This past summer (2022), Brad and Aislinn Cunningham booked a home on Lake Martin for their family and extended family’s summer vacation. They had such a good time, they started to wonder if they could buy their own lake home to spend time at each year.
Given the rapidly rising prices of homes in Southern California in 2021 and 2022, the Cunninghams had gained quite a bit of equity in their Carlsbad home. Their goals in purchasing a Lake House were:
- The home would be located in an area that permitted short-term vacation rentals
- Thus, providing income that would help pay their mortgage as well as provide them with additional income
- Reserving a summer place for their family and extended family to vacation each year
Trifecta!
To assist the Cunninghams, we, at Fitz Properties, created a Business Prospectus to forecast the projected rental income on a Lake House. After extensive research, first looking at Lake Martin, AL and then looking in Georgia at the Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair areas – just 2 hours from the Atlanta airport, Brad and Aislinn found their desired area to purchase a Lake Home.
The biggest hurdle to purchasing a home on Lake Oconee or Sinclair was identifying homes in the areas/counties that permit short-term vacation rentals.
- Putnam County, where the city of Eatonton is located, allows short-term vacation rentals (STVRs) within certain areas
- Lake Sinclair is more friendly towards allowing STVRs
- Sparta, GA in Hancock County allows STVRs but it is considered to be remote and, therefore, less desirable by potential guests
- STVRs are prohibited in Morgan County (Buckhead) and Greene County (Greensboro) except for the STVRs that were operating prior to the change in the law. Which means that once a vacation rental home is sold to a new owner, the STVR permit does not transfer and the home is not permitted to be rental short-term. The exception is about a dozen streets that allow STVRs
This was successfully navigated and facilitated through the amazing partnership between Fitz Properties and our fellow Keller Williams agent in Eatonton, GA: Ms. Sandy Dillard. She advised the Cunninghams on the different towns surrounding the lake and which ones will permit short term rentals. Given the distance, Sandy provided virtual tours for the Cunninghams so they could view prospective vacation homes.
From Brad Cunningham:
“Hey Renee, just wanted to say thank you for connecting us with Sandy Dillard. She has been wonderful and has a wealth of information and connections. We really appreciate it. If anyone else is looking in the area in Georgia definitely connect them with Sandy.”
Utilizing a HELOC, the Cunninghams were able to maximize their new found equity qualify for a loan to purchase a Lake home. Once they found the Lake home that “checked all the boxes, they put in an offer and were quickly under contract to purchase a beautiful home on Lake Oconee.
This landed them in their dream home:
- 3 bedrooms / 2 bath
- Private dock
- 1.56 acres (room to grow)
The Cunninghams were excited and shocked at how quickly the home buying process went.
But, their buying journey really started last summer with the idea of a lake house, the opportunity to take advantage of their new found equity in their primary home, and the partnership with Fitz Properties to explore the different lake communities in order to understand the return-on-investment (ROI) that could be made on the purchase of a short-term Lake House rental that met their goals.