STR purchasing big vs small

[Frank Rodriguez]

My wife and I are can save about 30k a month so we are looking to add more STRs Tom our portfolio. We are looking at places in the smokies and Florida. I believe it makes more sense buying bigger cabins, homes, but she also mentions that we could scale up faster with smaller places. What would more experienced investors recommend?

[Mack Lengel]

Speaking for the Smoky market here...

The fundamentals of the Smokies are the strongest in the country, and I still fully believe that it is the best market if I didn't then I would be looking for a new job. It is definitely a fact that bigger cabins bring in more revenue than smaller ones but if you don't buy a good deal or you go off of inflated income estimates then you could be buying into more work for the same profit at the end of the day. 

I am personally a big fan of smaller cabins that provide a unique experience. They are an underserved niche in the market and have good margins, especially when building them but that's another conversation. Whatever you look at I encourage you not to do what everyone else is doing for example a basic log cabin with rustic furniture and a wooden bear statue, there are hundreds of those and it provides your potential guest no reason to pick you over anyone else's cabin.