Anyone investing in the Elijay/ Blue Ridge, GA area willing to share their experience. How are your vacation rental(s) performing (occupancy, average nightly rate) ? We love the area, but are not sure how the occupancy and return compares to other mountain markets. We were originally considering the smoky mountains but it seems the prices are through the roof there right now!
Investor · Springfield, OH · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 150 votes
5y
Hey @Hanan K. we are actually closing on our first STR in Blue Ridge (4Bed/3Bath) this week. Prices have definitely gone up even just from the time we started looking to the time we got this one under contract (a few months), which is crazy, but the numbers still worked. My partner owns a couple in the Smoky mountains and they obviously perform very well, but we do anticipate that the BR cabin will do quite well, too. I'd be happy to chat more about it with you!
New to Real Estate · Chicago IL · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 2 votes
4y
This post is exactly my situation now. I am really interested but as I am looking through bookings it seems very sparse and it scares me. This would be my first STR so I'm a little fearful. I was looking at 4 bedroom newer build stuff in the 800k range. Any advice on how any of our rentals have performed would be appreciated.
This post is exactly my situation now. I am really interested but as I am looking through bookings it seems very sparse and it scares me. This would be my first STR so I'm a little fearful. I was looking at 4 bedroom newer build stuff in the 800k range. Any advice on how any of our rentals have performed would be appreciated.
We Cohost Short term rentals and invest in the blue ridge area. I would love to chat!
This post is exactly my situation now. I am really interested but as I am looking through bookings it seems very sparse and it scares me. This would be my first STR so I'm a little fearful. I was looking at 4 bedroom newer build stuff in the 800k range. Any advice on how any of our rentals have performed would be appreciated.
We Cohost Short term rentals and invest in the blue ridge area. I would love to chat!
Real Estate Agent · Boulder, CO · Member since 2015 · 285 posts · 226 votes
4y
Do you know how to look up earning potential in Airdna.co? They have a free tool called "Rentalizer" that allows you to look up any property with an address and it gives you three metrics: Annual earnings, avg nightly rate, and occupancy rate. Airbnbs are seasonal so you have to make some conservative estimates to make sure it carries you through but it will give you a general idea.
I've heard the returns are good there if you can afford a larger property. The game there is maximizing occupancy, with heads in beds. Happy to chat if you have more questions.
First post! What started as a search for a mountain getaway within 2 hours of Atlanta for me and my wife is evolving. I had never thought of myself as having interest in RE investing, but once we had an accepted offer on a cabin in the Hiawassee / Clayton area a friend mentioned Bigger Pockets and STR's. I formed a Property Management LLC, subscribed to BP and am searching the forums for more info. I have low expectations for now - really just hoping to have the cabin pay it's way and maybe a bit more. The appraisal came back today $20K higher than offer, and we close Friday. Now my wildly optimistic view is that we'll learn a lot on how to have and manage a STR property, then apply that knowledge to another 14 properties in the next 4 years so I can exit corporate world.
Congratulations, awesome . I am also interested in STR in blue ridge and would love to follow and learn from experience.
If you don’t mind answering few questions for me
Did you use the realtor ?
Also are using the management company ?
Are you local or out of state investor .
I would really appreciate your response.
Thsnks
Hi! I am new to BP and forums. :) Just getting my feet wet as we research STR in BR and possibly the Gatlinburg area. I'm wondering about property managers--does anyone know of any that are NOT 25%? I was hoping around 10-15%? What is realistic? Ideally, I would love to take the operational side on some day, but I have young children at home and we are so busy.
Lender · Asheville, NC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
Have you tried doing your own market research already? Someone mentioned AirDNA, but it's very expensive. I like data.Rabbu.com. It's free and takes you to your competitors' airbnb links so you can see their properties, calendars, nightly rates, average occupancy, annual earnings and earnings by month. It's a good alternative or addition to Air DNA.
Congratulations, awesome . I am also interested in STR in blue ridge and would love to follow and learn from experience.
If you don’t mind answering few questions for me
Did you use the realtor ?
Also are using the management company ?
Are you local or out of state investor .
I would really appreciate your response.
Thsnks
Hi! I am new to BP and forums. :) Just getting my feet wet as we research STR in BR and possibly the Gatlinburg area. I'm wondering about property managers--does anyone know of any that are NOT 25%? I was hoping around 10-15%? What is realistic? Ideally, I would love to take the operational side on some day, but I have young children at home and we are so busy.
You can do it, don't give your profits to someone else! Set up is the most time consuming part. Once you have all of your processes set, it takes very little time. We did two in four months--it was a bit of a roller coaster for a month or so with each, but they require very little of our time now. With prices the way they are now, i'm not sure there there is much room for profit if you use a property manager.
Real Estate Broker · Dalton, GA · Member since 2010 · 244 posts · 35 votes
4y
I own a small cabin in Ellijay that I purchased in 2017. Happy to chat with any of you guys that want a 'boots on the ground' view of the North GA mountain STR landscape. :)
This post is exactly my situation now. I am really interested but as I am looking through bookings it seems very sparse and it scares me. This would be my first STR so I'm a little fearful. I was looking at 4 bedroom newer build stuff in the 800k range. Any advice on how any of our rentals have performed would be appreciated.
Hi Patrick, Four bedrooms is definitely going to perform better than three. There are a TON of 3Br in the area, so a lot of competition. Two bedrooms actually perform really well too because they get higher occupancy.
We have two 4 bedrooms (in Morganton and Blue Ridge) that we purchased in the past year that both will gross over $125k. We got in just before things got crazy, but even at the $800k range you should be able to get 20% COC returns. It seems now that cabins with spectacular views rent the best, followed by being on water.
Realtor · Blue Ridge, GA · Member since 2020 · 62 posts · 22 votes
3y
Hey Hannah,
I know this is an older post but I would like to shed some light on the Blue Ridge market today. There are still deals to be found in North GA. As everyone knows property values have rocketed and interest rates are higher. Prices have rose in Blue Ridge but many STR owners thought they could come in and make easy money here. That is not how business works. Many folks are looking to get out of the STR game here because they bought wrong and need an exit plan soon. This is where I tell my clients to look. These properties are already furnished and we can come in with a lower offer to have instant equity at closing.
If the numbers work today at 7% and the property cash flows... Then that property will look amazing when the rates drop again and home prices rise!
I am speaking from experience on a few STRs I own in North GA.