Cost of building in Bryson City / Maggie Valley

[Erik H.]

Hey everyone! My wife and I are very new to all this. We are looking to build a small (800-1000 sqft) STR / vacation home in the next 12-24 months. One of the places we are looking is in the Bryson City / Maggie Valley area. We are not opposed to buying, but are primarily looking to build. If we build, we are looking at a modern cabin with 2 bd 1.5-2 ba. Looking at the homes on the market, prices vary wildly from $~200-$400+/sqft and it doesn't seem to correspond to just the quality of the house. Without knowing the area really well it is hard to know how much of that is the cost of land baked in. Does anyone have an idea of a ballpark expectation for $/sqft to build in that area? Are there specific features/styles of homes that perform really well in the area beyond the traditional log cabins? What is a reasonable time to expect a build in the area to take with the lack of available contractors I have read about?

[Mitch Davidson]

@Erik H., @Kyle H. has great insight on your questions, being a builder and investor in Bryson City. I owned and self-managed a home there until last month. It's a great town with plenty of opportunities for vacationers that are looking for something more quiet in comparison to east Tennessee, for example. Land development is a huge challenge in the region, but there are some communities (Walnut Cove, for example) where you can buy lots that already have roughed-in road and pad. Most of the lots aren't advertised for sale, but you can use the GIS system and other resources to find and contact the owners. Regarding homes that perform well, I would create a Pricelabs report for that. One thing's for sure, you need to stand out rather than fitting in with the noise. And that might require increased furnishings spend. Thus, if it were me I'd focus on something small.