Why Chattanooga Is One of the Southeast’s Best Markets for Rental Property Investment

Speaker 1 (00:05):

Welcome back to Real Estate Rewind. My name is Tyson Schutze. I’ve got the great pleasure to have two Aubin folks here and two folks who’ve worked with us on a number of things that I’m excited to introduce in a minute, but just want to take a second to tell all the listeners about Real Estate Rewind. We are on our fifth or sixth episode, [00:00:30] somewhere like that, depending on how we edit them. And we are now on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. And so really excited about being able to consistently create some content here. We’re going to get into a release schedule where our goal is to put a new episode out every week. And you can find us by looking up Real Estate Rewind on Apple Music, Spotify, [00:01:00] and YouTube. And please like and subscribe. So today we have Erin Isley who has been with us before, and we have Jason Weathers.

(01:12):

Aaron, you want to introduce yourself again to our listeners?

Speaker 2 (01:15):

Sure. I’m Erin Isley. I am now not in the host chair, but I relinquish that back to Tyson. But yeah, excited to be here for our fifth or [00:01:30] sixth episode now and getting into kind of the nitty gritty of real estate and real estate investing from a perspective of Auburn and the investors that we work with. So happy to be here.

Speaker 1 (01:47):

Thank you. And for those that maybe didn’t listen to the previous episode, Aaron has been very helpful on a number of different marketing and branding and communication items with Auburn over the couple years [00:02:00] and is doing some really cool projects in Aiken as well for some other businesses. So we’re glad to have her. And then we also have Jason Weathers here, who is our Chattanooga market director and I think has a very interesting background, both as a Chattanooga native, but then also an individual that’s seen the real estate industry for a couple different sides. So welcome, Jason. If you could just give a little bit of intro to who you are, where you’re from, and what you do for Auburn.

Speaker 3 (02:30):

[00:02:30] Hi, sure. Yeah. It’s nice to be on here with Tyson Aaron today. I’m Jason Weathers. I am the market director, as Tyson was saying, here in Chattanooga. Chattanooga is my hometown, born and raised here, and looking forward to talking today throughout some of the experiences I’ve had growing up here in Chattanooga and moving back here in 2019 to join Auburn and how the market has grown here, some of the things that we’re seeing and trends that we’re seeing [00:03:00] in the market and as we continue to grow. So looking forward today to being a guest on the show.

Speaker 1 (03:06):

Yeah. I think we’re really excited that Jason’s got a unique perspective because as he said, he was born in Chattanooga, but spent some time in real estate in Charlotte and then moved back to Chattanooga at really a very dynamic time for the Chattanooga market when there was a whole new wave of growth coming in there. So I know we’re going to talk more [00:03:30] about that in a minute, but I think that it was a very interesting transition time for the Chattanooga market. So for those listeners, a little bit about Auburn, Chattanooga before we turn it over to Jason. Chattanooga was Auburn’s first expansion market. We actually expanded in there in 2016. Auburn was founded in Augusta, Georgia. And we had a original client in Augusta who had a large portion [00:04:00] of homes in Chattanooga. He really was struggling to find a property management company that was investor focused, investor centric.

(04:10):

And so we originally opened in 2016 with just a single investor in his portfolio. He had a large portfolio of homes. When Jason joined us in 2019, it really was a great opportunity for us to expand our own market presence, but then also use Jason’s familiarity [00:04:30] with Chattanooga and the investor community to really grow Auburn. And Jason has done a tremendous job of growing the market from 2019 to current. So Jason, talk about what brought you back to Chattanooga in 2019 and what were you doing in real estate up until that point?

Speaker 3 (04:50):

Yeah. So like we mentioned here, I’m from Chattanooga. And as many people do when they grow up in their hometown, they eventually leave to pursue opportunities [00:05:00] in different areas. And that’s what I did in 2007 when I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, which led me into getting my real estate license in North and South Carolina during those 12 years of being in that market and eventually going into real estate and building my career there. That taught me a lot. I watched the city experience growth. And over that 12 years and [00:05:30] development is happening everywhere. Home values were climbing, corporations were moving in and a lot of different things were going on during that time. But something interesting that happened to me during those years was every time I would come back to Chattanooga to visit family and friends, I would notice changes here. The city I grew up in wasn’t standing still.

