Asheville area - multiple projects - personal and investing

[Matt Nowicki]

Hi all, I'm new to the forums and open to feedback/advice on building/investing in Western NC.

Some background on me, I've Lived-In rehabbed and made decent returns on 8 houses (lost most of it in a old divorce so in the middle of a restart to try to actually retire in the next 10-15 yrs). Two of those properties ended up as LTRs which also made decent returns so I'm not a total newbie to real estate.

So I've got three projects I'm looking at that will affect timing etc.

1- My wife and I are currently more than half way through building a new primary residence house north of Asheville, projected completion in October. This is the most important piece, we are slightly overbuilding it to increase square footage and to then increase valuation. If we come even close to our budget at the end, we will have solid equity on paper. This equity is going to be the base of further investing for financing.

2 - As part of the new house build, we had to buy an adjacent lot (great price, mountain views, owned outright). As soon as the house is built, I want to start a new build on this lot to sell as a spec house, budgeting approx $450k build cost, sale price is estimated $750k, supported by comps. I've already got a handshake deal with my current builder to build at cost and do a profit share at sale, this should add to our pot for further investments.

3 - The final part is to get into STRs in Western NC/Smokey Mountains in about a year from now after the new primary house is settled and closed. I know Asheville is in turmoil a bit over AirBNB but I don't plan on getting into city areas. I'm currently looking in Weaverville, Waynesville, Burnsville, Canton areas for deals (just shopping until we are ready to go). These areas are 40+ min outside of Asheville but the prices are really attractive. Any thoughts on how far to get outside of "Attraction" areas and still get low STR vacancy rates in this area? You can go even a bit further into the "middle of nowhere" and find fantasic property but the area is growing and developing fast so wondering how far out to look within reason.

If anyone has timing/location feedback or opinions, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks
Matt