Thinking about a 2nd home/STR

[John McGrath]

Good Morning, My wife and I live near Charlotte NC. We have loved visiting the mountains for last several years have always talked about owning a 2nd home. We are in position to buy but would likely only use a few days a month so primarily intent is to use as a STR. We really enjoy the Gatlinburg TN area but I think it would be too far to enjoy as a weekend spot and too difficult to self manage from that far. We have been considering Boone area. Any regulations in Boone/West Jefferson that would restrict AIRBNB/VRBO? Anyone on the forum who owns a STR there? Does it perform? Anything we should look for in our search. We'd like a cabin with a view but trying to stay around $200,000. John

[Derek Robinson]

@John McGrath I own a STR in Boone, NC. I'm not sure about the city limits of Boone, but the county has zero restrictions. As far as I know, they don't even have verbiage for it in their rules/laws. According to my realtor there, the city is pretty lax about STRs. They have some rules but they are limited and easy to abide by. My Boone rental is a three bed two bath. I paid $120,000 and put about $30k into it (furnishing, added mini-split system, hot tub, etc). In the first year I broke even on a cash basis, but was able to claim a $5k loss for tax purposes. In the second year I made about $6k for the year. I've found Boone isn't as lucrative as Asheville. It's not really a prime tourist destination, more like "hey, lets go to Boone last minute". It took a good year of bookings, exposure, and 5 star reviews to get good traction. Now, I rent just about every weekend, all year long. When school is out, I keep just about every weekday booked. So when school is back in, it's weekend only. I also only have a one night minimum and I find A LOT of people take me up on this.

Compared to Asheville, I have investor friends that do STRs outside of the city limits.  They post their listings and immediately get bookings, all year and weekdays and weekends.  There are areas close to Asheville and outside of the city limits that allow STRs.

Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck to you!