Savannah STR Investor Guide

The Investor's Guide to Buying a Short-Term Rental in Savannah, GA

Regulations · Jurisdiction Maps · Neighborhood Strategy · Due Diligence

What's Inside This Guide

  • STR certificate types — what transfers, what doesn't

  • The ward cap system and how to work within it

  • City vs. County: where new certificates still exist

  • How to use the SAGIS boundary maps (free tool)

  • Tybee Island — its own rules, clearly explained

  • Neighborhood-by-neighborhood investor breakdown

  • The Medium-Term Rental 'Long-Short' strategy

  • 5 questions to ask before writing any offer

  • Why Team 912 is the right partner for this market

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A Note for Julie Gates

This guide was built from 20 years of actually investing in this market — not from reading about it, not from a course, and not from a weekend seminar. I have owned, managed, and transacted in Savannah through the 2008 crash, COVID, and the STR consolidation of 2024–25. I am still here, still investing, and still growing.

What I see constantly: investors — smart, well-resourced investors — making completely avoidable mistakes in this market. They rely on listing descriptions instead of jurisdiction maps. They buy a certificate without confirming whether it transfers. They overlook the medium-term rental strategy entirely. This guide fixes that.

Savannah remains one of the most compelling STR markets in the Southeast — not because of hype, but because of fundamentals that do not change: finite historic inventory, structural tourism demand, and a regulatory environment that rewards investors who understand it.

Read this before you make an offer. Use the maps. Confirm the certificate. Run the numbers. When you're ready to move, call Team 912.

Julie Gates Founder, Team 912 & Sid Was Here · RE/MAX Accent · BiggerPockets Author, The 30-Day Stay · Savannah investor since 2004