(05:56):

And in many ways it was beginning to chart its own path [00:06:00] with growth and economic development and things going on. So the Chattanooga I left in 2007 was very different from when I returned in 2019. So taking my experience in real estate and sales and property management during that time led me to the opportunity in 2019 to join Auburn, which was seven years ago this month.

Speaker 1 (06:25):

Yeah. Well, we’re glad to have you. I can’t believe it’s been seven years. [00:06:30] It’s hard to believe that time goes quickly.

Speaker 3 (06:32):

That’s right. Yep.

Speaker 1 (06:34):

And in Charlotte, I think one of the interesting things that is a parallel with Charlotte, Chattanooga, and really the industry that we’re in is you had a number of different experiences in real estate there that were reflective of the growth in our industry, not just the markets that we’re in, right? You had some experience working with smaller organizations [00:07:00] and you also worked with one of the large institutional ownership groups there in Charlotte. Talk a little bit about the different experiences that you had in Charlotte.

Speaker 3 (07:10):

Yeah. So the larger firm that I was working with there, we were trying to manage approximately 3,000 homes in the Charlotte market area. So it was a lot going on to try to manage a 900 to a thousand homes per pod. [00:07:30] And so a lot of opportunities there to learn what not to do and to hone in the skills that are necessary to do the right thing in the best interest of your team and investor, homeowner for that dynamic. So my first experience was doing residential sales. So that got some firsthand experience with the team I was on, which led into property management. [00:08:00] And the firm I was with before I moved back to Chattanooga was really kind of getting my feet wet into the more, not just institutional capital, but some individuals that had become investors, learning that mindset, learning what their needs are, what best benefits them when it comes to renovations, when it comes to rental rates.

(08:29):

And [00:08:30] if they were looking to expand their portfolio and just learn a little bit more from someone that may have one or two properties to a dozen or what have you to kind of really learn what the expectations are, which is our model here at Auburn to find your client’s properties to not only manage, but buy and sell and to set realistic expectations if renovations are in play or [00:09:00] just where that fits. What’s your long-term position? Are you wanting to hold this property five to seven years and do something else? Or is this a 20 year plan to keep your current portfolio and it’s going to be passed down to your children or grandchildren? So that’s where I learned a lot of that and that enabled me to take those experiences back here into Chattanooga and with Auburn Realty.

Speaker 1 (09:27):

Yeah. And I think Jason, one of the things that’s really interesting about [00:09:30] your story is you’ve had these different experiences of managing for an institution, managing for individuals, seeing the industry from a sales perspective. And I think that’s really been key to you being a good advisor, partner, a steward for some of these investors. Jason’s market in Chattanooga has experienced some of the most dynamic growth, [00:10:00] I think in part because of the Chattanooga market, but also because of your approach of taking a vested interest in the person behind the real estate. Talk about how you’ve done that in Chattanooga and how is that different than what you were doing maybe at the institutional level? I know one large thing is, and we talked about this back when you started, is you were responsible for 900 to a thousand homes [00:10:30] in the institutional structure, whereas Auburn’s design is a pod of 500 homes managed by a team.

(10:38):

So how did you take these past experiences and bring them into the great work that you’ve done at Auburn?

Speaker 3 (10:47):

Well, one thing I learned early on was what we were able to offer with Auburn, what we are able to offer with Auburn. And you are being the [00:11:00] trusted advisor for the investor. So if I was in the position to represent a buyer to find the asset, they knew we weren’t just going to try to sell them something and cut ties and move on because we wouldn’t have to manage. We’re just looking to sell something or what have you, which they may have experienced in other markets where we can tell them, this is what we’re seeing here. This asset is something we are confident in, that we can manage. We [00:11:30] can be your long-term partner in this process because we’re not only acquiring the asset or helping you locate something to buy, but we’re also going to be placing the tenant and helping with maintenance and renovations.

(11:43):

And that still gives our owners a lot of confidence today because they can partner with us knowing that there’s always going to be that level of communication and self-ownership that we have to our owners because we’re managing [00:12:00] from day one, middle to the end. If they choose to sell, we can be there every step of the way. So that is one big advantage, taking the experience I had previously in Charlotte to bring it to Chattanooga to have those experiences. So that’s where it’s different from more of the institutionalized where it just felt more like an asset that you didn’t have a connection with to the investor. You still wanted to do a great job and [00:12:30] have the assets perform, the portfolio, but you just didn’t really have that personal touch that we have.

Speaker 2 (12:39):

So Jason, I have a question about whether you’re a local. And so are local residents, do you guys call yourselves Chattanoogans?

