What are we missing?

[Michael McHugh]

My wife and I are about to put and off in on an STR property in the Pocono region of PA. We went and looked at houses yesterday found one we liked.

We have done research on the area through airdna and have secured a lender. We will be buying the house as a second home.

We have done our research, but we know the Devil is in the details.

I don't know what we are missing and I'm terrified.

Any words of wisdom for a couple trying to dive into this world?

[Mark Miles]

Originally posted by @Michael McHugh:

My wife and I are about to put and off in on an STR property in the Pocono region of PA. We went and looked at houses yesterday found one we liked.

We have done research on the area through airdna and have secured a lender. We will be buying the house as a second home.

We have done our research, but we know the Devil is in the details.

I don't know what we are missing and I'm terrified.

Any words of wisdom for a couple trying to dive into this world?

 In 2019 there were 10,000 homes for sale in the Poconos. In 2020 and 2021 during the Covid pandemic, folks from Nyc and Philly bought them all up. And they turned about 5,000 of them into Airbnbs. This has caused at least 3 major problems: 1) the market is now oversaturated with Airbnbs, 2) rental rates have come down bc of so much competition, 3) there's a dire shortage of workers available to service the huge increase in the # of Airbnbs.

Wait times are often a month or longer for service providers. I have a friend who needs an electrician & has been waiting a month. He had to cancel all of his reservations until he can get an electrician. Another friend's hot tub has been out of commission for over a month while he awaits a hot tub repairman. He has had to give refunds bc of a non-working hot tub. Another friend needs to renovate his house but can't get anyone to do it, it's brutal.

Plumbers, roofers, lawncare, there's no one available to do this work bc there's waaayyyy too many Airbnbs for the local labor market to support.

Not to mention the dire shortage of cleaners and handymen. Home prices have shot up in the Poconos, there's very few homes for sale, there's bidding wars on the few homes that are for sale, and there's a drastic shortage of available workers. Not an ideal place to run a business but good luck if you wanna try it!

Personally, as someone who lives near the Poconos, I would recommend the mountains of VA, NC, or TN. Or the beaches of NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, or TX. I've built quite a little nest egg investing in some of those markets 👍👍