Where should I buy a mountain vacation rental?

Short-Term & Vacation Rental Discussions
4yFollow

Where should I buy a mountain vacation rental?

Nicholas Libertin
Avon Lake, OH · Member since 2016 · 25 posts · 9 votes

Bee Hive,

I would love to hear some thoughts/suggestions on where my wife and I should do our next vacation rental.  We have owned long term rentals for quite some time and recently bought a vacation rental in Fort Lauderdale and LOVE IT!  For our next purchase we would like to be somewhere in the mountains.  Criteria would be:

1.Mountain Views

2.Rentable nearly all year found.  i.e. hiking activities when its warmer, preferable skying in the winter

3.Relatively close to an airport <1.5 hours

4.No Crazy overpriced markets---no Breckenridge, Telluride here

5.Local government supports short term rentals*** this is an absolute must.  

0Reply
266 views

Most Popular Reply

Gerald Pitts
Lender · Asheville NC · Member since 2016 · 469 posts · 317 votes
4y

Another Smokies vote.  Also Blue Ridge, GA.  Not sure about skiing there, though.  

4Reply
See this reply in the discussion

61 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Nancy Bachety
    Rental Property Investor · North Fork, NY · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 631 votes
    4y

    Smokey mountains. Smokey Mountains. Smokies. 

    1Reply
  • Nicholas Libertin
    OP
    Avon Lake, OH · Member since 2016 · 25 posts · 9 votes
    4y

    @Nancy Bachety Thanks for the response.  Any specific city? 

    0Reply
  • Luke CarlPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    4y

    @Nicholas Libertin read through the posts on this forum and you’ll learn everything you could ever need! 

    Podcast Guest on Show From Surviving on $30/Day to 30+ Properties Thanks to Blue-Collar Skills
    1Reply
  • Paul Sandhu
    Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    4y

    Try Wynnewood Oklahoma or Robinson Illinois.  You'll have to be a bigger ruffian than your tenants.  I'm a big ruffian.

    0Reply
  • Ryan MoyerBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Orlando Kissimmee Davenport Salt Lake City, Park City · Member since 2019 · 991 posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    Gatlinburg is the #1 vacation rental market in the country for having (almost) all of the things you're looking for.  The only thing you're not gonna like is the "skiing" is basically a 100 foot tall sheet of ice.  Doesn't matter for rentals but if you're looking to use it yourself that's the only thing you're not gonna like.

    Cosmic Vacations4.9172 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Collin HaysBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    4y
    Originally posted by @Ryan Moyer:

    Gatlinburg is the #1 vacation rental market in the country for having (almost) all of the things you're looking for.  The only thing you're not gonna like is the "skiing" is basically a 100 foot tall sheet of ice.  Doesn't matter for rentals but if you're looking to use it yourself that's the only thing you're not gonna like.

     I’ve taken my family to ski Ober Gatlinburg and Maggie Valley several times and we loved it. Smokies skiing is no Park City Utah, but it’s certainly adequate for a fun day of family time!

    [email protected]806-672-7102
    SMOKY MOUNTAIN FALLS INC.51 Review
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Ryan MoyerBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Orlando Kissimmee Davenport Salt Lake City, Park City · Member since 2019 · 991 posts · 1k+ votes
    4y
    Originally posted by @Collin Hays:
    Originally posted by @Ryan Moyer:

    Gatlinburg is the #1 vacation rental market in the country for having (almost) all of the things you're looking for.  The only thing you're not gonna like is the "skiing" is basically a 100 foot tall sheet of ice.  Doesn't matter for rentals but if you're looking to use it yourself that's the only thing you're not gonna like.

     I’ve taken my family to ski Ober Gatlinburg and Maggie Valley several times and we loved it. Smokies skiing is no Park City Utah, but it’s certainly adequate for a fun day of family time!

    I actually live outside of Park City, Utah so I'm just being snobby :P

    Cosmic Vacations4.9172 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • John UnderwoodPro Member
    Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    4y

    Sevierville, by Pigeon Forge.

    1Reply
  • Michael BaumPro Member
    Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    4y

    You could take a look at north Idaho. Around Sandpoint. Close to skiing at Schweitzer Mountain. Plus you have Lake Pend Orielle there as well.

    1Reply
  • Gerald Pitts
    Lender · Asheville NC · Member since 2016 · 469 posts · 317 votes
    4y

    Another Smokies vote.  Also Blue Ridge, GA.  Not sure about skiing there, though.  

    4Reply
  • Ken Boone
    Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    Well I would say Smokies too cause that is where I have and am still investing, however, it sure does feel like it is getting close to not meeting @Nicholas Libertin criteria #4 - No Crazy overpriced markets.  The prices are starting to reach the absurd in that market right now.  

    2Reply
  • Nicholas Libertin
    OP
    Avon Lake, OH · Member since 2016 · 25 posts · 9 votes
    4y

    I am getting a ton of feedback for the Smokies.  Anything out west?  I have called a couple real estate agents in different areas...it seems most of them have stringent vacation rental laws.  

    1Reply
  • Mitch Davidson
    Lender · Asheville, NC · Member since 2020 · 463 posts · 507 votes
    4y

    @Nicholas Libertin, I think some of the markets that border Asheville, NC would check all your boxes. For example, Waynesville, Brevard, Old Fort, Burnsville, Mars Hill, etc.

