Rental Property Investor · Midway, GA · Member since 2016 · 6 posts · 2 votes
We moved to the Savannah area (from Wilmington, NC) and wanted to buy a house/condo downtown to rent out and be able to use occasionally . I recently found that the property has to have the Short Term rental Certificate or you can not rent it out for less than 6 months. A real Estate agent told me they cap each section of Savannah at 20% of the homes and there is no availability at least in the historic district. I was wondering if anyone has experience with this. It obviously has some value to it, but is it even worth getting on a waiting list? If anyone has properties they are want to sell with the certificate in place, please let me know. Thanks.
Investor · Indian Trail, NC · Member since 2018 · 63 posts · 33 votes
7y
@Jon Fox I was just there this past weekend and spoke with an agent about this very issue. I was told that when the city decided to pass this ordinance, everyone applied for the STVR and all of them were issued. A lot of those people don't even use them, but just thought it would be smart for "some day" (which was correct). Those certificates are attached to the property, not the owner, so they convey with the property, which makes theme more valuable, and hard to find. For everyone else, there is a waiting list to get a STVR certificate. The agent told me yesterday that when she asked the city how long the wait is, they couldn't give an answer, because they said they have issued zero (0) new certificates. Apparently those certificates will not be grandfathered with the property, so basically if they ever do issue a certificate, it will still be attached to the property, but it will NOT convey upon sale. Bottom line is, the agent made it seem like you will be on a waiting list forever, and the only practical way to get a STVR certificate in Savannah is to buy a property that has one of the grandfathered certificates attached to it.
Investor · Indian Trail, NC · Member since 2018 · 63 posts · 33 votes
7y
@Jon Fox I was just there this past weekend and spoke with an agent about this very issue. I was told that when the city decided to pass this ordinance, everyone applied for the STVR and all of them were issued. A lot of those people don't even use them, but just thought it would be smart for "some day" (which was correct). Those certificates are attached to the property, not the owner, so they convey with the property, which makes theme more valuable, and hard to find. For everyone else, there is a waiting list to get a STVR certificate. The agent told me yesterday that when she asked the city how long the wait is, they couldn't give an answer, because they said they have issued zero (0) new certificates. Apparently those certificates will not be grandfathered with the property, so basically if they ever do issue a certificate, it will still be attached to the property, but it will NOT convey upon sale. Bottom line is, the agent made it seem like you will be on a waiting list forever, and the only practical way to get a STVR certificate in Savannah is to buy a property that has one of the grandfathered certificates attached to it.
Investor · Indian Trail, NC · Member since 2018 · 63 posts · 33 votes
7y
No problem....If I were you, I'd double check with that agent, or another one, because I do remember my agent mentioning there were some exceptions for owner-occupied properties, but I didn't retain that information because I don't live there and it didn't apply to me. :)
She also mentioned that the only areas they are allowing any STVR certificates were in the historic district, and the Victorian district. Anyway, hope this helps.
I realize you said the downtown area in your original post. However, something to consider as a secondary option is Tybee Island. To my knowledge, they have no cap on short term rentals and these types of investment properties are very popular (and profitable) there. It's a close enough drive (20 minutes) that you could still enjoy the downtown Savannah area, in addition to the beach. Tybee is a separate municipality. I doubt they would eliminate short term rentals in the future as their economy is dependent on them.
Rental Property Investor · Midway, GA · Member since 2016 · 6 posts · 2 votes
7y
Thank you. I was just discussing that option with a neighbor on Sunday. I think it is a good idea and will look into it. You are right there are no restrictions there. Thanks again.
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 11 posts · 7 votes
5y
I have a short term rental property in Savannah that has a STVR (short term vacation rental) certificate. When I was looking for properties in 2018, I found a house for sale on Zillow that the real estate agent neglected to indicate had a STVR certificate in the listing. I figured out the house did have a STVR permit by looking up the property address on a Savannah city map that indicates which properties have a certificate (link to the map here).
Having that certificate was a huge asset that the agent overlooked when selling the property. I did my homework and got a great deal unbeknownst to the agent.
Since then, I've spent hours trolling Zillow and comparing listings to the Savannah STVR map to see which properties for sale may have a certificate that the agent has neglected to communicate. Very rare to find this good luck again.
An alt way to get a certificate is to make the home your primary residence, then the home qualifies for a certificate. But, beware. The City of Savannah is not playing games and there is a high likelihood you could get busted since they've hired more investigators and there are Savannah citizens dying to out any homeowners not following the rules.
Regarding condos: make sure the HOA allows short term rentals and that the rules won't change. Some condos downtown are approved for short term rentals by the city and don't need a permit.
Finally - if you use the Savannah city map to look up property address to see if they have a STVR certificate, be sure to double check with the agent or even the city before you buy a property that shows it has a STVR certificate on the map. The city map website does not differentiate between an STVR certificate being a "homestead" certificate (your primary residence) or a non-homestead certificate. The STVR homestead certificates cannot be turned into a "non-homestead" certificate. If you don't plan to live in the house, then the STVR homestead certificate does you no good. You'll have to "wait in line" for a certificate to become available in the district in which your property is located. Like the previous poster said, the city literally cannot tell you how long it will take to wait for a certificate. They've had people on the lists for years and nobody is giving up their certificates so the wait list is sort of "fake news." Good luck all!
Denver, CO · Member since 2020 · 22 posts · 5 votes
5y
I just bought a duplex in starland district/thompson square which falls under the historic streetcar district overlay (so STVR allowed). I called the city twice, and as of 2021 in the victorian district you could own a multi unit and rent out all units. All but one unit needs to be your primary, with no minimum occupancy, and again can be airbnbed out when you are away. In the streetcar district, it'll need to be multi unit where 1 is you primary, cannot be rented out even if you aren't occupying it, and needs 1+ off street parking space.