Speaker 3 (12:53):

Yeah, that fits.

Speaker 2 (12:56):

Okay. So I have [00:13:00] never been to Chattanooga. I’ve heard wonderful things about Chattanooga. But from an outsider’s perspective, I hear people compare Chattanooga to Asheville, Greenville, Knoxville, and even Austin 20 years ago. What’s the comparison you think is most accurate for someone who doesn’t know much about Chattanooga?

Speaker 3 (13:24):

Well, Chattanooga has grown, but it still feels approachable and connected [00:13:30] with the community. Sure, our traffic has increased, but nowhere nearly as the congestion you may experience in the larger cities of Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and so forth. But our outdoor recreation has become part of what Chattanooga’s identity is. Becoming the first national park city in the US was a big recognition that we had recently because Chattanooga was once the smoggiest city. And now [00:14:00] we’re one of the cleanest with the things we’re doing with outdoors and such. So it’s becoming a destination for people. It’s not where is Chattanooga? How do I get there anymore? It’s where people want to be. And our tourism has continued to grow, sporting events, bringing visitors all year round for events, whether it’s Ironman or just different sporting activities, the local soccer team and Erlanger [00:14:30] Park where it’s redeveloped the south side of Chattanooga with a lot of mixed use development.

(14:35):

So Chattanooga has maintained much of its local character with the growth, but the city size allows residents and investors to still feel connected, but benefiting from the major economic developments and investments here.

Speaker 2 (14:55):

So what’s something that you think locals kind of take for granted that visitors [00:15:00] immediately notice?

Speaker 3 (15:02):

Well, one thing that I always missed when I was gone was the riverfront, the mountains for hiking and mountain biking and just the nature. Driving through Chattanooga for living here for majority of my life, you see these things every day. But someone coming in from different parts of the country and just seeing how the mountains and the river and just outdoor and how vibrant [00:15:30] the city is, I think that’s something that most people will notice.

Speaker 1 (15:36):

As somebody that’s not from Chattanooga and has been there many times, I think one of the things that’s impressive about is how close all of those outdoor recreational activities are to the city and how accessible they are. It’s not like some other cities where you have to go an hour or two away to access. It’s literally at the sort of back door of Chattanooga, if you will. You can kind of open [00:16:00] up into these beautiful areas to walk, hike, bike, whatever you want to do.

Speaker 3 (16:07):

Yeah, exactly. When I leave the office, I can be on the riverfront in 10, 15 minutes. And same goes if you wanted to kayak, you can be on the river and just a variety of things. Instead of having to pack a lunch to go somewhere, it takes you an hour, you’re really within 10, 15 minutes and being at the mountains or the river. So it’s really nice.

Speaker 2 (16:30):

[00:16:30] Well, and I understand too that Chattanooga has some draws as far as being an investor market. Can you talk about what some of those benefits to investing in real estate in Chattanooga maybe versus Atlanta or Nashville? Because Chattanooga is kind of sandwiched right in between those two major cities, correct?

Speaker 3 (16:57):

Yeah. So we’re two hours pretty much [00:17:00] in that direction, whether to Nashville or to Atlanta, we’re two hours right here in the middle from all that. So we’ve been a little bit insulated from over the years with. We haven’t seen a huge price drop in the value of properties depending on economic times. We’ve seen steady medium price [00:17:30] range homes here in Chattanooga continue to grow. People are still relocating here to Chattanooga for work and for a variety of reasons. The logistics companies, the hospital systems, different things of that nature that are still bringing in people to live and work along with retirees that are relocating here for no state income tax, just for [00:18:00] the value of living here. The cost of living can be much more affordable to individuals for that part. So having the steady rent growth here for investors has been a positive impact for investors to continue to look here.

(18:21):

And then the equity that they’ve had in their current assets that we can talk to here as well when we [00:18:30] had a big wave of new ownership and investors in 2020, 2021 and kind of what that’s led to with their current assets or future purchases that they may look to. But I think those are just some solid numbers that we continue to see here. The last handful of years, Chattanooga has always appeared on top 10 cities, destinations, people moving, the U-Haul report, where are people loading up and moving to? And Tennessee is still growing.

