All Forum Posts by: Collin Hays

As a DYIer, Agree that is the best way to go when you have a mentor, do your homework and have time to be addressing guest questions, tweaking rates, updating your spreadsheets, paying your various bills, etc...

We have this time and we look at this as a part time job for my stay at home wife. For the return you get, it’s definitely worth it in my opinion. Also I enjoy us being a part of someone Smoky Mountains experience. 

I’ve said when we don’t have time to do it right, that’s when I’d turn it over to someone else or potentially sell my properties. 

Find a mentor who knows the area, self manages and can spend some time talking about what you should expect on return. You really can’t rely on those estimates. If anything, I have seen the estimates fall way short of actuals. I would not do that deal of 589k for 60k. If that is a pool cabin, that estimate is low.  

You are the ideal self manager.  You understand it will effectively be a part time job.  

As a DYIer, Agree that is the best way to go when you have a mentor, do your homework and have time to be addressing guest questions, tweaking rates, updating your spreadsheets, paying your various bills, etc...

We have this time and we look at this as a part time job for my stay at home wife. For the return you get, it’s definitely worth it in my opinion. Also I enjoy us being a part of someone Smoky Mountains experience. 

I’ve said when we don’t have time to do it right, that’s when I’d turn it over to someone else or potentially sell my properties. 

Find a mentor who knows the area, self manages and can spend some time talking about what you should expect on return. You really can’t rely on those estimates. If anything, I have seen the estimates fall way short of actuals. I would not do that deal of 589k for 60k. If that is a pool cabin, that estimate is low.  

You are the ideal self manager.  You understand it will effectively be a part time job.  

I was just going to post this same question. Was looking in the GB/PF area and everything is crazy expensive to the point that the mortgage would eat half of the gross rents. Cosby looked like a much better alternative.

@Mike S

You can't make money in STR if you're paying a manager.

Take off the management fee and raise your occupancy to 320 days per year then calculate.

@Eric Baron The play there was to buy for appreciation and make money that way.  Up until this past year, CO massively outperformed Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg on that front.

You can pick one usually -- cash flow or appreciation.  For cash flow LTR you'd have to go to semi-scary places like Detroit or Baltimore.  Appreciation would be SF/NY/Miami.

@Collin Hays is spot on here...  You need to figure out what your numbers work for you and see if you can find a deal in that price range.  If you self-manage well vs use a property manager, that saves you 20 or 30% right off the top.  

I would NEVER trust the numbers from existing owners as being what you'd get. They're probably selling because they don't know how to manage their listing well and aren't getting a good enough return. A good STR manager will keep occupancy at 90% and be constantly tweaking rates to max out earnings. Just imagine a bell curve of earnings and where the buyer and the seller are likely to be. I'd expect a seller to likely be on the left side of the curve and an active manager to be on the right side of the curve. That difference is probably another 20 or 30% to your bottom line as well.

Also, be careful of Airdna.  It said my 1BR cabin should make 35k when it made 60k.  And my 7BR should make 120k when it made 210k.  (Numbers are from memory, but it's in the right ballpark)

Hey BP Community,

I'm new here and just starting out. Been looking into a few areas and can't decide on anything yet. AirDNA is telling me one thing but my gut tells me another. 

From my research, Gatlinburg and Sevierville do pretty well in STR's. I want to invest into a property buy AirDna is telling me I can make 60k a year gross on a property that's listed on zillow for 589k. To me that seems pretty bad yet AirDna says they're A+ areas to invest into. I'm so confused. I think the smokey mountains are beautiful and I'm sure people go year round. If anyone could help me understand the market there better, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!