New to Real Estate · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2019 · 4 posts · 4 votes
Hi All!
My name is Kelsey and I am just beginning my journey in the real estate business alongside my husband Michael. I am 26 years old and currently work as a public elementary school teacher. I see real estate investing as a vehicle for long term wealth and financial freedom and plan to quit my teaching career and manage/grow our investment portfolio long term.
We are looking to enter the market in short term rentals in the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville area of Tennessee. Our primary residence is just outside of Washington, D.C. so this would be managed remotely. We are looking to invest in the $200,000 - $300,000 range and would like to acquire 2 properties per year for the next 3 years. We also plan to invest in long term rentals in a cash flow positive market using the returns from short term rentals.
I would love to connect with anybody that has experience in this market and can offer some insight!
@James Rowe if I had it to do over I would have started with larger. But I was in the same boat as you when I started. I didn't have enough capital to get a big one, so I bought what I could afford as soon as I could afford it, so I could get cash flowing now. All of mine are 1 and 2 beds, and their cash flow has bought me 10 properties in the past 2 years. So they are doing exactly what they need to do. Is bigger a higher ROI and more efficient? Yes. Is small a wrong decision? No. There is no wrong way to do it!
My name is Kelsey and I am just beginning my journey in the real estate business alongside my husband Michael. I am 26 years old and currently work as a public elementary school teacher. I see real estate investing as a vehicle for long term wealth and financial freedom and plan to quit my teaching career and manage/grow our investment portfolio long term.
We are looking to enter the market in short term rentals in the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville area of Tennessee. Our primary residence is just outside of Washington, D.C. so this would be managed remotely. We are looking to invest in the $200,000 - $300,000 range and would like to acquire 2 properties per year for the next 3 years. We also plan to invest in long term rentals in a cash flow positive market using the returns from short term rentals.
I would love to connect with anybody that has experience in this market and can offer some insight!
Thanks so much!
Kelsey Ferguson
You've certainly come to the right place! @Luke Carl
STR is most definitely a great way to build wealth. And as a fellow northerner a couple hours up I-95, you're making the smart decision to invest remotely in the South! The ROI for Southern STRs crushes the ROI on Northern STRs. And it's great that you're so open-minded to remotely owning out-of-state real estate.
The Northeast has a lot of high-paying jobs - the best thing you can do is save your income, then take that capital and re-deploy it to Southern STR real estate.
I'd strongly suggest NOT getting a property manager (waste of money) & always looking for ways to innovate & improve - there's a lotta money to be made in this game!
“Wise Northerners invest in the South” -Mark Miles
“I wanna rent a vacation house in November in New Jersey / Ohio / Nebraska / Indiana” - Nobody ever
Check out bigger pockets podcast number 364 for info on this exact subject.
You can search this forum for Pigeon Forge and find literally hundreds of threads on the topic. Let us know if you have any specific questions there are a lot of us invested in that area!
@Kelsey Ferguson Fantastic decision, and you're absolutely in the right place! I started off living/working in Los Angeles and buying STRs in the GB/PF area. Hit financial freedom in less than two years. I own four cabins in the area, I love it and definitely the best financial choice I've made! Lots of great people here who will share their experiences with you and help you get started, welcome to your next adventure :)
Thanks all so much for the encouragement! I listen to the podcast pretty regularly and have been spending a lot of time on the forums trying to gain information. As we learn more we continue to feel more confident that this is the best area for us to invest in at this point in time. I am sure we will have questions along the way and what better way to learn then from those that have done it themselves. Looking forward to interacting with you all!
@Kelsey Ferguson Congratulations and welcome here to the greatest forum on BP. I'm a teacher from N Y ( now a former teacher). You might be able to acquire LTR out of state for less money and work than a STR but they won't earn as much profit for you. Expect to work and save for enough down payment money for your STR's. We have both, most out of state, self managed remotely. I like how you have clearly defined goals and metrics. That is a good respectable start. @Avery Carl is a great resource and represents an exceptionally strong market. Good luck.
This thread is way too much rah rah full speed ahead. You are new to real estate investing. And people are telling you to go ahead and do it remotely. And you want to throw a lot of money in and do it as quickly as possible.
you can't begin to imagine how many things can go wrong. In any part of the country. This is a business and businesses are all about risk first, not profit first.
2008 Great Recession. Great Depression. market disruptions. a trillion dollars a year deficit spending. rumors. panics. personal bankruptcy. a lot of other unexpecteds.
"We are looking to invest in the $200,000 - $300,000 range and would like to acquire 2 properties per year for the next 3 years."
" I am just beginning my journey in the real estate business... I am 26 years old... I see real estate investing as a vehicle for long term wealth and financial freedom and plan to quit my teaching career and manage/grow our investment portfolio long term."
Rah rah This forum! Set up keyword alerts, and soak it up! Learn until you’re “ready enough” then jump in. The learning will then accelerate like crazy after pulling the trigger.
@Kelsey Ferguson We bought our first PF cabin 3 yrs ago while stationed in DC. We self manage and have had no issues remotely. We also have built cabins and are building while livng in DC and now while I am in Afghanistan. Matter of fact I have a lot getting cleared this week to try to maximize the septic permit (weather permitting) and I will design, finance and probably start construction in the next 45 days while in a war zone having rocket and motar attacks. It is all about the team on ground. I say this so you know it is not only possible to do and be very profitable, but very realistic.