Speaker 1 (18:59):

Yeah. And [00:19:00] I think you’ve got the benefit of the no state income tax, right? But then you have some quality of life components in Chattanooga that you said you referenced earlier are different than a bigger city like Atlanta or Nashville. It’s easier to navigate around, but also the city of Chattanooga has done some things to try to attract businesses and be more business friendly. It’s also known as gig city or what is the term? They’re trying to [00:19:30] invest heavily in the infrastructure, digital infrastructure to support business growth and to make sure that people could come relocate to Chattanooga and not be disconnected from wherever they may work.

Speaker 3 (19:44):

Yeah. That opens up, to your point, a whole new dynamic for those individuals that can work remotely and they can live anywhere because of our electric provider, electric power board here in Chattanooga developed the first gig [00:20:00] of internet and that’s continued to expand. And it’s probably a hundred gigs by now or whatever that might look like, but it’s still some of the fastest in the country. And that’s allowed business development to happen here, logistic companies, tech firms to bring their headquarters here, not only for the cost of living, but the infrastructure that the city provides for these companies to move here.

Speaker 1 (20:27):

It’s interesting. I was at a conference a month or two ago [00:20:30] and they’re discussing the number one amenity that is key in sort of any rental community is the speed of the internet and the access. So it’s like Chattanooga apparently was hip to that long before some other places.

Speaker 3 (20:44):

Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 (20:47):

You have worked with a lot of people that maybe were unfamiliar or beginning to get familiar with Chattanooga when you started interacting with them and they were considering investment [00:21:00] there. Talk a little bit about that. You’ve had some really large groups and populations of investors that were coastal, West Coast or some other markets that sought out Chattanooga and interacted with you as they were making their entry into the market. What was it that you heard consistently from those folks that drew them to considering Chattanooga?

Speaker 3 (21:28):

The top [00:21:30] three or four items here, not in any particular order, but our taxes on properties were low. They were just amazed that they could buy a property and pay the taxes that we had here. And the rent that we were getting on our assets, they were able to relocate from a 1031 exchange or investments that they may have had in their home state because they were capped out on the rental rate they were getting, some [00:22:00] restrictions on eviction moratoriums or just anything that was negatively impacting them. That some of the laws here in Tennessee, tenant landlord laws and different processes were a little bit more investor friendly from that aspect. And so just to be able to look at Chattanooga and feel confident about where they could relocate their money because [00:22:30] there’s many investors during that 2020, 2021 timeframe that we’ve still never met in person, but they trusted us to invest X amount of dollars and were calling us daily to please help us locate a property and grow their portfolio.

(22:48):

And I never took that for granted because that’s their retirement plan, that’s what they’re trying to plan for personally [00:23:00] and professionally as they grow their portfolio. And that’s something that hopefully we can still meet everybody one day, but just the opportunity to work with those that have been out of state and still haven’t maybe been to this market to see their asset, that’s where they trust us to be their eyes and ears. But those were some of the things that brought new investment and eyes into our market here and to Auburn Realty specifically.

Speaker 1 (23:30):

[00:23:30] I think one of the things about that that is so interesting is you had these individuals or investors that weren’t familiar with Chattanooga from a knowledge standpoint of having gone to market or being there, but they could just see so many compelling reasons as to why it made sense to consider it. And then I think it’s a testament to you and the team that you’ve led there that also creating that level of trust to have somebody [00:24:00] that may have never been to market or seen their asset be willing to make what for them is a very substantial investment. I think one of the things you said before that I would be curious just hearing a little bit more of your thoughts on is you mentioned that in selling them the asset, they know that we’re still going to be involved in it through managing it.

(24:22):

How does that create a situation in which there may be more responsibility, but it also can be more rewarding [00:24:30] for us, the investor and the community? How is that different than some of your other experiences working with investors?

Speaker 3 (24:39):

It’s more rewarding, I feel, to have that personal connection. It provides a homeowner investor a level of comfort. You want to do a great job for them. That’s given us many opportunities for referrals because of their experience that they have [00:25:00] that I’m not sure that would have been there that we could really convey that message for me personally from previous time in property management elsewhere. To just be able to continue to be their eyes and ears and trusted partner for continued growth. I think that’s just been a huge impact for that perspective. Knowing that they would always have a point of contact in leadership in each market, whether account manager [00:25:30] or market director, that they always have that dedicated person to lean on and depend on, that they can trust. Where they may have been associated with other firms in the past or what have you, that they would just get a call center or a different person every time.

(25:49):

It’s just really been able to take a level of ownership and be that person for our investors and owners to know that [00:26:00] they can call and ask questions and get an understanding that we’re invested with them as well.

