Ellicottville NY Vacation Rental

[Paul Lagno]

Hi All, New to this forum, but I have already learned a ton and am excited to learn more! I was curious if anyone had any experience with STR, specifically AirBnB, in Ellicottville, NY. It seems like a hidden gem of a town to me, considering that it’s so close to Holiday Valley and Holimont Ski Resorts. I live in Buffalo right now, and I feel like anytime I drive through E-Ville it is just flat out packed with people (Fall Fest, Jazz Festival, Ski season, etc.). I was there with my fiance last weekend and we just absolutely love it. Anyways - I’m in kind of weird spot, as I just finished a low Income housing program that helped me save $ for a down payment on a home in NY. The catch is this - I recently took a new, higher paying job out of state, and the money from this program has to be used in NY. It seems like a total waste to not use the money on a property (it’s a 4 to 1 match grant - so I saved $2k and will be given $8k), so I’m looking into using it for an investment property now. The safe play for me is probably to just buy an Investment property in Buffalo (I already have a good relationship with a PM here who would be a great resource for me), but for some reason my heart is in Ellicottville - the idea of being able to use a property as a vacation getaway for a week or two a year and then rent it out the remainder of the year sounds super appealing. I’ve contacted a few folks through AirBnB and it sounds like the STR scene is pretty hot September - April. Anyways, just curious if anyone has any thoughts or input on the STR scene there. Paul