Sai Capital
— Overview
Sai Capital is a family-owned real-estate investment firm building a portfolio of short-term rental (STR) properties. Our team was engaged to source and underwrite its next acquisition: deciding where to deploy capital, valuing the target asset, and stress-testing the returns before the firm committed.
We screened candidate markets across North Carolina, including Wilmington, Asheville, and Durham, weighing tourism demand, STR regulation, and growth fundamentals, and reviewed local short-term-rental policy to confirm each market's regulatory footing. For the priority target, we gathered first-hand data, averaging twelve months of comparable Airbnb listings on nightly rate and occupancy, and ran a comparables analysis of nearby rentals. We valued the property using both income and sales-comparison approaches, then built a ten-year pro forma with loan sizing, a sensitivity analysis, and levered and unlevered return projections. The result was a defensible valuation, a business plan for operating the asset, and a clear, data-backed recommendation on whether and how to proceed.
In parallel, we worked to optimize an existing Sai Capital rental, a South Lake Tahoe condo, benchmarking comparable listings and recommending dynamic pricing, value-added upsells, and listing-SEO improvements to lift occupancy and revenue. Across both workstreams, Sai Capital came away with a repeatable framework for underwriting new acquisitions and maximizing the assets it already owns.
— Deliverables
- ✓Market screen across three North Carolina STR markets on demand, regulation, and growth
- ✓Short-term-rental policy and regulatory review by market
- ✓First-hand nightly-rate and occupancy data from twelve months of comparable listings
- ✓Comparables analysis of nearby short-term rentals
- ✓Asset valuation using income and sales-comparison approaches
- ✓Ten-year pro forma with loan sizing, sensitivity analysis, and levered/unlevered return projections
- ✓Data-backed acquisition recommendation and reusable underwriting framework
- ✓Revenue-optimization plan for an existing South Lake Tahoe rental (dynamic pricing, upsells, listing SEO)
"The FBC team helped us meticulously research our future property acquisitions, building a comprehensive financial model that thoroughly evaluated each opportunity. Their ability to dive into the actual property research and deliver clear, actionable recommendations was particularly valuable. Their work was thoughtful and highly professional.
Aarati SawhneyMD, MHA · Founder, Sai Capital · Spring 2025