Investment in Poconos

Starting Out
6yFollow

Investment in Poconos

Kazi Tasnim
Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 1 vote

Hey everyone!!!! Hope you guys are doing fine regardless this Pandemic. I am new to this forum and would really appreciate some advice. TIA

I and my husband are planning on buying a house in Pocono. We have recently been in East Stroudsburg to visit Bushkill Falls, which inspired us to buy a home to put up on airbnb. I am looking through areas like Tannersville, Lake Naomi, Lake Harmony, Pocono Lake. But the houses there are a bit expensive than my budget. I found a few houses that I like in East Stroudsburg, Tobyhanna. I have read mixed comment about these areas. Can someone please suggest if its a good idea to buy a house there. Does anyone have experience in those areas and is it profitable? Thanks a lot again.

1Reply
203 views

Most Popular Reply

Phillip CostaPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Poconos, PA · Member since 2018 · 32 posts · 17 votes
4y

The Poconos is still one of the best STR locations to find high COC returns. We own one and operate others for investors and we've all been able to make great returns. I am part of a network of STR investors all over the world (including the Smokies, Joshua Tree, and Florida) and everyone is having a hard time making the numbers work but the Poconos still hold strong.

You definitely need to be careful with STR regulations but do your research and team up with a great realtor (@Mark Shay is a Rockstar) who understands/keeps up with the local meetings. At the moment, the only way to have success with STRs is to STAND OUT. This means you need to provide guests with an amazing experience and that comes down to many factors such as location, interior design, and perfecting your systems/operations. 

If you are looking for a completely passive investment in STRs then I suggest teaming up with a great operator that has the vision for the property, can execute on that vision (interior design and furnishing the place), and have the systems in place to provide every guest with an amazing experience without missing a beat. 

Send me a message if you have any questions or need suggestions!

4Reply
See this reply in the discussion

55 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Michael White
    Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 4 votes
    5y

    @Trisha Bechard that is awesome...what community are you in? We are in Saw Creek.

    0Reply
  • Abhishek Reddy
    Member since 2018 · 8 posts · 2 votes
    5y

    @Michael White thanks for the reply. I'm mainly looking for a second home and we've mainly focused on Saw Creek. We're based in NYC. From CO originally and really miss the outdoors. I heard from our broker that Lehman was changing its policy on STR. While it would be nice to have that as an option it seems there is an over abundance of housing and the main season is in the summer as the area isn't getting as much snow as it might have used to. Sounds like 25% occupancy is the high end with a great property. I'm just wondering if it's worth buying something at $170k and putting another $50k to bring it up to current standards. Would you be able to get your money out of it eventually?

    0Reply
  • Michael White
    Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 4 votes
    5y

    @Abhishek Reddy we bought in Saw Creek last July. Our property value has almost doubled since then with everyone trying to get out of NYC and pushing property prices up. We just cash-out refi'd to recover almost all of our investment. We have had no trouble renting...if your property is unique people will come. Saw Creek is amazing...great amenities, close to skiing in winter and plenty in the summer. If I can help please send me a DM.

    0Reply
  • Tom Dunn
    Member since 2021 · 5 posts · 3 votes
    5y

    Are there any examples of PA STR ban being reversed? NJ and NY, and others, have reversed these types of vans.

    With the suspension of any new permits being issued, those who are grandfathered in will be able to charge a lot more than they have in the past. 

    This almost seems like it benefits those owners more than anyone else.

    It’s grossly unfair to penalize future owners while rewarding those owners that provided cause to institute the ban in the first place.

    This Lehman Township ban is the township's way of just throwing their hands in the air and ignoring it. Not the proper way to handle these scenarios. STR's are here to stay and they ought to be finding ways to accommodate.

    Any coalitions forming to fight this ban??

    0Reply
  • Ryan Morrissey
    Rental Property Investor · New York, NY · Member since 2021 · 16 posts · 4 votes
    5y

    @Tom Dunn

    While it will put a cap on competition in that township I’m not sure rental prices will go up much higher than the neighboring areas as most renters are just looking at the house and the price tag.

