All Forum Posts by: John Carbone

Did the gatlinburg trail this evening (friday memorial day weekend) didn’t see one person on the trail (2 miles out and back to the visitor center) and the weather perfect. Made it from downtown pigeon forge to the park entrance at 6pm and didn’t stop once. Demand seems to have fallen off a cliff here. 

Quote from @Leslie Anne Morris:

I see cabin and I am interested!  I specialize in cabins in the Smoky Mountains and I am beginning to invest in the Rocky Mountains as well. 

Hey Leslie, where in the Rockies are you looking at?

Quote from @Emanuel Blando:

On 5/3/2023 the City of Kansas City, MO announced that Short-Term Rentals will be completely banned in ALL residential zoning!  I had not taken it seriously until I read a couple of articles outlining their plans.  Most of Kansas City's STRs were already operating 'illegally' up to this point and the city doesn't have the resource to enforce their permitting requirements.  Just 7% of KC's BNBs were permitted.  But now they plan to enlist the help of the platforms like Airbnb in enforcing their law by requiring Airbnb to not list any properties that have a KC address, with heavy fines on hosts for not complying.  (links about all this below)

What I want to know:  Is there anyone that knows of other cities that have taken similar measures?  Has the government been successful in getting the cooperation of Airbnb and other platforms?  How does it all go down when a city begins to ban bnbs?

https://www.kcmo.gov/Home/Components/News/News/2033/16
https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-05-04/kansas-city-council-will-vote-on-restricting-airbnbs-in-residential-neighborhoods

This is why you can't own and operate a STR in a restrictive state or area and why they should only be done In vacation destinations without restrictive governments.

The free market flushes most of this stuff out though in the long run. Renting out an Airbnb in Kansas City in a subdivision of other houses isn’t a viable long term STR post Covid. And subdivisions generally have HOAs which can restrict it at a more local level. 

Here in the smokies people have cabins next to residential everywhere. Many cases, there is space between properties. however, if someone lives here and doesn’t want a rental nearby then they live a bit further out or they live in a subdivision hoa and they have restrictions there. 

“Enemy method”

Quote from @Ken Boone:

Quote from @John Carbone:

Quote from @Michael Baum:

I would also begin to wonder if this is something systemic with the area. In the greater Sedona area, water can be hit or miss.

There are some areas outside of the Sedona area that look like great opportunities until you find out that their aquifer is drying up and water will no longer be available.

 That’s what I was kind of getting at here. I’m hearing this more and more around here. How do you protect yourself even on a “turn key”, do you just lose half of your investment when the water runs out and can’t be brought back?

No I think you gamble and drill another well or go deeper and pay the price. 

And what happens when the gamble doesn’t pay off? 

Quote from @Michael Baum:

I would also begin to wonder if this is something systemic with the area. In the greater Sedona area, water can be hit or miss.

There are some areas outside of the Sedona area that look like great opportunities until you find out that their aquifer is drying up and water will no longer be available.

 That’s what I was kind of getting at here. I’m hearing this more and more around here. How do you protect yourself even on a “turn key”, do you just lose half of your investment when the water runs out and can’t be brought back?

Yeah I think their multiple offers is going to try to get people to drop inspections and instant cash close. 

Logically if you knew a well could be done you would do it and sell it for 2x the cost. This seems insanely sketchy. 

To that point though, if there are issues getting a well or when someone’s well runs dry, do you just have a larger glamp tent? Seems there is a lot of risk having places on a well. 

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Looks pretty great actually. It is a risk but I would want to know the deets on the well. How deep is it? What was it flowing historically?

Any good well guy in that area could tell you if he could find water on that or near that lot.

It does say in the ad that the new owner would have to dig a new well, so it is possible...I guess...

Devils advocate - drilling a new well isn't that expensive so why didn't the owners just do that? Are they expecting a bidding war that might bring up the sale price to where it might be with a working water system?

I kind of thought that maybe they already had the lot checked for a new well and it doesn’t look promising, so throw it up to get someone to buy it. This kind of stuff happens all the time here with vacant lots that can’t be built on. 

I just came across this new listing, the well went dry and they are selling for cash. On the surface this seems to be the only thing wrong with the property. It seems like it’s selling at an over 50 percent discount because of the issue. I’m assuming a new well can’t be drilled to find water and essentially it’s just a primitive camp site. 

I also see it was a shared well and they built a 1600 square foot “1” bed that probably slept 8-10 on overnight program.

it’s crazy to think that your well runs dry and you lose several hundred thousand dollars in equity. interest to hear people’s thoughts on this. 

https://www.realtor.com/reales...

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @John Carbone:

Quote from @Leslie Anne Morris:

I like 2 bed / 2 bath + sleeper sofa.  Next best is 3 bed / 3 bath + 1 or 2 sleeper sofas (if there's room for them - don't cram them in!)

 Does the number of baths make a difference? 

I would expect them to kinda sorta match up with the number of bedrooms....

Seems like a waste of space to me. My 4 bed has 2 bathrooms, 2 bed has 1 bathroom and never had one guest complain about fewer bathrooms. My places have stayed booked very well.