FAQ & how this works

CertScout pulls the City of Savannah's public STVR list nightly. The city republishes the list roughly daily, so what you see reflects the most recent published pull — not necessarily this morning's list. The exact pull timestamp shows in the footer of every page.

Recorded sale data comes from the public SAGIS parcel layer, which republishes in irregular bulk updates rather than continuously — in practice, a recent sale can take weeks to months to appear. The city also receives no notification when a property sells; it relies on the new owner voluntarily filing paperwork if they want to keep the certificate. Treat the recorded sale as the last known record, not a same-day answer.

These come from SAGIS as the assessor's estimated joined fields — generally right, occasionally stale at parcel edges or where a parcel straddles two districts. For a binding answer on any specific parcel, the city's $50 Zoning Confirmation Letter is the record that governs.

The ordinance treats an active certificate as legally distinct from a lapsed one, and the ward's 20% cap is measured at the moment of any new application. That makes "is it on today's list" a real question, not a technicality — and it's why CertScout tries to reflect the city's list honestly, lag and all.

For an address, it pulls the parcel record and reports jurisdiction (City vs. county), STVR overlay membership, the ward and its cap status, zoning, flood zone, an inferred owner-occupancy flag, and whether an active STVR certificate is already on file.

The top of every result shows a seal stating the overall finding:

• Certificate On File (green) — the property already has an active STVR certificate.
• Likely — owner-occupied / ward open / by zoning (green) — the property looks eligible for a new certificate along that path, pending city confirmation.
• Waitlist Only (gold) — the ward has hit its 20% cap for non-owner-occupied STVRs; new certificates are first-come, first-served off a waitlist.
• Overlay — verify ward / County / Other (gold) — screening is incomplete or the parcel falls outside City of Savannah jurisdiction; check the noted contact.
• Not Eligible (oxblood/dark red) — outside both the STVR overlay and any zoning exception; new STVRs generally can't be certified here.

When a certificate is on file, it's also tagged Type 1 (owner-occupied), exempt from the ward cap, or Type 2 (non-owner-occupied), which counts against it.

On the Opportunity Radar, a stoplight color tracks two different countdowns, since renewal is due earlier than the certificate actually lapses:

• Renewal deadline (due 30 days before expiration): black/neutral if more than 15 days out, gold at 15 days or fewer, oxblood at 7 days or fewer.
• Expiration: black/neutral if more than 30 days out, amber at 30 days or fewer, deep red at 7 days or fewer.

The "Not on list" tab uses a plain NOT ON LIST tag instead — those certificates have already left the city's published list, so it's a confirmed event rather than a countdown.

No. This is a screening estimate, not a determination. The binding answer is the city's $50 Zoning Confirmation Letter. Use CertScout to decide whether that letter is worth requesting.

It's inferred by comparing the owner's mailing address to the property address. The 20% cap only applies to non-owner-occupied parcels, so this flag can flip the result — treat it as a guess, not proof.

It's just a demo shortcut: it pre-fills the search box with that street name and runs the normal address search, returning the first matches sorted alphabetically. It isn't a curated or ranked list.

Within Savannah's Downtown, Victorian, and Streetcar historic districts, new non-owner-occupied STVRs in residential areas are capped at 20% of residential parcels per ward. Owner-occupied parcels are exempt. Once a ward hits the cap, new non-owner-occupied certificates are waitlist-only.

Ward boundaries come from the SAGIS Historic Savannah Wards 1953 layer, resolved server-side by point-in-polygon. The capped-ward list is a manual snapshot from the city's STVR Regulations page; wards open and close rarely. Confirm the ward against the city's official ward map before relying on cap status.

We show the active non-owner-occupied certificate count and the number of parcels for a ward. The city has published its per-ward caps — subscribers can see them on the Cap Saturation report — but because the city hasn't confirmed exactly how it counts toward the 20% (by certificate or by parcel), we don't present a definitive "slots remaining" figure.

