Anyone tried MTR in Leavenworth WA?

Question

With the new STR restrictions in place in Chelan county, 30-night rental durations are the minimum for new entrants (i.e. not grandfathered in). I am curious to hear how much demand there is in Leavenworth/Chelan area for MTRs seeing as it's a pure tourism-driven market (there are no nearby hospitals, universities, military etc that might stay for work).

Michael Baum · Answer

Hey @Scott Simpson. Personally I don't see 30 day stays as a thing there.

Leavenworth especially a long weekend visit for the most part.

It is always confusing to me why a tourist driven town would restrict ways for people to visit and spend money. I am sure there are locals driving this, but are they willing to have their taxes double in order to make up for the loss of revenue?

Katie LaPoint · Answer

We have an STR in E. Wenatchee and do a combo of STR in the peak season and MTR in the slow season.  So far it has been great. People come for golf, wine tasting, water sports, skiing etc. No one has complained about the drive to Leavenworth.  East Wenatchee is in Douglas county which has no regulations and Wenatchee is in Chelan county which means you'll have some of the same regulations as Chelan and Leavenworth if I am not mistaken.

Nik Moushon · Answer

@Scott SimpsonMTR in Leavenworth are possible. There is a demand for it. The problem is that there are so many STR that can easily just book out an entire month just like an MTR. So you have a a huge pool of competitors. You might get a bit more lucky during the top peak season because STR will get more money renting nightly than monthly....but even then a lot of STR would gladly rent to someone for a month because its less overhead for them and less work for not that much less money. As for East Wenatchee, STR are much easier to start over there....in terms of there being less restrictions. BUT E. Wen. & Wen. are a good 45-60 minutes from Leavenworth (depending on how bad traffic is and exactly where in the city you are). So guests looking to STR for Leavenworth have to be pretty desperate to rent all the way down in Wenatchee area. It happens but not steady enough to be relied on. The Wenatchee area does have some STR draw of its own though. Skiing is a big draw in the winter and the convention center has some draw to it as well. It just not as consistent as Leavenworth. The one plus side is that, currently, the city of Wenatchee, is not a part of the Chelan County STR code. So it does not apply within the city limits.

Nik Moushon · Answer

That might work as long as their name shows up on the deed and they live there long enough out of the year to be considered their full residence.

Nik Moushon · Answer

I don't know the exact numbers. Wenatchee has the more popular downtown but East wenatchee doesn't have any of the crazy STR rules....at least not yet. And its a little cheaper. You'd have to go airdna or someplace like that to find out. I follow the STR rules because I'm an architect as well as an investor....so it goes hand in hand with my profession but I don't have any STRs, only LTR.

Scott Simpson · Answer

@Nik Moushon   Out of curiosity, between east Wenatchee and Wenatchee, do you have any insight into which has a higher draw for STR travelers or is it more about walking distance to stuff? We have been curious about and STR condo / SFH due to its (a) proximity to mission ridge, (b) families wanting a place with a pool. But the demand (particularly shoulder seasons) seems quite rough.

Hard to find a viable cash flow STR target in PNW these days!

Scott Simpson · Answer

@Nik Moushon  Great intel. I didn’t realize that Wenatchee proper was carved out of the county’s ridiculousness. We own land in Leavenworth and are conflicted on building and renting as MTR. Perhaps we build with an ADU and place someone in there with 0.1% ownership to say it’s “owner occupied” in order to be able to STR.

Henry T. · Answer

I have two friends with STR's in Leavenworth. It's burning hot if you're already in. Meanwhile Leavenworth has now restricted any new STR's or at least limited them to a very small zone. Residents are screaming that regular housing has disappeared. There's a shortage of help because there's no where affordable to live. MTR? What is that? After one month your tenant has all the rights of a full time tenant.  Why bother. AND as we speak Gov Inslee is considering putting the screws to landlords even further, I forget the HB # right now. If you can score an STR there, and you'll pay dearly, it can pay off. IF you have an LTR, it will be mostly service industry that will be applying. I don't if what I'm saying helps, it's just what's been printed in the news. Good luck.

Michael Baum · Answer

I haven't @Scott Simpson. I don't look at much in WA state to invest. The government hates landlords overall so I avoid it.

I will say that it is about a 30 minute drive to Leavenworth. During the high season parking is rough so I would be careful.

Have you taken a look at VRBO and AirBNB to see how many units are there along with occupancy, nightly rate and amenities? That will give you an idea of demand in that area. See what those listings say about going to Leavenworth. Are they advertising that as an important feature?

Anyone tried MTR in Leavenworth WA?

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