Blowing Rock NC STR Investment

[Carol Burns]

Anyone here invested in STR's in Blowing Rock NC? I am looking at a piece of property that has 4 individual units. Two 1/1, one 2/1, one 2/2. No mountain view but gorgeous property in ideal location. Going to crunch the numbers to see if they work right NOW. But I am a little worried if we go into a recession. Will the STR market take a nosedive? Will the value of the property also take a nosedive? Anyone have any input? TIA!!

[Garrett Andersson]

So obviously no one has a crystal ball and can predict the future of property values in the short term. What is inevitable, is that real estate appreciates long term. We've seen even more appreciation in NC the last two decades due to the rapid growth in Charlotte and Raleigh in particular. People are flocking to the state from all parts of the country with a ton of high income jobs. They vacation in the NC mountains and beach. 

As far as STR demand. This is an area that sees traffic year round for a variety of different reasons depending on the season. Markets that have more than just one attraction prove to still survive through recessions. Someone might cut their trip to Aspen, and hop in the car and drive to Blowing Rock for the weekend instead. The university (Appalachian State) has over 20k undergraduates now. And while those students/faculty aren't staying in your STR, their parents are when they come to visit year round. You'll even see professionals who work remote (which we know is more and more common even post pandemic) rent STRs for months at a time in the summer to escape the Carolina heat and humidity.

Only thing I'd make sure you do is call Blowing Rock's "Planning & Inspections" office to make sure that property in particular is in country jurisdiction and not the town, which could prohibit STRs. Blowing Rock and Boone are only to towns that have certain zones that prohibit them.