All Forum Posts by: Katie Deskins

I have a property for sale in the booming area of Pooler, GA. The area has recently added restaurants and an outlet mall. There is a new hospital coming as well, and this home is conveniently located by interstates 95 and 16 as well as a few minutes from Gulfstream Aerospace (the area's largest employer) and the Savannah/HH International Airport. Downtown Savannah is only about 10-15 minutes away, and the beach is maybe a 30 minute drive. 

The property is in a great neighborhood with a ton of amenities. My seller is a bachelor and this home is way too big for his needs, so he is looking to sell quickly. Comps are selling for $93.10/square foot (in the past 6 months) and this home is priced at $83.10/square foot. Rental homes in the area with similar features and square footage are renting from anywhere between $1600-$1900/month. 

Dark hardwood floors throughout the entire main floor, all bedrooms and laundry room are upstairs with a common area, office area downstairs, open concept, covered back patio, lagoon view. Programmable thermostat, spray foam insulation, stainless appliances (all convey in sale), granite countertops, clean seller's disclosure. Very sleek home. 

The market always picks up here around February and peaks in May/June when families are looking to make a move before the next school year starts. Please contact me at [email protected] for photos and more info! 

@Tony Gunter I am a Realtor in GA. I don't have an assistant, but during new agent onboarding at my brokerage they put heavy emphasis on unlicensed persons performing licensee duties. From my understanding, anyone unlicensed in GA can only perform administrative duties (i.e., data entry, paper pushing, miscellaneous office tasks, etc.). They can't discuss sales, numbers, nor can they show property. In my office I've never seen an assistant speaking with clients directly, phone or otherwise. I'd err on the side of caution for sure. 

House hacking is not an option. Our two kids have to remain in the same school district, I live in a rural county outside of Savannah where most multifamily properties are in bad areas. Thanks for your input though!

Hello everyone! I am a Realtor and new investor in the Savannah, GA area looking for advice. Here's a brief rundown of my situation:

I have owned/lived in my home for almost 5 years. I have a 3.25% interest rate and my monthly mortgage payment is about $800/month (including taxes, insurance, etc). I have about $40,000 equity in it. I am trying to decide what my best option is in terms of moving forward with investing. My husband and I and my two stepchildren currently live in this home, and we are looking to possibly expand our family and need a bigger place in order to do so. Our first choice is to be able to find a live-in flip that my husband can buy (without me being on the loan) that accommodates the needs of our growing family that we can turn for a profit in a handful of years, and rent out our current home at $1200/month. However, the market here is extremely hot and even foreclosures and worse-for-wear properties are going for top-market prices. We only have about $15,000 cash saved up so far to use for down payment assistance, closing costs, repairs, etc. If we are unable to find a live-in flip option that makes sense for our financial picture, what is our best bet? Do we:

a) Sell our current home and use the proceeds to purchase our next home (that we intend to BRRR or flip) and miss out on the passive income I could get from renting out my current home?

b) My husband purchases a similar or smaller home, we rent out our current place and get that passive income rolling in, and we put our family needs on hold?

c) HELOC in order to purchase another property?

d) Stay put and my husband purchase a cheaper rental property?

Are there other options that I am missing? We want to do what is best for our family but we are also eager to start on our investing journey. Any advice would be most appreciated! 

On the seller’s disclosure, did it say the seller was to leave the CO detectors? This is just my opinion, but I think the fact that he took the detectors points heavily to him lying about the HVAC defect on the SD, in which case you are in the position of power

Please PLEASE do not consider the Zestimate as a tool for pricing your home. They are often times tens of thousands of $ incorrect. If I could teach people only one lesson as a realtor, it would be to not even look at the Zestimate. Other than that, I agree with what these other people have said. Cash is king because it often means a quick closing and no nail-biting about whether or not financing will fall through. It’s hard to not be emotionally invested in this business for sure.

A couple things: I’m new to the investing area of this, but I’ve been a licensed Realtor for over 2 years and the first thing I notice is your listing photos. They’re very nice, but they seem very tight in some areas which makes the home look smaller than it is. Have you tried staging it? I’m not sure if it’s popular in your area but I know many people here in Georgia who have had great vacant properties sit on the market for months and when they brought in some furniture and minimal decor the home sold within a week. It’s a hit to your budget, but they are pieces you can acquire and use for future flips so the right pieces can be a good investment. Lastly, as an agent I expect to see “sold as-is” on properties in not-so-hot condition, not properties in great condition that have just been rehabbed. I understand your point that you just fixed it up so nothing is wrong with it, but you’re actually creating doubt in buyers’ minds simply because you just rehabbed it but are saying “as-is” as if you fixed what you could but didn’t get to everything. Hope this helps!

Hey Ryan! I’m a Realtor in the Savannah and Statesboro areas looking for deals. What do you have?