New to Real Estate · Jackson, NH · Member since 2023 · 2 posts · 0 votes
Having lived in "the valley" for some time, my family and I have been looking into purchasing a few rentals in the Conway/Bartlett area. Though deals seem hard to find, it doesn't seem impossible. I am wondering if anyone has experience in the short term rental market in the area being too saturated? Or is it still possible to make decent cash flow? Thanks for any advice!
Not sure what you're financing position/plan is, but make sure that you speak with your lender regarding if there are any issues financing the acquisition of an STR in North Conway, NH in the event that the property appraises as "rural." I know for DSCR financing, most lenders either can't touch properties that appraise as rural, or can do so only at conservative leverage (65% LTV and below).
I did STR in a duplex starting back in 2017 and managed for others in North Conway, Ive since converted to all long term tenants and happy i did so... unless your property has something unique or a "rare" amenity.... like, sleeps 30, I honestly would not waste any energy on it in the north Conway area. so saturated, and so much big money being invested in the hotels, its tough to match amenities vs cost, and I see travelers trending back towards the hotel style accommodations. granted, for the right price, I'd buy anything and figure out what the best use for it is.
use airdna.co for decent data on # of Short term rentals in any particular market. can also identify opportunities.
the point of my response.... be careful in STR in any area and always have a plan B. you can change a lot of things about a property, but your cant change your basis! buy low, no exceptions.
@Katie Casper Colin hit the nail on the head: North Conway has more STRs than any area of the state. It’s also been a lightning rod for the balance many regions and towns are still trying to reach between full time owners and short term visitors.
As you may know being local, SB249 is the bill that came up as a defense against towns like North Conway trying to shut down STRs, but it ended up in zombie state due to the sheer nature of diametrically opposed views on the matter and Governor Sununu’s push to do better than what the bill ended up proposing.
Some details here:
https://legiscan.com/NH/bill/SB249/2022
As with all areas in New England I encourage investors to start thinking of oversaturated STRs markets as expense offset versus cash flow properties. The sheer volume of money and investment flowing in all the northern New England states over the past couple years is unheard of and created a highly competitive marketplace of rentals with investment that do not appear to be slowing down, even given the rental rate’s dropping double digits over the past couple years. As an example I just checked AirDNA’s data against one of my rentals this week and occupancy and ADR was way off from the reality on the ground that most others I know are seeing in 2023. That’s not an attack on their service, just the reality of a market data that’s changing at light speed.
Not sure what you're financing position/plan is, but make sure that you speak with your lender regarding if there are any issues financing the acquisition of an STR in North Conway, NH in the event that the property appraises as "rural." I know for DSCR financing, most lenders either can't touch properties that appraise as rural, or can do so only at conservative leverage (65% LTV and below).
I purchased one a year ago , it's a tough market . I would not recommend for first STR. Although I am also new and maybe with better marketing and managing it could be better but I would definitely look at all data.