All Forum Posts by: Wilson Hunter

You NC mountain folk need to come check out OBX. Lots of opportunities there.

 Awesome I look forward to checking that out!

"Location is the least important variable for STR ROI" is a wild claim that I'd love to hear more about. A deluxe 3/3 cabin in Blue Ridge, GA will usually gross less than my 1/1 600 sq foot cabin in the Smokies and cost more to buy. A 4/3 2,000 sq foot beach house on the opposite side of the highway will gross less than my 3/2 1,000 sq foot beachfront and cost more to buy. Location has a higher impact on revenue potential than almost any other variable. That's why you see cabins an hour west of Charlotte cost a third of the price as the same type of cabin on the TN side of the Smokies.

Now sure ROI is a numerator/denominator game that includes revenue and purchase price, and if all the best locations were priced higher than the potential additional return they give then that doesn't move the needle. But at the end of the day real estate is also a physical structure you pay for and the capped success of some random location often doesn't drive the price down enough to make those places higher ROI than the best markets.

Agree with Lüc. I think when when an economy first takes a nosedive you may see a quick correction because people skip their vacations momentarily, but they aren’t going to simply stop vacationing for years in a recession. In the Smokies I’ve already seen a big fall boom following a summer correction which I hypothesize has to do with gas price and job fears pushing July vacations to October (rather than canceling them completely).

What’s up, Aaron! :)

Nelson county STRs seem solid based on research, but right now I’m ignoring our area entirely and investing in the Smokies, Blue Ridge, and OBX.

WeWork was basically a pyramid scheme. Airbnb and VRBO have actually good business models.

Is this considered a security system amenity on Airbnb 

Even though there has certainly been a slowdown this summer I just received 10 (TEN) new bookings on my honeymoon cabin since Friday. It was six bookings over a 24 hour span from Friday night to Saturday afternoon. This is the most bookings I’ve ever received over a short period of time like that. My August/September calendars are shaping up to match 2021 instead of 2019 even though it was a 2019 July (based on historic data - I wasn’t around then). 

I’ve heard from other owners and cleaners that the late summer / early fall booking surge happened to more than just me this past weekend. And not to toot my own horn, but from my evidence it sounds like it mostly happened to people with really nice listings while a lot of the cookie cutter grandma cabins are still crickets.

The market may get refined where we see the mediocre listings selling out in 2023 and the investors who have winning updated properties leap at the chance to buy deals at less than the current prices and turn them into winners.

I saw a shed that was leaning 45 degrees with half the roof torn off for about $200k. The listing description said "great fixer upper opportunity."

I’d personally only try that in Salem MA but give it a shot and report back.