STR in Waynesville NC still worthwhile?

[Daniella Freese]

Hi Everyone, 

We're looking into an cottage STR in Waynesville (right in town) but really wondering if at this point in time the STR up there is saturated. We love the area, but I'm finding airdna is saying the net income would really only cover the mortgage, and looking at the trends I'm only seeing about 50 % occupancy.

Any 2023 advice. 

[Collin Hays]

"Cash flowing" with a significant mortgage isn't realistic except for brief periods of market imbalance and low interest rates.  It's no more realistic to ask your vacation home to "cash flow" than it is to ask your 401K to "cash flow."  Both are long-term holds that pay big dividends as time goes on.  

The true value of a vacation home is that other people are paying off a majority of the debt of the asset.  Try that with any other investment.  Over time, the amount you owe gets smaller and smaller, and one day, you'll find that you have an asset worth 2 or 3 times the purchase price, and guests are the ones that paid for 80 percent of it.