Coronavirus Impact on Beach Rentals in North Carolina

[Rich McElaney]

I just found a Coronavirus discussion on the main discussion board but wanted to drill down more specifically to get input from current STR property owners in the North Carolina Beach areas.

I have a pending deal for a 2/2 STR in Carolina Beach that has been rented short term for 5+ years showing decent net income history. There are six dates already booked for 2020 by the current property owner but those guests will have to be notified of new ownership and bookings would need to be transferred or re-booked soon after closing on the property. ( I plan on keeping the rates exactly as they are for those bookings.)

My calculations show that I would need 52 bookings to break even, which would be an approximate 30% drop in activity using last year's booking numbers. 

My questions:

1. To date, what are current STR beach property owners seeing in terms of cancellation activity?

2. Are NC Beach area STR property buyers (whether new or experienced) buying in the face of coronavirus' unpredictability?