All Forum Posts by: John Carbone

The Smokies have always been an 8 month season place.  Jan-Feb were always low months, May and September were always lull between the peaks but not as low as Jan-Feb, and the rest is slam on.   The secret to the smokies has always been buying right - just like anywhere else.  

Unfortunately for a lot of people that jumped in this market in the last 2 years, they just didn't buy right.  That is what it boils down to.  Not saying that is true for everyone who bought int he last 2 years, but for a lot of folks it most definitely is true.

Covid created an anomoly and if folks didn't do their due diligence with how they spent their money (lots of money) that is just on them.  There were a number of folks on here who gave warnings such as @Collin Hays for quite a long time so if someone were watching BP to make their decision to buy during COVID and read the posts from pumpers, they would have had to have read many of Collin's warnings as well with other's who backed that up.

To those that have been around it's not a 20% haircut - that 20% to us was a huge bonus - now we are back to norm.

But I hear ya, speaking of pumpers, I just got an email last week from one of my old realtors in that market, asking me if I wanted to buy anymore, because there are "still many great deals to be had!!!".  

@John Carbone I am not trying to come down on you at all John if that is how this sounds I don't mean it that way, its just that you are never going to get accountability for what people post on the internet.  It's just the way it is.  These days there is no accountability anywhere, the media, the government, but especially what is posted online.

 You absolutely can.

And that's because that's what a ton of STR companies were selling. And unfortunately a lot bought into the rally. We heard some obnoxious stuff, not necessarily on these boards but when we were shopping. Though this board did have some pure nonsense-- STRs survive recessions.

Few of our closest got burned on this, we didn't commit. Saw Scottsdale and this just getting too flooded. But the Smokies STR run was one of the biggest bull markets in the COVID real estate boom.

 What does your June look like?

Every market is different so I'll try to keep this generic.

Personally, I think the best hosts are those who focus on what they love about a space. Make the space your perfect spot and you'll attract people similar to yourself. For me, this is what differentiates a STR from a hotel.

We've decked out our STR with everything we think will make us happy when we need to downsize. But...

I don't think all the ridiculously decadent, impractical things we've added to the unit have allowed us to raise our prices. It is actually the 5 star ratings, and those pour in, not because of the induction cooktop or the gorgeous granite counter tops or the floor to ceiling tiled shower. The 5 star ratings pour in because we are 100% customer oriented. We treat each guest as if they were royalty.

They arrive to find fresh baked croissant from the bakery around the corner, coffee beans in the freezer and half & half in the refrigerator. The morning after they arrive an auto-scheduled note goes out saying "[guest first name], It's Bill & Carolyn. How's your stay? Do you need anything? Don't hesitate to reach out if there is anything you need." And after they check out "[guest first name],Thanks! Safe travels and hope to host your next trip to Cambridge.Don't forget to leave us a review on Airbnb! Also, we strive for a five star experience. Is there any feedback/ suggestions or items to improve the home for the next guest stay?"

It is absolutely astounding how effective those touches have been. The 5 star reviews that have consistently been generated since we implemented these things have been impressive. And it is the 5 star reviews that have allowed us to bump up our nightly fees.

Good afternoon all my fellow STR'ers!

I have a home in Florida that I STR in Four Corners, FL when I'm not there. It is a good sized home (3000 sf) in a great location on a lake. I've done reasonably well renting it out, though I'm a little different than many STR owners in that it doesn't particularly bother me if it makes any money since I use it myself.

I'm at the point where I really need (or maybe want is a better term, since technically these things still function) to make some larger improvements - I want to remove the remaining carpet in the home for all LVT, finish out the modern touches I've put in like modern light fixtures, furniture, high dollar ceiling fans, etc, replace the countertops with a nice quartz, etc. For my own personal use and preferences, all of these things make sense. From a dollar cost point of view, I think they are probably of low utility, as a lot of the properties around here compete essentially on price only. 

My personal point of view is that I don't want to compete with the bottom feeders around here. Not only do I want a nicer home for the times I am there (several months during the year), I think that there could be a niche market for upscale properties that offer better furnishings and amenities. For example, up until now we've been strictly self-service, but I am considering adding some specific concierge services to stays. I am considering axing the weekend stay people as they seem to be hardest on properties and are also the cheapest/brokest guests. ETC. I've discussed the idea with my PM who doesn't think it is a bad idea but that it will almost certainly generate less bookings. That seems likely to me as well, though I'm not sure I care (I could leave the house vacant all year if I wanted). I'm not interested in "theming" like Star Wars or Disney rooms as my adult kids, siblings and older parents also come stay with us here and they don't need to sleep in Little Mermaid rooms. 

In any case, I'm hoping to get some insight from anyone who has upscaled their properties to attract a better class (and higher paying) of guests - what was your experience? Of course, if you're in the Orlando/Florida area that's a bonus, but anywhere is fine with me especially if it's a big vacation area. 

Remember when posts on this forum used to get one or two replies and everyone thought we were out of our minds to do vacation homes? lol

All of my smokys properties are slammed as usual.

That's the pricelabs dashboard showing your occupancy rate at 7/30/60 days.  Luke is doing way better than our cabin.  We're 43%/60%/55%.  

We've noticed a couple of things this year.

1. We're doing far better than last year.  Revenue first half of this year is +57% above last year.

2. We've noticed time between booking and stay has shortened.

Our listing started in Dec 2021 so I think the better performance this year has to do with getting more reviews and superhost.  We're super happy but the tighter booking times worry us because we have a big cabin that typically requires more coordination to book.  We're hoping that the rest of this year will continue to be as great as the first.

The other thing I wanted to note is that we didn't get the better numbers by cutting our rates.  We have a new construction with fantastic views so we've held firm on that.

You could probably do this passively with trust deed notes and structured notes to varying degrees.  We work with both.  There are risks of course, but that is true of nearly all investments.  

Remember when posts on this forum used to get one or two replies and everyone thought we were out of our minds to do vacation homes? lol

All of my smokys properties are slammed as usual.