Speaker 1 (26:10):

What do you see as the future of Chattanooga? I mean, you grew up there, you moved to Charlotte, you moved back and you’ve seen this dynamic growth, but it sounds like there’s still a really good runway potentially for residents to have a high quality of life [00:26:30] living in the market, but also investors. What is your outlook on Chattanooga going forward?

Speaker 3 (26:36):

Yeah. I mean, what excites me about Chattanooga is the future is many factors driving growth today. I don’t feel are temporary trends. Like we were talking about, the river isn’t going to move, the mountains aren’t going to move, they’re always going to be here. So the outdoor amenities aren’t going anywhere. The investments being made in [00:27:00] our infrastructure and economic development, healthcare and so forth are just going to continue to strengthen the city’s foundation. So that’s going to promote long-term growth. One thing about spending my life here in Chattanooga is it’s had to reinvent itself over the years in different ways from being dependent on manufacturing and things of that nature from decades ago to [00:27:30] investing in Volkswagen to move here, to manufacture automobiles, to tourism and different things that we’re doing, development along the riverfront. So the leadership here in Chattanooga over the decades has just been able to reinvent the city and grow with the population and things of that nature.

(27:51):

So the Chattanooga today is much stronger than the one I grew up in. And 10 years from now, it’s [00:28:00] going to be even better.

Speaker 2 (28:03):

Jason, can you talk a little bit about what type of investor or asset class Chattanooga might be best for? From my understanding of the market and Auburn, there’s a lot of scatter site single family homes. You work with a lot of owners with that kind of portfolio, but I know you work with small multifamily [00:28:30] as well as there being more build for rent communities coming online in Chattanooga as well.

Speaker 3 (28:37):

Yeah. So you’re right. And that covers a wide variety of different properties that we can manage and that we are capable of managing. A lot of properties in Chattanooga built through the ’60s and ’70s, duplex, quadplex type properties in certain pockets of Chattanooga. And we can talk a little bit more about those [00:29:00] type assets where owners have historically been able to get into those at a great price point and interest rate. But as those things start to age out, how that affects investment as well. But yes, there are currently three or four built to rent communities that have recently been developed in the last five years in Chattanooga. A combination of single family town home type of communities [00:29:30] that may have clubhouse, may have a dog park. There’s just different things that have been attractive to that build to rent here along with a lot of new inventory that’s come up over the years for apartment living and different things of that nature.

(29:50):

So a wide variety of different types of properties that we manage and that keeps us in [00:30:00] involved with our market because we have to be mindful to our investors that five years ago you had less competition, but since then new product has been built and things of that nature. So we have to continue to be educational to our investors that to stay competitive, to rent your property at the price point we want, not to have it sit dormant on the market because of the [00:30:30] avocado stove, that we may have to do some changes. It may not increase the rent of $500 a month, but it’s going to keep the property competitive. So that’s kind of a sidetracked answer there, Aaron, to your question in a way, but that’s just kind of what we’re seeing that’s leading us to our conversations today.

Speaker 1 (30:53):

No, and I think that’s actually very interesting, Jason, because it ties together a lot of things. You were talking about how the [00:31:00] Chattanooga employment sector has become more diverse, and then they’re talking about how the housing stock has been more diverse. Looking at it from an outsider’s perspective, as somebody that doesn’t have your depth of knowledge there, you can see how much the city has changed, but how much that also requires the investors to be willing to adapt and adjust, right? You’ve referenced several times [00:31:30] the amount of investors that 21 and 22, and I think that was a number of reasons. I think Chattanooga was coming on the radar, the financing was very attractive for investors at that time. I think what’s interesting is I don’t view Chattanooga as any less of a viable market there, but the strategies at which an investor may need to take to either lease their current property or buy some new properties [00:32:00] are different, right?

(32:02):

And that’s a reflection of market dynamics and pieces. Any thoughts or comments on that in terms of how you’ve seen the inventory change, the investors change, and what that means for people that are interested in Chattanooga?

