Anyone have a STR in Three Rivers, CA?

[Susan Snodgrass]

Hello,

My husband and I are first-time investors and are considering buying a STR property in Three Rivers, CA, near Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. I searched on the forums, but any post I found about that area was from several years ago, so I'm looking for anyone who has some more recent/current experience with owning a STR in that area. We live in southern CA ourselves, and are also interested to find a place that we could use ourselves occasionally as a vacation rental. I also saw that Three Rivers was listed on Airdna's list of top places to own an STR, which is another reason we are interested in that area and would love to hear from anyone with experience owning a rental property there.

Thank you!

Susan Snodgrass

[Mike Smith]

Just my advice, so take it for what it's worth. I've made this mistake before on STR property selection.

Be very careful when analyzing STR properties that "you might want to stay in now and again". Analyzing a property for an investment should be done with math and underwriting. Basically, how much Net Operating Income will the STR produce in relation to its cost. You are much better off finding the best possible STR as an investment. Then use the profit from that investment to AirBNB rent in your favorite vacation locations. Confusing the two could cost you thousands or maybe tens of thousands per year. The chance that the best possible STR investment property just happens to be at your favorite vacation spot is slim to none.

A very quick for example:

Option 1 - Best possible STR investment is 300k and produces 45k of Net Income annually.

Option 2 - Best STR property in your vacation location is 300k and produces 25k of Net Income annually. You just lost 20k per year vs booking out Option 1 year round and using the profit to stay in an AirBNB now and again.

Investors always forget (myself included) that when you stay in your own STR you are losing the income it could have made, so you never really stay there for "free".

Hope this helps in your search...