Property Management Blog

 In May 2022, Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant of America announced that they would be constructing an electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Ellabell, Ga that would create over 8,000 jobs on site and over 14,000 total new jobs. This development was expected to catapult growth in North Bryan County.  In this article, JDA project manager Eric Johnson speaks about the impact.  All of this seemed like an opportunity and we had a wild dream to develop and build houses for rent in Ellabell Georgia.

In October 2022, Hyundai broke ground on the Metaplant site. The housing market soon skyrocketed and interest rates started to increase dramatically. As these economic developments came to fruition, the vision for the Pembroke Pines Development  became clear— to build investor minded rental properties in Pembroke that provide long term cash flow by deferring capital expenses and maximizing profits. Below find 3 ways we see value for investors at Pembroke Pines: 

HMGMA - Hyundai Metaplant

Sitting on almost 3,000 acres, the Metaplant is expected to create around 8,500 on site jobs and around 15,000 jobs total in the area. It is expected to catapult growth in North Bryan County. The Pembroke Pines development is just ~10 miles from the Metaplant. This insulates investment risk and guarantees a fast growing housing demand for the foreseeable future. 

Trip Tollison, President and CEO of Savannah Economic Development Authority, commented on the Hyundai Metaplant stating, "Steady growth is one thing, explosive growth is another. When you add the Hyundai Project that was announced last year, it really turned it from steady [growth] to explosive growth."

Here, on WTOC, Tollison is speaking as the HMG project is nearing the start of production. With a Fall 2024 expected production start, hiring has now begun, and all levels of workers will be showing up soon.  This article is an example of a May 2024 job fair.  These new and future jobs create a need for rental houses near Ellabell and Pembroke.  

Built by Investors for Investors

Investing in new construction rental properties allows an investor to defer large expenses (new roof, hvac, fence etc..) while having a top of the line product to offer tenants. This leads to lower expenses, top of the market rent, and maximized profit for the first 8-10 years of the investment.  I would expect that supply & demand will drive value appreciation over the next 10 years as well. 

Each house in the Pembroke Pines Development was designed for durability, to save you money. LVP, Granite countertops and vinyl siding were chosen by the investor who built these homes. This should lead to a decrease in maintenance costs!

Forefront of growth

Economic advancement is coming to North Bryan county. There is no way around it. A 500 acre mixed use development is currently being pitched to Pembroke’s planning and zoning committee. It would create over 2,000 homes and multiple commercial spaces. Another developer proposed a 272 home development to the same P&Z committee. Growth is coming, it is just a matter of time. These future developments are, to some degree, held up due to limited sewer permits.  The City of Pembroke is currently in the process of expanding its sewer capacity.  Because Pembroke Pines was at the forefront of growth, we were able to get sewer permits before the last few were taken.

The Pembroke Pines Development is in the middle of what I like to call the “Tunnel of Economic Advancement.” Wedged between Fort Stewart and the Hyundai plant, 30 miles from the Port of Savannah and just 5 miles off of Interstate 16, growth is bound to travel down the tunnel. This growth should translate to appreciation in home value, rent rates and overall demand. 

It is widely known that the most successful investors are able to disengage from current circumstances and invest into the economic future. Not only next year… or the following year… but 10, 20, 50 years from now. It is easy to get caught up in escalated interest rates, highest home prices in history, and the constant “noise” that makes it hard to see the value in current investment opportunities. “I will wait until rates dip down then jump in.” I have thought the same thought. “The economy is unstable.” Agreed. “Cash flow is tight, I don’t see the returns with current interest rates” All Distracting noise and limiting beliefs!

I genuinely believe that the best time to invest is when everyone else is hesitant to. Swimming upstream often leads to flourishing. Jumping into the uncertainty and embracing the uncomfortable feeling can open doors (and returns) unimaginable. It is easy to say “next year.” The best time to plant a tree was yesterday, the next best time is today. The best time to invest in Real Estate is the same. 

The Pembroke Pines Development originated with a hope to bring sustainable and real value to investors.  That will continue to be our goal throughout this project. Give me a call, I would love to help you drown out the noise and step into the uncertainty that leads to exceptional returns. 

Lance Longgrear

Realtor - Disciple Real Estate

(912) 312-0697

Disciple Property Management was founded in 2001, starting with our own 2 rental homes in Richmond Hill Georgia. The story begins in 1993 with me as a young Second Lieutenant in the US ARMY serving at Fort Stewart in Hinesville.   I was straight out of the Corps of Cadets at  UNG and  I bought a brand new house in Sterling Creek subdivision, lived in it for 3 years, while renting rooms to other young officers that I had befriended. Today among investors, this is called the HouseHacking strategy. In 1996, I sold it and used the proceeds to buy two VA foreclosures, that I remodeled and turned into long term rentals. Today among investors, this is called the BRRRR strategy.  Just to be clear, I had no formal training and these Investing Strategies had not been named yet. I first heard of them years later, as they were mentioned on the BiggerPockets Podcast by Brandon Turner  and David Greene.

Over the next few years, I traveled the world in the Army, got married and we started having kids. During that time, I had local property managers handling my 2 rentals in Richmond Hill. I wasn’t very satisfied with the service I was paying for. So after leaving active duty, we returned to Richmond Hill, Ga and opened Disciple. My thought was that I could provide better service than what I had experienced. 

Property Management is not an easy business, and we have had to evolve and reinvent ourselves as a business many times. This is in an effort to keep up with Landlord/Tenant Laws and expectations of both Investors and also residents, all of which are ever changing. 

We have implemented processes and systems, not only to handle the demands and expectations of Property Management and to best care for our properties and for our residents in an efficient manner, but also to be consistent and make sure we are abiding by Fair Housing requirements.  Those are not requirements that we want to mess up, even by mistake!

Fast forward to today and we manage more than 250 rentals for 100+ individual investors.  If you have rental property in our area of service and would like Professional Property Management, we would love to talk. 

If you are an investor looking to grow your portfolio, we have a number of investment opportunities. Pembroke Pines is 10 miles from the Hyundai Plant and we currently have an opportunity for limited partners on a 16 unit townhome project as well. 

We are licensed to manage rental property all over Georgia. But can we feasibly do a great job managing property that we can’t see and touch quickly. Nope, we can not. So we keep the areas that we manage rental property to a very specific distance and areas in which we are working in regularly. 

We manage rental properties in Pembroke, Ellabell, and  Richmond Hill, all of which are in Bryan County Georgia. This is where the new Hyundai EV plant is located. We also manage rental property in Pooler, Ga and the westside of Savannah in Chatham county. And in Liberty County,  we manage in  Midway, and  Hinesville, Home of Fort Stewart and The 3rd Infantry Division.  This article, shows how Liberty county is also a hotbed for Industrial growth. 

Our entire Southeast Georgia region is growing, particularly the Coast, near the Savannah Port and the Hyundai plant in Ellabell.  If you have a rental property in Coastal Georgia, located within the markets we service, We would love the opportunity to meet with you.  If you are looking to invest in our area, reach out to us and we can help you find some options.  We even have some New Construction,  turnkey opportunities, like Pembroke Pines, that may be a good fit. 

While residents want to rent a nice looking home, they often have no interest, time, or knowledge on how to maintain the property. They may agree to landscape maintenance in the rental contract but it can be difficult for a property manager or owner to enforce. The owner can charge the tenant for maintenance or include landscape maintenance but it is not always practical to increase the rent with the full cost, particularly if the landscaping on the property is extensive.