Speaker 3 (32:18):

Yeah, just from the historical, that wave of investors that we had 2020 through 2022, they were acquiring assets at [00:32:30] attractive interest rates and they were a little bit insulated from some repairs because of the interest rates were so low and their purchase price was before we really noticed the median price here rise like it has been over the last few years. So the property values have appreciated since acquisition for a lot of these buyers and investors. They’ve got [00:33:00] a really nice equity position in this market and some of their local markets they were in prior to here, and they have just strong unrealized gains in their assets. So that’s the good news. But with that is some challenges of acquired a property in 2020 that had some CapEx items to consider, but the purchase price and [00:33:30] the interest rates were so low that let’s just make this acquisition here and we’ll deal with the rest later type mindset because FOMO was going on

Speaker 1 (33:41):

And

Speaker 3 (33:42):

It kept a lot of people engaged. So the conversation now is from where we were then to now, as people still look in the market here, again, it goes back to learning their long-term desire for the asset, what they’re comfortable with, [00:34:00] if they’ve owned a class in this market, or was it more of a C class in their market, just to kind of know what their comfort level is because that’s ultimately going to determine if you’re going to cashflow heavily in an asset that’s going to need some repairs in the more near

Speaker 1 (34:21):

Future

Speaker 3 (34:22):

Than not. So it’s just learning what that investor wants to do.

Speaker 1 (34:27):

Yeah. And I think that’s a really interesting point, [00:34:30] Jason. I know we’re going to shortly, we’re going to talk with an Auburn team member out of Houston who’s working with an investor on some build for rent assets. But I think one of the things that you’ve been able to do in Chattanooga is bring a depth of knowledge and experience of multiple market cycles and multiple asset classes to investors and then help them try to match that with their personal objectives. I think the 21, 22 time period, I think of [00:35:00] it a lot similar to when I started flipping houses in 2006, is everybody was a genius. It was like the market, you could do no wrong. And now there’s market and just asset realities that are typical in real estate. These homes require reinvestment. There’s potential for repairs. There may be rents that have stabilized or plateaued.

(35:25):

All of those, I don’t think, change any of our desire to [00:35:30] have folks invest in Chattanooga or believe in Chattanooga. But some of those realities may not be appropriate for some of our investors who maybe want a more predictable return with a newer asset or don’t want to have to make the asset management decisions of, should I go ahead and replace this versus repair it? But I think that’s really the cool thing about what we do is we can take those different asset types, [00:36:00] those different markets and match them with the investors because it’s not a one size fits all.

Speaker 3 (36:06):

Right. Yeah. It’s really not. And the challenges some of our current investors have from purchasing their properties five years, 10 years ago, they just continue to require larger capital expenditures where on a good month or two, they may cash flow a certain [00:36:30] amount that looks fantastic on the books, but one HVAC or one roof replacement is going to wipe that out. And that’s just where some of the properties are with some current investors. And insurance premium are increasing because they’re going out and seeing that you have limbs overhanging on your roof or your roof is aging and they’re requiring them to replace roofs on the aging properties to renew their insurance policy. So a lot [00:37:00] of different dynamics that we may not have thought of at the time or is always on the forefront of an investment are in play.

Speaker 1 (37:09):

And then just – Those are hard to consider when you’ve got FOMO going on and you got to –

Speaker 3 (37:13):

Right.

Speaker 1 (37:13):

Yeah. Even if you’re advising the investor, it’s a competitive market and everybody wants in, right?

Speaker 3 (37:18):

Yeah. And that’s true. But an example I have with an investor, he was able to acquire two duplexes at 150,000 each back in 2021. [00:37:30] And if he were to sell those today, he would likely get 260, 265 a piece for them because he’s got the equity in the property, but he’s also running into a lot of higher expenditures with the HVACs and roof replacements and

Speaker 1 (37:50):

Just

Speaker 3 (37:51):

Mechanical items for a property. But we’re able to confidently have that conversation, whether it’s an existing owner or [00:38:00] a new investor that’s. Because we know we’ve been there, we’ve scoped work for a full rehab. We can advise them that, yes, here’s what your rental rate’s going to be for the market we’re in and your price point, and here’s what improvements are going to look like over time because we do those daily. So not only for existing owners, but those that are new, first time investors even, we’re able to confidently have that conversation.

Speaker 1 (38:30):

[00:38:30] Yeah. And then you put it back in the investor’s hands. Well, I know we need to wrap up here shortly so we can go to our next episode that we’re going to do where we’re going to have you and our Houston team member talk a little bit different about the markets. If somebody were to come to Chattanooga for a weekend, what would be on your list to make sure that they don’t miss doing? I know you like to run, you have dogs. [00:39:00] What is on the to-do list for somebody coming to Chattanooga?

Speaker 2 (39:03):

And Jason, before you answer that, may I hop in and say, I think I’ve heard little Paul on the. Can we meet your four-legged friend?