@Avery Carl specializes in helping out of state owners.
I have 3 pieces of advice for you:
1. Check Allegiant airlines out for cheapfairs to Knoxville
2. Don't try rushing down I-81 you will only get frustrated and when it does clear up around exit 80 in VA watch your speed because State Police run radar like crazy all the way to the state line in Bristol.
3. Make a list of exits with easy access Starbucks and put it in your car(s). Don't trust the VA exit signs because some of them are 20 minutes out of the way.
Hi @Kelsey Ferguson! You can totally do this! Just educate yourself on what it is going to take to manage it remotely and find an awesome realtor. (aka @Avery Carl) I joined Bigger Pockets February 21 of last year and obsessively poured over the STR forum educating myself. I luckily found the Carls on here and closed on our first cabin April 15 with Avery. I'm a stay at home mom to a 2 year old and soon to be baby #2 and travel with my husband all over the US for his job. I'm currently managing remotely from Texas. Yes, there will be issues you will have to overcome that come with managing remotely, but PF/GB is a true vacation market that has plenty of resources to help you. And the awesome folks on this forum and Avery's team are a plus too. I'm 33 and really wish I had started at 26! Best of luck!
It would be really neat if you could have Gatlin gun somewhere on the property. It could be a non-functional replica, or the real thing. The real thing would require lots of red tape. I'd stay in a STR that had a functional Gatlin gun mounted on the porch overlooking a shooting range. You can have old cars, pallets, 55 gallon drums, and watermelons as targets.
It would be a step up from what I have. I have a scoped .22 pellet rifle, a vacant lot next to my STR, and a bucket full of starling/pigeon bait.
Also looking to get started in this market. Trying to decide if I should get in fast with cheaper properties or work on finding partners to go bigger. If any of you who have already started could do it again what type of property would you start with in this market? On the podcast @Avery Carl said she would want to start with larger occupancy properties if I remember correctly? Does any one property type seem to be a better way to start out?
@James Rowe if I had it to do over I would have started with larger. But I was in the same boat as you when I started. I didn't have enough capital to get a big one, so I bought what I could afford as soon as I could afford it, so I could get cash flowing now. All of mine are 1 and 2 beds, and their cash flow has bought me 10 properties in the past 2 years. So they are doing exactly what they need to do. Is bigger a higher ROI and more efficient? Yes. Is small a wrong decision? No. There is no wrong way to do it!
Incoming incoming incoming, keep your head down brother!! I am getting my ducks in a row to start the Smokey mountain game and will def be hitting you up for info.
@Account Closed as she seems to be the expert in this area! Thanks for the travel advice it will definitely come in handy when we start making frequent trips down there. It is nice to know that managing a property remotely is feasible (even from Afghanistan!) with the right systems in place.
Hi all. I'm in Kelsey's boat. Just joined BP. Just did the drive from DC (and the guy is correct about VA police all the way down 81). Im a few years older, but we're under contract in Gatlinburg in the White Oak community. We vacationed in cobbly nob in August, but the idea just hit me watching hgtv on Thanksgiving Eve and we pulled the trigger. The market is very hot, out first choice was near the PF parkway but they accepted the other offer knowing we were going to look at the property a second time in 24 hours and probably put in an offer that afternoon, so the white oak one had a bigger living area for when family comes down for vacations as we also want to use it.
I’m looking now for a good tax accountant in Tennessee. I don’t understand the tax part/benefits of using a second home as a rental, and being active duty if I can become TN residents.
I anticipate using a property manager at least initially. Unfortunately I can’t manage it myself at this time due to my current work/life obligations. I’ve only read two threads on here but am looking forward to learning. I figure I’m having a midlife crisis or making a smart move but you only live once so I’m ok trying this!
That's awesome you are looking into investing in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville!!
I have no specific advice or experience in investing in the area, but I used to live in Maryville and Seymour Tennessee, so I know the area pretty well, and I think your plan for STR is a fantastic idea! Gatlinburg and pigeon forge are both popping in weekends pretty much all seasons, and there are plenty of attractions so I'm sure you are going to succeed!!
I myself would also love to invest in Maryville and areas near in the near future, but I am currently focused on Midwest (Kansas City) as I live here.
@Ryan Proffit Would have to check with a lender on that one but I believe so. @Parker Borofsky? What are your thoughts?
@DA Nguyen Our tourism is driven by the National Park. You can see visitation data, including how the last recession affected tourism (spoiler: not much) here:
@Avery Carl and @Ryan Proffit the answer to that is that it depends. Keep in mind the 10% down option is for second home/vacation home occupancy that allows you STR ability when you are not using it. If your intention is to purchase a vacation home with a family member and use it for short term rentals when you are not using it as a second home, then yes. Purchasing it with an unrelated party would most likely not fly since it is not typically reasonable that you would be using it as a vacation home/second home at the same time as the other party like it would be reasonable to assume this would/could be the case with family. Because of this, there would be a restriction of each party's ability to access/occupy the property and thus would disqualify it as a second home loan. If you need to partner with someone, or would just prefer to, investment occupancy Conventional loan has a 15% min down payment. Hope that helps!