Any investors running Vacation Rental(s) in Mammoth, CA?

[Shawn Ward]

BPers,

Anyone running a vacation rental(s) in Mammoth Lakes/ Mountain area?

If so, I'd love to have you answer the below questions:

1. What are the 3 best things about having your rental property(s) there?

2. What are the 3 worst things about having your rental property(s) there?

3. If you could start over, would you still invest in this area?

4. If you were me, someone who is looking into these areas what would you suggest as I begin looking the buying process?

Thanks so much!!!

Shawn

[Julie McCoy]

I know there are some on this forum who have investments in Mammoth, hope they'll weigh in.  From what I know (and I do not have an investment there), Mammoth has very strict regulations on STRs, and only condos are permitted as STRs, single family homes are not.  

That said, I've heard that Mammoth is a very strong market in summer as well as winter, so it may be less seasonal than it may initially appear, which is of course excellent.

[Shelby Pracht]

Hey @Shawn Ward

Like @Julie McCoy said, one of my favorite things about Mammoth for STRs is that we stay just as busy all summer as we do in the winter.

1. I know I've talked about this somewhere else on the forums at some point, but so many of the traditional property management companies here don't do one night stays, and because of the clientele in the summer (foreign tourists passing through on their way to Yosemite) they miss out on a TON of bookings and often have low occupancy and revenue in the summer. By allowing single night stays we keep our occupancy just as high and often a bit higher in the summer as the winter.

2. There are plenty of down sides to having an STR, but most of them are applicable to any vacation rental and not specific to Mammoth. Obviously the biggest location-specific down side to Mammoth is our transient occupancy tax at 14%. No one likes paying taxes. But I do like the free town transit, plowed side walks, mammoth marketing, affordable housing, etc; that it pays for. Big snow years are also hard dealing with HOAs. We have a couple units that have the windows boarded right now to keep ice and snow shedding off the roof from breaking the windows. I'd much prefer to get the roofs shoveled so we don't have to have windows boarded up, but that's out of my control.

3. If we could start all over again I don't think we'd change a thing. We definitely stumbled into the STRs by accident, but it's enabled us to completely change our lifestyle, allow us both to quit our full time jobs, and given us the cash flow to by other long term investments. Once we got some good systems in place, we've been able to travel all over, be flexible enough to be with family whenever we need to, and spend most of our days snowboarding or climbing or mountain biking. Definitely can't complain.

4. I would consider the size of the unit. We actually prefer the smaller units (and refuse to manage anything larger than a 2 bedroom) because they are way easier to deal with an have higher occupancy rates. The other big thing would be heat source. If you purchase a unit that the primary source of heat is old electric wall heaters, be prepared for sky high utility bills in the winter. There are a few complexes that have propane heat included in the HOA dues, which could be worth it (obviously dues are way higher). The other good option is a pellet stove set to a thermostat. This is a much more efficient heat source and will likely save you a lot of money in the long run. A lot of condos here have wood burning stoves, which are great for heating a unit if you live in it and know how to light a fire and use the stove, but most guests from LA have no clue, haha, so I don't recommend using that as a heat source.

Hopefully that helps, let me know if you have any other questions!

[Lisa Graesser]

I don't have a rental in Mammoth, but we just rented a condo in Mammouth for a 3 night stay in August. We are hiking Mt Whitney and want to spend a few days in Mammoth to help get acclimated to the elevation, do a hike and hope to do a day of mountain biking.  

When looking for a place to stay my first priority was 3 bedrooms or at least 2 bedrooms with 3 separate beds on one room. We have my husband and I and 3 kids in their 20's. I wanted something with NO bunk beds and NO loft that overlooks the living area that is considered a bedroom (no privacy or sound prevention) also was hoping to find something with A/C, which most people say you don't need, but we spent a week in Yosemite 2 years ago and sleeping was difficult with the extreme heat wave that went through when we were there. Almost impossible to find something with A/C. I would have picked one over the other if it was offered. We ended up going with  3 bed condo with one room having 2 single beds. NO loft and NO A/C. Looking forward to our trip and thought this might help just give the perspective of what a renter may be looking for.

[Shawn Ward]

Thanks @Julie McCoy , @Shelby Pracht and @Lisa Graesser ! Really appreciate the feedback. 

sjw

[Shawn Ward]

@Shelby Pracht how much slower are the in-between seasons like Spring and Fall, when the weather / conditions are between ideal?

Thanks again!

sjw

[Shelby Pracht]

November is always our slowest month. I think our occupancy dropped to about 60% for that month. September and October are leaf-peeping season, and normally stay pretty full. Spring is pretty iffy, it depends on the snowpack and when Tioga Pass (into Yosemite National Park) opens. April we are normally still pretty booked with skiers, but May can be a bit slower before Tioga opens.

[Alex Bekeza]

@Shawn Ward I'm not sure how you're looking to finance your STR in Mammoth but it can often be difficult with conventional financing. Make sure you have a good understanding of the rental comps for the type of property you're looking at because typically a DSCR based loan is the best option and it will calculate the debt coverage not using STR income but using the 1007 rents.

[Shawn Ward]

Thanks @Alex Bekeza