Best places in NC for short term rentals/vacation rentals?

Question

Where are some of the best places in North Carolina for short term rentals?
I have been looking into Asheville and Boone a lot but if anybody else has suggestions on different locations I’d like to take a look.

Thank you!

Account Closed · Answer

@Matthew Jackson, there are a lot of places in NC which could work for STRs. I read your other recent post too about wanting to use equity from your current resident getting started. If you are looking towards Asheville, be aware there are strict regulations within the city limits. If you were looking to move there, you could potentially get a city-issued permit for their Homestay option.

There have been some others discussing this topic on a similar thread here: First Cabin in Asheville Area

Some areas mentioned include Maggie Valley, Bryson City, Brevard, Black Mountain, Chimney Rock and Saluda.

Good job getting started. It's exciting.

Lee Berkwits · Answer

Have lived in the region since 2006.   Chimney Rock is far out from Asheville.   Saluda is closer to Tryon which has developed a large equestrian center at which many Olympic equestrian teams train.   Bryson City is a cute little town about 1 hour 15 minutes West of Asheville, home to Great Smoky Mountain Railroad - and also close to Nantahala Outdoors Center.  Lots of VRBO's in that region.   Brevard has a lot of digital nomads is a smaller town and close to great hiking.  It is located in Transylvania County with a population that doubles in the summer - so the activities are more seasonal.   Very close to many great hiking trails.   Asheville has been taken over by many hotels that do not like competing with AirBnB - so the city council has placed strict restrictions on short term rentals.

Adam Schneider · Answer

@Matthew Jackson -- I am asked a similar question all of the time to the one that you are asking. I'm asked about the best place to invest in my area. My response is the following:

1. Can you help me to know what your goals are, your resources are, and what your risk tolerance is?

2. Once I know more about their "goal box", "buy box", available time and money, what they are willing to lose, and what their time frame is, I can (attempt to) provide solid advice.

For example, if someone wants to be a long-term rental buy/hold person, it's important to know if the goal is more cash flow or appreciation, more tax strategy or forced, equity, etc. Those goal answers will drive location and type of property.

So....regarding the STR question, some of the best places today in terms of generating revenue may be in places that are the riskiest in terms of future government regulations. One person would say that that is okay because their focus is on the revenue generation and there is a good back-up strategy in place if the STR regulations change. Another person may say that the risk makes that particular location a no-go.

Thoughts?

Joseph Bafia · Answer

@Matthew Jackson

Glad to hear of your interest in STR.  I found that line of REI by accident and now have jumped into it even further. I do some out in Western NC and live in Raleigh so managing from a distance is possible.

The area around Asheville has great opportunities so don’t be afraid to check things out and keep researching.  I’d be happy to share some of my stories and offer insight.

Lee Berkwits · Answer

More thoughts... there is significant cap rate compression in Asheville due to in-migration.  We are seeing a large influx of buyers from California and Illinois with cash purchases (often without appraisals) which has caused prices to rise rapidly over the past few years.

You may want to consider joining CREIANC which is the local real estate investors group in Asheville (  CREIANC (dot) ORG) - great group, great educational opportunities, and they have continued to pound away through Covid on Zoom.  (We have had visitors on Zoom drop in from as far away as Argentina - all are welcome)

We have subgroups for various interests including Vacation Rental Group which has an upcoming meeting on 4/6/2021 so timing should be good for you.

creianc (dot) org / Events.aspx?ID=Vacation-Rental-Group-Online-Zoom-Meeting-125-4-6-2021

Matthew Jackson · Answer

@Lee Berkwits Account Closed

I appreciate your comments! I say Asheville in a broad sense, I went to college in Mars Hill so am very familiar with the surrounding areas. Your suggestions are also places I have been thinking of and looking into like Maggie valley and Mars Hill as it helps that there are ski resorts there. Also a big fan of lake lure/chimney rock and Brevard.

Satish Chandra · Answer

Guys,

I'm looking for STRs in NC area. I found one property in Mountainous Banner Elk area, which requires good touch and furnishing. Want to know you gurus perspective on that area. Your insights are greatly appreciated.

Matthew Jackson · Answer

@Adam Schneider

Our goal is to try and house hack in a location where we can rent part of the house/unit on Airbnb. We plan to house hack because we can pay with a smaller down payment, it is less risky, and cash flows well. After the first year we hope to then possibly repeat the process. We want to go the STR route to start as it will give us a nicer cash flow to start building our portfolio quicker.

My wife and I do wish to invest in long term rentals eventually as they are a safer investment and it helps diversify our portfolio, but only once we get a few STR’s that cash flow nicely.

Cash flow is our first priority when starting and then buying and holding is more of our long term goal as the appreciation will be highly beneficial in later life. This is why we have been planning on moving to western NC in the mountains as short term rentals have been successful there for a long time now and with so many outdoor activities, blue ridge parkway, ski resorts, and nice towns and cities etc. we feel this would be the best place to start. We have to stay put in our home right now and keep saving to start investing, but hopefully by the end of 2021 going into 2022, we can start looking to purchase a property to get started. We purchased our current home with a FHA loan for $148k back in October 2020. We got this under value as the home needed some work but after putting in around $10k it is now worth roughly $170-175k (based on comps selling in our area).

I appreciate your time looking at my post and hope this answered some of the things you were looking for.

Satish Chandra · Answer

Thanks @Danielle Moore .

I appreciate you taking time to response.

Danielle Moore · Answer

@Satish Chandra,

Banner Elk is a great place for STR, there are tourist seasons all year around. I’m a realtor in the area, and would love to assist in any way I can!

Danielle

Best places in NC for short term rentals/vacation rentals?

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