All Forum Posts by: AJ Satcher

Quote from @Maurice Gutierrez:

Whoever you do hire to correct that asbestos ensure you know who you’re working with and ensure payments are made in a timely manner. Liens on property’s in GA are not fun! 

We closed in the property and used a specialized abatement company to remove the asbestos in one day. Received a check at closing, paid them in full.

Hey BP!

So I am currently within due diligence period on a property and my inspector identified that majority of the home's siding is asbestos siding - pretty much everywhere except the front face siding. I don't own any properties with asbestos siding and I have my concerns, so I hired an asbestos professional to go check it out, grab some samples and conduct testing.

Still waiting to hear back from the Asbestos testing but I wanted to know if anyone here has experience, knowledge and or own any properties with asbestos siding? Do you completely avoid properties with this material siding or is it not as big of a concern?

My concern comes from the fact that asbestos is a carcinogen and I've heard terrible things about people inhaling it when its in a disturbed state.

Quote from @Ken M.:

Quote from @AJ Satcher:

Hey BP! 

As I am running numbers on properties, is it safe to expect the county to match the appraised value based on the most recent transaction? Say in 2024 the county appraised a property at $530K. It's 2025 and the seller and I agree on a $700K transaction (This is an actual deal I am analyzing now btw). Does that mean that the county will reassess based on that $700k? 

Taxes can feel like they are so unpredictable but I am doing my best to get ballpark what they will be. I know how to pull county tax records and look at the mill rate, but I what I don't know is what the county will appraise a home at. This would really help me out in analyzing deals/running the numbers.

I am in GA if that matters any (Fulton, Dekalb, Cobb, etc).

Smart approach for you to take that into consideration.

Yes, it matters a lot where the property is. Some counties reassess based on each new purchase, some every year just because, some every few years. The simplest thing to do is to call the county and ask their procedure. Keep in mind some counties assessment is not even close to what you might pay for that property. Yes, very strange. 

 This is the part that gets me because the county that I recently purchased a property in taxed it 32k less than what it actually appraised for. I've seen even larger discrepancies though, which can really affect how I am running my numbers.

Hey BP! 

As I am running numbers on properties, is it safe to expect the county to match the appraised value based on the most recent transaction? Say in 2024 the county appraised a property at $530K. It's 2025 and the seller and I agree on a $700K transaction (This is an actual deal I am analyzing now btw). Does that mean that the county will reassess based on that $700k? 

Taxes can feel like they are so unpredictable but I am doing my best to get ballpark what they will be. I know how to pull county tax records and look at the mill rate, but I what I don't know is what the county will appraise a home at. This would really help me out in analyzing deals/running the numbers.

I am in GA if that matters any (Fulton, Dekalb, Cobb, etc).

I formed my first LLC in October 2022 for my Turo Business. For anyone unfamiliar with Turo, it is essentially like the Airbnb of rental cars. I stopped doing actual business under this LLC in June 2024. I've been wanting to get an LLC for my Real Estate/STR operations so instead of creating a new one, I figured I'd just utilize the existing Turo LLC. All I did was file an amendment to change the name of the LLC, but essentially it is still the same entity.

My thought process in doing this was to keep things simple - use the existing LLC and preserve its business history. I haven't done anything with the LLC since doing the name change because I want to tread carefully before moving forward. I'm trying to figure out if it is okay to move forward in using my LLC for my real estate OR if I should just close this one out since I'm no longer doing Turo and start a new one for the real estate.

Thanks!

Quote from @Ryan Spath:

Hey, great conversation!

For perspective, we currently self-manage a dozen doors across two states. While we’ve used a property manager in the past, we now handle everything in-house for a couple of key reasons:

1. Faster and cheaper turnovers – Using our own vetted subcontractors allows us to turn units more quickly and cost-effectively.
2. Maximized rent potential – We’ve found that when we self-manage, rents stay closer to market rates. When we’ve used property managers in the past, they often discouraged raising rents to market levels. I’ve noticed the same pattern when helping clients purchase tenant-occupied, PM-managed properties.

