All Forum Posts by: Mitch Davidson

@Brandon Del Boccio: I would highly UNrecommend using your HELOC funds for a down payment. Prime is currently 8.25%, and nearly all (not quite all) HELOC's are prime plus 1-3 right now. If you're going to be paying 10% or so, and taking the risk that the rate could rise dramatically month by month, I don't think you should be using the money for a long-term play. Meaning, use it for a quick flip, a build, etc., but don't bury it in a purchase unless you're super sure that you'll get it back soon by way of a refi. And this being an investment purchase, regardless of loan type you're looking at 75 LTV for a cashout.

@Andrew Simms. Having the same experience with revenue and cash flow.

@Collin Hays Seeing the same. I live in Asheville and invest in Bryson City as well. We've been fairly booked, but for far less per night. Went biking in Cherokee a few Saturdays ago. Went out to dinner afterwards. You would have thought it was a Tuesday in February. That said, it's not just our region. I've had friends in other areas of the country say their bookings and/or revenue is way low. Discretionary spending is down a lot in other categories as well, with inflation and the trickle down of interest rates taking it's toll. I know over-saturation is part of the problem, but am encouraged by the fact that discretionary spending is a major driver...and can recover for next year.

@Agustin Conti. Yeah, we have only one option where we're at in Bryson, and it's so-so. Some of my friends here have setup Starlink Roam on their properties and had great success. It's $150/mon though.

@Agustin Conti. That's interesting feedback about Franklin. I'm not surprised that STR didn't go so well, but am surprised that the LTR income is pretty healthy. A friend of mine just told me that there are virtually no LTR's in the region, including Bryson City where we have a cabin, so it makes sense. And I guess you do have a few folks down there that work remotely and make higher incomes, not to mention retirees.

@Agustin Conti. I've had to do something similar to what @Jaron Walling described for my MTR in Asheville. When we started in 2018 there weren't even any MTR listings to compare to. Thus we listed it a little high with the plan to lower if needed. That's not too helpful for crunching numbers in the acquisition phase though. For LTR around here I think you can count on properties typically renting for what they're listed for (not so with MTR). And as @Scott Allen mentioned, Rentometer is pretty well-respected. If you see questionable figures in some rural spots I'm happy to give you some opinion on the locations. Many of our communities that have high STR income opportunities have quite the opposite opportunities for LTR (i.e., average income for full-time residents of our vacation spots is often quite low).

Hi @Caitlin Bushong. Welcome to BP and Asheville as well. We have a casual BP meetup in town that you'd likely enjoy. You'll meet people that are 1 step ahead, 10 steps ahead, and no steps ahead in their journey. This Wednesday we meet at Hi-Wire on Lyman (i.e., RAD location) at 6PM. 

@Brett Weyhrich. We meet the 3rd Wednesday of the month at Hi-Wire at 6PM and the 4th Wednesday of the month at Citizen Vinyl at 9AM. Citizen Vinyl didn't open yesterday though, and has had some other issues lately, so unsure what's going on there. If you DM me your email address I'll get you added to the calendar invitations. 

Yes, you can can rent out an entire home for 30+ nights inside Asheville city limits, with no permit or regulation headaches. The term doesn't need to be annual. Beware thought that our market is flooded with MTR's right now, especially struggling STR's that are trying MTR.

Also, for homes that are in Asheville but not inside city limits, which seems to be about 1/4 of Asheville, you can rent them out short-term as well. In case you're interested, this GIS map shows you which areas are/aren't in city limits, and this tool lets you lookup a specific address to see if it's inside city limits. 

Hi @Nick Mehl. I have an ADU myself, inside Asheville city limits. The ADU cannot be rented STR, per Asheville regulations, but can be rented MTR or LTR. I didn't build it myself. And honestly, I wouldn't have done so myself, in part because the SF is not included in GLA in an appraisal. Thus the place is worth about maybe 25-30% of what it would cost me to build it.

I'm unsure if we have a high frequency of ADU's compared to other cities, but I suspect that we don't, in part because of the terrain that many of our homes sit on.

Anyways. Perhaps someone in the group is interested in learning more about ADU opportunities.

Welcome to Asheville, @Brett Weyhrich. We're meeting at Citizen Vinyl tomorrow at 9AM if you can make it.