    0Reply
  • Tom Dunn
    Member since 2021 · 5 posts · 3 votes
    5y

    We have an str in Wildwood, NJ. Prices are indeed rising as more people look for availability. 

    I would expect demand to continue in Poconos and prices will continue to increase.


    STR's are here to stay and local town officials need to develop accommodations rather than invest time and efforts into monitoring compliance.

    0Reply
  • Alesandro Breguez
    Investor · NEPA /NJ · Member since 2019 · 44 posts · 15 votes
    5y

    It will be a bumpy road while going through the regulations. Some townships passed investor friendly regulations but the second layer of ''regulators'' are the HOAs. I know that some are restricting the STRs for minim 2 weeks stay and other HOAs in the area completely banned it. HOAs might pose a higher risk for investors  than the Townships.. 

    0Reply
  • Mansi Kumar
    Member since 2021 · 1 post · 0 votes
    5y

    @gururaj Iyer what areas are your STR in?

    0Reply
  • Yahav B.Pro Member
    West Orange, NJ · Member since 2015 · 20 posts · 15 votes
    5y

    @Gururaj Iyer or anyone else here on the forum have any labor, handyman recommendations?

    0Reply
  • Gururaj Iyer
    Edison, NJ · Member since 2017 · 115 posts · 34 votes
    5y
    Hello, I have a few which I can DM across.. I own and operate 2 rentals ( 1 in Lake Harmony & other in Pocono Summit by Kalahari ) .
    This particular post is one of the most contended posts,  People with varied experiences . Poconos is certainly a high intense market when it comes to self managing ( possible but sucks up a lot of time ).  The larger the house the larger upkeep needed. The moment you hit a "sleeps 16"  situation - the cashflow & experience totally changes imo. 


    Originally posted by @Yahav B.:

    @Gururaj Iyer or anyone else here on the forum have any labor, handyman recommendations?

    0Reply
  • Gururaj Iyer
    Edison, NJ · Member since 2017 · 115 posts · 34 votes
    5y
    Lake Harmony & Pocono Summit. 
    Originally posted by @Mansi Kumar:

    @gururaj Iyer what areas are your STR in?

    0Reply
  • Yahav B.Pro Member
    West Orange, NJ · Member since 2015 · 20 posts · 15 votes
    5y

    @Gururaj Iyer my STR is in the poconos (East Stroudsburg)

    0Reply
  • Peter Amendola
    Member since 2019 · 50 posts · 13 votes
    5y

    @Michael White hey Michael- how has your experience been with Evolve in the poconos?

    0Reply
  • Alesandro Breguez
    Investor · NEPA /NJ · Member since 2019 · 44 posts · 15 votes
    5y

    @Peter Amendola, Evolve does not provide full service property management, they market your property in multiple listings and take a 10% cut - not really an advantage for homeowners since you can do the multiple market listings with other platforms as iGMS.

    My experience with Evolve is that they price the property very low, on average 50% of its should-be price. Financially it never made sense to me to list with Evolve..

    @Yahav B., its an overall issue for all homeowners to identify reliable labor. My recommendation is 1. Make sure to make a background and reference check prior to starting ; 2. always have a contract in place with your handyman with strong liability language; 3. Test him first prior to assigning to larger projects; 4. triangulate the information with a 2nd local person to check the work that was performed. My experience, every you can find 1 reliable handyman out of 5 attempts..

    2Reply
  • Michael White
    Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 4 votes
    4y

    @Peter Amendola I did not have a good experience with Evolve. They connected us with a "property manager" who didn't do much...we ended up having to take the property down and re-list a few months later without Evolve (self-managed). If you need any connections please DM. 

