All Forum Posts by: Mitch Davidson

Hi @Kelly Olson. To @Abigail Gibson's point, you really need to be careful with the location. A home can be in Maggie or Bryson by address and yet be 40 minutes of squirrelly roads away from any civilization. Likewise, quite a few homes in the area are devoid of both WIFI and cell signal. Also, if you won't be able to be on site quite a bit during the launch prep, this is probably not the best market. I have a cabin in Bryson myself, and am happy to discuss further with you if you want to setup a call.

Hi @Matt Schreiber. I would do what @Sean Bramble recommended here as well, meaning get a PriceLabs report for a sample property in each market. Then turn off the subscription when you're done. Assuming you turn off in just a few weeks, you'll have spent just $10 per sample property.

I'm soon launching a new cabin in Bryson City, so I can't speak to the booking trends. Fall is always very strong in the market though. And in BC the train draws tons of visitors, supposedly 80,000, in November and December. 

Beware. It's nearly impossible to get work done quickly in BC. The same may be so in Blue Ridge but I'm unsure. You'll need to spend a lot of time in town when you're preparing for launch, in part because much of your help will be found only by word of mouth (and won't want to trust that you'll pay them if they've never met you). Thus, the closer to turnkey the better.

 Hi @Kelly Olson. I can give you feedback on Maggie Valley and other markets nearby. Please message me if you want to talk sometime.

@Samuel Filter: If I were you I would focus on areas closer to home, somewhere that's 1-3 hours away, and perhaps an area that you know a little bit already. Likewise, a market where the population is at least 10,000 people. There's enough of a learning curve with your first STR as it is. Adding the complexities of being a whole time zone or two away, as well as looking for help in a market where word of mouth is the only source of advertising, might be biting off too much.

Agreed with @Aubrey Brendle. We have many great small towns here in western NC where you can do well on STR, have something that's a bit less busy than eastern TN, do a little better in the winter than coastal or upper Midwest, and have enough infrastructure to get cleaning and work done. That said, I can't remember the last time I heard someone rave about their STR property manager, in any market.

@Account Closed: I wouldn't conclude so soon that most of the decrease in demand is due to an increase in competition. I suspect that you'll look back and say that it was mostly a combination of gas prices and inflation. It seems that every STR owner I know in our region started saying bookings were down right when gas prices started to surge, interest rates started to rise more rapidly, and inflation started being more painful. Also, I agree that a change to Asheville's STR restrictions would be bad for investors, as well as the community in general. Meaning a race to the bottom and an exacerbation of the acute housing crisis.

@John Apolinar: @Aubrey Brendle was referring to Western North Carolina. :) I second her thoughts. We have a furnished monthly and STR here. Also, most of my lending clients are STR investors, meaning I'm often looking under the hood. That gives me all the more confidence that our market is one of the best for STR. Happy to discuss our market more, as well as finance plans, if you like.

@Wade Cecil. If you open a new HELOC and then apply for a conventional mortgage with the intention of using the HELOC for the down payment, the lender will look at the HELOC note and calculate what the minimum monthly payment will be once you pull the money from the HELOC. Thus, it's best to take the interest only option for the HELOC, meaning interest only for the first 10 years. If you decide to keep the house, and if you don't instead do a cashout refi of it, I would recommend getting a HELOC just to have it available. It's far superior to private or hard money should you need short-term money for a flip, for outfitting a new STR, etc. Regarding the decision to sell or not, that's super personal. I wouldn't consult us on that. We may tell you to go for it when your home means too much to your kids and their stability.

Great stuff, @Grant Vincent. 

Hi @Angie Poonka. I would look at places that are in the 15-45 minute window from Asheville. Therein you can find the best of both worlds, meaning infrastructure for STR, and great STR demand, but also a great place to live. @Ryan Howell and I have many friends that are making amazing money in locations inside that window, and even a touch beyond it. If you look at average nightly rents on AirDNA (not the most reliable source, but still telling), you'll see places like Black Mountain and Lake Lure doing amazing. And there are other markets you can do great in as well, despite the average nightly rates being lower. Meaning, if you comb through average listings, for example in Asheville proper where most of our listings are bedrooms of a primary residence, you might see that there's a reason to not shy away from the market due only to the average nightly rate. @JD Martin is correct about the towns you listed, although I know someone who's doing very well in Pisgah Forest, as it's still near enough to Asheville, Brevard, tons of great mountain biking options, the airport, etc. But those other places are not for the faint of heart. Cherokee for example has more going on now with the casino expansion, but it's super hard to get work done if you're not going to be there to babysit, provide materials, and help. I'm setting up a cabin near there myself right now. There's a great amount of lousy listings to compete with, which is encouraging, but that's partly a product of it being very hard to get properties improved, decorated, cleaned, etc. Anyways. I'd recommend talking more with @Ryan Howell. I'm happy to chat as well, but he has a more informed perspective.