Personal experiences in Gatlinburg, TN area
New to Real Estate · Atascadero, CA · Member since 2016 · 90 posts · 13 votes
Personal experiences in Gatlinburg, TN area
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Collin HaysBusiness Member
Property Manager · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votesFirst, I think it is important to define the "Gatlinburg" market, as Gatlinburg is but a small part of the draw in the TN portion of the Smoky Mountains. Starting from the east and moving west, I consider the "Gatlinburg" market to include the following: Hartford, Cosby, Cobbly Nob, Pittman Center, Gatlinburg, Sevierville (portions thereof), Pigeon Forge, Wears Valley, and Townsend.
There are entrances to the National Park in Cosby, Pittman Center, Gatlinburg, and Townsend.
Gatlinburg has traditionally been the epicenter of this entire area. It is the typical four-season mountain town with arts, crafts, fishing, skiing, hiking, t-shirts, and ice cream parlors. Traditionally, and very generally speaking, vacation homes in Gatlinburg are the most desirable for both ownership and guest preference. Gatlinburg rentals have been strong for decades.
Pigeon Forge is also very strong, and these days, the rents in Pigeon Forge probably rival Gatlinburg. But for the same or similar money, I'm buying the Gatlinburg address every time.
Cosby...now this is an interesting area. I bought a 2400 square foot log cabin with 250 feet of frontage on Cosby Creek - a blue ribbon trout stream - for $240K in 2005. The annual rents were around $16,000 per year. But the rents have steadily grown in Cosby and my cabin should easily exceed $50,000 this year. Cosby used to be the "value" area to buy because it is 30 minutes from Gatlinburg. It is more rural and less tourist-y. But Cosby has become a hot STR area. My $240K cabin is probably worth $650K today pretty easily. It would be worth $1 million in Gatlinburg on a river front.
If you are attempting to forecast future rents and house values in the Gatlinburg region, it might be helpful to look at similar mountain towns out west. Vail, Aspen, Breckenridge, Tahoe, Telluride, Taos, Sun Valley. In these markets, the price per square foot for a legit single family cabin is often $2000 per foot or much higher. In Gatlinburg, we are still talking homes in the $300-500 per square foot region. That wouldn't buy you more than a single wide trailer in the mountain towns out west.
There is no reason whatsoever that Gatlinburg will not eventually catch or even surpass the values of the towns out west.
1. Gatlinburg is almost a year-round destination. The mountain towns out west are 6-8 month seasons.
2. There's substantially more entertainment offerings in Gatlinburg, again, year-round.
As high as things have gotten, Gatlinburg is still a bargain-basement place in terms of a decent yield and the promise of long-term appreciation in value.
27 Replies
- Rental Property Investor · Henrico, VA · Member since 2019 · 265 posts · 155 votes4y
Originally posted by @Josh Helvie:
Some friends that live full time in Gatlinburg said the Wears Valley area is considering traffic “alternatives” due to congestion. Apparently the Smokey’s are on pace to shatter attendance records. We believe in the area so much we’ve gone all in and don’t believe for one second we’ve seen the top. Cash flow! Exclusivecabins.com
This is what I wonder about the area, traffic. During my first visit, it feels full. I don't invest there but visit inlaws nearby (45 min away) during the holidays. I see it from a visitors perspective. Everyone locally talks about how bad the traffic is in the Gatlinburg, PF area. We got stuck in it coming back from the Smokey's (stop and go on forest road for 45 min). Locals plan around it. Family friend said they are selling their place because they don't want to deal with it anymore (I'm sure at a good price after decades of ownership too). I was surprised to hear how it is the most visited park in the US. I ask others that visit if it was difficult to find lodging or not when they travel there. I heard no, there are plenty of hotels that are available. I'm curious about the region, primarily because of how many visitors the region gets and the potential str revenue. I do wonder about the spike in appreciation and sustainability of a $1k/night stay though. I would prefer a cabin on a visit if we needed a place to stay, but if the price becomes such a wide gap and can make a hotel work, I would think that is viable for a lot of folks. And I suppose they can always widen roads...(I would get annoyed as a vacationer paying so much and getting stuck in such traffic). Just some initial observations, I hope to make a second visit to the area next time to feel it out more.
- New to Real Estate · atlanta, GA · Member since 2021 · 13 posts · 1 vote4y
Personally being from TN, having been there and kwow the area a bit (not as much as current locals) but the Avg House prices are just skyrocketing in TN State alone. a friend of mine who bought ~400K property, now the value of the home is just staggering ~900K range. Another friend considering a new home buyer, was told that he has to wait 6 mon to view his options for SFH, then sign a deal that will provide him handover of property after 1 year from there. so literally 1.5 yrs. and folks have been moving to TN for various reasons in general. There is a general trend, and then there is tremendous followup on the trend that is what happens in a stock price as well. there is trend and then there is huge followup on the trend that momentarily pushes prices up or down. This covid season trends are unrealistic and not going to hold up, there will be a correction, that being said, it will not lead to crash as folks are already sitting on a pile of cash not knowing what to do. so eventually, the correction will flush out these reserve money that shall keep from market crash. and then the true prices of property will reveal themselves. Untill then this golden period will reign. Just my 2 cents.
All the Time in California, there is a huge above the price bidding that happens, nowadays due to investors flooding into real estate is causing the same behavior everywhere.I am not saying its bad, this is how Markets organically evolve.
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