Speaker 3 (39:15):

Yeah. Here, let me step right here. Just give me a second here. My neighbor is putting on a new roof. There

Speaker 2 (39:27):

We go.

Speaker 3 (39:28):

Every time they throw shingles off the roof, [00:39:30] he’s getting nervous, but he’s 14 and he just likes to tiptoe around as you adhere. So this is Tucker, one of two of the dogs we have here in the house.

Speaker 1 (39:43):

Tucker looks like he’s doing pretty well for 14.

Speaker 3 (39:45):

Yeah, he is. He’s doing all right. Except his toenails. I think I need to clip them.

Speaker 1 (39:54):

So what would you and Tucker advise somebody? Somebody’s coming there just for a week and has two days in [00:40:00] Chattanooga. What’s on the do not miss list?

Speaker 3 (40:03):

Yeah. There’s so much. If you wanted to be more in the lookout Mountain Rock City, I mean, that’s just a fantastic little. I know it’s a tourist attraction, but it gives you the mountain views and outdoor activity to see there in Chattanooga. Our walking bridge that crosses over the Tennessee River is about to reopen after two years of being renovated. And that’s just a nice little half mile [00:40:30] bridge you can walk over to get from the arts district of Fraser Avenue in Chattanooga to downtown. So there’s just so much walkability in the downtown area. The Hunter Museum is great for that. And there’s just a lot of restaurants and breweries that are in town now too. So depending on what your interest is, you’re not going to run out of things to do. And you’ll probably have to plan another weekend or two just [00:41:00] to get the things that were on your list that you missed because there’s just so much going on.

Speaker 2 (41:06):

And I imagine there’s a lot of recreation around the river, right? Do people float or kayak and canoe? Is it that kind of river or is it – Yeah, it is.

Speaker 3 (41:17):

Okay. Yeah. Coolidge Park is an area that people can go to. They can rent kayaks. They can bring their own and put it in the river right there. There’s ramps for those that are doing that. And [00:41:30] there’s so easy access to have your own or rent equipment being right there on the river. The Greenway connects give or take 20 miles of riverfront that connects from the south side of Chattanooga all the way through downtown. So you really have so many trails walking past and also hiking. Signal Mountain Lookout Mountain just provides so many outdoor trails for that. And also [00:42:00] Enterprise South is a area that has biking trails and mountain biking.

Speaker 1 (42:07):

Yeah. And we talked about this a lot. I think interesting again, as an outsider perspective, coming in, you could see that Chattanooga’s had this evolution of these different neighborhoods really growing and thriving where you had the downtown and then you had North Shore and then you had Red Bank, but you had the South Side. You’ve got all these different pockets that really have their own identity, but [00:42:30] activities for people to do, right? That I imagine is pretty different than what that looked like when you were growing up there.

Speaker 3 (42:38):

Yeah, it has. And the good thing is about those neighborhoods is that whichever pocket of Chattanooga you’re in, you can be downtown or in the mountains in 10, 20 minutes. It’s just convenient for that. But the amount of trails and paved greenways has expanded tremendously in the last 10, [00:43:00] 15 years. So yeah, it’s made it easier access because these neighborhoods now have trailway entrances to connect to the overall riverfront in Greenway space. So yeah, it continues to grow and looking forward to seeing more of that.

Speaker 1 (43:19):

Cool. Well, Jason, thank you for all you do at Auburn, and thank you for being a guest for Real Estate Rewind. Is there any last thoughts you want to have? [00:43:30] I guess Aaron, you didn’t ask him where we should eat in Chattanooga.

Speaker 2 (43:34):

I know. I was going to ask you what your favorite restaurant was or place to grab a bite, but maybe we can ask Kristen and Jason together. We can do maybe like a rapid fire set of questions and stack up Chattanooga in Houston.

Speaker 1 (43:53):

Perfect. There we go. So thank you, Jason, to you and Tucker for participating. Looks like Tucker was eager to get [00:44:00] his time on a camera there. Yeah, that’s right. He can’t

Speaker 3 (44:03):

Help himself.

Speaker 1 (44:05):

We appreciate all you do. And I think it’s amazing to have a local team member that has the passion for Chattanooga that you do and the knowledge and the experience of seeing the market change and transform. And you’re like a tour guide for investors coming to town. You can tell them all the places to go and see and why that could also be beneficial to them for their investments. [00:44:30] So thank you for joining, Jason.