    1Reply
  • Ryan MoyerBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Orlando Kissimmee Davenport Salt Lake City, Park City · Member since 2019 · 991 posts · 1k+ votes
    4y
    Originally posted by @Ken Boone:

    Well I would say Smokies too cause that is where I have and am still investing, however, it sure does feel like it is getting close to not meeting @Nicholas Libertin criteria #4 - No Crazy overpriced markets.  The prices are starting to reach the absurd in that market right now.  

    It's overpriced relative to a year ago but not relative to returns or relative to the type of places he mentioned.  It's not somewhere like Steamboat springs where you pay $3million to get a place that returns $80k/yr gross. 

    Cosmic Vacations4.9172 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    2Reply
  • Ryan MoyerBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Orlando Kissimmee Davenport Salt Lake City, Park City · Member since 2019 · 991 posts · 1k+ votes
    4y
    Originally posted by @Nicholas Libertin:

    I am getting a ton of feedback for the Smokies.  Anything out west?  I have called a couple real estate agents in different areas...it seems most of them have stringent vacation rental laws.  

    Out west is difficult, because anything near a major ski resort is going to have pretty jacked up prices.

    You might want to check out Ogden Valley (Huntsville, UT, Eden UT) which is hot in the summer due to the lake and has a couple world class ski resorts, both of which are expanding even more.  I'm not sure if returns are great there or not.  When I looked pre-pandemic they weren't, but like a lot of places the vacation market there has likely quintupled since then.

    It's not "cheap" but I think it's going to be about as cheap as you'll find for ski resorts that are THAT good.

    Cosmic Vacations4.9172 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Bruce WoodruffPro Member
    Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
    4y
    Originally posted by @Nicholas Libertin:

    I am getting a ton of feedback for the Smokies.  Anything out west?  I have called a couple real estate agents in different areas...it seems most of them have stringent vacation rental laws.  

    Prescott AZ. Or Flagstaff. Checks all your boxes. Super STR friendly - by state mandate.

    0Reply
  • Ken Boone
    Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y
    Yea I don't know anything about out west, but you are right it is NO WHERE near those kind of prices for that return.  That is truly insane.

    Originally posted by @Ryan Moyer:
    Originally posted by @Ken Boone:

    Well I would say Smokies too cause that is where I have and am still investing, however, it sure does feel like it is getting close to not meeting @Nicholas Libertin criteria #4 - No Crazy overpriced markets.  The prices are starting to reach the absurd in that market right now.  

    It's overpriced relative to a year ago but not relative to returns or relative to the type of places he mentioned.  It's not somewhere like Steamboat springs where you pay $3million to get a place that returns $80k/yr gross. 

    0Reply
  • Collin HaysBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    4y
    Originally posted by @Ken Boone:

    Well I would say Smokies too cause that is where I have and am still investing, however, it sure does feel like it is getting close to not meeting @Nicholas Libertin criteria #4 - No Crazy overpriced markets.  The prices are starting to reach the absurd in that market right now.  

    Absurd is a relative term.  If you compare the typical yield in the Smokies compared to most other resort areas in the continental U.S., it's still a bargain.  Are the yields as generous as they were two years ago?  No. 

    The prices in the Smokies and southern Appalachians are a fraction of comparable areas out west.  Buy and hold.

    [email protected]806-672-7102
    SMOKY MOUNTAIN FALLS INC.51 Review
    WebsiteView Page
    2Reply
  • Jeff He
    Investor · Member since 2019 · 145 posts · 131 votes
    4y

    @Nicholas Libertin

    Reno and Carson City could work.

    2Reply
  • Ken Boone
    Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y
    oh I get it.  It just hurts more now 😜
    Originally posted by @Collin Hays:
    Originally posted by @Ken Boone:

    Well I would say Smokies too cause that is where I have and am still investing, however, it sure does feel like it is getting close to not meeting @Nicholas Libertin criteria #4 - No Crazy overpriced markets.  The prices are starting to reach the absurd in that market right now.  

    Absurd is a relative term.  If you compare the typical yield in the Smokies compared to most other resort areas in the continental U.S., it's still a bargain.  Are the yields as generous as they were two years ago?  No. 

    The prices in the Smokies and southern Appalachians are a fraction of comparable areas out west.  Buy and hold.

    0Reply
  • Michael BaumPro Member
    Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    4y

    See my post @Nicholas Libertin

    0Reply
  • Mike Shemp
    Rental Property Investor · Stewartsville, NJ · Member since 2016 · 418 posts · 280 votes
    4y

    We have two STRs in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  They have hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking, tubing, mountain climbing.  It was recently rated best place in New England for fall foliage.

    Mike

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2020 · 562 posts · 554 votes
    4y

    @Nicholas Libertin what research have you done to find a market, and what has it told you?

    0Reply
  • Bud Gaffney
    Rental Property Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2019 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    @Nicholas Libertin Rockies

    0Reply
  • Dallas Hayden
    Member since 2021 · 63 posts · 48 votes
    4y

    I'm partial to the Ozarks in western AR. Excellent access to DFW and the St. Louis area, year-round activities, great mountain views, good rental opportunities most/all of the year. Also not overpriced. 

    IMO the Ozarks are underrated, especially for hiking and outdoor adventures. They boast a couple of the longer hiking trails in the US. 

    3Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free