    0Reply
  • Peter Amendola
    Member since 2019 · 50 posts · 13 votes
    4y

    @Michael White hey michael! Thanks for the feedback. When you have a chance, please accept my connection request. It appears that I cant sent you a PM request without it

    0Reply
  • Mark Shay
    Real Estate Agent · Poconos, PA · Member since 2021 · 59 posts · 57 votes
    4y

    There is an old saying that people get involved in local elected office for one of two reasons: revenge or self-interest. This is particularly true when it comes to township commissioners and HOA board members. Rules and Regulations change over time guided by a community's HOA and their township supervisors. One of the communities that I like for STR has a HOA president who owns 4 STR properties in the community, so it is unlikely that that community will go against STR for a while. If you want to invest in a small town business (like a STR portfolio) it will pay to be connected or part of the bodies that oversee licensing of your business (self-interest). It is a cost of doing business, regulation is an investor risk, but it can be managed.

    1Reply
  • Andrea W.
    Investor · Tampa, FL · Member since 2015 · 89 posts · 30 votes
    4y

    I just posted 0.5 acres in East Stroudsburg in the BP Ads section @ https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

    0Reply
  • Alex Todorov
    Member since 2021 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    4y
    Quote from @Mark Miles:
    Originally posted by @Gururaj Iyer:

    @Mark Miles- there is absolutely no denying that .. if I may ask - what other locations for STRs are u considering ? Reason I ask is with 2 STRe in poconos- I haven’t been successful in adding another one - rental laws do keep me nervous as well ..good thing is the cashflow I am seeing with the 2 I own so far is super tempting for me personally to endure the hassles but then off course if a better market exist I would definitely want to explore

    I've had great success investing down south - Smokies & Florida panhandle are very popular markets with strong ROI that dont have the issues that Poconos do. There's other markets down south too...


     What areas do you recommend for str in Florida?

    0Reply
  • Luke Fowlie
    Member since 2020 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    4y

    I just bought a property in Saw Creek (Middle Smithfield Township side so friendlier STR regulations). Does anyone have a management company they'd recommend?

    0Reply
  • Mark Shay
    Real Estate Agent · Poconos, PA · Member since 2021 · 59 posts · 57 votes
    4y

    For anyone who is tracking STR-friendly Pocono communities, Tobyhanna Township, home to more than 800 STR's has just published their STR ordinance.  If you are looking at properties in the area, it is important to understand the difference between mailing address and legal address.  Post offices (zip codes) in the area do not correspond with municipal boundaries, so for every property you are considering, first check to find the township/borough name and then look to their STR zoning restrictions and licensing requirements.

    3Reply
  • Tatyana M.
    Investor · Tobyhanna, PA · Member since 2015 · 61 posts · 46 votes
    4y

    @Mark Shay hi Mark, do you think STR owners will be selling?

    0Reply
  • Phillip CostaPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Poconos, PA · Member since 2018 · 32 posts · 17 votes
    4y

    The Poconos is still one of the best STR locations to find high COC returns. We own one and operate others for investors and we've all been able to make great returns. I am part of a network of STR investors all over the world (including the Smokies, Joshua Tree, and Florida) and everyone is having a hard time making the numbers work but the Poconos still hold strong.

    You definitely need to be careful with STR regulations but do your research and team up with a great realtor (@Mark Shay is a Rockstar) who understands/keeps up with the local meetings. At the moment, the only way to have success with STRs is to STAND OUT. This means you need to provide guests with an amazing experience and that comes down to many factors such as location, interior design, and perfecting your systems/operations. 

    If you are looking for a completely passive investment in STRs then I suggest teaming up with a great operator that has the vision for the property, can execute on that vision (interior design and furnishing the place), and have the systems in place to provide every guest with an amazing experience without missing a beat. 

    Send me a message if you have any questions or need suggestions!

    4Reply
  • Phillip CostaPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Poconos, PA · Member since 2018 · 32 posts · 17 votes
    4y

    Happy to help!

    0Reply
  • Mark Shay
    Real Estate Agent · Poconos, PA · Member since 2021 · 59 posts · 57 votes
    3y

    For anyone who is tracking STR-friendly Pocono communities, Tobyhanna Township, home to more than 800 STR's has just published their STR ordinance.  If you are looking at properties in the area, it is important to understand the difference between mailing address and legal address.  Post offices (zip codes) in the area do not correspond with municipal boundaries, so for every property you are considering, first check to find the township/borough name and then look to their STR zoning restrictions and licensing requirements.

    3Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free