reviews for people staying in properties managed by AHA BNB.  So, it just gets weirder and draws more questions the deeper you go down into the rabbit hole.

Julie McCoy · Answer

That site smells like a scam to me.  As you noticed, they're very vague and contradictory about what they do ("We do that by Purchasing a block overlooking the downtown skyline in Atlanta" - a block of what?  And that implies they're developing a mixed-use building or buildings, while the following paragraph says they seek RE deals to purchase in less than 30 days), and their copy is *terrible* - the site is fraught with incorrect grammar and poor sentence structure.

It looks like they've loosely modeled after a fund, and if I understand the pitch correctly, it's not a terrible idea (a fund for STRs instead of apartment buildings etc).  But I've never seen an RE investment fund site that asked you to buy in *via an online shopping cart*.  I'm not an expert in these things, but I'm pretty certain raising capital in that manner could run afoul of FTC regulations.

I think you should stay far away from whatever those people are doing.

AHA BNB - Anyone Crazy Enough To Do This?

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