We’ve kept our systems simple. For the past 10 years, we’ve used spreadsheets and ScheduleMyRent.com for rent collection. I’m currently exploring RentRedi as a more complete platform for rent collection, lease signing, and communication. Based on what we have learned so far this one may be the winner for us, I am currently trying this with one property as it is turning and will likely convert more as they turn/renew.

One of our current goals is to implement secure self-access for tenant viewings. This has become one of my biggest time sinks—especially when a unit is 30 minutes away, and a prospect cancels last-minute.

Early on, I valued meeting tenants in person—seeing how they maintained their car, getting a feel for them. Over time, I’ve realized that credit, income, and references are just as telling as an in-person impression. People are people, and keeping the process efficient helps everyone involved.

Just to piggy-back off of the tenant viewings, what we do for our mid term rentals is have a publicly available YouTube video that thoroughly walks through the entire unit! Many folks are fine with this.

Now I know that for some prospects, this may not be enough. But, trying the full walk through video helps the tenant get a good visual of the layout. For me, this is essential because sometimes I just can’t get a prospect in the unit if I have a current STR guest in there

I have a small SFH STR 3BD 2BTH, less than 1,000 sq ft. Is it recommended to do a virtual or in person cost seg and why?

Quote from @Dominic Mazzarella:

Quote from @AJ Satcher:

I am currently house hacking with an upper/lower setup - I occupy the upper. The lower unit is a basement/guest suite. As I approach my move out strategy where I will be converting my upper unit into a STR, I often think of guest interaction amongst the two units. Specifically I think a lot about the smells that travel through the duct work between the units. We have a single HVAC system that heats/cools the entire home. Often I can smell scents from the lower unit that aren't pleasant (cooking, smoking, etc). One time I had a guest smoke and it went right up the ducts into my unit, it was awful.

I'm conscious about how that could potentially affect guests who will be staying in the upper unit in the future. I know I can't be the only one who has had this setup before, so I am just looking for thoughts, advice, experience, etc. Even if you haven't been in this kind of setup before, I am curious to hear your opinion. For us STR hosts, I know we are very conscientious about guest experience and I want to be proactive about doing things to ensure my business operates successfully.

Thanks!

One option might be to explore adding air purifiers or filters directly into the system to help mitigate odors. Another idea could be to see if the HVAC system can be adjusted or modified to better separate the airflow between the units. That would probably require a professional. 

Since you’re considering converting the upper unit into a short-term rental, you may also want to implement strict rules around smoking or strong odors in your house rules to avoid future issues. I know hosts have included additional cleaning fees for violations as a deterrent.

If none of these solutions work, you could look into completely independent HVAC systems for the two units, though that would be a bigger upfront investment. Smart move thinking ahead about guest experience. Good luck! 

 If only short term rental guests actually followed rules! LOL. Thanks for the insight!

I am currently house hacking with an upper/lower setup - I occupy the upper. The lower unit is a basement/guest suite. As I approach my move out strategy where I will be converting my upper unit into a STR, I often think of guest interaction amongst the two units. Specifically I think a lot about the smells that travel through the duct work between the units. We have a single HVAC system that heats/cools the entire home. Often I can smell scents from the lower unit that aren't pleasant (cooking, smoking, etc). One time I had a guest smoke and it went right up the ducts into my unit, it was awful.

I'm conscious about how that could potentially affect guests who will be staying in the upper unit in the future. I know I can't be the only one who has had this setup before, so I am just looking for thoughts, advice, experience, etc. Even if you haven't been in this kind of setup before, I am curious to hear your opinion. For us STR hosts, I know we are very conscientious about guest experience and I want to be proactive about doing things to ensure my business operates successfully.

Thanks!

Quote from @Sarah Kensinger:

I would say your property is probably pretty far down the list since it was blocked off for months. The algorithm is properly ignoring your listing now. Instead, I've heard of hosts raising the nightly rate high enough it won't book or setting a 30-day minimum stay and had no issues with a double booking. I've never done that but it's a suggestion you could consider.

Just did an incognito search and yea, the listing is buried now