1st VR Investment, more ROI on Mountain Cabin or Beach Condo?

[Brett Shoemaker]

As the title states, my wife and I are new VR investors looking for the best ROI and cash flow situations with a consistent occupancy percentage (something greater than 65%). Initially, we've leaned more towards mountain cabin rentals in the Gatlinburg/Sevierville/Pigeon Forge area as we've visited that area quite often and some research has shown us that on average most properties listed a minimum of 200 days have an occupancy percentage of roughly 61%, but we haven't ruled out purchasing beach condo either. We've done less research on the beach condo route and I am looking for other investors caught in a similar predicament.

Our ultimate goal is to comfortable pay the mortgage while gaining a decent annual profit towards the next down payment on another vacation rental.  Should our focus remain strictly in the mountain cabin VR just starting out?  I've heard the beach condo route can be a larger risk with less occupancy percentage, but a potentially larger annual gain?  Any advice is greatly appreciated!