All Forum Posts by: Rhonda Blue

SERIOUSLY ... CONGRATS... It is so totally awesome to hear others have success stories.  Way to go investing in Huntsville. I have been talking to people especially friends from SOCAL about it and It's awesome to have another CA investor discover the awesomeness of investment opportunities over here. 

Sevierville is an awesome place to invest. WE have 5 cabins in different areas. Still seeking that elusive townhome in Gatlinburg. 

What I have found to be true is VIEW #1 for resale price. 

I do have 2 honeymoon cabins and they have no view but stay rented because of privacy. But Sale price was lower. I LOVE THEM. 

Be sure to verify HOA fees and what exactly is included with those. Shared roads, shared wells. Our second cabin we spent 2500 the first year fixing the shared well.

I have learned that Real Estate from CA is much more strict with disclosures and verified home information requirements then in TN. So be sure to check all the information Yourself going in first. 

Best of luck... our community of investors keeps growing!!!

@Nick Meyer

Hi Nick and welcome to BP. Congrats on starting your journey. 

I first started investing when in SoCal. We lived there 15 years. I started in vesting diving distance from our place in St George, UT. Beautiful and full of locals and tourists. funny enough most are from CA. 

Then we invested back home in Huntsville, Alabama because with the military and influence from all over the globe this place is always growing but remains affordable. NIce cash flow for long term rentals.

Then we discovered and started investing in Pigeon Forge, TN because I wanted more return from my investments and either needed to diversify into multi family or Short term rentals. Now 

with 5 of each we are settled for a little while. 

Hope that helps inspire you for your first investments. 

@Tyler Thompson

Welcome to BP... This is where I developed my love for investing also and you absolutely can't go wrong listening and learning from the tons of experts on this forum.  I lived in SoCal for 15 years and invested  driving distance out of state for my first investments in St George UT.  Then ventured to AL where I grew up. Now we have moved back to TN and continue the journey.  My advice is to live the investment path that is right for you. Some jump in and have 100 doors first year. Others just get one property a year. 

We had 2 for a year then went to 10 2nd year and diversified with half long term rentals and the other half short term rentals. I'm sure whatever your decide you will love every minute of it. 

Just remember to not get caught up with analysis paralysis. 

Rhonda - Living the Dream

@Richard Lee  I second Ogle Furniture. Their are also quality furniture finds that can be found believe it or not at Wholesale Furniture in Sevierville, The place is ugly outside but has great finds inside. Plus decore items

If you discover you need an other rec for electrician text me. I have a  great guy. 

Congrats. I LOVE Huntsville and my SFR have been holding strong the past 4 years.

I totally agree with Jason Grey. WE lived in S. Huntsville for 10 years and my family are all from Huntsville AL. The crime that is reported tends to feed from very specific locations while 90% of the remaining areas are Normal to low crime.  Tends to be the trend around any city. 

I have owned my Long Term rentals in Huntsville and Madison area for like 5 years now and Carolyn Dietrich with Dietrich and associates has always managed them. They use app folio for book keeping and I really like being able to log in and download statement whenever I want. May seem small but that's the truth. She is always responsive to my inquiries also. She's the broker owner. 

I recommend the 1031 exchange process to investors all the time. AFter learning about this here on BP a few years ago I spoke with @Dave Foster and immediately knew that was the best option for deferring tax. I owned at the time 2 rental properties that I had originally bought as flips in St George UT and decided to rent for some extra cash flow. Then fast forward a few years when the market was high I sold and exchanged the funds into 4 other rental properties here in East TN. 

There are restrictions for timing the sale and purchase but I knew I would have no problem designating a few new investment properties in 45 days. 

@Dan Stewart

This is a very common Question. It can be confusing. This if from the airbnb webpage for hosts to read as per each booking. It explains it very well for Airbnb. 

((Each host is entitled to charge a one-time, non-refundable cleaning fee to lessees. ... Most hosts request a security deposit, but rest assured that your money will not be touched unless the host files a claim, and even at that point, you, the host, and Airbnb have to agree to the charges before you pay a dime. ))

For my Airbnb like @Paul Sandhu I do not charge a deposit. I have had a few issues where things were broken but i messaged guests and did a Request for Funds. They are usually apologetic and pay any fees without issue.

So far so good.