Build to Rent - Short Term Rental ( Loghomes vs Modular vs Stick)

[Udawath Praveen]

Hello everyone,

I am exploring to build a vacation / short term rental home in west north carolina ( Beech/Sugar Mountain area). I would like to know thoughts from folks here on building the home. Would also like to know the thoughts on Modular vs stick-built in terms of appreciation/impact on rentals. Would also like to know thoughts on log home compared to traditional in mountains.

Appreciate thoughts and comments.

[Collin Hays]

This is a great question. In the mountains, many folks want to stay in something that looks like a log cabin.  There are some really nice modular homes out there that look great.  And you can make a frame house appear like a log cabin easy enough by log siding on the exterior, and pine or cedar tongue-and-grove paneling on the interior.  

At least in the Gatlinburg area, most of the "log cabins" are fakes.  They have the siding and paneling inside.  But the truth us, most guests don't know the difference, nor do they care.  It still looks and feels like a cabin.

In 2017, I built a genuine log cabin in Gatlinburg.  I had yellow pine (very hard wood) logs shipped in from Canada.  They were rectangular, and you basically stacked them just like "Lincoln Logs".  But this is a very expensive and arduous process:  For a light switch, you've got to literally bore a hole down 5 or 6 feet of wood with a special bit, to run the wiring.  Similar for outlets.  And the wood moves and needs occasional adjusting with special tools.  The wood also needs routine staining and sealing, plus you have to protect it from critters like wood peckers and carpenter bees.

But...I wanted to the real thing.  I wanted a true log cabin that would be there long after I am going.  I was only going to get one shot at it, so I did it right.  A log cabin is going to be a multiple more expensive than any frame built house.  It's just a lot more cumbersome and complex.

Here is a link to my log cabin, on the bank of the Roaring Fork in Gatlinburg.  Take a look at the walls on the inside.  There is no paneling or sheetrock on the walls.  It's just the logs.

https://cabinsneargatlinburg.c...