STVR certificates are valid for one year. Per the city, renewals are due 30 days before the expiration date, and renewals are not available after a certificate expires. CertScout shows two counters: the renewal deadline (expiration minus 30 days) and the expiration date itself.

STVR certificates are non-transferable. On a sale, a new owner must submit a new application within six months of purchase. For pre-existing certificates, certain grandfathering and cap protections may apply — confirm specifics with the city, as CertScout does not assert grandfathered status on any specific parcel without verified records.

A subscription feature. It lists non-owner-occupied certificates in capped wards that face a near-term renewal decision, plus a daily change detector. Three views: Potential openings (approaching the renewal deadline), Will lapse soon (past the deadline, not yet expired), and Not on list (certificates that left the city's published list since the last daily snapshot — the strongest opening signal).

No — they're leads, not confirmed openings. The large majority of certificates renew on time. A listing means a renewal decision is due; the real signal is when a certificate drops off the daily city list. Always verify with the city before acting, and follow all CAN-SPAM, Do-Not-Call, and anti-solicitation rules when contacting owners.

A subscription feature. For a property with a certificate on file — or one that looks owner-occupied and exempt from the cap — CertScout estimates annual revenue, average daily rate, and occupancy using comparable Savannah short-term rentals from AirROI. It's a starting point for a financial conversation, not an appraisal: actual performance depends on furnishing, management, and market conditions.

Two kinds, both plain and factual — they mirror the City of Savannah's public STVR list, the published ordinance, and public parcel records. They are never marketing.

• Account emails — a one-time confirmation when you sign up, and a sign-in link when you request one.
• Watchlist emails — a one-time baseline the moment you add a ward or address to your watchlist, then a change digest whenever something on a watched ward or property changes. No changes, no email.

Every watchlist email ends with the same note: This is an automated notice reflecting the City of Savannah's public STVR certificate list, published ordinance, and public parcel records. CertScout does not represent the City and cannot confirm how individual applications are processed. The samples below use example certificate numbers, addresses, and dates; your emails carry the real ones.

Subject: Your CertScout watchlist baseline. It opens with "Here's the current status of what you just added to your CertScout watchlist:" and states where things stand today — nothing has changed yet, it's your starting point. Watching a ward (capped): Watching a ward (not capped): Watching an address with a certificate: Watching an address with no certificate:

Subject: Your CertScout alert digest, opening with "Here's what changed on your CertScout watchlist:" — grouped by the ward or address it concerns. One digest can carry several of the lines below. A certificate is added, removed, or renewed: A certificate's manager or occupancy classification changes: A renewal deadline is approaching or has arrived: A certificate drops off the City list: A watched ward reaches its cap: A deed is recorded on a watched property:

These are sent only when you take an action on the site, and each contains a single green button. When you sign up — subject "Confirm your CertScout alerts": a confirmation link to activate your account. When you request access — subject "Your CertScout sign-in link": a link that signs you in. It's single-use for a short window; request a fresh one anytime.

Every watchlist email has an Unsubscribe from CertScout alerts link in the footer, and supports one-click unsubscribe from the Gmail/Apple Mail header button. You can also remove individual wards or addresses from your watchlist to stop alerts for just those, while keeping the rest. Account emails (confirmation, sign-in) are sent only in response to something you do, so there's nothing to unsubscribe from there.

The city's short-term vacation rental program is the authority on certificates, applications, and the cap. Reach them directly:

• STVR website: savannahga.gov/1476 — Short-Term Vacation Rentals
• Phone: (912) 525-2783 (Option 2)
• 24/7 hotline: (912) 226-0320
• Email: stvr@savannahga.gov

No. An APN starting with 1 is unincorporated Chatham County (its own ordinance); only APNs starting with 2 follow the City of Savannah rules screened here.

CertScout is a service of The Ladnar Group. Contact them at info@certscout.net